I finally decided to get myself a new phone, after a year of battling with my Nokia 6280 (the phone was so run down that at a point I used transparent cello-tape to attach the back of the phone to its body. A paper wedge was also used to lift the battery up so that it could touch the phone's terminals. It was that bad)
I wasn't cash strapped in anyway. It was out of principle; a phone's use is optimized if it lasts for 5 years. If everyone thinks that way, maybe the crisis in Congo will reduce (as people will demand less of new mobile phone, thus mobile phone companies will requires less coltane; my little act of random kindness to save the world).
So I decided to get a new phone. Specification: The phone must email (POP, IMAP & SMTP) compatible (that’s so IN these days!!). The Blackberry would have done the trick, but I was told that blackberries don’t have user-friendly data transfer mechanism; thus contact entries must be transfered manually.
So I took some money and got myself the Nokia E71.
So what’s my problem? Well Zain is actually. Customer service doesn’t exactly suck. It just doesn’t help.
- If I decide to go into the shop next door, it might 45 minutes before I am attended to (unless of course, I am paying my phone bill). The high rate of telephone theft as made SIM replacement a recurring issue. I would expect that the company by now would think of an automated way of replacing SIMs that excludes human interaction.
- When I get attended to, the person on sit (already so tired) would provide quick fix advice to what he/she assumed he understand as my problem (which usually isn't). The easiest way they discard the customer (who will not be provided with a reference/tracking number) is by saying “the problem will be sorted in 24 hours” . So an encounter with another adviser (or even the same adviser who will act like he/she has forgotten your face) will mean that you start narrating your story all over again (and the customer service operator (CSO) will provide the same phrase that they are taught in prep school “the problem will be sorted in 24hours”) (I still don’t have internet GPRS connection, 4 days later)
- It is not that bad if you are doing it over the phone. Except the fact that you might end up spending about 30 minutes on the phone waiting to be attended to after which you are either suddenly disconnected or you speak to a CSO that is either trying to sell you blackberries (And I am screaming, I already told you I have an E71),or tell you that "the problem will be sorted in 24hours".
I must say that they are definitely much better than Multilinks. Multilink telecommunication service works most of the time but when it falters, it is better you wait for them to fix it. Hasn’t anyone advised them that a Barry White sounding male on the phone (if you successfully get through) saying “Welcome to multilink, how may I help you?” does not exactly work well in this industry? When the CSO finds out that the customer’s voice is not as deep as his, bullying starts. Some of them hang up on customers. I have experienced a CSO say “my friend, please just go and load this card” (which I had done about, five times; for emphasis, the use of “my friend” is a polite way to stress how irritated the speaker is). Another one has warned me not annoy him.
(Please forget the office oh! It looks like
That is something that does not sit well with me. When it comes to marketing or buying you in, you get a different picture.
- On the corporate level, you meet pretty (curvy) ladies on 9 inches high heel shoes running up and down your office with lovely smiles (their antics can make you believe they don’t use the toilet).
- For the general public, a branded bus is parked at a busy place (e.g.bus stop, or car park); current MTV hits blasting with some deluded athletic young dancers gyrating to the tunes (how that is able to convince the average man is something I am yet to find out).
- But to deal with problematic issues, you either get big boned/pregnant ladies eating beans and moi-moi while attending to you (women you are instinctively led to call “aunty”, if you were raised in
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4 comments:
I know I'm hanging on to just a small part of this post but what you said about keeping a cell phone for 5 years totally resonated with me.
Back in the good old days, people used to wear clothing until it wore out and then they'd use it for rags. In fact I think a reason that denim became so popular is because it was so long lasting and you could count on outgrowing the jeans before they wore out. Now it's so rare to actually wear something until it's falling apart due to being worn out.
Similarly with electronic gadgets. There's always a next generation of cell phone, digi cam, laptop or ipod coming out that it's sometimes tempting to replace something that isn't broken yet, just because you can.
Anyways, all of that to say congrats on using your cell phone until it fell apart and good luck with your E71 (and wishing you lots of patience to deal with Customer Service).
LOL the answer to your final question is simply "marketing". Once you've been convinced (by a hot chick or man) to buy their product, they really don't care about helping you enjoy it. That's up to you :)
Hahahahahaha......oh my God! I have been laughing my head off! Haha. So what are you saying sef? That a big boned/pregnant woman eating moi moi/beans is not cute??? lol. Respect yourself ooo! I happen to like both meals (OK maybe I don't eat them while I'm working but... ehen...). Hehehe. Well, maybe they meant that your issue will be resolved in 24hours or more. lol. That seems like it.
Actually Jummy, I thought I was the only one in this world that holds that point of view. The way new gadgets are issued out is ridiculous. But the way they make gadgets these days is so that the item doesn't last. My phone has barely gone two years and it is all wacked up.
LOL Vera, I loved those meals too (not together). But as you said, it doesn't go well with work. To be honest, I have only experienced that in Multilinks. Not Zain. They still have some standard although not to expectation. And I just hate that “24 hours” everyone is always saying to pass the bulk.
Regarding the big-boned women, I am just trying to lay emphasis on the double standard between those in marketing and those in in customer care. Just as Jummy said, it is called "marketing".
This is so funny but very correct. for customer facing that individual has got to be tight and for service a regular not so tight would do maybe to discourage u sef.
Nice one.
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