Customers shouldn’t have to pay for bad Internet service

By Ravinder Singh

A Telekom Malaysia’s (TM) telemarketer called me some time in November last year stating that I had been “selected” for an upgrade from my then RM60.00 (384kbps) Internet package. She went on to say that the new package offered (1MB), if purchased at TM outlets costs RM110.00 but if purchased through telemarketing was only RM80.00, and the price would remain the same for as long as I wanted it. Further, calls to TM-land lines throughout the country would be free (there is a RM10 charge with the 384kbps package). I enquired what the selection criteria was but the telemarketer said she did not know as she was only given a list of numbers to call. I rejected the offer on the spot.

Upon checking with TM, it was confirmed the offer was genuine and it was only available through telemarketing.

I then called in to take up the ‘good’ offer and the lady telemarketer had many questions to ask to verify identity, address, etc. Having confirmed acceptance of the offer, her parting words were unpleasant. She said there was a one-year contract for this upgraded package and terminating it within a year would involve a penalty of RM350.00. She also informed me that if I wanted to revert to the RM60.00 package, there was a penalty of RM200.00. This critical information should have been given up front and not after sealing the acceptance. Talk of fair-play and transparency! I left it at that thinking that if the service was really better, there would be no problem.

However, after half a year, I must say the service has been a disappointment. This makes me wonder if the ‘selection’ of customers to be offered the upgrade from 384kbps to 1MB was based on areas where the service was below par in the hope that customers would be willing to pay a little more for better service.

However it turns out that paying more is not any better. Now and then the message “there is no Internet connection” flashes across my screen, and sometimes not even that. Then service is restored but only intermittently. When there is service, it is often slower than it should be. I often feel that the upgraded 1MB package is worse than the former one I had.

Calling 100 to report service issues is another hassle. The machine answers and it takes you through a maze of directions, announcements and advertisements, even rattling off about technical problems already identified e.g. that service is down and repairs are being carried out. This can take from two to ten minutes or more and you may never get to talk to a real human in the end.

Any service provider who fails to provide good, continuous service should at the very least voluntarily refund a proportion of the charges for the period service was down and also forfeit its right to impose early termination fees. It is preposterous that they presently have the best of both worlds.

Ravinder Singh is an FMT reader.

With a firm belief in freedom of expression and without prejudice, FMT tries its best to share reliable content from third parties. Such articles are strictly the writer’s personal opinion. FMT does not necessarily endorse the views or opinions given by any third party content provider.

Mukah Pages bring you trending news media with Free Malaysia Today http://ift.tt/1NFYv6s