$ingtel Mi0: Poor service, drama, and police report

[redbeacon]

One of my friend, who works with $ingtel as a Customer Service Associate, shared this with me today.

 

As far as I know, $ingtel Mi0 is a 3-in-1 service that combines handphone subscription and a phone, broadband DSL internet, as well as VoIP (aka cheap digital telephone -- something like Skype) -- and consolidates all 3 into one easy monthly bill.

 

He, along with 50+ call centre associates are responsible for taking in new Mi0 signups, and to call the customer to confirm his/her availability for an onsite engineer to install the broadband internet/VoIP equipment at the customer's premises.

 

This is a personal note sent to all the associates by one of the team lead:

 

=========

 

- Post removed at request -

[redbeacon]

The story unfolds as the case came into light and when both parties makes a police report:

 

 

(names have been replaced to protect the individuals/companies involved in this case)

=================================

 

- Post removed at request -

[guanjie]

sounds to me like its the fault of the engineer

[josean]

doesnt sound authentic to me...

 

anyway. the installation work is usually done by a third party vendor. outsourced. unless exceptional cases where the vendor cannot complete the job

 

so, if the customer has an personal issue with (third party) technician, i dun think its any of singtel's business. singtel is a service provider providing the mio service.

 

therefore, i think that the title: "singtel mio: poor service" is misleading

[PinKcHicK]

it's not juz this mi0 service mah. tis problem has been since long ago..

[josean]

its mio. not mi0

 

thread title talks about mio service. and this service made its debut since Feb 2007, if i remember the dates correctly ..

 

so i dont understand what u mean by "tis problem has been since long ago".

[PinKcHicK]

its mio. not mi0

 

thread title talks about mio service. and this service made its debut since Feb 2007, if i remember the dates correctly ..

 

so i dont understand what u mean by "tis problem has been since long ago".

 

i also know it's mio. -.-

following threadstarter mah, why dun u ask him why issit $ingtel and not singtel? sure got his reasons right?

 

this problem started since singnet broadband lor, installers always hav conflicts with subscriber, nothing new already..

[R3sistor]

doesnt sound authentic to me...

 

anyway. the installation work is usually done by a third party vendor. outsourced. unless exceptional cases where the vendor cannot complete the job

 

so, if the customer has an personal issue with (third party) technician, i dun think its any of singtel's business. singtel is a service provider providing the mio service.

 

therefore, i think that the title: "singtel mio: poor service" is misleading

 

Even if installation works is done by third party vendor, it is THE business of Singtel. They are providing the service. They hired the vendor, they have to be responsible on the front line should the customer complain. Behind close doors they will settle with third party vendor.

[PinKcHicK]

Even if installation works is done by third party vendor, it is THE business of Singtel. They are providing the service. They hired the vendor, they have to be responsible on the front line should the customer complain. Behind close doors they will settle with third party vendor.

 

tat i agree with u. outsourced or not, dun put it as a consumers' problem.

[redbeacon]

Heya,

 

Thanks for noting your observations. Perhaps the title should remain unchanged, except that quotation marks should be placed around the "poor service" part, to make that phrase belong to the incident and not to target that certain service provider (that begins with a "$ing...") as having reputably poor service.

 

==

 

Anyways, this is my friend's first job as a helpdesk associate for an I.T. division; his educational background surprising wasn't I.T.. Over the weeks, I got to see how he had matured in this helpdesk line -- it's his first time too, and I gotta say, as rough as it gets, he sweats it out.

 

Today, he gave me an interesting account of a big problem and I'm sharing that with you guys today. Hope this provides a good case study for those in the I.T. line, especially Helpdesk and Desktop Support personnel.

[josean]

Even if installation works is done by third party vendor, it is THE business of Singtel. They are providing the service. They hired the vendor, they have to be responsible on the front line should the customer complain. Behind close doors they will settle with third party vendor.

 

i understand where u are coming from.

 

my take on the issue is ...

my purpose is not to remove singtel of all blame. ST still have some responsibility in selecting its outsourced vendors.

 

at most what they (ST) can do is to change vendor or advise them to change staff or will take further action.

 

examples are ..

 

will your building maintainence officer (or equivalent) be responsible if the cleaning company hired for your company didnt do a good job ?

 

or will your town council be responsible if the outsourced pest control company didnt do a good job at your block ?

[WildCard]

First off,

If the customer refuses to sign, the engineer need not pursue it too much. He can just call back to Helpdesk and inform them of the situation.

Chances are, the helpdesk will tell the engineer to leave the equipment as be and let a Singtel liaison speak with the customer to resolve the issue at a later time.

 

I've had a similar experience.

Did a ADSL setup for a semi-d dwelling. Somehow, the line refuses to sync with the DSL no matter how I tried it. Checked with Singtel and they said the signal appears ok to the house.

After wasting 30 mins there, Singtel decided to send someone down to do a rewire for the entire house.

The lady of the house refused, saying she only rented the place and is not going to pay for any extra works just to get an ADSL line. So she requested to terminate the contract and refuse to sign the job log. I just called back Helpdesk for assistance.

Same thing as I said above: Leave the equipment, take back the promotional voucher & inform the lady that a Singtel rept will contact her to resolve it at a later time (it was a Saturday).

[Guest NPNT]

Wildcard so pro! I rike!

[redbeacon]

The lady of the house refused, saying she only rented the place and is not going to pay for any extra works just to get an ADSL line. So she requested to terminate the contract and refuse to sign the job log. I just called back Helpdesk for assistance.

Same thing as I said above: Leave the equipment, take back the promotional voucher & inform the lady that a Singtel rept will contact her to resolve it at a later time (it was a Saturday).

 

Well, at least your service obligation to the lady was tangible within reason. You can just simply seek assistance if nothing works out.

 

Try working as a frontline helpdesk staff in a store where you have to find a way to deal with customer's problematic units. Where the store's no-exchange policy is concerned, we're left to deal with customers good and bad. The latter is more of a headache to shun and bosses expect us to deal with em till the very end.

 

We play the role of psychologists/mind readers along the way as well but still get paid a basic sum. Hmm...

[PinKcHicK]

First off,

If the customer refuses to sign, the engineer need not pursue it too much. He can just call back to Helpdesk and inform them of the situation.

Chances are, the helpdesk will tell the engineer to leave the equipment as be and let a Singtel liaison speak with the customer to resolve the issue at a later time.

 

I've had a similar experience.

Did a ADSL setup for a semi-d dwelling. Somehow, the line refuses to sync with the DSL no matter how I tried it. Checked with Singtel and they said the signal appears ok to the house.

After wasting 30 mins there, Singtel decided to send someone down to do a rewire for the entire house.

The lady of the house refused, saying she only rented the place and is not going to pay for any extra works just to get an ADSL line. So she requested to terminate the contract and refuse to sign the job log. I just called back Helpdesk for assistance.

Same thing as I said above: Leave the equipment, take back the promotional voucher & inform the lady that a Singtel rept will contact her to resolve it at a later time (it was a Saturday).

 

U Vrnet? Or Malifax?

[WildCard]

U Vrnet? Or Malifax?

 

Neither...

We're sort of in between....

Anywayz, I dun really work there anymore.

Too committed to my full-time job.

[PinKcHicK]

Neither...

We're sort of in between....

Anywayz, I dun really work there anymore.

Too committed to my full-time job.

 

oHHH!! i noe already!! it starts with A... something i tink.. forgot liao.. hee.. but i tink it's good that u hav such technical hands-on knowledge & experience.

[mutant_sheep]

if for me is customer in the wrong at 1st that we should put aside about did the engineer assaulted him or not.

even with the user name & password have printed on the invoice or something, it still can be change later on. what is so big deal? need to refused to sign upon job completion?

this kind of ppl must be study too much, plus he must be thought that he is so rich that he can get services from $ingtel.

[who_noe]

if for me is customer in the wrong at 1st that we should put aside about did the engineer assaulted him or not.

even with the user name & password have printed on the invoice or something, it still can be change later on. what is so big deal? need to refused to sign upon job completion?

this kind of ppl must be study too much, plus he must be thought that he is so rich that he can get services from $ingtel.

 

wat to do....

 

cos the customers is always right... haiz...

[Laguna11]

in sg service line..

some customer realli is damn f up de...

but the tech can b abit thinkin mah call his office inform them.. they should had tel him its ok..

[R3sistor]

doesnt sound authentic to me...

 

anyway. the installation work is usually done by a third party vendor. outsourced. unless exceptional cases where the vendor cannot complete the job

 

so, if the customer has an personal issue with (third party) technician, i dun think its any of singtel's business. singtel is a service provider providing the mio service.

 

therefore, i think that the title: "singtel mio: poor service" is misleading

 

i understand where u are coming from.

 

my take on the issue is ...

my purpose is not to remove singtel of all blame. ST still have some responsibility in selecting its outsourced vendors.

 

at most what they (ST) can do is to change vendor or advise them to change staff or will take further action.

 

examples are ..

 

will your building maintainence officer (or equivalent) be responsible if the cleaning company hired for your company didnt do a good job ?

 

or will your town council be responsible if the outsourced pest control company didnt do a good job at your block ?

 

Well it depends. If i was the one who hired the cleaning company and they didn't do a good job, then its my own luck i guess. But if its the building maintainence officer that HIRED them to do the job, i guess i would be complaing to the officer instead.

 

Just like my current company, engineers did something wrong, VENDORS are the ones chasing us.. instead of the customers who owns the servers.

[redbeacon]

IMO, I believe the desktop engineer's intention to dismantle and return the equipment -- was correct per-procedure since the customer didn't want to sign the order form.

 

But I believe that both should be civil enough to deal with this situation instead of getting into a scuffle.

[redbeacon]

And yes, customers do not care whether any part of the company -- whether outsourced or not -- should be exclusive and that the blame should wholly be directed to that part of the company.

 

After all, customers first stop when they first buy/seek services would be the company itself, not the "outsourcee"

 

Why is this so? I dunno, maybe it's human mentality?

[PinKcHicK]

And yes, customers do not care whether any part of the company -- whether outsourced or not -- should be exclusive and that the blame should wholly be directed to that part of the company.

 

After all, customers first stop when they first buy/seek services would be the company itself, not the "outsourcee"

 

Why is this so? I dunno, maybe it's human mentality?

 

I've got a little qn for u..

Will you call Nokia if your phone is not functioning, or go back to singtel, if it's still within eg 2 weeks tat u bought?

[redbeacon]

I've got a little qn for u..

Will you call Nokia if your phone is not functioning, or go back to singtel, if it's still within eg 2 weeks tat u bought?

 

Let's say if I have been told by a Singtel rep that there was such a thing as a "2-week-return" policy, I would go to them yeah. I know that they will help me with my faulty phone -- and I'd most probably think to do just that, they'll be contacting Nokia for repair assistance on my behalf -- or in-house repairs by a Singtel engineers. But I don't really care as long as my phone gets fixed, I'd be happy in the end.

 

Of course, if nobody (Singtel or Nokia) said anything or advertised their service to me, I would probably run to Singtel first

 

Shoppers around the world would have learnt what the word "warranty" meant...even back when they were a baby drinking milk out from the bottle. So warranty = 1st stop >> go back to the store that sold you the product.

 

Henceforth, there's one more aspect of "customer character" that I would like to share with ya guys -- customers like to seek the easiest way for help; that is usually the store that advertises its services (sale/after-sale repairs/enquiries) to the customers.