Generous Three; delinquent Lane Crawford

My Three epic is finally over. I got my sim card in Singapore and managed to reactivate it without problems while I was there. Billy, the Three Supreme customer service rep, called me again yesterday to make sure everything was in order with my new sim card and told me Three would foot the bill for the DHL charges (I had actually told them I would be more than happy to pay for the charges in order for them to speed up the process). So this is one happy ending leading to one customer retained.

Another reason why SMEs have got it rough, but BIG companies have got it good: With small suppliers such as ourselves financing Lane Crawford (as well as contributing to their revenues in the meantime), how can they not make money??!! We delivered an order of Little Cream Books to Lane Crawford in late last year on C.O.D. terms. But 4.5 months later and still counting, we still haven't received our payment. After months of calls to the buyer, all I've gotten are full voicemail boxes while she has been on buying trips, stories of personnel changes in the accounts department and many "sorry, you'll get it next week" replies. Many "next weeks" have passed and still no cheque. What Lane Crawford owes us is small change to them (less than what I'd have to drop for a Chloé top, a Lanvin dress or a couple pairs of the Christian Louboutin heels I've been eyeing). I even joked to the buyer after she called me in for a private sale that she should just let me walk out with the same amount of merchandise to clear their debts faster. The amount I've spent in their stores since December, more than makes up for what they owe us. So, in protest (and it makes me very sad to have to do this), no more spending at Lane Crawford until I receive payment!!

Lost phone: great SQ service, crappy Three service

Just arrived in New Delhi. Managed to lose my phone on the HKG-SIN leg of the flight. I have to say the SQ stewardesses and stewards were wonderful. They practically turned the plane upside down, ripping up seat cushions, to help me find my phone. They took down all my details just in case it turns up. I was looking really dejected while desperately trying to look up the Three customer service number online when three of the SQ staff walked by and gave me a few comforting words. I really appreciate that about SQ, and this is not the first time that their staff have been so attentive. This was the exact opposite experience I got from Three (my mobile service provider). I needed to call them to cancel my phone line and then courier a new sim card to my hotel in Delhi. It took me five calls and at least S$50 of call time to get through to them without being put on hold and then subsequently cut off. In the end, they could not send me the new sim card. I have no idea why other than the fact that they're not willing to pay courier charges, but I would have been more than happy to pay for it. In the end, they suggested I fax them my ID copy and an authorization letter authorizing a friend to pick up my sim card from one of their shops and have the friend courier the sim card to me. So what customer service are they providing?? As soon as I get back, I'm going to switch providers. Fortunately, Imperial concierge is going to help me get a new phone in the morning (they tell me a simple Nokia handset costs the same as renting one for a few days) and local sim card (to which I can forward my calls).

It's weird; I feel so insecure without a mobile phone, especially when travelling. It's like walking around with no cash or credit cards. I am so dependent on mobile communication. Anyway, time to catch a few winks. It's been such a long day alreaady.

American Express Cardholders Beware! They charged me HK$2,100 for what was supposed to be a standard HK$200 fee!!

I am one of these people that hardly ever checks my statements. It just so happened that I had to check the exchange rates charged for several overseas charges that I noticed a 2 March 2006 HK$2,100 charge labelled "Membership Rewards Transfer fee". This first time I saw the charge, I remember thinking it was kind of high, but that perhaps they charged according to the number of points redeemed. I made a mental note to check, but didn't have time and forgot about it. Today, as I was about to transfer more points, I suddenly remembered the high fee and decided to check how the fee is charged. Now, finding this is no easy task in itself. It took me some searching, but you will find the charging scheme on the following pages of their website:
1. Note no. 3 on the Programme Information page in your online account under the Membership Rewards section.
2. When you select Transfer points under the Membership Rewards section within your account, there is a link to their program Terms & Conditions, you will find the charges under section 9.4
3. When you actually fill in the Transfer Points form, right before you submit, under the fourth and last bullet point, right before they make you check the box that says "Yes, I have read and understood the above notice.", it reads: "Administration fee applies. Please refer to the Terms & Conditions". Why can't they just tell you what the fees are right there??

Turns out, the fee is: HK$100 to transfer 120,000 points or below to your preferred mileage program, HK$150 to transfer 120,001 points to 180,000 points and HK$200 to transfer 180,001 points or above. I am already wondering why they charge this transfer fee when they already charge me a HK$240 annual fee to be in the Membership Rewards Triple Plus program on top of the annual fee for the credit card, which I could not actually find what the annual fee was on the website (although it does mention supplementary card fees). Why do they make it so hard to find out what are all the fees they charge you?

So I finally figured out that they overcharged me HK$1,900. The questions that come to mind are:
1. How could this happen when they have an automated system? It's not like there was an extra "0" to the charge. And this is a standard charging scale.
2. Have AMEX overcharged me before on this fee or other fees?
3. Will AMEX overcharge me again?
4. How much have AMEX profitted from overcharging other unsuspecting cardmembers?

So I called up the customer service hotline (2277 2338). I explain the situation to her. She acknowledges that there has been an overcharge and tells me that the difference will be credited to my account. Full stop. End of story. I should be satisfied.

But I'm not satisfied. Because all of my questions above have not been answered. Customer loyalty is based on trust, and I have been a loyal AMEX cardmember for 14 years (since I was in university). But when that trust is broken, as it was in this case, I need reassurance that my trust is not misplaced and that a similar situation will not and cannot happen again. I did not get it from the customer service officer. And, to be honest, I did not expect her to be able to give it to me. So I asked her for the customer service manager or director's name and contact. What she gave me was the name of the Call Centre Manager, a certain Catherine Leung. My problem was not with the Call Centre, so I decided this was not the person I was going to contact. I went through most of AMEX HK's website and could not find the name of a manager in HK. All I found were various hotline numbers, AMEX bank and travel service addresses. By this time, I was feeling a bit frustrated. I went to google and proceeded to google various keyword search combinations of: American Express, Hong Kong, manager, director, managing director, marketing, credit card, etc. About 30-45 minutes later, I found "Anthony Lee, Chief Executive, American Express Hong Kong" in various press reports. So I've written to Mr Anthony Lee and I've addressed the letter to their Cityplaza Four address, which I found on their website, hoping it is the right address. Let's see if he can offer me the answers to the above four questions.

I think what's made me most angry and frustrated in this case is really the fact that "customer service" has been non-existant. Firstly, the call centre employees attitude is that the overcharge fee is simply a harmless, technical glitch and that by refunding the difference, problem is solved and I, the cardmember, should be satisfied. No harm done. There was no acknowledgement that this problem would be raised up to the right person to be fixed. How can a problem be fixed if you don't acknowledge there is a problem in the first place? And then there is the issue that I had to make an effort to look up the fees to actually figure out how much I had been overcharged. On top of that, I had to spend even more time to try and figure out how to bring my case up to the powers that be, those who should know about such problems and are responsible for fixing them.

This last point is actually not unique to AMEX. Other major corporations who claim to offer "customer service" oftentimes just pay lip service. This includes all the major telephone and internet service providers in Hong Kong, airlines, other credit cards and banks. The worst is when they charge you for it and don't deliver. I have so many incompetant AMEX Centurian (Black) card stories, so many dishonest netvigator sales stories. I was actually so angry with Hutchison and Wharf T&T "customer service" (the latter phone service provider switched my phone service without my knowing and before our contract with Hutchision expired, causing us to suffer thousands of "early cancellation" charges), that I wrote to Consumer Council. Consumer Council did nothing. In the meantime, I wasted many months of irrate telephone conversations, never once able to get a manager's name.

I am sick of wasting my time just to make sure I am not cheated by large corporations that get away with things time and time again simply because they make it so difficult for any disgruntled consumer to make a case. And the government stands by and turns a blind eye to all its taxpayers getting cheated day in and day out, doing absolutely nothing.

It's time to end this insanity. I urge everyone not to overlook these things, simply because it wastes your time. Kick up a fuss! We all deserve real service, the service that was promised, the service we signed up and pay for!

Hong Kong: Asia's Polluted City

I miss blue skies and starry skies. Been back for 3 days, and I've been living in a haze, litterally. It's not jet lag; it's that grey film hanging over the city that obstructs visibility and causes all sorts of respiratory tract and sinus irritations. I love living in Hong Kong, but the poor air quality is what will eventually send me packing to live in other parts of the world where I can breathe with ease -- Vancouver immediately comes to mind or even New York City, where most of the days I've spent there have been blue sky days.

At a recent lunch conversation, we were talking about a mutual acquaintance now living in Sydney. One, who was in recent contact with him, reported that he was a happy, health-conscious yoga instructor in his spare time and added, "It's amazing what breathing can do for you!" It's true. I walk around this city and see so many stressed-out, blank, even miserable-looking faces. If only they could spend a day on the ski slopes or a night camping under the star-lit skies! Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain has been the talk of the town even before it won Lee an Oscar for Best Director. The advertising tagline for the movie is: "Everyone has their own Brokeback Mountain". I would say that a large majority of the 7 million people living in Hong Kong have not had the luxury of spending a night in untouched wilderness with the stars to light their path and the sounds of nature to lull them to sleep. For those who want the luxe version of this, they should spend a night sleeping in the star beds at Loisaba in Kenya.

Hong Kong's tourism board should really be more proactive about alleviating the air quality problem. It's Rugby Sevens weekend here. Tons of visitors in town. But I wonder how the players feel about playing and breathing in all this polluted air. And the visual impression of Hong Kong most tourists will depart with will be a skyline hidden in haze. Imagine how much more beautiful Hong Kong would be with its stellar skyline, shimmering in the clear harbour, against a backdrop of verdant, green mountains and clear, blue skies!

Hong Kong pays a lot of lip service to wanting to be "Asia's World City", nurturing more competitive atheletes or even becoming a more creative, innovation-led economy. How can we do any of these things when we struggle so hard, day after day, just to breathe a breath of clean, fresh air and catch a clear glimpse of our inspiring cityscape?

It'll probably be a while before we have clean air again. In the meantime, perhaps Pure Yoga might consider conducting yoga classes in oxygen-enriched yoga studios and Pure Fitness might want to convert its hypoxic cardio room into an oxygen-enriched cardio room.

Today is actually a sunny day, but this is the view from my office in Causeway Bay, with a sliver of a view of Tsim Sha Tsui across what's left of our still-shrinking Victoria Harbour:




Wi-Fi connection used:
netvigator account @ Starbucks: HK$3/10 minutes or HK$18/hour