Complain Queen

I am so hungry... Skipped breakfast this morning cos was rushing out. I think I have to be more disciplined. Cant understand why I am always rushing out of the house these days. Can hear my stomach growling away as I type...

Ok... Now is after lunch, and I have satisfied my poor stomach with a healthy Subway sandwich. And I just went to collect my 'prize' from ACP. I entered a lucky draw in their Feb issue, and yes, now August already then I get notified that I won something. Its a set of La Roche-Posay Whitening products, consisting of a cleanser, a moisturiser, sun block, and an essence. I tried the sunblock and essence on my hands. Not too bad, not fragranced, not oily. Should be worth making the trip down (though its only about 10min from my office hehe).

This morning I called HSBC again. Oh I think I have not mentioned this before so now I shall tell my story again. Goes like this: I applied for a HSBC credit card sometime in July. Got approved and I got it like end July. Was quite happy when I saw the 1-for-1 vouchers they were giving away, which included a Jetstar Bangkok voucher. The promotion works this way - buy a ticket from Jetstar to Bangkok and your companion flies for free, just need to pay the taxes. Have to sms for the voucher to be sent to you. So I happily sent the sms, and got the reply that I will get the voucher within the week. And when I received the voucher, I quickly checked the validity of the voucher so I will not miss the deadline, as I often do. Then I saw the terms and conditions. It says that I have to make the booking by end Sep, and travel by end Oct. Fine. AND if I do not utilize the voucher by end Oct, they will still charge the S$168 (which is what the complimentary ticket is worth) to my card. What the hell!!!! Wah charge me if I dont use the voucher, then why give it in the first place???

Anyway, I quickly checked the price of the tickets to Bangkok. Fuck! The cost for 2 pax to fly to Bangkok will be about S$320, and that is the cost of 1 ticket plus taxes, and the taxes for the complimentary ticket. So ex right? Not worth going by Jetstar. So I called the customer service and told them that I want to cancel the voucher. Conversation went like this:

Me: I want to cancel the Jetstar voucher

H: Did you send us the sms?

Me: Yes

H: Have you received the voucher?

Me: Yes

H: Ma'am, the terms on conditions are very clearly stated that once you send the sms, the voucher cannot be cancelled.

Me: (demonstrating a little of my bitchiness) Where are the terms and conditions? I did not see any before I sent the sms. I only saw it after I got the voucher.

H: Sorry Ma'am, the terms and consitions states that once you send us the sms, and get the reply sms from us, the voucher is already activated.

Me: (A little pissed off already) And if I dont use the voucher?

H: We will charge your credit card S$168.

Me: (Very pissed off now) What do you mean? Why should I be charged if I dont use the voucher??

H: It was stated in the terms and conditions Ma'am.

Me: I dont understand. Why did you guys say it is complimentary, and I get charged? If I have to pay for it, then it is not complimentary, right?

H: .......

Me: I want to cancel the voucher.

H: OK Ma'am. Please hold on. Let me check.

(Puts me on hold)

H: Ma'am, I have to check with our marketing department. Can I get back to you?

Me: When will you get back to me?

H: 2 or 3 days' time.

Me: Ok.

3 days later, no reply from them. I called them again.

Me: Can I speak with H please?

H: Yes ma'am. Sorry, the marketing department has not got back to me yet.

Me: So when can I know the outcome?

H: End of the week.

That was a Wednesday. I waited until Friday. Still no reply. I called them again on Friday.

Me: Can I speak with H?

H: Yes ma'am.

Me: You were supposed to call me back regarding the voucher.

H: Yes Ma'am. Sorry, I am still waiting for marketing to get back to me. This takes some time.

Me: Okaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay. So when can I have an answer?

H: Latest by end of next week.

I decided to hold my cool, and WAIT. End of next week came. No news from them. I called on Monday. H was on leave and the gal who took my call was not sure of what was happening, and asked me to call back the next day, when H was supposed to come back. ok. I wait.

The next day. I called and asked for H again.

Gal: Sorry she is not around.

Me: (sounding real pissed) Not around again?

Gal: She is on leave.

Me: I called yesterday and someone told me she will be back today.

Gal: Yesterday she was on leave. Today I think she is on urgent leave. You are asking about the voucher, Ma'am?

Me: (Not too sure how she knew about the voucher but I am sure they have records somewhere) Yes.

Gal: Ok. Would you like to call back tomorrow when H is back?

Me: NO! I want an answer TODAY.

Gal: Ma'am, sorry I was not the one who handled this case, so I am not sure what happened...

Me: I dont care! I want an answer TODAY. NOW. If you cant help me, ask your manager to come talk to me.

Gal: (Abit nervous now) Ma'am, why dont you tell me what happened and I will see if I can help you.

So I told her the whole story again.

Me: And it has been like 3 weeks? And still no reply from your marketing department?

Gal: Yes Ma'am. Bcos this takes time and...

Me: 3 weeks is not enough time for you to communicate internally?

Gal: Ma'am, its only 2 weeks plus....

Me: Okaaaaaaaaaaaay. 2 weeks and you cannot talk to your marketing people? If that is the case I seriously think you guys have a problem there.

Gal: Ma'am, can you give me half an hour and I will try to call them now.

Me: Ok. Half an hour. And I will expect you to call me in exactly half an hour's time.

Gal: Yes Ma'am.

This time she called me in less than 20 minutes.

Gal: Ma'am, I have called them. They are still looking into this matter. Can you give us a few day's time and we will get back to you?

Me: No, I have waited long enough.

Gal: Ma'am, sorry but we will need more time to check.

Me: Why dont I make things simpler for everyone? Tell me what is my outstanding balance.

She told me the amount.

Me: Ok. I am writing a cheque to clear the balance now. I will send it out by tomorrow. I want you to cancel my card right now.

Gal: Ma'am, if you are worried about the charges....

Me: (Abit shouting at her now) Its NOT about the charges! Its the kind of service I am getting from you people! And I am expecting you to be cancelling my card at this very minute. NOW!

Gal: Ok ma'am.

I hung up the phone. WTF! Is it me or what? I am sure not. What kind of service is this man??? And do they really understand the meaning of complimentary? Makes me wonder alot these days about claiming vouchers and stuff. This morning I called them again just to make sure that my card has been cancelled. No more surprises.

Sometimes I wonder if it has got something to do with age. Bcos I think if it were 5 or 10 years ago, I wouldnt have bothered about them. Just go lor since got the voucher already. Nowadays I just refused to be taken advantage of, or even if it was partly my fault, I would have tried to wriggle out of it. Tell me, is it age?