Its common knowledge that the state of customer service in Singapore sucks. People always focus on the frontline industries like F&B, hospitality but I think someone should swing the spotlight on our dearest telcom companies. When the government decide to liberalize the industry and introduce competitors (2 to be exact), one would think that service standards would naturally be used as a competitive advantage. Unfortunately, I dont think any of our telcom companies actually seem to think so.
I recently got into a minor accident in Bali at the beach which resulted in the damage of my blackberry, kindle and my boy's Ipad. Talk about bad luck. The procedure of getting the items fixed/replaced is tedious and upsetting enough but of course the whole situation was exacerbated by our dearest customer service at M1.
Wanted to get another phone (non-blackberry), was promptly informed that I have to continue paying for my blackberry plan until the contract ended. How absurd it is to pay for 2 plans; why the inflexibility? Also enquired if there could be a possible discount given that I only just purchased the phone 6 mths ago. but no, I not only had to buy a phone at retail price (has to be a blackberry mind you) but was also informed that "you can ask another person but you will still get the same answer".
Contrast it to my experience with Apple and Amazon. Apple took back the damaged Ipad and replaced it the next working day with a new one, no questions asked. I chatted with the Amazon staff online and they offered me a 50% discount for a replacement kindle; more importantly the staff were very sympathetic to my situation.
I really cant help but wonder, in a business where the products you offer are largely similar to your competitors ( mobile plans + phones), isnt brand loyalty all the most important to retain and increase your customer base? And to do so, shouldnt great customer service be of utmost priority? Apple and Amazon both offer more unique products but they still found the room to provide their customers with A+ service, these are brands that I will keep going back to; and if they ever start selling mobile plans in Singapore you know thats where everyone will go.
Service delivery and a focus on your customers' need should be the way to do business, if our local companies dont understand this concept, how can we expect them to expand globally? I dont know how much our telcom companies earn but I guess it must be quite a tidy profit that they can afford to behave in this manner.
Btw, I emailed my feedback to the director of customer services at m1. Of course, I didnt get a reply.
