No Signboard's 'crabby' service

A double birthday celebration at the No Signboard Seafood restaurant in the East Coast two days ago has left Ryan Khan terribly unhappy. He said he would not want to go back there again.
         Here's his story:   "I was there with my family to celebrate my mum's and uncle's birthday. There were eight of us. We were told each small crab was estimated to be 1.1 - 1.2 kg. and medium crabs were 1.6 kg to 1.8kg.
         "So we decided on two small chilli crabs and two small butter crabs among other dishes. The other dishes were alright despite not being up to previous standards.
        "When it came to the crabs, we were only served the chilli crabs. We thought the others would come awhile later. So we got into conversations and were enjoying out chilli crab for at least a good 40 minutes.
        "We were done with the chilli crabs and (still) the butter crabs did not come. So I went to the counter...to ask for the bill and to inform that the butter crabs had not come and I want the order cancelled.
        "About five minutes later, the waiter came up with the butter crabs and the bill.  We had all washed up and I informed the staff that I had already cancelled the crab.
        "I was told 'cannot cancel' as the crabs (were) already cooked. I was forced into paying. I did not want to create a scene to spoil the occassion. I asked them to packed the crabs.
        "I paid with my Mastercard and I did not really check the bill. When I came home, I looked through the bill (and found) I was charged $308 for the crabs alone before taxes.
        "I did my calculations and it came to 1.4kg per crab. I called the restaurant, and I was told each small crab is between 1.1  and 1.4 kg. I argued that it was not what Iwas told initially (1.1-1.2kg).
        "I told the woman I spoke to, how could it be all my crabs weighed 1.4kg. She told me I was served bigger crabs but I was only charged 1.4kg. I found it ridiculous.
        "When I questioned why my crab was served so late, all I was told was 'sorry, we got too many orders'. Is this the kind of service we expect of a top seafood restaurant.
        "The service I got was worst than coffeshop standards. Even in coffeeshops, they would weigh the crabs and indicate the weight in the bill. Whereas, No Signboard bill just syas '1 crab $308'. 
        "The total bill came up to $657.50. I just felt cheated. We pay for good service and good food... I had many good experiences at No Signboard Restaurants years ago.
        "But my last experience at the Geylang outlet and now at the East Coast outlet was so bad. I am not going to ever go back and I want to let others know about my experience here."

Citibank's action upsets Melisa

      After she was given her credit card from Citibank in June, Melisa Tan, 31, decided to get a sub-card from her 61-year-old father who is self-employed.    But her application was rejected. 
     When she called up the bank to find out the reason, the customer service officer who spoke to her refused to tell, saying "they are unable to disclose the reason and there is no department which can help me on this''.
     Melisa was obviously unhappy and decided to return her credit card and to "cancel all services with them."
     On July 11, after she received her statement, she called up customer service again to enquire whether she needed to pay the bills straightaway or
"wait for the final settlement since I had already asked to close my account".
     The officer she spoke to was surprised when Melisa told her that she had already asked for her card to be cancelled.
     Apparently, the bank record did not show any cancellation request.
    Melisa recounted: "I was obviously upset and I asked her whether I had to pay the bills or wait for final settlement.
    "She told me to wait for final settlement.  And so I waited. Then a couple of days ago, I received a call from Citibank regarding my outstanding payment.
     "I told this officer what I was advised to do. He was surprised and told me that if I did not pay I would have to pay interest. So I told him to get his manager to call me as it wasn't my fault.
      ''An hour later, a woman called, saying that she was a senior staff and wanted to explain. I told her that  I only wanted to speak to her manager, someone who could make decisions.
      ''The manager called me an hour later. She told me to make payment by next week as this account was an outstanding account in their system and there would be interest incurred.
      "She said that if I made the payment by next week and called her after that she could help me waive the interest."
      Melisa questioned why she should even pay interest "since I was only heeding their advice."
      Two days ago, the manager called to repeat what she had told Melisa ---  interest would be waived but only after she had made thepayment.
    Citibank had obviously made a mistake by not carrying out Melisa's instruction. For that, it should have apologised first before proceeding to ensure that Melisa paid her bills.
.     

Psst...this is not a Singtel email

A week ago, I posted a story about my friend Lulin's unhappiness with Singnet when she tried to give some feedback to the service provider. She was asked so many questions, including personal ones, that she finally gave up.

I alerted Singtel to my post and yesterday, received an email reply that I thought was so strange.  The writer said the email was not from Singtel but he ended the message with his name, designation and company's name.

His email was to thank me for giving him the feedback and to advise customers on how to guard against online dangers. 

This is his message:

"I refer to your email of 26 July 2012. 

Thank you for your feedback. Please be informed that this email is NOT from SingTel and we recommend that customers do not click on the links or volunteer any information. To safeguard your interests, we recommend that customers ignore emails from unfamiliar sources and exercise caution when providing personal details online and in competitions, lucky draws, surveys and feedback forms. For more information about phishing, please visit http://www.singnet.com.sg/help/phishing.asp    

Please do not hesitate to contact me at +65 6838 4367 (DID), or email feedback@singtel.com if you require further clarification on the content of the above correspondence. I will be glad to help you.  


Yours sincerely    

Dhan Guines (Mr)
Customer Relationship Executive
Customer Management, Consumer Operations
for and on behalf of:
Singapore Telecommunications Limited"