SBS Transit has explained why it needed to block third-party apps from accessing information from its IRIS system.
It was responding to comments made by Lulin Reutens yesterday on why the move did not make sense. Lulin, by the way, does not own an iPhone and takes the bus occasionally.
In her email yesterday, Ms Tammy Tan, SBS Transit's Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications, explains:
"We have introduced a verification process to our iris information as many third party application developers were accessing our information without prior approval.
"Unfortunately, this could result in issues of information accuracy being provided to end-users since we have no control over these developers. But we recognise that it would be useful to end-users to have access to some of these apps.
"As such, we are currently evaluating several requests by third party application developers and assessing them based on the merits of their proposals.
"Separately, we will also be rolling out an iris app for Android users come this July in addition to the iPhone app that has already been available since April."
Bouquet to SBS Transit for recognising the needs of non-iPhone users and doing something about it.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
SBS blocking of 3rd party apps makes no sense at all
Retiree Lulin Reutens, who takes the bus occasionally and does not have an iPhone, is peeved when she read, in The Straits Times yesterday, SBS Transit's reason for blocking third party apps from accessing information from its IRIS system.
"It makes no sense at all," she says.
In The Straits Times' report, SBS corp comm's Tammy Tan says the move is "to prevent unauthorised use of proprietary information" and that using the information without approval "could result in wrong information released to end users".
In an email to boo-n-bouquet today, Lulin counters: "Commuters will stop using those apps that give incorrect schedules and the reliable ones will gain popularity. This can only be a good thing; why should that be of concern to SBS?
"Anyway, isn't SBS's main job to get as many people to ride their buses as possible? And wouldn't allowing maximum access to their precious IRIS information help to do this?
"And most importantly, wouldn't that be of great service to their customers? Having the information in one's palm would be many times more convenient than the current situation. Apps developers who have asked for permission have been rejected. So what does SBS want?
"I can just hear SBS's collective minds ticking: How dare anyone make money (through ads) from information that SBS generates! Why not make the money ourselves and prevent others from gaining? Let's stop them, although our version is limited only to iPhone users and other versions won't be ready for months. What's the hurry? After all, commuters have managed without accurate schedules for years.
"What money SBS could make from ads in their own apps would be small change compared to the zillions the company makes from commuters. But it would be a great boost to the apps developers."
What Lulin says makes a lot of sense. We can only hope that SBS Transit will come to its senses.
"It makes no sense at all," she says.
In The Straits Times' report, SBS corp comm's Tammy Tan says the move is "to prevent unauthorised use of proprietary information" and that using the information without approval "could result in wrong information released to end users".
In an email to boo-n-bouquet today, Lulin counters: "Commuters will stop using those apps that give incorrect schedules and the reliable ones will gain popularity. This can only be a good thing; why should that be of concern to SBS?
"Anyway, isn't SBS's main job to get as many people to ride their buses as possible? And wouldn't allowing maximum access to their precious IRIS information help to do this?
"And most importantly, wouldn't that be of great service to their customers? Having the information in one's palm would be many times more convenient than the current situation. Apps developers who have asked for permission have been rejected. So what does SBS want?
"I can just hear SBS's collective minds ticking: How dare anyone make money (through ads) from information that SBS generates! Why not make the money ourselves and prevent others from gaining? Let's stop them, although our version is limited only to iPhone users and other versions won't be ready for months. What's the hurry? After all, commuters have managed without accurate schedules for years.
"What money SBS could make from ads in their own apps would be small change compared to the zillions the company makes from commuters. But it would be a great boost to the apps developers."
What Lulin says makes a lot of sense. We can only hope that SBS Transit will come to its senses.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Six months' wait to do a scan
I was surfing The Online Citizen website today when I came across this posting about a woman's experience with the Changi General Hospital which kept postponing her appointment for a scan.
Yvonne Leng says she had gone to a polyclinic in mid-February because of her agonizing backache. She was given an early April date to do a scan at the Changi General Hospital.
However, because of the numerous delays, her appointment was eventually fixed for the end of August.
"More than 6 months to see the doctor, just to do a scan?" she says. "This is ridiculous, unacceptable and simply insane.. I am really mad."
Here's her posting in The Online Citizen on May 11.
Six months’ wait – just to do a scan
"I had gone to a polyclinic in mid-February and requested to do a MRI scan for my chronic backache which gave me agonizing pain and was affecting my sleep and temperament.
" I was first given a slot in early April to see the orthopaedic doctor. I asked for the earliest slot possible and was told that was the earliest date. I had managed my expectations well, knowing it would take 2-3 months before I can see the doctor. So I waited.
"Come March, I was notified that my appointment had been postponed to almost another 2 months later, from early April to end of May instead. I wasn’t given any explanation; just a SMS and a letter that they “regret” to inform me that my appointment had been rescheduled.
"I decided to do the scan at a private hospital and got a slot the very next day. Results were out the following day too. This kind of efficiency costs me S$1,000 excluding the treatment sessions averaging about S$100 per half an hour. I too accepted it, because it was a non-subsidised hospital.
"6th May 2011, one day before election, I received a sms from CGH that my orthopaedic surgery appointment @ Changi General Hospital (CGH) had been once again delayed – for a second time. This time round delayed another 3 months from the already delayed date – end of August.
"More than 6 months to see the doctor, just to do a scan? This is ridiculous, unacceptable and simply insane. I do not actually need to see the doctor anymore, but I am really mad.
"I called the hospital and demanded an explanation. I was really really mad. And to my surprise, the operations manager reverted back to me within 3 hours and offered me an appointment slot that was just a few days later.
"I was very impressed with her professionalism and efficiency. But somehow this made me even more angry. If I were one of the poor, uneducated, non-complaining Singaporeans or one who does not know which channel to go for help, I would have to accept these delays in seeking medical treatment?
"Is it because my condition is not life threatening that I have to accept this kind of unprofessionalism and inefficiency? Or are the poor and weak supposed to have higher threshold for pain and their lives are not as worthy as the rich?
"I have since written to Ministry of Health and the Straits Times forum page. I have yet to hear from them. I am very sure a lot of people are facing the same problem. And as a fellow Singaporean, (not trying to be label as a typical complaining Singaporean) I think I have to voice out and make attempts to rectify issues like this.
"And convey the message that our healthcare system has a lot of room to improve on. I sincerely hope Ms Tin Pei Ling and Mr Khaw Boon Wan – both of whom espoused the affordability and efficiency of our healthcare system – will be able to read this and make sure what needs to be rectified will be rectified."
Yvonne's experience reminded me of my brother's experience a year ago with the Singapore General Hospital which took 68 days to fill up a medical report for an insurance claim --- despite numerous reminders.
My faith in our "first-class" national health services is eroding rather rapidly.
—————–
Yvonne Leng says she had gone to a polyclinic in mid-February because of her agonizing backache. She was given an early April date to do a scan at the Changi General Hospital.
However, because of the numerous delays, her appointment was eventually fixed for the end of August.
"More than 6 months to see the doctor, just to do a scan?" she says. "This is ridiculous, unacceptable and simply insane.. I am really mad."
Here's her posting in The Online Citizen on May 11.
Six months’ wait – just to do a scan
"I had gone to a polyclinic in mid-February and requested to do a MRI scan for my chronic backache which gave me agonizing pain and was affecting my sleep and temperament.
" I was first given a slot in early April to see the orthopaedic doctor. I asked for the earliest slot possible and was told that was the earliest date. I had managed my expectations well, knowing it would take 2-3 months before I can see the doctor. So I waited.
"Come March, I was notified that my appointment had been postponed to almost another 2 months later, from early April to end of May instead. I wasn’t given any explanation; just a SMS and a letter that they “regret” to inform me that my appointment had been rescheduled.
"I decided to do the scan at a private hospital and got a slot the very next day. Results were out the following day too. This kind of efficiency costs me S$1,000 excluding the treatment sessions averaging about S$100 per half an hour. I too accepted it, because it was a non-subsidised hospital.
"6th May 2011, one day before election, I received a sms from CGH that my orthopaedic surgery appointment @ Changi General Hospital (CGH) had been once again delayed – for a second time. This time round delayed another 3 months from the already delayed date – end of August.
"More than 6 months to see the doctor, just to do a scan? This is ridiculous, unacceptable and simply insane. I do not actually need to see the doctor anymore, but I am really mad.
"I called the hospital and demanded an explanation. I was really really mad. And to my surprise, the operations manager reverted back to me within 3 hours and offered me an appointment slot that was just a few days later.
"I was very impressed with her professionalism and efficiency. But somehow this made me even more angry. If I were one of the poor, uneducated, non-complaining Singaporeans or one who does not know which channel to go for help, I would have to accept these delays in seeking medical treatment?
"Is it because my condition is not life threatening that I have to accept this kind of unprofessionalism and inefficiency? Or are the poor and weak supposed to have higher threshold for pain and their lives are not as worthy as the rich?
"I have since written to Ministry of Health and the Straits Times forum page. I have yet to hear from them. I am very sure a lot of people are facing the same problem. And as a fellow Singaporean, (not trying to be label as a typical complaining Singaporean) I think I have to voice out and make attempts to rectify issues like this.
"And convey the message that our healthcare system has a lot of room to improve on. I sincerely hope Ms Tin Pei Ling and Mr Khaw Boon Wan – both of whom espoused the affordability and efficiency of our healthcare system – will be able to read this and make sure what needs to be rectified will be rectified."
Yvonne's experience reminded me of my brother's experience a year ago with the Singapore General Hospital which took 68 days to fill up a medical report for an insurance claim --- despite numerous reminders.
My faith in our "first-class" national health services is eroding rather rapidly.
—————–
Monday, April 11, 2011
Lister talks golf and gives good service at the same time
Of late I have been quite disillusioned by the deteriorating standard of service by Starhub...until I met its agent/technician Lister Wu on Sunday.
I am not saying that the telco service has changed for the better because of Lister's service. But he is the kind of serviceman that you would be lucky to meet once in a while. And Singapore could do with more of such people.
It all started with this TV receiver box called the Hubstation which Starhub gave out to its subscribers about two years ago. At that time, what the telco did not make it clear to me was that this machine was free and that it was my responsbility to look after it.
But having used it for sometime, I must say the Hubstation is a pretty neat machine. Apart from being a receiver, it is also able to record TV programmes easily, certainly much more user friendly than the Panasonic DVD player/recorder which I had bought shortly before Starhub handed out the free gift.
The Hubstation worked well for two years before things started to go wrong. Some channels started to get "scrambled" pictures while others were okay. It puzzled me because I just couldn't understand why there were such inconsistencies.
My calls to Starhub were of little help. Each time, I called 1633 to complain, I would get a variety of explanations. I was also told to try this and that.
Invariably, nothing worked.
The options put to me were: send the Hubstation to an agent in Tampines to get it checked out or get it exchanged for a HD set-top. I refused to do either as I was not sure that the Hubstation was faulty and I did not want a HD box.
To cut the story short, Starhub eventually agreed to send an agent (Lister's colleague) to my house last Tuesday (April 5) to check out the problem. I insisted that I would not pay Starhub for the service as it could not be ascertained who and what was at fault.
Kuek (the technician's name) took more than an hour to track down what he thought was the problem. He said there was just not enough power going through to the TV set. He used a new splitter and, hey presto, the pictures were clear again.
However, my joy of having a clear TV screen lasted just a day. The pixelated pictures came back the following night. That was when Lister Wu made his appearance -- at about 10 p.m. As I was not at home, he convinced my wife that a certain part in the Hubstation had to be changed.
With very little choice, she agreed and parted with $65. Before he left, he assured her that there was a guarantee should anything go wrong again. And it did --- three days later on a Saturday night.
When I told him what had happened, he was prepared to come down to fix the problem. But as it was nearing 11 p.m. I told him that it was better to do it the next day.
Come Sunday afternoon, Lister was promptly at my house. He checked the Hubstation again and was puzzled as to why the signal quality was so low. He climbed up and down, in and out before he stumbled upon the culprit that was causing all the problems -- a faulty splitter located just outside the window.
He promptly got that changed and the signal was back to normal again. Although I had missed my Sunday nap, I was happy watching Lister going about his work. He was pleasant, chatty and was able to explain clearly what exactly went wrong.
An added bonus for me was that he was a golfer and we had a good time yakking about the game. But what really impressed me about Lister was his willingness to get to the root of the problem. He could easily have told me a tall story and I would have swallowed it.
He told me how his father had taught him about the importance of providing good service --- even if he did not make money from it. By doing that, his father explained, he would earn a lot of goodwill and business would flow in naturally after that.
If you are convinced by Lister's professionalism and would like to use his service, here is his contact: Thomson c/o Haw Wah Trading Company, Block 6 Hougang, Avenue 3. Telephone: 62808176.
I am not saying that the telco service has changed for the better because of Lister's service. But he is the kind of serviceman that you would be lucky to meet once in a while. And Singapore could do with more of such people.
It all started with this TV receiver box called the Hubstation which Starhub gave out to its subscribers about two years ago. At that time, what the telco did not make it clear to me was that this machine was free and that it was my responsbility to look after it.
But having used it for sometime, I must say the Hubstation is a pretty neat machine. Apart from being a receiver, it is also able to record TV programmes easily, certainly much more user friendly than the Panasonic DVD player/recorder which I had bought shortly before Starhub handed out the free gift.
The Hubstation worked well for two years before things started to go wrong. Some channels started to get "scrambled" pictures while others were okay. It puzzled me because I just couldn't understand why there were such inconsistencies.
My calls to Starhub were of little help. Each time, I called 1633 to complain, I would get a variety of explanations. I was also told to try this and that.
Invariably, nothing worked.
The options put to me were: send the Hubstation to an agent in Tampines to get it checked out or get it exchanged for a HD set-top. I refused to do either as I was not sure that the Hubstation was faulty and I did not want a HD box.
To cut the story short, Starhub eventually agreed to send an agent (Lister's colleague) to my house last Tuesday (April 5) to check out the problem. I insisted that I would not pay Starhub for the service as it could not be ascertained who and what was at fault.
Kuek (the technician's name) took more than an hour to track down what he thought was the problem. He said there was just not enough power going through to the TV set. He used a new splitter and, hey presto, the pictures were clear again.
However, my joy of having a clear TV screen lasted just a day. The pixelated pictures came back the following night. That was when Lister Wu made his appearance -- at about 10 p.m. As I was not at home, he convinced my wife that a certain part in the Hubstation had to be changed.
With very little choice, she agreed and parted with $65. Before he left, he assured her that there was a guarantee should anything go wrong again. And it did --- three days later on a Saturday night.
When I told him what had happened, he was prepared to come down to fix the problem. But as it was nearing 11 p.m. I told him that it was better to do it the next day.
Come Sunday afternoon, Lister was promptly at my house. He checked the Hubstation again and was puzzled as to why the signal quality was so low. He climbed up and down, in and out before he stumbled upon the culprit that was causing all the problems -- a faulty splitter located just outside the window.
He promptly got that changed and the signal was back to normal again. Although I had missed my Sunday nap, I was happy watching Lister going about his work. He was pleasant, chatty and was able to explain clearly what exactly went wrong.
An added bonus for me was that he was a golfer and we had a good time yakking about the game. But what really impressed me about Lister was his willingness to get to the root of the problem. He could easily have told me a tall story and I would have swallowed it.
He told me how his father had taught him about the importance of providing good service --- even if he did not make money from it. By doing that, his father explained, he would earn a lot of goodwill and business would flow in naturally after that.
If you are convinced by Lister's professionalism and would like to use his service, here is his contact: Thomson c/o Haw Wah Trading Company, Block 6 Hougang, Avenue 3. Telephone: 62808176.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Hermes fails Kelvin and Orchard Road shop goes to his rescue for only $8
The brand Hermes is supposed to represent quality and good quality control. But Kelvin Kok's recent online purchase of a S$1,400 + bracelet from Hermes USA website has left him with a totally different impression.
In his first email to me last week, he said: "In a nutshell, the bracelet arrived but it's totally unwearable. Just imagine a bag without any handles." He wanted to know his rights as a consumer and what was the best course of action to take.
When he contacted Hermes USA after receiving the unwearable bracelet, he was asked to courier it back to them "as they do not ship outside USA so i've to bear the courier fees."
He was also asked to seek the help of Hermes in Singapore. So off he went to two of the outlets -- DFS and Liat Tower.
He said: "DFS's reply was they will take a picture and send it to Paris, HQ for evaluation and may take up to 6 months for a replacement. "However, Liat Tower refused to take the bracelet as I had bought it through their US online site and have to go through the US. So basically they pushed me back to US.
"Liat Tower also said if US refused to help, I will have to bring the item to Liat Tower and they will send it to Paris which will take up to 6 months for the wait. So I spoke to US that same night and they asked me to send it back to them...
"I feel that I should not be limited to whatever rights I have as an overseas buyer as this is clearly a huge oversight on Hermes' QC. They pride themselves as a luxury brand that produces high quality leather goods but this is truly unacceptable. They have bags costing more than 10K and you can imagine what would happen if it came without any handles."
As Kelvin did not explain why the bracelet was not wearable, I was curious. So I emailed him to find out.
When he replied, he surprised me by saying that he had solved the problem -- without the help of either Hermes USA or Singapore.
And the person who came to his rescue? The owner of a leather shop, 310 Woodland, located at the Heeren.
Kelvin said: "He was nice enough to help me out for a measly amount of $8. Being the pro that he is, he managed to knock out a hole in my bracelet in less than 10 mins. Now I'm finally a proud owner of a wearable bracelet."
As to why the bracelet was not wearable, Kelvin said he did not know how to explain the mechanics of the bracelet "as it is pretty complex to wear it". Instead he sent pictures to help me understand.
The first picture below shows the closeup of the metal plate with 4 slots. They were supposed to be punched through so that the pointy thing on left(second picture) can go through it. Kelvin says basically it came as a flat leather and "if you inspect closely, the 4 slots were punched but only halfway into the leather so I suspect it is done using machine."
Hermes has fallen short in its service to Kelvin. It did a lousy QC job in the production of the bracelet and was not very helpful when it was pointed out.
For those of you still interested in the bracelet, Kelvin says it is called "Collier de Chien" and is said to be "the Holy Grail of all fashion bracelets with its price starting from SGD$1400 to SGD$3000."
Well, I am not sure whether Kelvin will be buying another product from Hermes anytime soon.
In his first email to me last week, he said: "In a nutshell, the bracelet arrived but it's totally unwearable. Just imagine a bag without any handles." He wanted to know his rights as a consumer and what was the best course of action to take.
When he contacted Hermes USA after receiving the unwearable bracelet, he was asked to courier it back to them "as they do not ship outside USA so i've to bear the courier fees."
He was also asked to seek the help of Hermes in Singapore. So off he went to two of the outlets -- DFS and Liat Tower.
He said: "DFS's reply was they will take a picture and send it to Paris, HQ for evaluation and may take up to 6 months for a replacement. "However, Liat Tower refused to take the bracelet as I had bought it through their US online site and have to go through the US. So basically they pushed me back to US.
"Liat Tower also said if US refused to help, I will have to bring the item to Liat Tower and they will send it to Paris which will take up to 6 months for the wait. So I spoke to US that same night and they asked me to send it back to them...
"I feel that I should not be limited to whatever rights I have as an overseas buyer as this is clearly a huge oversight on Hermes' QC. They pride themselves as a luxury brand that produces high quality leather goods but this is truly unacceptable. They have bags costing more than 10K and you can imagine what would happen if it came without any handles."
As Kelvin did not explain why the bracelet was not wearable, I was curious. So I emailed him to find out.
When he replied, he surprised me by saying that he had solved the problem -- without the help of either Hermes USA or Singapore.
And the person who came to his rescue? The owner of a leather shop, 310 Woodland, located at the Heeren.
Kelvin said: "He was nice enough to help me out for a measly amount of $8. Being the pro that he is, he managed to knock out a hole in my bracelet in less than 10 mins. Now I'm finally a proud owner of a wearable bracelet."
As to why the bracelet was not wearable, Kelvin said he did not know how to explain the mechanics of the bracelet "as it is pretty complex to wear it". Instead he sent pictures to help me understand.
The first picture below shows the closeup of the metal plate with 4 slots. They were supposed to be punched through so that the pointy thing on left(second picture) can go through it. Kelvin says basically it came as a flat leather and "if you inspect closely, the 4 slots were punched but only halfway into the leather so I suspect it is done using machine."
Hermes has fallen short in its service to Kelvin. It did a lousy QC job in the production of the bracelet and was not very helpful when it was pointed out.
For those of you still interested in the bracelet, Kelvin says it is called "Collier de Chien" and is said to be "the Holy Grail of all fashion bracelets with its price starting from SGD$1400 to SGD$3000."
Well, I am not sure whether Kelvin will be buying another product from Hermes anytime soon.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Anne fires another Canon at Challenger
Here's a new development to the story of Anne Wong's complaint about the "misleading" Challenger's ad in the mainstream media (see earlier post, The Truth in Challenger's Ad), and she has written to inform Case about what she discovered yesterday when she was in Best Denki.
She told Ms Aringi Ng, an officer of Case who is looking into the matter: "I was at Best Denki in Takashimaya/Ngee Ann City yesterday (Sunday, March 20, 2011) on my way to meet my family for lunch and checked on all-in-one printers there.
"The Canon MX876 all-in-one advertised as $399 at the IT Show was selling at Best Denki for $459.
"When I went to Challenger on Friday, March 11, the price quoted to me by the salesman was $499 (the SAME price that the MX876 had been selling for at Challenger - and other stores - for the past few weeks even before the IT Show).
"Thus salt was added to the wound!"
Ms Ng has promised to bring the issue before the Case council. Meanwhile, I have also given the feedback to the Challenger management but so far have not received any acknowledgment.
Guess we will just have to wait....
She told Ms Aringi Ng, an officer of Case who is looking into the matter: "I was at Best Denki in Takashimaya/Ngee Ann City yesterday (Sunday, March 20, 2011) on my way to meet my family for lunch and checked on all-in-one printers there.
"The Canon MX876 all-in-one advertised as $399 at the IT Show was selling at Best Denki for $459.
"When I went to Challenger on Friday, March 11, the price quoted to me by the salesman was $499 (the SAME price that the MX876 had been selling for at Challenger - and other stores - for the past few weeks even before the IT Show).
"Thus salt was added to the wound!"
Ms Ng has promised to bring the issue before the Case council. Meanwhile, I have also given the feedback to the Challenger management but so far have not received any acknowledgment.
Guess we will just have to wait....
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Bouquet for UOB trio
Although I have been a loyal customer of POSB-DBS right through my working life, I have also opened accounts with both OCBC and UOB because of housing loans and other businesses.
I have always believed that no matter what they say, there is really no outstanding bank that can claim to give consistently good service here. This is because one's relationship with one's bank depends very much on the person you have to deal with.
If you are fortunate, you meet up with a helpful chap. If not, you go away shortchanged.
Some will take the trouble to lodge a complain or even write to the media, including this blog, while others will simply bite their tongue and keep silent.
Some of you would have read my experiences with DBS, so I will not bore you with more stories.
However, I thought I should mention my happy experience with three officers from UOB last week when I encountered difficulties while trying my hand at business internet banking for the first time.
I had assumed that I would have no problems as I have done online banking for my personal accounts with the various banks for many years.
But it was not to be. I had to find out the hard way what an administrator of a business online account can or cannot do, aside from my other role as a signatory of the account.
It took me three phone calls over two days before I finally managed to transmit some money to another UOB account to settle some outstanding invoices.
Although I did not quite catch her name, the lady at the UOB Transaction Banking section who answered my phone queries was extremely helpful. She gave me all the information I needed and I hung up feeling confident that I would succeed in my effort.
But I was wrong and had to eat humble pie by calling up the UOB Corporate Call Centre for more help. Again I was fortunate to be assisted by another patient officer who took me through, again, step by step.
After I finished taking his instructions, I logged on immediately as I did not want to forget what I had been told.
I felt pretty good when I finally filled up all that was to be done -- or so I thought. However, strangely, I felt something was still not right.
The next day, I called the person to whom I had transmitted the money to, to ask her whether her account had been credited. Her answer, you've guessed it, was "No".
So it was back to the call centre. Another patient officer told me that I had failed to do one last thing after I had validated the transaction form --- as the approving officer I had to give the go-ahead for the process to start.
It was indeed an eye-opener, but I appreciated the thoroughness of the whole process, plus of course the three helpful and patient UOB officers who gave this greenhorn a basic lesson in business online banking.
A bouquet for the trio!
I have always believed that no matter what they say, there is really no outstanding bank that can claim to give consistently good service here. This is because one's relationship with one's bank depends very much on the person you have to deal with.
If you are fortunate, you meet up with a helpful chap. If not, you go away shortchanged.
Some will take the trouble to lodge a complain or even write to the media, including this blog, while others will simply bite their tongue and keep silent.
Some of you would have read my experiences with DBS, so I will not bore you with more stories.
However, I thought I should mention my happy experience with three officers from UOB last week when I encountered difficulties while trying my hand at business internet banking for the first time.
I had assumed that I would have no problems as I have done online banking for my personal accounts with the various banks for many years.
But it was not to be. I had to find out the hard way what an administrator of a business online account can or cannot do, aside from my other role as a signatory of the account.
It took me three phone calls over two days before I finally managed to transmit some money to another UOB account to settle some outstanding invoices.
Although I did not quite catch her name, the lady at the UOB Transaction Banking section who answered my phone queries was extremely helpful. She gave me all the information I needed and I hung up feeling confident that I would succeed in my effort.
But I was wrong and had to eat humble pie by calling up the UOB Corporate Call Centre for more help. Again I was fortunate to be assisted by another patient officer who took me through, again, step by step.
After I finished taking his instructions, I logged on immediately as I did not want to forget what I had been told.
I felt pretty good when I finally filled up all that was to be done -- or so I thought. However, strangely, I felt something was still not right.
The next day, I called the person to whom I had transmitted the money to, to ask her whether her account had been credited. Her answer, you've guessed it, was "No".
So it was back to the call centre. Another patient officer told me that I had failed to do one last thing after I had validated the transaction form --- as the approving officer I had to give the go-ahead for the process to start.
It was indeed an eye-opener, but I appreciated the thoroughness of the whole process, plus of course the three helpful and patient UOB officers who gave this greenhorn a basic lesson in business online banking.
A bouquet for the trio!
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