Entries from April 2006 ↓

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Remote start.

Bad.

Bad, bad, bad.

Call it a feature. I’d like to call it – Tool of Destruction. Like many before today, the remote start feature bundled with some car alarm systems, has caused collateral damage.

My race partner Stan had just called me to inform me that my car, who has been with him since last week (for the R3TAC 2dot6 autocross in Danga Bay which I missed), has slammed into a wall. Stan, apparently remote started the car to ‘warm it up’ while he took the trash out. He then, realised of course, that he had parked it in gear, hence the loud ‘crash’.

Swell.

I am completely speechless. For one, I almost never use the feature due to Captor remote which has a very short range, therefore rendering the remote start feature useless. And number two, I NEVER park the car in gear. That’s so bloody last century.

Needless to say, I’m pretty darn pissed. Sigh.

Futsal night ended in a bit of misery (and lots of pain thrown in for good measure!) on Wednesday night. Just a minute after scoring a goal, while in pursuit of the ball in possession of my Spanish opponent, my left ankle got caught in an awkward position when I changed direction. Heard some unpleasant crackling and popping before I fell to the ground. I laid down grabbing my left leg, stunned for a minute or two. The rest of the playing gang surrounded me, thinking I had leg cramps initially. Needless to say, the pain was excruciating. Ankle swelled up as big as a fist.

I was lifted out of the pitch by my cousin Ivan (who complained I was heavy!) and Hon, my colleague.

The ankle swelled more as I rested. ‘Iced’ it down with a sufficiently chilled can of 100 Plus and some Deep Heat muscle pain relief spray I got hold of. Felt much relief after.

Pain when I got out of bed the next day was a big ‘Owwwwww’, for lack of better word. Stiff as hell, I limped to the loo. I took a day’s off to get my ankle checked out. Paid a visit to my favourite traditional physio in Paramount Garden in the morning. He looked at my ankle then at me and said “Futsal?”. Heh. He knew. “Everyday, I get people coming in here with injury from futsal.”

Crack. A very audible crackling from my ankle quickly translated to a very audible “OWWWWWWW!” from me as the physio popped my ankle back into place. He placed pressure on the painful bits and I could have cried. Painful.

Had him look at my right ankle which was painful due to stress. He laughed. “Both ankles! Hah, young man!”

I limped out of the clinic, both ankles bandaged. Got some stares too.

My ankles were in pain, but I think the thought of missing the R3 Time Attack Challenge 2dot6 2006 over the weekend in Danga Bay, Johor was even more painful. Points scored from the 1st edition R3TAC 1dot 6 in Shah Alam last month put me in a good 4th place in the championships. Partner and fellow TTR team-mate Stanley lies in 5th. I had to pull out, in disappointment, leaving Stan with my car flying the TTR flag.

Sad, but such is life eh?

For my personal broadband connection at home, at least, that holds some truth. You see, since having installed, measureable speeds have been unmeasurably way below expectations. I have tolerated, waited (mostly waited, actually) and waited and tolerated and waited since February for some sort of improvement in service.

Unfortunately for me, and the thousands of other ‘broadband’ victims of monolith Streamyx, nothing has changed. I dread to say that it will never change, but looking at the current situation, perhaps that statement has some truth in it. There was a glimpse of hope on one day – with a recorded 800Kbps, but alas, that was not to be. Like an excited teenager having sex for the first time, it lasted a disappointing minute or two, then plummetted steeply to the very depths of broadband robbery also known as the TM Streamyx service.

“Dear all, please subscribe to streamyx now. I’ve tested it and what they said is true - Jean”

I’m not sure if I should laugh or cry digesting their ad. Firstly, sack the copywriter who wrote that. Secondly, sack your creative agency. Shame on you. Thirdly, sack yourself for telling outright lies about your appalling service. Consequently, sack yourself again for offering appalling service which you lie about using lame, made-up customer testimonials cooked up by your copywriter who works for your creative agency.

TM, if you are even listening - let me tell you something – value is NOT paying RM99 for 1Mbps and getting 200Kbps. Value is NOT getting analogue modem speeds when it should be ‘high-speed broadband’.

For 2 whole months, I’ve listened to your reasons. I am of course, a completely reasonable person. And a tolerant, patient one. I’ve waited for your actions. And waited for your testing and rectifications. I’ve tolerated and kept myself sane throughout despite the constant disconnections and slowpoke speeds. I’ve contained my boiling blood observing broken pings on my Terminal every bloody minute.

But no more. I do not care if you give me a bloody rebate on my next bill, which evidently I refuse to pay. And I do not care if you blame my apartment management for the ‘vertical wiring problem’. And I don’t give a rat’s ass if a third party transmission device is causing RF interruptions and distortions to your wiring in my building. I don’t give a fuck.

You wanted time and I’ve given you ample time to sort things out. Two months. Two whole friggin’ months. How long do you need? Why don’t you tell your customers how long? Rectify the damn problem and stop offering the service to your customers until it gets sorted.

You know what? I’ve had enough. And just like I told TM’s Head of Consumer Sales when I gave them an ultimatum – sort it out by (last) Friday or I’ll cancel my subscription. And an official complaint will be sent to TM CEO, TMNet, the Consumer Assocation and the press.

Cancellation, at this point, is inevitable. I hope the complaint letters will make a difference. If not for me, perhaps for future subscribers and customers. I am appalled that I’ve been made to wait this long and far, only to be disappointed yet again with outcome.

Disgruntled.

Technorati tags: TM, Telekom Malaysia, Streamyx, broadband, TMNet