TM scam, part 3

Azila of Telekom Malaysia called me at 5.30pm yesterday. Yes, there really is a RM68 (not RM60) plan from TM under its Let's Talk package. The call I received last Tuesday was no hoax, not a scam, but a legitimate call from one of TM's staff. Unfortunately, this staff was caught by surprise when I wanted her to speak in English. Azila apologised to me for the abrupt cut in the conversation.

She then explained all about this package to me and how it could benefit me since my monthly telephone bill was higher than RM68.

BUT...I asked her, seeing that many of my calls are made to mobile lines, are you sure that I will not exceed the 30-minute free air-time to mobile lines?

"Well," she said, "if you exceed the 30 minutes, you'll be charged 30 sen to 013/019 numbers and 35 sen to 012/016 numbers." And this will be on a per-minute basis.

Wait a minute, I said, how much are we being charged now if we don't subscribe to this package? Depends but it's 10 sen at the cheapest, she replied.

Thanks but no thanks, I told her. I don't want to subscribe to a package where in the end, I will be paying more than what I'm paying now. I'm not ready.

It's okay, she cooed. When you are ready, you can visit us at any TM Point outlet or give her a call on her number.... (Wow, I have her number with me, wor.... Anybody wants, can ask ME!)

Whew!

But this doesn't answer all my questions satisfactorily. When TM employs staff and put them in the hot seat to face consumers, either to sell their services or attend to customer enquiries, aren't they trained properly beforehand? Isn't there a minimum requirement that they must be able to converse in English? And what about consumers who prefer to speak in Mandarin? Uh...no answer.

And a new point. If TM is trying to sell their new services, shouldn't they do some homework first and tell their customer that YES, you will benefit by signing up? Here is a comparison based on your last three months' bills. Blah, blah, blah. Then I'd be impressed. Don't, lah, wait for me to do my own homework. I won't.

I can still be angry with TM but I'm not. I choose not to be angry. In fact, I'm glad that the whole episode has cleared up and I haven't actually been scammed.