Today's supposed to be our Good Service Day or something like that. But why do we even bother celebrating Good Service Day when we're so far off the mark?

Before I begin ranting and raving, a disclaimer first. I MIGHT be overreacting simply cause I'm having one of those days where everything is going wrong. I mean, I woke up today in a pool sweat after only 4 hours of sleep. Why? Because the electricity supply to my flat had been cut because we didn't pay the bills. Yes, my family is that dysfunctional. No electricity supply = no fans, no lights, no hot showers. Even as I'm typing this in school, Keith is considering buying a couple of candles to use as a temporary light source in the flat. So to my friends reading this, congratulations. Your friend here has become like one of those sad people we read about in The New Paper who don't have lights at night. Which is also why I'm in school this late. I've got a midterm due tomorrow at 10. In addition to that, my eye infection flared up again so I'm walking around with a painful, red right eye. I mean, how many clues do you need before you realise that its going to be one of those days?

13 days ago, I received a gift from a friend. Not Jan, before you guys start accusing me of being a kept man. Another friend. It was an O2 XDA IIs. Needless to say, I was thrilled with the gift. On the very first day, I went out and bought it a screen protector as well as a lens cleaning kit which is normally used for digital cameras. I was in love with that pda/phone. I spent an hour transferring all my contacts over to it and 2 hours painstakingly transferring all my data from my previous PDA over to this new, swanky one.

Remember I mentioned earlier that the PUB had cut off the electricity supply to my flat? Keith and his girlfriend decided to sit downstairs in a bid to escape from the sweltering oven that is my house. After waking up in a pool of sweat and possibly the worst mood I've been in all year, I decided to join them downstairs. So while walking down, I called him to find out exactly where he was sitting. It was a short conversation, lasting no more than 30 seconds. Imagine my absolute horror when I disconnected the call and saw this -


THE SCREEN OF MY BRAND NEW O2 PHONE HAD CRACKED. Now, if i'm not mistaken, this kind of thing only happens if I drop the damn thing or if I had smashed it against something else. So I was stunned to say the least. ALL I DID WAS MAKE A PHONE CALL!!! AND THE SCREEN WAS FINE 30 SECS AGO!

Naturally, my mood got worse. Jan was nice enough to rush down to Dover immediately after work to send me to the O2 service centre at Parco Bugis Junction.

Thats when my day became an all time stinker.

When we got there, we were served by this sweet young girl who was dressed in an official O2 polo tee who listened to what I had to say before going, "Erm.. the LCD screen is cracked. That's not covered under our warranty."

I explained to her (patiently, I might add) that I understood that but the phone was brand new so was there anything we could do about it.

Thats when she added condescendingly - "The screen is very fragile. You cannot press on it too hard."

That's when I lost my cool internally. I glared at her before going, "Yeah, I know. I've used a Palm PDA for over 3 years and I've never ever had any problems with it. All I did was make a phone call. What do you think I was doing with it? Hammering in nails is it?"

She proceeded to tell me that they could repair it, but it would cost me $180.

$180!! For a phone that was bought at $900 just 13 days ago!

I was furious and remember exactly what I said next. "I know you're just doing your job and I don't wanna blow up at you. Could we speak to your manager or superior?"

She hurriedly went into this back room while Jan and I waited there.

For 12 minutes.

After which, she came out with an ah beng looking moron (red t shirt, jeans and gold necklace) and a bespectacled guy in the O2 polo. They huddled behind us discussing the situation for a good 7 minutes before retreating into the back room again.

3 minutes later, the ah beng guy came out and sat down in front of us. He told us that the best he could do was to take the phone in for repairs and offer us a discount by waiving off the labour charge. "How much?", we asked.

His reply was classic.

"$200".

Wait a minute. Earlier, your colleague said that the repair fee was $180. Now you come out and tell me that AFTER waiving off your labour charge, you're now going to charge me $200? Either Jan and I failed english in school or there was another meaning of the word 'discount' that only this guy knew about.

The 2 of us were incensed by then so we started being curt as well.

"How much exactly is this labour cost?"
"Not too sure."
"... Don't you guys have like an exchange policy or something that gives us a period of like 14 days where if there are any faults, we can exchange it for another set?"
"Where got such thing? *snigger* We don't have this kind of policy. $200 is the best that we can do. If you're not happy, then I suggest you contact O2 directly. We're just the service centre."

You bet your life I'm not happy, bugger. (His name is Seng Long by the way. I asked for it so that I have a name to attach to the letters that I've sent out via email.) I've already drafted out a letter which at last count, I've sent to more than 12 agencies and authorities - and I fully expect to send out more.

Am I overreacting here or am I justified in asking for some proper action to be taken by the relevant parties? What other methods can I take in order for me to either get a replacement set or at the very least, a waiver of the repair fee? I repeat - all I did was to make a phone call. I'm more than happy to take a polygraph test if need be. (Pardon me. I've had a damn bad day and I've watched too many episodes of 'Meet My Folks' in the past). Not only wasn't the manager at the O2 Service Centre helpful, he

Let me highlight two other cases -

1) Ipod nano users suing Apple over the fact that the screens get scratched too easily.
2) Today's copy of The New Paper, page 10. If you have a copy of the paper, read it. If not, you guys gotta wait till tomorrow to read it on the electric new paper. Here's a shot of the article anyway


What are my options here? Any anyone out there help with some advice on what I should do next? I'm frankly stunned at how they've handled the entire thing. Is this the premium or importance that O2, an international brand, places on customer care and customer service?

I should have known better than to use a phone from a brand that once sponsored Arsenal.