Maxis vs Celcom = From the frying pan into the burning fires of HELL

When I was with Maxis, I complained incessantly about the lousy call quality and high call drop rates. So when my Maxis line was terminated due to complicated circumstances, it was time to pick another service provider. I signed up with Celcom without hesitation. Celcom, supposedly the numero uno mobile phone service provider in Malaysia, should be doing something right in order for Malaysians to pick them as the preferred mobile carrier right? WRONG!!

Signing up a new line with Celcom was a sync. Using the new line wasn't. Took me 3 attempts to activate itemised billing whereby I was charged RM3 per month for 3 months but I still did not get my itemised bill. By the 3rd call, I was prepared to tell them to shove the itemised billing and just refund me my RM3 when the customer service person finally got it right. In the first place, why do they need to charge me RM3 for itemised billing? Paper cost? Administrative costs? My next question was, "can I subscribe to e-Billing thereby saving on paper and administrative costs?" The answer: sorry miss, we do not have this service. So can I charge them "inconvenience costs" instead?

My job requires me to travel often. Recently, I went to Singapore and was roaming on my new Celcom line. Imagine the shock when I received my itemised bill for that month. RM0.50  + RM 2.00 roaming fee per sms sent . That's RM2.50 per sms. What the *bleep*! Calling was cheaper than sending text messages.

After the initial shock wore off, I decided to pay off the bill and change my carrier back to Maxis as I was familiar with the call / sms cost structure as I was travelling to Vietnam in a few days time. Better the devil you know, right? WRONG AGAIN!!!

I "ported" my number from Celcom to Maxis 2 days before I was due to fly to Ho Chi Minh. I made sure to ask the counter guy who processed my application to activate international roaming. He said, "sure no problem, miss. As you have international roaming activated with your previous service provider, it will be automatically transferred and activated with Maxis." He gave me a new sim card and told me that it would take 2 working days. That was a Thursday. I was a bit concerned that my account would not activate before I travelled but he assured me that it would be in service by Saturday (the day of my departure). I was sceptical initially but knowing that Maxis is a commercially-driven entity, I'm sure they wouldn't dally to grab.. er.. i mean.. earn more money. Off I went to Ho Chi Minh.

When I arrived at Tan Son Nhat International Airport, I turned on my phone. "Sim card failed to register". Well well what do you know? Maxis was indeed efficient. So with a smiling face, I declined the friendly airport service staff's offer to set me up with a local prepaid card and proceeded to officiate my new Maxis sim card. Everything checked out except there was no service. Hmmm... Strange? What happened to roaming? Maybe Maxis doesn't roam in Vietnam?

To make matters worse, the taxi driver couldn't understand me when I told him where I wanted to go. The plan was for me to tell him and if he couldn't understand, I was to call my friend (whom was hosting me) and have him talk to the cabbie. Since my phone didn't have service, how to call? It was an anxious ride for me as a newbie to Vietnam topped off with a language barrier. Pointing at the complimentary tourist map was no good. Fortunately, the cabbie managed to call for directions and took me to the right place *whew!*

Lucky for me, my host's girlfriend was generous in letting me use her notebook. I YM-ed all my friends whom I knew were on Maxis to ask them to help me find out what happened to my roaming. Thank God for good friends! They all got back to me about the same time saying that I needed to put a RM300 deposit with Maxis in order for them to activate the roaming service. WTF?! I was NOT told this at the counter. Fortunately, getting a prepaid card in Vietnam was a painless encounter. It was cheap and convenient really. For VND60,000 (approximately RM12) I was kitted out with a local Viet sim card as quickly as you can say "sixty thousand vietnamese dong".

Needless to say, when I arrived at LCCT, the first thing I did was to call Maxis customer line to sort out this roaming nonsense. All efforts came to nought. I still had to pay a RM300 deposit and to top it off, need to give them a photocopy of the first page of my passport. What the *bleep* for? "This is our procedure, miss." I was resigned to either having to cough up RM300 for deposit or to wait out 6 months in order for the roaming service to be activated without the deposit *SIGHS!!!*

You would think my ordeal ends here but NO...

The very next day, I received a call from Maxis. A very helpful lady informed me that according to their records, I have complained about poor service and she has called to assist me in resolving my complaint. Long story short, she told me to fax a copy of the first page of my current passport to her and she will activate international roaming for me at no charge. She also told me to call customer service again once I have done so to confirm receipt. Great! This restored my confidence in Maxis somewhat.

I followed her instructions to the T. But when I called customer service to check if my fax had made it through, the chap on the line said that the number which I have faxed to does not exist in Maxis! WTF??!!

Long story short, after numerous calls and countless strands of hair loss to frequent gripping, I finally got my number registered with Maxis and am grappling with the devil I know. God bless! (,")