Singtel-Iphone

20100719 update

Saw my refunds in this month's bill: Adj of Bill 120.00-, Adj of iFlexi Lite March to June 2010 156.00-.
Shock to see from the news coverage of the Apple's press conference on Antennagate that Apple really has RF engineers! They even have proper test chambers, and they do "field test, done in vans that drive around various cities".
Case close.

20100624 update

Finally settle the case before the Hearing date.
Singtel agreed to exchanged the iPhone to Samsung Galaxy S, refund me the price difference ($120), refund me another 4 months of subscription (up to June 2010).
Singtel still cannot commit on a date to improve my home location's network coverage. Quote: "we seek you understanding that we are continuously looking into improving the mobile network coverage for our customers and we seek your patience on this matter."
Samsung Galaxy S works OK at my home location, at all the same spots where iPhone fails to work.
My house is open for booking for Apple's RF engineer (if there is really such a person in this world) to test their devices and design (if they are interested in improving their product, which I doubt so). Email for enquiries.

20100616 update

Singtel did not turn up for the consultation. Small Claims Hearing date scheduled on 20100623 10AM.

20100615 update

Tomorrow is the Small Claims Tribunals consultation date. Wish me luck.

20100603 update

Received the Small Claims Tribunals fax asking for payment of lodgment fees.
174 days, and counting.

20100505 update

Totally no response from Singtel since 20100408 (27 days ago).
Mr "Pie" don't even have the authority to write a letter (of any kind) to me on the status, or his proposed solution, for the case.
145 days, and counting.
Time to spend some time to compile my case notes, and spend $15 ($10 for filing, $5 to buy Singtel's Company Profile Doc from the Government) to file a case to Small Claims Tribunal.

20100328 update

Singtel finally had a proposal to resolve the case. Ridiculous proposal. But at least some "progress". See below for details. Singtel proudly requested me to "sell my iphone in the 2nd hand market. It will fetch a good price." when they can't fulfil they service.
I rejected the proposal, and gave Mr "Pie" my reasons and my proposed solutions.
He discredited his colleagues while trying to do "negotiations" with me. Quote: "this Lucas guy is a young chap".
107 days, and counting.

20100317 update

Singtel never get back to me after 1 month (since the last conversation). Called them back and discovered that they actually CLOSED my case!
Have to asked them to re-open the case again.
Latest feedback from their Duty Manager on 20100316: No decision from their coverage dept yet.
I still have to repeat all the stories from start to end every time I talk to them. They should print out my case notes and pass around the whole Customer Service dept as compulsory reading material.
They should be giving me a 4th month free subscription by now. If they drag beyond 20100410, they should give me a 5th month free subscription.
They billed me for my 4th month (Mar-Apr). So in actual, I only got 2 months free where they already promised me 3 months free. Have to call 1688 to claim back my 3rd free month. The 3rd free month will be from Apr-May.
96 days, and counting.

20100205 update

The strategy of getting another duty manager into the case helps. At least my case is upgraded from "nobody cares" to "somebody response to it" again.
Got another 2 months of subscription fee waiver, this will buy Singtel 1 more month of time to make a decision.
Singtel still cannot commit on a time to make a decision (note that this is only decision, not resolution time).
56 days, and counting.

20100202 update

27 days, and 3 more 1688 reminder calls later, NO response from Singtel since their field engineer visit.
53 days since I reported the problem to Singtel.
Maybe it is time to fill up the Small Claims Tribunal forms.

20100107 update

Singtel field engineers don't carry iPhone for their coverage test, showing that they are not serious about iPhone coverage.
Singtel field engineer had a first hand experience of iPhone not usable at my house, even on 2G (3G off).
Read the bottom of the page for details.

20100106 update

No one from Singtel bother to call me for the whole week from 20091229 till 20100102 (they promised a response by 20091229).
Call them again on 20100102, this time threaten to initiate a charge back on my iPhone purchase.
they responded on 20100104, and arranged someone to visit my house on 20100107.
Today, went to Singtel iPhone service center again for a software problem. End up spending 2+ hours there and experience the iPhone "water damage" scam. Full story at the iPhone Water Damage Scam page

20091229 update

Singtel sent an SMS on 20091224 12PM (5 days overdue). "Optimization done for your home mobile signal coverage; slide improvement."
Reached home on 20091228 night. As expected, no visible improvements. My 1st call using the iPhone dropped after 10 second! My dad says no one from Singtel came to our house during my absence.
Call the 1688 help line again on 20091228 night. Singtel assured me that this Param guy will call me tomorrow (20091229). Overdue again. Still waiting for his call.

20091219 update

As expected, Singtel's official response after 5 days is "we're still waiting for a response from the network team, we don't know when they will give a response". Quote Rosman (Singtel Call Center Manager): "We always treat coverage issues very seriously". So it is official that Singtel do very serious work by ignoring it for 10 days (and counting).

Feedback

Some feedback from the readers:

iPhone (service provider unknown) has network problem in his office (Alexandra area), all other colleagues has no problem using other phones.
M1 iPhone no Internet when the MRT is moving, he has acquired the habit to only click on links or change page when the train is at a station.
Singtel data network down from 2009/12/17 9am to 4pm. I didn't noticed it because I already switched back to my old Sony Erisson phone. http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=2603827

Web resources:

NYTimes posted an article on 2009/12/12, blaming iPhone’s “air interface” for AT&T's network problem. Cringely speculated that AT&T quietly took the blame because Apple and Steve Jobs imposed a gag order on AT&T. As what I've said again and again in this page, there shouldn't be any blame game. AT&T sold iPhone service to their subscribers, they should improve their network to a level good enough for iPhone usage.
CNET UK award iPhone the worst phone in the world. "It drops calls, fails to connect and doesn't even ring sometimes — not for everyone, but more often than any other phone we're currently using.”, "although the iPhone is the worst phone in the world, it's the best handheld computer there is".

You can send your comments and feedback to

Summary

Bought iPhone service (iPhone + iFlexi Lite 24 months contract) with Singtel
My home location has weak signal from Singtel. Enough for any other phone but not iPhone.
Singtel refused to believe me.
Singtel always blame the SIM card for any issue. It is the cheapest thing to replace. And you need to make a trip down to their shop.
I'm too kind to Singtel. I spent more than 5 hours on the phone. Wasted 3 trips to visit them personally, another 10 hours, excluding traveling expenses.
I've obediently followed all their instructions.
Since Singtel cannot provide me with a reasonable iPhone service, I very kindly offered to return the iPhone and void the contract. I'll get another phone, forget about this episode, I'll still be a happy Singtel subscriber. Singtel refused, insist on charging me a $800 penalty if I do so.
Singtel promised a reply by 19/12/2009.

Lessons learned (hope you learn them too)

iPhone sucks as a phone. Reception is much worst than any other phone.
You should not suffer silently from this defect. If you're a iPhone subscriber and you found any spot you frequent (e.g. your home, office, etc) has non-usable signal, lodge a complain.
Don't stupidly waste time follow all their "change SIM card" "reset this" "reset that" antics.
Tell them you read from the Internet that iPhone reception is lousy. Someone changed 3 phones and 2 SIM cards and get the same result. Since they are providing you a iPhone service, they should boost their signal everywhere for iPhone.
when calling the 1688 hotline, courtesy and kindness doesn't help. I've wasted 5 hours being kind to them. Don't make the same mistake.
call center manager will only attend to you when you raise your voice. Practice on raising your voice.
Throwing vulgarities may help, but I don't like that, and please don't try it, it's bad karma for yourself. I didn't try that even when I lost my temper and raised my voice.
Singtel don't trust their customers. They think that all their customers are out to cheat them.
Singtel thinks that all their customers are idiots. Their help desk only know how to instruct people to reset their phone and change their SIM card.

How you can help

If you're kind enough to spare some of your time, check out this page again next week.
I'll be overseas from 21/12/2009 till 28/12/2009.
Singtel promised a reply by 19/12/2009. Singtel already broke 2 promises on getting back to me.
If on next week, I didn't post their reply, you can help by calling 1688. Use a landline to call, don't waste your handphone battery. Make sure your landline phone has speaker phone feature. The "thank you for waiting" is around 10 minutes.
I'll release the phone number to inquire on if needed.
tell them: "I read from the Internet about this phone number's case hor, the owner is overseas this week so don't call him. Otherwise he'll need to pay expensive roaming charges. You tell me the network check result lah, then I can email him."
If enough of you call, maybe Singtel will be more serious in providing better network coverage. Just maybe.

Click on photo to view large images


iPhone Singtel network lost	Searching... for Singtel Network	Network lost...	Connected to 3G at 1 bar. Likely to lose network when a call arrive.

20091210 (Thursday)

Got the iPhone on 20091210. My MIO plan contract just past 1 year, so went to Singtel shop Bugis Junction to renew contract, and also to recontract my mobile phone line to get another phone. Reached the Singtel shop at Bugis at 9:50am, it was closed. Saw a long queue outside the M1 shop which is just opposite the Singtel shop. M1 and Starhub just launched their iPhone packages yesterday (20091209), there was a mini price war going on, everyone was crazy about getting an iPhone. Then saw a poster at the Singtel shop with the new price plans for iPhone. Singtel has actually matched the Internet bandwidth with M1 and Starhub: 12GB/month, any extra charge capped at $30.

With the new 12GB/month Internet bandwidth, it becomes reasonable to use a Internet capable mobile phone. The previous 500MB/month iPhone plans by Singtel is just a trap to over-charge you with ridiculous penalties for any extra bandwidth that you accidentally used.

Last year, I bought a MWG Zinc II, which is a Windows Mobile 6.1 phone. I don't even dare to put my Singtel SIM card in that phone. Only used it with the Starhub Mobile Broadband SIM card (no phone function) which I unsubscribed in Oct 2009.

So on the spot, I decided to get the iPhone with the new iFlexi lite plan. Paid $518 for the phone, the monthly charge is about $15 more than my current plan (after 30% MIO Home mobile discount).

I became a happy iPhone subscriber.

Until I went back home and fire up the phone.

One of the first thing I try is to click on the Apps Store. The page came out after a few seconds, the thumbnail pictures loads slowly one by one. Then I noticed that the network signal bar (at the top left corner) hovers between 1 bar, 2 bar, then sometimes goes to "Searching...". There was a blue circle besides the Singtel word, it sometimes change to "3G", sometimes becomes a solid blue circle, sometimes becomes a donut blue circle, sometimes disappears.

I thought: why the signal is so weak? I usually have 3 to 4 bar on my Sony Ericsson phone at the same location. I walked to the kitchen balcony (which is facing the main road), the signal bar slowly change to full 5 bars, the blue circle becomes "3G", surfing the Apps Store was fast and smooth. I walk back to my living room, signal bar turn back to 1 bar, "3G" disappear.

Concluded that it is the network signal problem. The iPhone needs a strong signal, much stronger than what the other phones need, to operate properly.

Since it is already pass midnight, I decided to call the help line the next day.


Same location, iPhone network lost, Sony Ericsson still going strong.	Same location, iPhone at 1 bar, Sony Ericsson at 3 bars.

20091211 (Friday)

Call the Singtel Help Line 1626 while I am having breakfast at Bedok Central. After about 10 minutes of "please hold the line, our customer care officer will attend to you soon", a lady answer the phone. Told her about my problem, she asked me to place my SIM card into the iphone, and ask for another number to call me. She needs to give instruction on the other phone, while I follow them to change the iPhone's settings.

I followed the instructions to reset the Network settings, then change the AFN to "internet" (the default setting is eIdeas). She said this will help my problem. I tried some Internet tests, go to Yahoo web site, everything goes fast and smooth since the signal strength is very good at Bedok Central. Told her that I need to go back to my house to test if this new setting works.

At night, back home, the network signal bar on the iPhone did not improve. All the "Network error" pop up, "Network lost" pop up, "Searching...", "NO CARRIER" keeps coming out when I try to use the phone.


iPhone 1 bar, cannot connect to Apps Store.	Network Lost...	1 bar, no blue circle or 3G, cannot connect to Apps Store.

20091212 (Saturday)

Call the Singtel Help Line 1626 again in the morning. Same 10+ min of "please hold the line, our customer care officer will attend to you soon". Another lady answered the call. Told her about the problem, repeating the "all the other phones: Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, Motorola phones works at the same location, but not the iPhone" again and again. She ask me to reset the Network setting. So the "AFN: Internet" setting is just a gimmick to trick the caller and actually doesn't improves anything. (Actually, after changing to "AFN: Internet", you cannot go to the Singtel eIdeas web site, and lose the ability to use the Singtel AMPed Application in iPhone)

After asking me to reset this, reset that, she start to blame on my SIM card "Have you changed your SIM card" and the phone "You can go to Comcenter Hello shop Counter 27 and 28 to see what they can do. Counter 27 and 28 is the Apple Care counters, no need to queue up."

In the afternoon, we went to the City Hall area. So I decided to visit the Singtel Comcenter Hello shop Apple Care counters. Reached the shop, go to the counter 27 and 28, saw 2 guys there. Approach the guy, he told me that I need to queue up at the information counter to get a ticket. At the information counter, there are 2 queues: 1 is the standard queue, another is the special "iPhone servicing" queue. This special "iPhone servicing" queue is actually longer than the normal queue. The queue counter guy has a torch light, and he shines it at the top and bottom of each iPhone handed to him and stare at it for a few seconds, before he talks to the customer.

When my turn finally came, I repeat the "all the other phones: Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, Motorola phones works at the same location, but not the iPhone" again. The first thing he ask is "Have you change your SIM card?" Then I repeat the "all the other phones: Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, Motorola phones works at the same location using this SIM card, but not the iPhone" again. He gave me a queue number.

Waited half an hour for my queue. The Counter 27 servicing guy code name "Jx" plug my phone into his PC, probably to check the serial numbers and whether the phone software has been tempered ("Jail Breaked") with. Again, he asked me to change the SIM card, after I repeat the story of all the phones works. He replace it with a refurbished iPhone handset, taken from a brown box. Says "since you say there is a network problem, for the benefit of doubt, I change the set, it is not likely that 2 sets have the same problem. If the problem still exist, contact your service provider, which is Singtel right?". I go "Huh? You're singtel right?" He says "I'm iPhone support, not singtel." Wow.

With the "new" set, went back home, same network problem. Decide to take photos and be more organized in documenting my adventures.

20091213 (Sunday)

Morning, call singtel 1688.

1:30min	finish navigating the "Please Press 1" routines. Waited for 10'30"
12:00 min	a lady pick up the call. Say the same thing to her. She ask me to hold while she transfer me to technical support. Waited 5 minutes
17:00 min	someone picked up the call. Repeat everything again because she say she don't have my records. Ask me to hook phone to computer and use itunes to back up the phone. Once the phone is connected by the USB wire, the signal bar goes to 2 bars. Then try to call out, can call out, try to receive call, can receive. Then she say it is the SIM card problem, ask me to go singtel shop to replace the SIM card. I remove the USB cable, and the network signal goes back to 0 bar immediately. I flare up and start asking how many times I need to change my SIM cards and iPhones, she hold the line, and ask her superior. (41min)
41:00 min	Please hold..... (for 11 minutes)
52:00 min	She answered the call, says I need to go to Comcenter to look for the coverage dept. I told them that it is stupid for me to go to Comcenter to test coverage. "The coverage problem is at my home, not at Comcenter. I spent $1000 and got a phone that does not work. And I have to spend days to work with your people doing stupid tests that is not related to the problem I face. You should ask your coverage people to take a container load of iPhone to test at my place, and give me one that works." She ask me to check the iphone firmware version again. This time, I don't need to consult my iPhone. It comes straight from my memory: 3.1.2 (7D11).
59:00 min	She said "hold on, i go check with the coverage department". Waited for 12 minutes
71:00 min	A new CSO handle my call, ask me my phone number and NRIC again. Told her I have been on the phone for more than 1 hour, why my records are not there? She said she don't have my records. So i ask her to hand the phone back to the original CSO. The original CSO says that the new CSO is actually from the coverage dept. Then she ask me to hold the line again.
76:00 min	still waiting
78:00 min	She asked me to drop the call. She'll call back later.

At 3:03PM Singtel called. A lady asked if my address is XXX Bedok North. I was shocked. The Bedok North address was my old house. I've moved out of there more than 8 years ago. And all these years, I have been receiving Singtel bills at my new house. Asked her if she is really from Singtel, she answered that "She is in KL". Wow. So Singtel's call center is not based in India. They're from KL! After I gave her my home address (see, I'm so kind. I should have just ask her to check my records), she said "I need to check this address for coverage issue. Once I am done I'll give you a call again." The call ends in 4 min.

Reached Comcenter Hello shop around 6pm. The iPhone servicing queue is about the same length as the normal queue. Decided to queue up for both. Repeat the "all the other phones: Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, Motorola phones works at the same location, but not the iPhone" story twice, get 2 queue tickets.

After 20 min, the iPhone queue came first. A lady managing the counter. Repeat the "all the other phones: Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, Motorola phones works at the same location, but not the iPhone" story. She took out a refurbished iPhone from a brown box, activate the phone with my SIM card and pass it to me.

Another 20 min, the Singtel queue arrive. A guy issue me a new SIM card, says that it will take 1 working day to activate. I asked him about the coverage test, he said he cannot do anything at his counter, you have to call 1626. Told him that will waste another 1 hour of my time. He proudly claim that "IN FACT our help line NEVER exceed 10 minutes in response time".

Took the "new" iPhone (3rd set) and new SIM card (2nd card) home. This time, I didn't even bother to load my address book from the SIM card to the iPhone. Fire up the phone, same problem. Took some pictures, go to sleep.

20091214 (Monday):

9AM call Singtel 1688 again.

1 min	finish navigating the "Please Press 1" routines. Waited for 5 minutes
6 min	A lady pick up the phone. Tired of repeating the same old story, I immediately asked her to read up my case from her screen.
7 min	She said: "please hold the line."
9 min	She said the case was still pending. I asked her how long I need to wait. She said she don't know. I flare up a bit, she promised they'll call back before 12 noon.

12 noon came and go, no calls from Singtel.

1:20PM call Singtel 1688 again.

1 min	finish navigating the "Please Press 1" routines. Waited for 11 minutes
12 min	A lady pick up call. Tired of repeating the same old story, I immediately asked her to read up my case from her screen.
15 min	She said: "please hold the line". Waited for 6 minutes.
21 min	A guy pick up call. Ask same questions again, and I have to repeat everything again.
26 min	He said: "please hold the line".
30 min	He tell me to reset my phone. I told him I have tried all their stupid tricks for a lot of times, I have reset the phones for a lot of times. For the 2 exchanged sets, I didn't do any setting after the Singtel people passed it to me, they're still in the original settings.
35 min	He said he will call back in 1 hours time.

As usual, 2 hours gone, no calls from Singtel.

3:30PM Bugis Junction Hello shop visit. Reached the store, saw a long queue, walk in and told a guy that I want to return the iPhone and cancel my contract, he told me to join the queue. Waited 10 minutes in the queue, talk to front desk guy "Lucas". Asked him to read up on my case. After reading, he said I cannot return the phone and cancel contract. Some quotes: "Have you get any authorization from the call center manager?" (Oh, so the call center manager is the person I should look for.) "Nobody in this shop can authorize a weaver of $800 contract penalty.", "We need to wait for the report from the network department". Told him to record down my visit and intention of returning the phone into the system. He said he will do it.

7PM call singtel 1688.

1 min	finish navigating the "Please Press 1" routines.
8:30 min	A lady pick up the call. Asked her to read about my case. She reported that my talk with lucas on returning my phone is recorded.
10:30 min	I request to talk to call center manager.
10:55 min	She said: "please hold the line."
18:00 min	She said that the call center manager DON'T WANT to talk to me. Ask me if I have any other matters. I flare up and start to talk in a strong voice: "You record down on your system: I feel that Singtel thinks that I am a liar. Singtel does not trust me. Singtel treats me like a idiot." She asked: "Why do you said that?" I carried on: "Just write them down! I've followed all the stupid instructions that you all asked me to do. I wasted so much time on the phone. I have changed 3 phones and 2 SIM cards...."
20:00 min	She said: "Please hold, I check with my manager"
22:00 min	A guy pick up the call. He said that his name is Rosman, he is the duty manager. I asked for his NRIC, he refused to give. It is so unfair. I always need to provide my NRIC number before I can talk to them, but he can just refuse to provide his NRIC number! He still says the same thing: he needs a report from the network coverage people before I can do anything. Told him that I read from the news about the Ajunied Car Mart where a whole building of workers complain about Singtel network issues, and they took more than 3 months to resolve (it is actually the Autobay@Kaki Bukit. http://comment.straitstimes.com/showthread.php?t=25480 ). He assured me that he will ask them to make my case a priority, and get a response within 3-5 working days. Then I told him that he should give me 3 months of fee weaver. He promised me a 1 month free, on the 2nd billing cycle.
29:00 min	Call end.

20091219 (Saturday):

A lady Singtel duty manager called around 5:30pm. She said "Someone asked me to called you. What is your problem?" Huh. This is the type of managers we have in our GLC. Why she didn't read my case notes before calling me?

I was playing with my daughter when the call came, so I didn't want to scare my daughter. Told her that I am expecting a reply for my network issue. She said that from the records, their network team has not response yet. Asked her how long we have to wait, she said don't know, "the network team is from another department, they have no control over them". Then she said she'll be on leave the next week, she'll get Rosman to update me. Told her I'll be overseas also, ask Rosman to SMS me, she said ok.

20091224 (Thursday):

Was overseas, got an SMS from Singtel at 12 noon:

Singtel:Hi Mr.Ong Optimization done for your home mobile signal coverage; slide improvement. Will contact you next week for further follow up. Thx (Param)

20091228 (Monday):

Returned home after a 1 week road trip. Turned on iPhone and found that the signal strength is still the same. Singtel 1 bar, go to Apps Store, the page loads after a few seconds, the thumbnails can't even load up. Click on a link, the "Cannot connect to the App Store" white screen appears. Try the 1st call out, call drop after 10 seconds!

Call 1688 at 11:15PM.

1:00 min	finish navigating the "Please Press 1" routines.
19:15 min	still waiting "i know that we can all be friend"
20:15 min	a guy pick up the call. I have to repeat the summary of the case, and ask him to read up the case notes first
22:05 min	He requested: "can I place you on hold".
26:25 min	Resume talking, ask me to read out the SMS message. He assured me that he will get this Param guy to call me tomorrow.
30:49 min	call end

20091229 (Tuesday):

As usual, no one from Singtel call me. I have lost count of how many times Singtel broke their promises.

The "fun" fact of these broken promises are that every deadline is provided voluntarily by Singtel. I have never told anyone that "you must give me a reply by X days". I always ask "when can I get a response/report", and they volunteer a timing, and I say ok. I didn't even try to negotiate for an earlier time.

So they have absolutely no excuse for not responding on time.

20100102 (Saturday):

A new year, and time to start chasing for an outcome again.

At 2pm, call the 1688 help line again.

1 min	finish navigating the "Please Press 1" routines.
5:00 min	A lady pick up the call. Asked her to read about my case. She says that they are still waiting for the report from the site engineers. Giving excuses about people are going for holiday, cannot contact them for the past few days. Hopefully, I'll be able to get a response by Monday.
7:00 min	I told Singtel that if by Tuesday I didn't get a call, I'll call my credit card bank to ask for a charge back for my iPhone purchase. The lady assures me that someone will definitely call me by Monday.
8:43 min	Call end

20100104 (Monday):

At 5:13PM, Richmond from Singtel iPhone technical support called me. He told me that their network team already did some "enhancement" and ask me how is it now. I repeat that it is still the same No Carrier, Searching problems.

He says that he will report this to the network team again, and I can get an outcome in 3-5 working days.

I ask him whether I should go ahead to initiate a charge back on my credit card bill for the iPhone purchase, he says he will request for a 1 month fee waiver. So I should be getting 2 months fee waiver altogether by now.

20100105 (Tuesday):

At 4:36PM, this Richmond guy call again. This time, he says that the network people will visit my house on 20100107 Thursday 2-4PM. I asked him whether he can schedule it in a morning, he sounds reluctant, saying that he will need to get back to them, and it will cause more delays. I agree, and confirm the Thursday 2-4PM timing for their visit.

20100107 (Thursday):

The Singtel coverage guy came at 2PM sharp.

Once in the house, he took out 7 handphones and a laptop: 2 nokia, 1 HTC, 3 large phones that looks like those old style walkie talkie, 1 sony-errisson to connect to his laptop running Ericsson software. All his phones running special software that display lines of numbers indicating the signal strengths and network activities.

I asked him why he never use an iPhone, he jokingly says he will get scolding for that. Anyway, since their field people don't carry an iPhone for coverage test, it means that Singtel is not serious about iPhone coverage.

He did his tests on 3 locations in my house: middle of living room, living room window facing the south, and bedroom facing north. Recording the numbers from each phone at each location.

He says that at my house, the 3G is very bad, but 2G is ok. I told him for iPhone, 2G is also not usable. He is doubtful about this, so I switch the iPhone setting to 2G only (off 3G),

plug in my SIM card into the iPhone. The phone says Singtel (without 3G) with 2 bars. I click on Apps Store, the turning circle turn for 10+ seconds, then the "Cannot connect to Apps Store" error appears. Proving that even when iPhone shows 2 bar, no actual data transfer can go through. He took over the phone, go to the Info page, and noted down the OS and firmware versions of the phone. Then he noticed that the signal status bar shows "NO CARRIER".

Asked him when I can get an reply, he said next week.

He left the house at 3:03PM.

20100113 (Wednesday):

Richmond called again. He asked: "What is the conclusion for the network guy visit"! Wow. Are these people working in the same company? Singtel should sack the whole call center and support team. The staff don't know how to communicate with each other, and they call themselves a Communications company?

I asked him to check with the network guy and revert to me their findings. He said ok.

20100122 (Friday) 11:45AM:

No response for 9 days!

Call the 1688 again.

1 min	finish navigating the "Please Press 1" routines.
1min	immediate response!! A guy answer before the "please hold ..." sentence finished!! He checked the case notes, no reply from the network people. Then I asked him to confirmed that my feb-march bill is also waived off, he said no. Told him Richmond said I'll get another month free. Also, if they don't have an answer yet, they should give me 2 or 3 more months free while I wait.
4:42min	The guy said he will ask Richmond to call me back.

20100130 (Saturday) 1034PM:

No response for another 8 days!

Call the 1688 again.

1min	navigate selection
2min	Someone answered the call. Asked her to go through my case. She said: "let me check any remarks."
3min	She asked: "can i put you on hold."
5min	She said: "There is no response from this Mr Rich yet. I'll send a urgent request to this Mr Rich."
7min	call end.

20100202 (Tuesday) 8:40PM

Still no response.

Call the 1688 again.

1min	navigate selection
2min	I asked: "Can i speak to Rosman." He asked for my phone number.
3min	He said: "Can i put you on hold?" Elevator music starts.
5min	He said: "I'll ask this guy to call you back as soon as possible. Possibly by tomorrow."
5min	call end.

20100202 (Tuesday) 9:04PM

Realized that I should make them at least confirm a few months of free subscription, while I wait for their decision.

Call 1688 again.

1min	Navigate selection
2min	I asked: "can i speak to Duty Manager?" She ask for my phone number.
3min	She said: "Can i put you on hold?" Elevator music start.
6min	She asked: "Are you looking for Mr Rich?" I said: "Since he cannot give me a response. I can talk to any duty manager."
6:55min	She asked: "Ok, please hold". Elevator music start.
9:30min	Julie, senior customer care officer, answered the call. She asked a few questions, I have to repeat all the history again. She promise me she'll call me again tomorrow.
14 min	call end.

20100203 (Wednesday) 2:30PM

Julie, senior customer care officer, called me. Another round of repeating all the history. She asked for more time for them to make a decision. She said someone will call me by this Friday.

20100205 (Friday) 11:36AM

Tay, Duty Manager, called. He talked about IDA requirement of 95% coverage, which is not my problem. I am not representing IDA to find fault on Singtel. He says my case is strange, he will file a request to talk to the coverage dept again.

He will request for 2 months fee waiver. I asked him on when Singtel can provide a decision to my case, he say he cannot commit to a date for decision. Told him that this 2 months fee waiver is enough to buy them 1 month of extra time (1 month is for the current month which is ending soon, 1 month is for the next month ending early March), if they still can't make a decision by next month, he will need to give more months of fee waiver.

20100305 (Friday) 10:45AM

No reply from Singtel yet. Time to call them to get more free subscription months.

1min	navigate selection
2min	A lady answered the call. I asked: "Mr Tay please". She repled: "I'll check if he is around, please wait. on hold."
5min	She asked: "What was your call regarding?" I asked: "I am calling regarding my iPhone coverage case. Is my case was closed already." She said: "actually yes." I said: "It shouldn't be closed. can you re-open it?"
7min	She said: "I'll see what i can do. please hold."
10min	She said: "Tay will call back to me by today."
10:35	Call end

20100305 (Friday) 11:20AM

Tay called me.

He said that they don't have the policy of giving out free subscriptions month after month.

He said he has escalate the issue to the coverage dept, but haven't receive any answer.

I reminded him that

Singtel's policy for Mio TV installation is very clear: no coverage means no installation.
I've offered to returned the iphone within the 1st week of getting the phone
It is Singtel that drag his feet and delay month after month.
It doesn't make sense if Singtel just give me 3 months free, and drag the issue for 1 or 2 years.
he should probably charge my subsciption to their coverage dept

He say he will follow up with the coverage dept and update me by next Friday.

20100316 (Tuesday) 10:28AM

"Next friday" passed for 3 days, Tay never called.

Time to call 1688 again.

1min	navigate selection
2min	Someone pick up the call. I asked: "Tay please." She said immediately: "I'll get him to call you back shortly. Thank you."
2:30min	Call End

20100316 (Tuesday) 3:40PM

Tay called me.

He remembered that he is supposed to call me by 20100312.

He says that the coverage dept has no plans on improving the coverage of my home location, so he has no date on how my problem will be resolved.

I have to repeat the whole story again to him.

He says that he has problem keep giving me free subscription months. I reminded him that I offered to resolve the case, by returning the iPhone, within 5 days of my purchase. It is Singtel that rejects this resolution and keeps dragging.

I told him that until Singtel has a conclusion on the case, I expect them to keep giving me monthly free subscription.

He say he will call me back in 1 or 2 days time.

20100316 (Tuesday) 20:00PM

I received my Singtel bill for March. They charge me for 10 Mar to 9 Apr subscription.
So in total I only get 2 months free.

Rosman promised me 1 month free on 20091214, Tay promised me 2 months free on 20100205.

They billed me for 10 Dec - 9 Jan.
The bill for 10 Jan - 9 Feb, 10 Feb - 9 Mar are free.
They should not be charging me for 10 Mar to 9 Apr.

20100317 (Wednesday) 10:30AM

I called 1688 again to clarify the billing.

1min	navigate selection. go to the billing enquiry.
2min	A lady pick up the call. Her name is Kalai. I told the lady that 2 duty managers give me a total 3 months free, but I only got 2 months. The 10 Mar to 9 Apr charge is a wrong billing.
2:30min	She said: "Let me check the conversations. Please Hold."
5min	She get back on the line and said that I should only have 2 months free. I provided her with the dates and time of my conversations with Rosman and Tay. She check the bills and the conversations again. She mumbled some words which seems like she found a double free month for the month of Jan. She says she'll provide the 3rd free month on the 10 Apr - 9 May period.
6min	Call end.

20100323 (Tuesday) 10:30AM

As expected, Singtel broke their promise for "call me back in 1 or 2 days time".

Another week gone.

Call 1688 to check whether Singtel had made any progress in the case.

1min	navigate selection
2min	An Indian lady pick up the call. I asked: "Mr Tay please." After some time, she replied: "Mr Tay from which dept? Have you talk to him before?" I said: "Mr Tay should be 1 of your duty managers. Can you refer to my case notes to see which Mr Tay?" After some time, she said: "Oh Is it Mr Pie? He called you on 16 Mar?" I answered: "Yes." She said: "I'll ask him to call you back, OK?" I said: "OK." Call end.

That what you get with Foreign Talents manning the call center. Mr Pie. Haha.

20100324 (Wednesday) 5:22PM

Mr "Pie" called.

He says that he still cannot get an answer from the coverage dept.

He also had the cheek to tell me that "he has put my free month on the Apr-May billing cycle". I didn't ask him about this free month incident during the call, he volunteer this information. Wow, should find a chance to make him testify his statement against Kalai at the Billing help desk. Both from Singtel, 1 of them is lying.

He proposed that

I sell my phone in the 2nd hand market. "It will fetch a good price."
He can suppress the $800 penalty for me to downgrade my current iFlexi plan (with a data plan) to iOne Plus plan (cheaper and without data plan).
I cannot buy another new phone immediately, have to follow the original schedule of phone upgrade on 10 Dec this year.

(Chicken rice analogy: I bought a plate of chicken rice, found that there is no chicken, complain to the seller. Seller says: "No refund. Please wait while we investigate". 4 months later. Seller says: "Yes. There is indeed no chicken in the chicken rice. We don't know when the chicken will arrive. Why don't you sell the (4 months old) rice in the 2nd hand market? It will fetch a good price.")

I told him that I don't agree with this proposal.

He asked me what I propose, I said

the best solution is for Singtel to improve network at my house immediately.
Alternatively, Singtel should accept the return of my iPhone and void the 2 years contract.

I gave my supporting arguments

When I try to return the phone on 20091214, when the phone is only 4 days old, the Singtel shop guy refuse it. I told that guy that it may take more then 3 months for them to come to a conclusion, by that time the phone is already old, they shouldn't use that as an excuse to not accepting it back like a new phone. That guy said they'll take note of this.

He checked through the records, and mentioned something like "this Lucas guy is a young chap". (Comments: If Singtel choose to be cheapskate and let a young chap deal with customers, it has to fulfil whatever the young chap promises.) He also mentioned that the "young chap" only put a brief note on my visit, and did not wrote down the details of our conversation.

He also says that he cannot keep giving me free months, because the auditors will check, and he will have a hard time explaining. I refute it, saying that if the auditors questioned, he can just print out my case notes and ask them to read.

He says that he will make some discussions internally again, and give me a
response next week. I also asked for the 4th free month he is supposed to give, he says that he will give an answer on this next week also.

5:40PM call ends.

20100407 (Wednesday) 10:05AM

As usual, no response from Singtel, 3 days overdue from Mr "Pie" promised "next week".

Call 1688 to check for a status update.

1min	navigate selection
2min	A lady picked up the call. I asked: "Mr Pie please." She said she'll put a note to ask him to call me by today. Call end.

20100407 (Wednesday) 5:05PM

Mr Pie called.

He said that he haven't received a response from their network dept. I asked for a letter from him on his proposed settlement solution, or just a letter saying there is still no resolution yet. He refused.

He says he will get back to me ASAP.

Call end.

20100407 (Wednesday) 9:45PM

I decided to send a request for attention using Singtel's feedback form on their web site, with the following content:

Background: Please read your call center case notes logged under my phone number XXXXXXXX.

The case started on 2009/12/11, and have dragged for 4 months.

The case is currently (mis)handled by your call center duty manager, Mr "Pie".

His suggested solution, offered to me 2 weeks ago, is that he can suppress the $800 penalty for me to downgrade me iFlexi Lite plan to iOne plus plan, and suggested me to sell the iphone in the 2nd hand market: "it can fetch a good price". I found that this suggestion is very unfair: I offered to return the iphone when it is only 5 days old, but Singtel refused to accept, and asked me to wait for their investigation. Now, after 4 months, Singtel says they have no solution and I still cannot return the phone because the phone is already old?

Today, he called me, and told me that Singtel has no resolution to this case. He told me that he has no authority to issue any more free subscription months. He told me that he has no authority to suppress the $800 penalty for me to buy a new phone under a 2 year contract now. He told me that I cannot return the iphone and get the contract canceled.

Since he has no authority, I should not be wasting time talking to him.

Please get a more senior manager (with proper authority!!) to speak to me on this case. Otherwise, I'll be forced to lodge a case with the Small Claim Tribunal, and a manager will need to physically go to explain the case to a judge.

Received an auto generated reply on 4/7/2010 9:55PM.

20100408 (Thursday) 4:42PM

Received a human generated response from Singtel.

8 April 2010

Dear Mr Ong

Thank you for your email dated 7 April 2010 regarding your iPhone issue.

We have forwarded to our higher management for the investigation and they will be contacting you.

At SingTel, we are committed to be of service to you. For further enquiries or feedback, do call our mobile hotline at 1688 or +65 62351688 from overseas (IDD is payable). You may also email us at http://welcome.singtel.com/customer_service/cust_serv_emailus.asp

We look forward to serving you.

Thank you

Yours sincerely

XXXXXX XXXXXX (Ms)
Customer Care - Mobile General Enquiries
Singapore Telecom Mobile Pte Ltd
Company registration number: 199406031E

20100409 (Friday) 8:03PM

Reply the email to ask for a status update.

Dear Ms XXXXXXX,

Thanks for your attention.

When can I expect a response?

20100415 (Thursday) 11:24AM

Another week past. No response from email or phone.

Send another email to check:

Dear Ms XXXXXXX,

Any news?

20100416 (Friday) 7:33PM

Still no response. Call 1688.

1min	navigate selection
2min	A lady picked up the call. She said: "There is no reply from the network dept. Once there is a reply, the person will response to you". I asked: "Can you get Mr Pie to call me?" She answered: "Ok, I'll put a note to ask him to call you." Call end.

20100526 (Wednesday)

Still no response from Singtel.

Start to download the Small Claims Tribunal claim forms, and copy all the material here into a Word Document.

20100531 (Monday)

Spent $5.00 to buy the Singapore Telecom Mobile Pte Ltd's Business Profile from the ACRA portal.

20100601 (Tuesday)

Fax the claim documents to the Small Claims Tribunal.

20100603 (Thursday)

At 10AM, a staff from the Small Claims Tribunal called. He told me that I cannot claim for both Work Order and Money Order. I have to choose either one. I explain to him that I have stated in the side note that the Money Order claim is only for the case where Singtel fails to improve my home's network coverage before the 2 year contract ends. He advised me to remove it.

I removed the Money Order claim, and re-fax the page over.

20100604 (Friday)

Received a fax from the Small Claims Tribunal asking me to pay $10 for filing of the claim.

Wrote a cheque and mail to them.

20100609 (Wednesday)

Received a mail from Small Claims Tribunal. A Notice Of Consultation. The consultation date is set at 16 June 2010 8:45AM.

20100616 (Wednesday)

Reached the Small Claims Court at 8:25AM. Went to the machine to take a queue number. Got called up 10 minutes later, pass the Notice Of Consultation to the counter guy. He gave me another queue number and asked me to wait.

At 9:15AM, my number is called. Passed through another round of security, which asked me to off my handphone, and go into the Consultation room. The Registrar of the Tribunals checked my identity, and start to ask me a few questions about the case. He look at my claim form, ask me questions, and type on his computer keyboard.

I was still expecting the Singtel representative to come into the room. After the Registrar finish asking his questions, he said "I don't know why, but your respondent never turn up." I told him: "because they don't respect you." He repeat: "I don't know why." I repeat: "because they don't respect you."

After another few questions and answers, he told me that the case will going into the Hearing phase. He asked me to wait outside, his staff will give me a hearing date.

Waited for another half an hour, the counter guy pass me a Notice Of Hearing, and asked me to sign a receipt. The Hearing date is 23 June 2010 10AM.

Walk out of the court, it was raining so heavily, the road outside the court was flooded. It had turned into a small river. There was a lady holding an umbrella and a SLR camera, taking photos of the new river in front of her. She's probably a staff from SPH, whose job is to perpetually camp in front of the Subordinate Court to take pictures of people walking in and out of the court, so that the newspapers have photos to print.

Had to turn back into the court house. Asked the receptionist, she said there is no canteen in the building. End up staying at the queue area of the Small Claims Court for another 1.5 hours, until the river turned back into a road again at around 11AM.

20100618 (Friday) 5:25PM

Someone from Singtel called me at 5:25PM. She said that she had received the Notice Of Hearing, but she don't have the information on what are my claims. She said she only received the first page of the claim form. I told her that I will fax the claim form over to her. Call end in 2.5 minute.

Print out the form again, and faxed to her.

20100621 (Monday) 4:20PM

The Singtel lady called me again.

She proposed to settle the case by changing my iPhone to another phone of my choice, change my subscription plan to whatever new plan I want without penalty, and refund my subscription from March 2010 to June 2010. I asked her to elaborate the terms and clear some doubts. Also asked her when can Singtel improve their network coverage at my place, she repeat the "we don't know when it will happen" line again.

Asked her to fax her proposal over to my fax machine, she agreed.

Her fax came in at 5:09PM.

The wordings for refusing to give any time frame in improving my home's network coverage is very nicely worded: "we seek you understanding that we are continuously looking into improving the mobile network coverage for our customers and we seek your patience on this matter."

The 3 point proposal on this fax says:

Select a 3G handset of your choice in exchange for your iPhone. SingTel will absorb the price different if any or refund the balance.
the iPhone contract will be void and you will sign a new 24 month contract for the new phone effective from date of exchange.
We will waive your iflexi subscription from March 2010 to June 2010.

Point 1 looks ok.

Point 2 is different from what we discussed on the phone: the new contract will be dated as Dec 2009. The biggest difference is that I was assured that I can still do a "phone upgrade" on Dec 2010 (12 months upgrade date for MIO Home primary line) after the phone exchange, but if the new contract is dated on June 2010, my next upgrade will be 6 months later than usual.

Point 3 is not clear. First, March to June can be either 3 months or 4 months. Also, Singtel had already messed up my subscription months. So if they just give free months for March to June, it will end up as double free months for March and May again, and I'll need more time on their 1688 line to clarify things later.

So I called her up, and told her the concerns, she agreed to amend the proposal.

I also told her that I am considering changing to Samsung Galaxy S I9100 or HTC Desire. I asked her if they'll send someone with the 2 phones to test if any of them can work properly at my home, then I'll take that. She said she is not able to do that, ask me to call her directly if the new phone has problem, and I don't have to go through the same hassles again.

The amended fax came in at 6:11PM. Looks ok.

20100622 (Tuesday) 4:20PM

At 11AM, I called the Singtel lady to accept the offer.

Told her that I would like to change to the Samsung Galaxy S I9100 phone. I also asked her again what should happen if the phone won't work at my place, she reassure me that I can do another change, and she also said that from the network guy that came to my place: "iPhone is a bit sensitive, but any other phone will work there."

Told her that I can go to Comcenter at 1PM to do the exchange. She said that she'll do the arrangements and call me again.

Twenty minutes later, she called and asked me to look for WK at Comcenter. I asked her: "What about the price difference?" She said: "Oh, we'll absorb the price difference." I was surprised. The Samsung Galaxy S I9100 is $398 under the same $39 Flexi lite plan, less than the $518 I paid for my iPhone. What is she trying to "absorb"? I said: "No, the Samsung Galaxy is cheaper." She said: "We're using the retail price for the Samsung Galaxy, about $800+, so we'll absorb the price difference."

I said: "No, you shouldn't use the retail price." She immediately said: "Ok, I will credit back the $120 into your account." Finished the sentence before I can finish my mental calculation of $518 - $398 = $120.

Wow. Even under the pressure of a court hearing, I still have to fight for every little thing that I should be getting back.

She also give me some instructions: "Please remember to back up your data in your iPhone before the exchange." Hey, the "6 months old" iPhone is still in very mint condition. The protective plastic is still intact. I have only "used" the phone for a few hours altogether: a few hours of charging, a few minutes of turn on, see the network status, turn off, every few weeks.

At 1:05PM, reached Comcenter. Told a guy near the reception counter that I am looking for WK. He went in, and came out with WK. WK double check that I am there to exchange the iPhone, he went away and appear with a Samsung Galaxy S box. We went to the cashier, he checked the iPhone, surprised that it is still new: "cannot work at all ah?" I put my SIM card into the Samsung Galaxy S and made a voice call. Everything looks good. I asked for some paperwork to indicate that we have done the exchange (everytime I exchange an iPhone, I got back a form), he said that there is no need for any paperwork. Anyway, he stamp the Singtel Shop chop and wrote today's date on the Samsung Guarantee card. The cashier also scanned the boxes barcode into their computer system.

At 4:30PM, I fax the settlement notification to the Small Claims Court and CC to Singtel.

At night, I turn on the Samsung Galaxy S at the center of my living room. The same location where iPhone has a lot of network problems. The network status is 0 bar, there is a G icon besides, showing that it is connected to GPRS.

The first test I do is to click on the YouTube app, the words came out, followed by the thumbnails. Looks ok. Click on a video, the video starts playing immediately and smoothly. All these while the network status is hovering between 0 bar and 1 bar.

After the video play for around 1 minute, I use my home phone to call my handphone while the video is playing. The handphone rings, I accept the call. Juggling with 2 phone on my hands, I say some words on 1 phone and can hear my voice on the other phone. Change phone and repeat for a few times. Hang up the phone. The youtube video stopped playing, and the screen went blank. I hit the "back" button and the screen go to the YouTube welcome screen.