Much Ado About Nothing...

ASTRO finally cut off my transmission and yesterday, one of their bill collectors (I presume) called me to ask me to pay the necessary to reconnect. I've always been a prompt payor, always paying 3 months in advance for the past one year. So when the bill collector talked to me in an intimidating tone that I should pay, I sort of flipped.

I told him I always pay in advance and this is the first time that I've missed payments. His answer was my last payment was in September.... he kept implying that I've not paid for the last 4 months. Yup! My last payment was in September but I was paying for the ensuing months too! All he saw was just 'the last payment date'. If at all, it would have cost them next to nothing just to check my payment records. Anyway, after much ramblings I said goodbye to the caller at the other end.... and I am quitting ASTRO! 8) Been entertaining that thought for a couple months actually. LOL!

And then Nissan. My car window got smashed by some good-for-nothing petty thief and after 3 days of being given a runaround by Tan Chong & Sons (their spare parts section), I had just about enough. So I called up their Careline and told them that it's actually quite inexcusable for their Service Centre not to stock something like a car window.... The reason they gave was their transport service would only begin this Friday, hence I would most likely only get my window replaced next week. Suffice to say, I told the lady manning their Careline that if that's the level of service that I can expect from them, this would be my last Nissan car too. Thank God that we don't have monopolies for cars!

Nissan Careline (KL) was more proactive, at least... Half an hour after our conversation, they called me up and told me that they would send by courier and should be here by today. Well, at least that cooled me down somewhat.

Service... good service. We talk about it all the time. A lot of it is glossy on the outside really. Good service still comes with a lot personal involvement. These days, we have nice packaging, nice sounding slogans, posters, etc, etc... but really good service is still a little harder to come by.

This morning, the whole school had to come to a standstill to listen to the Minister of Education give a speech.... what sheer waste of time. So students sat in the assembly area, in classes and labs to listen. Even the kids can mumble to themselves that 'election is in the air!' This being the subtle seeping of politics into the education system. Here's a good piece by Zairil Khir Johari on Freeing Education From Politics.