Monday, October 08, 2007

Starhub service not a star afterall - letter to ST Forum

I have been a very loyal Starhub customer since it started operations 7 years ago. Last Thursday, I visited Starhub's Online shop to re-contract my current plan as well as to get a new phone. The price of the phone, the Nokia E65, was $88 with contract. The next day, the sales consultant contacted me with regards to the transaction. I asked if I could collect the phone personally at the Plaza Singapura outlet on Monday as it was near to my office and so that I would not need to pay the delivery charge. He confirmed that I would be able to obtain the Nokia E65 from the above-mentioned outlet.

On Sunday, I went to the Tampines Mall outlet as I was nearby. After queueing for almost 45 minutes and speaking to the staff, I was told that the Starhub shop online and the retail shop wasn't linked as it was 2 different departments. I was also told that the promotion was over and i had to pay $268 for the phone - a $180 difference! I went over to the Plaza Singapura Level 1 outlet, with my wife and son in tow, thinking that I would be able to collect my phone from there as the sales consultant would have contacted the branch with regards to my order. After queueing again for another hour, to my surprise, nothing was known. As I didn't know the name of the caller, I was told to go to the B2 Customer Service center to see if the caller could be traced. After waiting for another 45 minutes to be attended, I was told that nothing could be done and that it was most probably a miscommunication that I wasn't told that I had to do a purchase in the retail outlet and that the promotion would have ended by the time I visited the shop on Monday. My whole Sunday afternoon was spoilt, wasted and I didn't get my phone.

Starhub should seriously consider improving and consolidating their retail and online shops as well as inform customers over the phone if there would be changes in the pricing if the collection is from the retail outlet after the promotional period. Starhub should also specify that online purchases are only to be delieverd to the home only and cannot be collected at the retail outlet. It is also absurb to know that delieveries cannot be sent to the office expect to residential addresses. Waiting time should also be very much reduced, else I forsee myself or other customers jumping over to SingTel or M1. What's the use of having online orders when it cannot be fulfilled at the end of the day?

I hope that Starhub would seriously look into this matter.

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