Dear starhub. Please refund me my time.

Dear starhub customer service,

i hope i am getting customer service and not redirected elsewhere.

I have just wasted 30 mins of my work day, navigating starhub's customer service and billing hotlines. 1633 and 1637.

in 3 seperate calls, after selecting "English"; "CableTV" and "Speak to customer service".
i was greeted by bewildered agents who either told me

1) i was calling the wrong department
2) started quizzing on my knowledge of navigating your phone systems
3) or offer a call back earliest after 24 hours.

on a currently-almost irrelevant note:
i was making a call to do an enquiry of my latest bill.
under Starhub cabletv subscriptions

1. Add TV5MONDE Asie
2. TV5MONDE Asie

are 2 items which i did not subscribe and would like to check on how they got there
and please remove them and refund me on the items.
(and how do i get back my 30 mins wasted on an inapt IVR system)

boon teck
boonteck(_at_)gmail.com

still need "www" meh?

curious on how many "major" singapore sites do not work if you don't put in www in the url.

in this age where the glc, statboards are going for shorter/hipper .sg domains... makes you wonder why the "www" is needed.

e.g. try:

1. cpf.gov.sg
2. hdb.gov.sg
3. sim.edu.sg
4. gov.sg
5. ....let me know

or is this a case, of .... one wrong, the rest copy&paste also wrong lah.

quote of da day: as found on a food blog

Taste wise, the beef balls tasted like the supermarket ones except that they were very much tastier.

hubstation blues: how to fix a unresponsive/sensitive hubstation remote control

1) hubstation in my room is working fine, for months.

2) just got a new hubstation for my parent's room; that when it all started; from day 1, the remote control is just..... crap. (ranging from super sensitive, press 5-5, it goes to 555 and jumps to channel 404 or unresponsive: press 5-5; it goes to channel 5.)

3) plagued by remote control blues, same problem when i brought my remote from the hubstation #1.... same behaviour.

4) called up tech support, arranged an onsite. and all of a sudden, the remote started behaving nicely, as advertised.

5) cancelled the appointment, and the problem started all over again.

6) couldn't take the daily rants from both parents, i finally brought the unit down to plaza sing, starhub customer service.

7) guess what? the device worked beautifully when setup at the CS counter.

8) after much discussion with the 3 dudes there (who are starting to doubt my sanity); they mentioned that, for some TVs, "the backlit interferes with the sensitive remote"

and me going: "but i tried with the older remote and have the same problem"

9) no choice, couldn't prove the "faulty" unit... brought it back..

10) put the hubstation into the shadows of the tv-rack... and covered the RF receiver area with a tint toy mask.....

11) hey presto! it is now working...

12) this is the story of starhub r&d.... and they should give free stormtrooper masks to all hubstation owners

news of da day:Private property prices register steepest drop since 1975

in Today (today)

But Mr Chris Koh, Dennis Wee Group’s vice-president, said there is a
threshold as to how far prices can go down. Noting that some private
projects are advertised from as low as $450,000, anything beyond that
would "go against all fundamentals", as that would match prices of
five-room HDB flats and executive condominiums.

somehow.... everyone's convinced that hdb flats... can only price up.... and not price down.

facing up to "reality" or the says so?

or the question we should be asking is.... if private developers can sell at 450k, what gives the hdb flat pricing?

Email from NTU Campus Interviews 2009

just got a mailer from NTU, the best part of the email.

PS: We have already received overwhelming responses from the Insurance Companies and Independent Financial Advisors and will not be able to take on further bookings from these sectors. We seek your understanding in this regards.

maybe those companies are looking to sell some policies.

"You are already jobless and NOT covered !?!"

news of da day: JAPANESE MAN FOUND DEAD AT RITZ-CARLTON

A 64-YEAR-OLD Japanese man was found dead in his hotel room at the
five-star Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore by hotel staff yesterday
morning. The man was found with a stab wound in his chest.

blah...blah

The police have classified the case as unnatural death, and a spokesman
said: "Preliminary investigations indicate that foul play was unlikely.
Police investigations are ongoing."

seriously, Dude found dead, with a stab wound in his chest... and "foul play was unlikely" ??? maybe he was cutting the skin off his ritzcarlton apple, and fell on the knife.... and killed himself.