marketing ploys
Tuesday, May 6th, 20082 stories:
1) i have 2 cards with this so-called reputable bank (think of 2 places near or about China) , then when i received my statement this mth…i realised they decided to deduct about 10,000 points which i had been saving to redeem cash vouchers. On top of that, they charge me annual fees! i was damn p*ssed and called up the bank today. Reenactment of the conversation (which i find to be quite funny esp the ending)
Me (M) : hello Taufik (Telebanker, T) : welcome to H*** Bank, can I help you? M : This is my problem, kenapa bank deduct 10000 points from my visa. This card I dah lama tak pakai, lepas tu nak tukar points tak cukup – sebab voucher kena untuk RM100 (about 22000 pts required) T : Ma’am , your points have already expired M : (started to speak in ultra fast BM mode and pretending to sound really pissed) Adik, I tahu la points expiry. I’m not happy bcos your bank didn’t inform me earlier. I dah lama tak terima statement sebab tak guna then mana I tau bila points expire. Today I terima statement, dahla deduct points, charge annual fee. Cancel card ajelah! Cancel my Master jugak! (soem parts of the conversation was removed as it was repetitive =D about the points la, annual fee la, etc) T : sorry miss, how about we reinstate
ur points, then we can waiver the annual fee. Or now I can arrange to redeem vouchers, ok? Your 10000 points can redeem for RM 50 voucher M : ok. Redeem the voucher then cancel this card. I will settle the mastercard and cancel it too. T : OK miss, I send voucher to your house address. You dont have to cancel card bcos we will deduct the annual fee also M : OK. Thank you. Sorry Taufik I bukan marah kat you, tapi marah kat system bank! What i dont understand is why does the bank have to impose rules such as minimum points reduction…how to redeem la. Then (i learned this from another friend who’s using the same bank), if you call the custoemr service make a BIG HUGE FUSS about some service dissatisfaction, or some other issues - the bank will promise you heaven and earth (like no need to pay annual fees). I suppose the whole ploy is so that ppl continue to use the card or at least continue to own the card and be charged annual fees whether you like it or not! MY ADVICE : if u r charged annual fees, try calling the bank, make some complaint and if they treasure u enuff, u no need to pay fees (for one year lor!) so, SPEAK UP & u may just get what u r wishing for!
2) the fighting of marketing ploys in the air space.
Well, the 2 flight giants are really making it a field day for us travelers! Here we have the national carrier offering RM 0 flights to various local destination (I’ve checked it out, they really do have RM 0 fares) with their large RED adverts in the local dailies…then the Low cost carrier decides to dispute the advert by showing facts that BETTER THAN RM0 FARE!
Obviously, the low cost carrier is cheaper…but if u really look hard enough and browse thru for certain flight dates, u pay a little extra for the extra orange juice and pretty MAS crew!
Then again, browse thru the LALAT API…u can get good bargains too! Last trip went to KT and the price was even better than the UDARA
ASIA … Like I said, better for the passengers!
