Some really pathetic people!



"Can I be assured that I'm not being wiretapped, taped or monitored." "The way our system works, a customer is automatically taped." (Anthony Keith, Cable & Wireless)


(Posted 7-19-99) Sometime in early 1999 I had used a phone card issued by Hong Kong Telecom (based in Canada by the way) to place a call to England. The phone card told me that I had so many minutes for the call. When I actually made the call the card disconnected me way before it should have. Due to this I went back and forth via a 1-800 number for a couple of weeks until it was concluded that a card would be sent to me to replace the one that I'd used.

Personally I had hoped that that was the last time that I had to deal with Hong Kong Telecom. I had gone through a lot of people who seemed to have no idea what they were doing every time I called. They all told me that there was nothing that could be done. I'd finally had enough of that crap and started to deal with a supervisor until we came to an agreement.

Unfortunately that was not the case and I had to deal with them again. On Sunday 7-18-99 I called England with the new card. Firstly I've got to say that Hong Kong Telecom has the worst rates I've ever come across on a pre paid phone card. This card gave me 8.42 minutes for a $10 card. I've got phone cards that will get you 50 minutes for 5 bucks. Anyhow as soon as the person answered the phone on the other end, there was a sound like a big electrical fart and we were disconnected. Sound Familiar? I called Hong Kong Telecom at 1-888-668-9898. I got an Oriental lady named Clara to whom I proceeded to explain my dilemma. She was just as disorganized as everybody else that I'd dealt with a few months prior. Firstly she tried to convince me that I'd dialed the wrong phone number. Then she wanted to know why I'd dialed 011 to begin my call. By this point I knew I was dealing with another idiot. I replied by saying, "well how else do you get a call out of the United States without dialing 011?"

I told her that I would prefer a credit of the $1.20 (that I'd just lost,) to be added to the card again so that I'd have the full $10 back. Otherwise if I was eventually credited back $1.20 by itself, what with the high connection fee's involved I wouldn't of even had enough to call the UK for one minute. So this would be a complete waste of time. She said that there was nothing she could do until the following day. I was pissed let me tell you.

I really lost my fucking temper when I called the following morning (Monday 7-19-99). Clara comes on the line and asks me where I got my phone card from. I told her it was issued to me by a supervisor of Hong Kong Telecom. She tells me that she has to know "where" it came from in order to help me any further. I tell ya, some people just push your buttons too far and this one did. I said to her that I didn't know what city the phone card came from. I didn't care where the phone card came from? I'd given her my phone number, my address, the number that I'd called in England and the pin number on the back of my card. I also reminded her that at my request she'd even called the English number minutes after I'd done so, the day before. I wanted this done to prove that it was their card that was at fault. She had done this and told me that when she had called, it was a clear line. This put my theory to reality proving that their card was to blame.

What also pissed me off was the fact that she interrupted me every time that I tried to explain any question that she had asked. And when she did interrupt she would ask exactly what I was about to explain to her. I finally lost my temper and told her to be silent when she asked me a question. Talk about rude? When she finally told me that there was nothing that she could do until I told her where the card came from I fucking blew my top. "Look, I don't care where the phone card came from. It was a valid $10 card. It was YOUR connection that was at fault. You have all the information that you need to look into this and sort it out. Where it came from is totally irrelevant and I'm sorry my only connection with the original supervisor that issued the card to me was a phone number. I just didn't get around to asking that person 'oh by the way where are you from?" What a bunch of fucking idiots.

My advise to anyone out there is DON'T use Hong Kong Telecom. They are far, far too expensive for the rates that you should be getting. Their cards fuck up; I mean look at me I've had two and both have cut out on me and I've been disconnected. Plus if and when you call them at their customer service and ask them to sort out your problem you've got to know where the card came from? I'm sorry this company is way, way out of line period!

Thanks for your reading, Johnny Anderson.


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