Maxis broadband

I wrote a post just over a month ago about the crappiness of Maxis broadband services and that I am looking for a way to terminate my Maxis broadband account without incurring any penalty. Sanji, a guy who responded, directed me to a forum at MyCeloteh.com, where another guy named Ashraf spelled out the steps on how to do just that.

Now that I have finally stopped procrastinating and taken the first step, I thought I might as well share with you the progress and in the end, the result, of which I hope will be what I wish for. I have had enough already of this so-called broadband from Maxis.

The steps described by Ashraf were very simple:

  1. File a formal complaint to Maxis customer service.
  2. File the same complaint to the Malaysian Communications & Multimedia Commission (MCMC), quoting the reference number given by Maxis.

Unable to find the email address for the customer service, I submitted my complaint to Maxis via their Feedback/Enquiries via Email page. That was on Tuesday, 20/02/2008 at roughly 12:10 pm. Here’s what I wrote:

To whomever this may concern.
.
I have subscribed to Maxis Broadband Power Package since August 2007 and since day one, I have never achieved acceptable speed as described for this particular package. Always, the speeds I got were below maximum of the lowest speed broadband package - Starter at 384 Kbps.
.
I am currently paying RM103 per month and I feel very much cheated as the speeds I received do not commensurate with the package I am subscribed to. Not to mention the amount of times I was not able to connect to the internet due to unavailability of services.
.
As such, I wish to terminate my account with you and request for a full waive of any penalty.

Around 5:15 pm, I received a call from a Maxis customer service representative. I told her my situation and the first solution she offered me was so brilliant (read, dumb) it left me speechless: downgrade to the lowest speed package. Like, huh? What the heck would I want to downgrade for?

We chatted for a while and I found out a few things of which I’m sure some of you are not aware of:

  1. You can only upgrade/downgrade your subscription after 6 months, but only between the Starter, Advanced and Power packages. This does not extend to the USB modem package.
  2. You cannot use your Maxis broadband sim card with any other modem or mobile phone. Sim-locked, they call it.
  3. If you are using the bulky ZTE modem, you cannot upgrade/change it to the USB modem. To do that, you need to terminate your ZTE-modem account and subscribe to the USB-modem one. But here’s the twist. You cannot terminate your account because of the 18-month contract they made it compulsory to sign. So you’re stuck with it.

She informed me that it would take around 7 days for their technical people to complete their investigation, and that she needed these information from me:

  1. HSDPA Account or Mobile No
  2. Contact No
  3. Device Type
  4. Installation Address
  5. Nature of Problem
  6. Duration of Problem
  7. EC No
  8. RSCP No
  9. Cell ID
  10. Did Installer Connect Upon Installation: YES/NO
  11. Did Installer Advice On Coverage: YES/NO
  12. Connection Status: GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA

This was the email reply I received after sending them to her:

Dear En. Yusli,
.
Thank you for your feedback.
.
We regret to note the unsatisfactory Broadband service at your area. Rest assured, we have escalated this matter to the relevant department for further investigation and will revert soonest possible.
.
For your record, the reference number for your enquiry is C3943444.
.
En. Yusli, thank you for according us your patience and understanding on this matter. Please do not hesitate to contact us at 1800 822 000 or e-mail to customercare@maxis.com.my for any further enquiries or assistance.

Ashraf advised that after obtaining the reference number, a similar complaint should be made to the MCMC right away. I suppose I could do that but upon a suggestion by a friend, and since I was rather curious, I decided to wait and see whether she was as good as her words. Who knows, I might get a pleasant surprise.

And that would be in Part 2.

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