Last Monday, I bitched about SingTel’s dismal service while I was at the store, trying to get a cellphone. I sent them a complaint on the very same night and – what do you know? – they didn’t respond until today. Yes, one ENTIRE week later. Well done, SingTel. Well done.

As though it wasn’t enough having them take so long to get back to me, I found their response less than satisfactory:

Dear Miss T

Thank you for your feedback of 7 April 2009.

I am sorry to hear of your experience at hello! Tampines Mall. I agree with you that good customer service is important to our valued customer. You may be assured that we note on your feedback for improvement in service rendered. We appreciate your understanding on this matter.

Nonetheless, I am glad to inform you that our sales staff had reserved a set of Blackberry Bold and will contact you soon. If you need further help, please call me at 6838 xxxx. I will be glad to help you.

Yours sincerely

N Bte Mohd (Ms)
Executive
Customer Relations
for and on behalf of:
Singapore Telecom Mobile Pte Ltd

I understand that these companies are never actually sincere/sorry, but this reply here just sounds so… fabricated. It’s as though there was some kinda template that the Customer Relations Officer could just copy-and-paste from. Which led me to wonder why it took so damn long for them to get back to me.

Anyhow, so I went back to the store again today to get my Blackberry Bold. This time, a different Sales Assistant attended to me and I was somewhat taken aback by a brand new piece of information that the other guy didn’t tell me last week (should I even be surprised at the jarring lack of consistency?). Apparently with the Bold, I’m not able to access WiFi without first subscribing to BB’s Internet Service due to some configuration issues. So on top of the 3G plan, I’ll have to fork out an additional $40+ (minimum) to access the Internet on the Bold? Huh. Is that why BBs are less popular? Cos the plans are expensive?

Now, I’m looking at the iPhone again. As attractive as all the million apps are, I’m highly concerned about the much-criticised battery life and the fact that it’s a touch screen. I’m not the biggest fan of touch screen phones. Call me a prude, but I’d much prefer having actual buttons, that way it seems more “safe” since it’s kinda less dependent on the software. Then there’s also the battery issue which has got many users complaining. Sure, Apple has offered some tips to save the phone’s battery life, but most of them require turning OFF features. Um, hello? Why am I getting a phone only to turn OFF the features? Granted, the only 2 that directly affect me are having to turn off 3G and WiFi. Still. It’s somewhat troublesome having to turn them on and off, y’know?

Ultimately, it’s a matter of money vs product. As much-lauded as the BB is, the subscription is really gonna set me back a lot more per month. Also, I have absolutely no need for the pushmail service, which really is the key feature of BBs. Then there’s the iPhone, a device that is inherently more suitable for my sort of usage (calling, texting, surfing, tweeting) but I’m really concerned it wouldn’t last me a day at work, which is imperative considering the kinda hours that I sometimes put in. To break it down:

BlackBerry Pros: Actual buttons, better battery life, more aesthetically-pleasing to me
Cons: Price plan is expensive, No need for pushmail

iPhone Pros: Cheaper price plan, More apps, Better Internet browser
Cons: Touch screen, short battery life

Help?

Y’know, I was just thinking, thanks to the Internet, people are now becoming informed consumers. I don’t know anyone who hasn’t gone out to make a purchase without having consulted the Internet first. Me? I’ve been toying with the idea of upgrading to the Blackberry Curve 8900 for awhile now, but part of me has also been desiring the iPhone. So what’s a girl to do? Google both for reviews, of course. And after about 30 minutes of intense researching and oogling at both models, I managed to come to a decision (I’m getting the Blackberry, in case anyone’s counting), one that I’m very satisfied with.

Now imagine what it would’ve been like Before Internet (B.I.) – I’d have to scour through shelves of magazines, flip through the hundreds of ad-clogged pages, before finding that one review. Repeat process to look for a second, or even third one so you can gather more perspectives. By the time you’re done, you would’ve wasted plenty of precious time. And you still might not be extremely convinced.

You see, life B.I. didn’t allow us to read through user reviews – which, on more than one occasion, would give us a more representative/genuine feel of things, mostly because these guys (a) weren’t paid to write the review, and; (b) they’re real-world users. Besides, it’s always good to do some cross referencing and a couple of comparison checks to ensure you get the most accurate information. Yes? Now only if there was some programme to help us gather all these details and generate a side-by-side comparison chart. That would certainly be very useful.

Huh. I just realised the layout is messed up on IE. Figures. Anyway, it should look like this:

I can’t be bothered to fix the coding so it’ll be nice on IE, so just switch to Firefox, Opera or Safari, okay? You’re not gonna regret it.