Maxis just doesn't give a shit about you! (My iPhone booking experience)

I finally decided on the Apple iPhone, after my brother revealed that it was possible for 5 or more users to share apps. Another day and another story about that. Today is about the crappy experience I had buying my iPhone from Maxis.

I was outstation in Sabah when I decided to buy the iPhone. My other brother, Alan, made a booking in Tawau, which was over 2 hours away by car. It seemed pretty easy - just call up, pay the RM 200 deposit by bank transfer and wait for the phone to arrive.

So I had Jason book mine for me while I was in Sabah. He went to do that at the Maxis Centre in the Sunway Pyramid mall. This is the sequence of events :

Oct. 5 (morning) : They refused to accept the booking, unless Jason has a photostated copy of my identity card. So I e-mailed Jason a copy of my identity card for him to print out.

Oct. 5 (afternoon) : Jason went back to the Maxis Centre and this time, they told him that the copy of the identity card is worthless. To book, I must be PHYSICALLY in front of them. Needless to say, Jason was PISSED.

I called Maxis up right there and then, and questioned them on their "official policy". The "consultants" on the other end of the line didn't seem to be very sure what the official policy was.

Finally, they decided that an authorization letter was necessary. Never mind that such a letter can be faked. They said it's just "procedure". To be absolutely sure their "consultants" do not screw this one up, they called up the Maxis Centre at Sunway Pyramid to inform them of this NEW policy and e-mailed them as well.

Oct. 8 : Jason successfully booked my iPhone for me. Yay...

Oct. 23 (afternoon) : No one from Maxis called me up to even find out where I wanted to collect the phone from... Odd. So I called them up to find out about the status of my iPhone. Guess what - my booking did NOT exist in the system!

The "consultant" on the other end claimed that she required the registration number as there is NO WAY for her to find my booking using the telephone number, name or IC number. I would later find out that she was LYING.

Finally, she said she would access the Maxis Centre's records manually. I gave her the exact DATE and TIME of booking, and she still could not find the booking. Heck, no iPhone was ever booked at the center at that time, she claimed. There's also no booking registered to my name, my telephone number or even my identity card number!

She finally said she would call up the Sunway Pyramid Maxis Centre and find out what's going on. Never heard from her (or anyone else) after that.

Oct. 23 (evening) : Called them up again since the previous consultant failed to get back to me. This "consultant" couldn't find my booking either, even after giving him my registration number. Fantastic. But here's the killer punch - this joker actually told me, "Sir, can you please go to the nearest Maxis Centre and make another booking?"

OH MY GOD. Did this idiot actually ask me to register AGAIN for another iPhone??? What about my original booking and the RM 200 I paid for it??? I told him NO WAY and had him kick it up to someone higher to fix the problem.

Oct. 26 (evening) : No call back from them until today. Decided to raise hell at Maxis again. The consultant promised to look into it and call me back. This time, he actually did call me back.

This time, he told me that it was a technical glitch and that the booking was always there but it was not "visible" for some reason. Since the booking was valid, I should wait another 2 weeks for it to arrive.

That was pure BULLSHIT because everyone else who booked their iPhones at around the same time I did got it in less than 2 weeks. I believe they messed up the booking, and instead of admitting their mistake, lied and created a new booking, so I end up taking a fresh turn instead of getting the iPhone right away.

Finally, one of their consultants admitted that it was ridiculous that the other consultant expected me to wait another 2 weeks for my phone. She promised to look into it and have an iPhone assigned to my case ASAP.

Oct. 29 : Called Maxis up to find out how things were working out. WTH. The consultant told me that my iPhone was already assigned to me YESTERDAY. Why didn't anyone at the Sunway Pyramid Maxis Centre call me up to inform me? The consultant seemed perplexed and could only give me a pathetic excuse - Oh, maybe they intended to do it today?

So, what did I get out of this experience?

1. Maxis doesn't give a shit about YOU.

2. Maxis doesn't have a proper booking policy for the iPhone.

3. Maxis has a damn screwed up system that can lose your booking, or make it go "invisible".

4. Maxis consultants seemed to have been trained to lie, and avoid any form of sincere apology.

Basically, Maxis just doesn't give a shit about you customers, okay? We are just their cash cows - to be milked, not serviced.

 

Although I don't like HD2 that much, but I think it's a good step.

 

The main reasons for me to get the iPhone are the huge number of apps and the ability to share apps with my brothers.

I, however, wish that Apple would also partner up with another provider.. maybe Celcom. Maxis' 3G network SUCKS!

At the very, very least, Apple should INSIST that their partners maintain a certain service level. What's the point of owning a 3G phone when the 3G network is almost always offline????

 

Thinking of jailbreaking it. Unfortunately, they force you to sign a contract to get the damn iPhone. I'm stuck with stupid Maxis for the next 2 years.

I can switch to Celcom or another provider, but I would still have to pay Maxis RM 100 per month for the next 24 months.

 

Is the iPhone locked to Maxis only?

 

In a way.

Malaysia does not allow locking of phones to a service provider, but if you use it with a different service provider, you will lose some features like tethering and push.

The enforcement, as I understand it, is not done on Maxis' end but by Apple's servers.

 

You are right in that pre-ordering from Maxis does not guarantee you an iPhone on launch day. If you want one on launch day, then you will have to queue up and grab one during the launch.

If you don't need any rebate from Maxis, then you should order direct from DiGi. They allow you to buy the iPhone directly without a contract, so you can use it with Maxis or other networks.

 

Or just buy it off the Apple Store online. And you get covered directly from Apple, not any telco. Buy iPhone 5 with 16GB, 32GB or 64GB - Apple Store (Malaysia)

I do that nowadays.

 

Wow.. I didn't know Apple has started to sell iPhones directly. I thought they had agreements to sell only through telcos.

My cousin went to collect his white iPhone 5 this evening. Nice but definitely not worth upgrading from an iPhone 4S, so I'm skipping this one.

 

Errr... They've done so since iPhone 4...

 

I guess I missed it! Got mine from Maxis with a contract.