Posts tagged notes

Site & Blog migration planned

The current hardware and platform running Don’t Panik has been around for two years now. It’s getting a bit overdue for a refresh. New stuff is planned and an upgrade is in the works. Unbelievably, Don’t Panik has been around since 2004. That’s 7 years of non-stop blogging and availability. Migration and upgrade is scheduled for mid-September.

We’re also moving off the Serendipity platform that runs this blog since 2004 to WordPress. No big reason why other than a couple of new projects coming up will be based on WordPress and as a result, I might as well put everything on a common platform.

A day in brands…

You know people write blogs to communicate their daily occurrences and other events. Many also share what they do, what they eat, what they like and more. I decided to do an average day in Brands. Heh, I did a second major in marketing! Anyway, brands are more than logos but for brevity, I’m using their logos (or icons) here. Do note that this is just averaging out the weekdays (no weekends) and this is definitely not listing down every single brand I use on a daily basis — I mean, that will be way to long considering this list is already long. Just thought this was a good idea after seeing this. How about the rest of you?

A note of sorts

There’s been a dearth of new postings and photos on this blog for a while now. I guess it’s comes down to time. You know, before the move, the move and after the move and all that sort of stuff. There’s been a lot of work as well lately plus there’s the little odd and ends that I need to do in due time. It was a big difference moving in 2007 when we took over a month of weekends to do things slowly and then later, a month to move things in slowly. Plus of course, the furniture was all newly shipped in and the place has been rented out before so it was already partially equipped.

Anyways, I’m still at a loss at why TM’s Streamyx broadband (narrow band more like it) is slow at my parents place compared to mine. I wonder if there’s something up with the modem, line, or router. Kinda odd considering that not much else is using the bandwidth. Anyways, I’ll need to get a new wireless router soon for my new place (I’m soldiering on with a Belkin right now) so perhaps moving the belkin over might do the trick. Or possibly a change in wiring?

I’m thinking of using P1’s Wimax service. Anyone has experience with it so far would like to share?

Tax time is also coming. Sigh, I really need to calculate out and figure out how not pay more tax. There’s a difference between tax mitigation and evasion. Anyways, looks like I really need to get my PC desk and printers all setup in time for this weekend to do my taxes!

Notes on a tiring Monday

Aren’t Mondays’ always terrible? Probably because most end up having so much to do over the weekend with so little time! Anyways, just a few things to share on this post.

First up is customer service. Most Malaysian companies aren’t noted for good customer service. This also extends to foreign companies with local staff. I mean, generally there’s no focus on putting the customer first and no matter how much training and customer first exercises a company does, the people just don’t seem to care. For example, if you’ve been to Starbucks in San Francisco or Lake Forest, take note of the customer service. I know customer service in the Malaysian Starbucks is already good (I get fast & prompt service, unlimited refills when I work on my notebook there, free donuts at times, extra shots when I really look like I need it badly, etc), it still doesn’t hold up to a store in California. Just like Think Tank Photo bags. When I just mentioned that my Pro Speed belt clip is a little loose and the webbing is beginning to fray, guess what happened? They sent me an entire replacement speed belt in 14 days. I know I’ll need a roller bag in the future. You know who’s getting my business?

So, imagine my surprise when I got superb customer service from a Malaysian company. First off, they made purchasing and payment easy. Free delivery to boot. Then as usual, we did change our mind on one or two items. Despite the All Sales are Final policy, they allowed the return _despite_ opened and damaged packaging. When we needed more items way after the sales period was over, the same discount level was extended. Better yet, they anticipated our need, stocked up their local PJ warehouse ahead of time so that when we actually placed our additional orders, stock was on hand. Invoices, pickup sheets all prepared ahead of time. And when the order was too small for credit card and I didn’t have enough cash, they waived the requirement. Recently, better still, they issued the delivery authorization and allowed pickup of items before even payment. In the CRM world, there’s a measure called Net Promoter Score (NPS). It’s basically the answer to one question: Will you recommend this company’s products or services to a relative or friend on a scale of 0 (for never) to 10 (for definitely). You know what, they earn a 10 from me. That company is Niro Granite. And when I need more tiles in the future, they’ll have my business.

I know their broadband should be called narrowband and their Streamyx customer service is absolutely terrible but imagine my surprise when I made a complaint about a telephone pole obstructing the front of my house. Within a week, couple of guys came and moved the pole. I just wish they can fix their Streamyx problems this quickly!

Our electrical utility on the other hand, first assigned workers who are on vacation to perform the three-phase power upgrade of my new house. I called the technician assigned and get Saya Cuti (I’m on vacation) and gives me another technician who also was on leave. Two week later, their contractor comes and digs the road to lay the cables. Two days later, a second contractor comes and tars the road. A week later, right now, I’m still waiting for their vacationing technician to connect the main cable to the power supply. Earth hour last Saturday, hah, power was out at my house 24×7 thanks to TNB.

Anyways, spent the last weekend cleaning up and dust and all the debris of the renovation works. Maybe that’s why I need a double shot to get my system started. But you know, I’m still getting the low battery alert 🙂