Cellular phone problem

When Telkomsel started issuing its Kartu Halo card, I was one of the first customers who rushed to get one of these seemingly new and improved GSM cellular phone services. But I was disappointed to find out that many parts of Jakarta would not be covered by Telkomsel. I frequently called the customer service at Telkomsel to ask what was wrong with my cellular phone or if there was something wrong with my Kartu Halo card.

I was repeatedly told that the technician was working on the problem, and "sorry, madam you cannot receive any signal at the moment".

I received this response for a year.

I excused Telkomsel for not having immediate area coverage in Jakarta because I thought that like all new companies, there are many trials and errors. So I waited patiently for Telkomsel to improve its services. For one year I could not receive a signal either at my office or at home. These premises are where I spend most of my time and where I conduct my business as my source of income.

On one occasion, I was waiting for an important phone call from a client. After trying to contact me all day on my cellular phone with no success, he decided to give away an important business deal to someone else. This left me hopelessly standing by a so-called "mobile phone" with no signal to either call out or receive incoming calls.

Due to this unnecessary mishap which jeopardized my business deal, I rang Telkomsel's customer service again and demanded that someone explain to me whether it was my handset's default or if the card was blocking activity outside my home? The woman handling my complaint was not very pleasant and told me one of their technicians would call me back to tell me what was wrong with the number. I never received a phone call.

After waiting for the call for three weeks, I received a billing letter from Telkomsel saying that I had not paid an extra Rp 400,761 subscription fee from June 1996 to July 1997. Thankfully, I keep all my paid monthly billing statements. I don't understand how I can have outstanding bills yet unsettled with Telkomsel. Shouldn't every customer pay according to what is stated in the billing statement sent by Telkomsel? Why was I charged for something not clearly stated with no detailed description of all the outgoing telephone calls? Besides, if I am constantly unable to get a signal, how could I possibly be incurring charges beyond my normal monthly bills?

The letter says to pay up within seven days or else Telkomsel will block outgoing calls.

MINA TANDUN

Jakarta