Lost in space

Lost in space

Having lost my mobile phone last week, my first time mind you,
I promptly went out to buy a new one legitimately. To my
surprise, and rising disgust, there appeared to be only a handful
of satellite numbers available, and at usury prices. Previously,
one could purchase a Mentari 100-pulse starter pack with a number
for Rp 175,000. Now it costs Rp 900,000 on the black market for
the number alone. The stores said they have no choice in the
matter as that is the price enforced by distributors even though
the suggested retail price is still printed on the pack.

I went down to Satelindo and they are selling only 50 packs
per day. "Stand in line at 7 a.m."

It turns out that Indosat and Telkomsel have also run out of
Halo and XL numbers also. Are they telling us, the public, that
six months ago all three modern global corporations didn't have
the intelligence to predict this major marketing faux pas, or is
it that they couldn't care less about customers. Could this be
some monopolistic conspiracy engineered by third party
masterminds? Whatever the excuse, there is a failure to uphold
consumers' rights, and if this was known in advance, then a
criminal act has been perpetrated.

Now, here's some advice for us poor suckers, i.e. consumers
without rights. On your mobile phone, dial *=06= and your
internal security number will be displayed. This number
authenticates your individual phone. With this number and proof
of purchase, you can cancel your phone worldwide from the
manufacturer. The local distributors don't know about this, so
you will have to instruct them also. Thieves can never use it
again. For your lost satellite number, take your proof of
purchase and insist in the strongest terms possible that your
satellite server block or cancel the number. I am serious about
forcing them as they continued to say no until I used my
inimitable Yankee charm.

And here's some advice for Satelindo, Telkomsel and Indosat.
Whether you like it or not, you have an inherent responsibility
to the public, your customers. It is your obligation to provide
service and help discourage theft. As there are thousands of
stolen numbers being used, you will assist the police, or your
own security service, in tracking these people. It's
extraordinarily easy as all the numbers are still processed
through your computer. You can then advise the public to retain
their proof of purchase and report any loss or theft in order for
you to block those numbers and assist customers in retrieving
their rightful property. We're mad and we're not going to take it
anymore.

BRIEN D.

Jakarta