Mobile phone users slam poor service

JAKARTA (JP): Service providers for the popular mobile phone were the third most complained about sector this year, ranking behind housing and banking, according to the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI).

The foundation's deputy chairman, Agus Pambagio, said the 60 letters received between January and November this year primarily complained about the lousy service provided by mobile phone operators, such as overvalued bills, phone numbers disconnected without warning and poor customer service.

"Operators, therefore, should improve their service to customers as they promise in their promotions," Agus said during a dialog between cellular mobile phone operators and about 200 customers at Kompas' Bentara Budaya building on Jl. Palmerah Selatan in Central Jakarta.

Based on complaints received by the foundation and local media organizations, it seems that there is an imbalance between the operators' marketing and promotion and their services, he told the meeting, which was jointly organized by Kompas and some of the country's mobile phone operators such as PT Komselindo, PT Telkomsel, PT Ratelindo, PT Satelindo and PT Excelcomindo.

During the meeting, a Satelindo customer, Rasid, said that the company had sent him a bill for a full month's subscription fee when his phone had only been active for a week.

Tuti Asmara, a Telkomsel customer, said her mobile phone had been blocked in November but the company still wanted payment for this month's bill.

Apologies were all the executives of the companies could offer in response.

Telkomsel's director of engineering Garuda Sugardo, for example, said that his company regretted the unexpected mistake in Tuti's bill.

In response to Rasid's complain, the head of Satelindo's customer service division, Tommy Singgih, said the problem occurred due to the company's new billing system which is meant to ensure customers provide the correct addresses.

A Ratelindo customer, Tuti, complained that her service provider still issued the bill even though she had canceled her registration.

Ratelindo's customer service executive M. Ichsan Ingratubun told Tuti to ignore the bill. He said it was not important because the company usually sends bills to anyone who registers as a customer, even if they later cancel it.

According to YLKI data, there are now 1.2 million mobile phone users in the country. (ind)