Is This That Blog That's Full of Complaints?
4:34:00 PM
Hi, peeps!
I've been bombarded with (trivial but yet
still annoying) matters lately, mainly with credit cards. While
b*tching about it with some friends via BBM, Oline was like "Write it on
your blog, cc!", and i replied "Errr, this blog is so going to be
known as the Complains Blog, wouldn't it?" to which she replied "Isn't
it the truth though?". LOL. Instead of being offended, i think it's true
but i should totally clarify something (before launching on other complains,
which will come up shortly). I know #Undecided and i are very loud,
opinionated people and we do use this blog as a platform to voice our
words. Read this entry that she wrote about standing up for ourselves or forever being other people's pushover, and we REFUSE to be pushovers.
I
know that some bloggers are afraid to write bad things that happened to
them in fear that people will label them as b*tchy bloggers and brands
won't want to collaborate with them (this is mainly true for
beauty/fashion bloggers), as for us? We never set up this blog to
receive freebies (which if comes our way will be welcomed wholeheartedly
of course) or being sponsored (it's a bonus! Not the main goal), more
over we actually strive to be WRITERS. So if being ourselves meaning
this blog will forever be our private (but what's so private about a
blog that's been hit for 500-800 times a day without any proper
advertisement other than the odd posting in various bloggers community's
Facebook groups?) playground so be it. We do receive invitations,
collaborations offers, business proposals from this blog anyway, and
that's already more than we planned when we first started this blog.
That
being said, i want to thank each and everyone of you who keeps on
coming back to read our b*tchy little blog and even sweet enough to
leave comments. You should know that while getting the "Ohhh, you're so
cuteee" "You look gorgeous" "You're so pretty!!!" comments gave us mood
and confidence boosters, it is the "I love your writing!!!" "I find
myself reading your blog nonstop!!!" that truly gave us real sense of
accomplishment and propel us to write more, and made us casts our
self-doubts (mainly if we need to market ourselves as less opinionated,
more company friendly blog. Yeah, that's not gonna happen).
And
guess what? Standing up for yourself WORKS, that travel insurance agency? They decided to re-investigate our case, we received personal
(from the agent) e-mails (and from the agency itself) apologizing about
the outcome and explaining how she already tried to help, hunny even
received a phone call regarding the investigation this morning-which is
already a lot more than what happened before (they didn't even bother
calling us to ask how the story went). Regardless on how the end result
would be, i am ensured now that if you think you're right, it's never
wrong to take matters to your own hands and fight for it. At least now
they actually take us seriously instead of casting us aside like some
stupid, clueless people they seemed to see at the first place.
Now, the point of this blog entry (actually this started as an opening to another totally unrelated post but it went on and on so i decided to post this as a separate blog post, that's how horrible i am! LOL), can i start complaining? This is not just a complain but also a warning for YOU to be careful
with credit cards bills okay? Especially if like #Undecided, you don't
even bother reading your statements and just pay whatever number you see
in your statements (this would be case #2 though).
 |
| LOL |
Case #1 : Mandiri credit card.
I
tried multiple times to pay for hunny's credit card bill via E-Banking
and it continuously failed because their website kept on crashing (those
you use Mandiri e-banking would know that this is true and happens all
the friggin time) until at one point, i thought i succeeded. The page
went on to what appears to be a successful transaction page, with tiny
red writings that told me that the transaction was a failure. Yep, i
totally overlooked it and it was of course partly my fault. But don't
forget, i already tried MULTIPLE times to pay for it and it kept on
failing. Later when i realized it was a failure, i freaked and kept on
trying to pay (it was late, you can't expect us to get out of the house
at dawn just to pay a credit card bill, yes? What E and Mobile Bankings
are for then???) and it kept on failing. We finally managed to pay it, 2
days late.
And of course, they charged us IDR 130.000. Which is a
miniscule number, but that is NOT the point. The point is, why should we
be charged on something that is also partly THEIR fault? It's hardly
our fault if their website kept on crashing, isn't it? We already
contacted them as soon as we realized it the payment didn't came through
and they promise to make a note to make sure we won't be charged, but
we were charged and when confronted by it they just said "Terribly
sorry, we cannot credit it back. Just be careful next time". BE
CAREFUL???? Be careful my a**!!! How was i supposed to be careful when i
already kept on trying to pay and your website kept on crashing??? How
about YOU take care of your website and upgrade it, make sure this never
going to happen again and not patronize us about it? Geez! Mandiri
bank, you're on my black list now. Will be closing the credit card as
soon as the installments we have in the credit card's finished.
Case 2 : HSBC credit card.
Now this one actually not really HSBC's fault but since it involves them then i just chose that title to be more consistent *LOL*. The real problem lies with Lola Box. Why? You know i was their loyal customer since they first appeared in the beauty box world (and they seems to be the last two beauty box company still standing, who knows for how much longer since i realize they no longer accept 6 months and 1 year subscriptions and been MIA in social medias since last Saturday, which is always a tell tale sign of beauty boxes company going kaput) and kept on renewing my 3 months subscriptions for 3 times. My last transaction was on October/November 2013 for another 3 months subs, which ended on January 2014.
I have not (and no desire to) renew the subscription ever since (and no, i am not being delusional. I've checked my account with them as well as my e-mails to make sure i didn't rise in the middle of the night, sleep-computering and renewed my subs), so how come when hunny received his HSBC bill there's a LOLABOX transaction worth IDR 375.000? And i don't think i've ever used HSBC credit card for any transaction in Lola Box in the first place anyway!
I'm very obsessive and i freaked (naturally), thankfully HSBC's cs seems to be very accommodating, (as long as they approve the complains, which is 99% in the bag-or so they said) so we've blocked the credit card and will be receiving a new one in the mail soon. Still, it sucks to have to go though all the trouble and possibly have to pay for the new card, when it was never our fault in the first place! How did that transaction get in there??? So scary!!! And this is not the first time this happened, years ago someone in Thailand tried to hack our credit card, thankfully the HSBC CS called us to clarify if we made that transaction (which is NOT true since we were nowhere near Thailand back then), another time with other credit card (Mega, i think) with even more unknown transaction with merchant we've never even heard about. WTH. Why is this keeps on happening to us?
To make matter worse, Lola Box also cannot be reached. They did not respond to my Tweet, e-mail and Facebook wall for days (even though i used to praise their CS' fast responses back in the day), their phone (the only phone number they put on their website is a Flexy number) is turned off. WHAT IS HAPPENING???
And so, it is IMPORTANT to read your bank statements and bills kids, unexpected transaction that you've never made might pop out sometimes (in our case, 3x) and you need to do something about it before it's too late (i imagine once you make the payment you can't complain about it anymore).
UPDATE :
I finally hear from Lola Box, or should i say-they spammed me with pretty much the same e-mail over and over again (probably because they kept on calling me Minny and Hendratmi on the first e-mail *LOL* whoever the hell those people are) stating that it MIGHT be my old transaction back in November. Really??? REALLY???? You charge my credit card FIVE months later? Why not five years later? They also insist that i check on my old statements if i've already been charged or not. Like, seriously... Who keeps 5 months old statements??? I sure don't. And you can't ask me by feeling surely, coz i do feel like i definitely PAID for it already, but can i be sure? Of course i can't! I don't even know how to reply to their e-mail yet without exploding and telling them that i think their system suck b***s. PFFFFFTTTTTT.
I'm very obsessive and i freaked (naturally), thankfully HSBC's cs seems to be very accommodating, (as long as they approve the complains, which is 99% in the bag-or so they said) so we've blocked the credit card and will be receiving a new one in the mail soon. Still, it sucks to have to go though all the trouble and possibly have to pay for the new card, when it was never our fault in the first place! How did that transaction get in there??? So scary!!! And this is not the first time this happened, years ago someone in Thailand tried to hack our credit card, thankfully the HSBC CS called us to clarify if we made that transaction (which is NOT true since we were nowhere near Thailand back then), another time with other credit card (Mega, i think) with even more unknown transaction with merchant we've never even heard about. WTH. Why is this keeps on happening to us?
To make matter worse, Lola Box also cannot be reached. They did not respond to my Tweet, e-mail and Facebook wall for days (even though i used to praise their CS' fast responses back in the day), their phone (the only phone number they put on their website is a Flexy number) is turned off. WHAT IS HAPPENING???
And so, it is IMPORTANT to read your bank statements and bills kids, unexpected transaction that you've never made might pop out sometimes (in our case, 3x) and you need to do something about it before it's too late (i imagine once you make the payment you can't complain about it anymore).
UPDATE :
I finally hear from Lola Box, or should i say-they spammed me with pretty much the same e-mail over and over again (probably because they kept on calling me Minny and Hendratmi on the first e-mail *LOL* whoever the hell those people are) stating that it MIGHT be my old transaction back in November. Really??? REALLY???? You charge my credit card FIVE months later? Why not five years later? They also insist that i check on my old statements if i've already been charged or not. Like, seriously... Who keeps 5 months old statements??? I sure don't. And you can't ask me by feeling surely, coz i do feel like i definitely PAID for it already, but can i be sure? Of course i can't! I don't even know how to reply to their e-mail yet without exploding and telling them that i think their system suck b***s. PFFFFFTTTTTT.
With that, i am gonna close this unexpected entry. I was actually thinking, would it be excessive to write a post like this when i just posted a complain post not a week ago? If you think so, please refer to the first three paragraphs :p. I (we) may be complainers, but don't worry-we only complain about legitimate matters. If you don't do anything to piss us off, of course we won't be complaining (that would make us insane people that needs to be admitted to some asylum) in the first place. I find justful complains to be healthy (for our mental state as well as to create awareness to some matters for the readers) and necessary.
So if you think we complaint too much, take my suggestion : Next time you see a blog post title that sounds like a complain? Don't click it :). Stick to our happy-go-lucky travel (of course, there would be some complains in them too though if something happened in that travel!), reviews or hang out posts-which we have plenty of!
We are so much more than just that blog that complains, but don't sue us if you see this kind of posts whenever we're faced with frustrating situations!
Delightfully Annoying Complainer,
#Pink
PS : At least you can't call us the complainers that doesn't do anything but complain. We complain AND take actions. Including writing blog posts like this to make sure you know stuffs can happen and how you can avoid them in the future.
PPS : If you're wondering about the outcome with the whole debacle with Lola Box, you can read the comment below. For Lola Box' peace of mind, let me clarify this : i am not accusing Lola Box of abusing my credit card information, i was suspicious about the transaction and voiced my concern. I did forget the card i was using and that's my fault, but for the life of me i CANNOT remember if i have paid it or not months ago (and i actually never thought "OMG, Lola Box is trying to steal my money! They must be stealing my credit card informations!". No, i was worried if there's any way someone could hack their system and maybe the money didn't even go to Lola Box). That's why i e-mailed them (why in the world would i even try to reach to them if i just want to waive the payment? I could just stay silent and even block out their comments). The reply i got, was unsatisfactory, so when i added the EDIT part, i got even madder. So don't worry Lola Box, nobody's accusing you of anything criminal. Guess what, i didn't even tag Lola Box in this post so if anyone Google it (everybody knows that if you google them then lots of the results would be directed to MY blog) this won't come up, but now i change my mind.
10 comments
Oh please please don't stop writing post like this Ce! I like the way you straight forward telling a company/a brand about your disappointments. I mean, it's logic and reasonable. You represent some voices :)
ReplyDeleteBagian PS itu bener banget, kapan hari aku juga nulis post hadiah dari Maybelline dan komplain karena packaging-nya payah jadi hadiahnya ada yang pecah. Bbrp hari kemudian aku di-message kalau hadiah yg pecah akan dikirim penggantinya :)
Besides letting the company know their fault, I guess it can be a lesson for others to avoiding the same situation, at least, and acknowledge them what to do when it happens someday :)
Thank you for sharing! :')
Thank your for your encouraging comment, dear :), i'm sure there's a place for honest-no-nonsense blog like this one along with sugar and spice and everything nice kind of blog, right :D?
DeleteIya, it's just baffling to me that brands/companies only respond to my complains AFTER i make my complains public (i.e : post it in this blog) because they sure took their time to ignore my personal complains *LOL*!
I sure hope this kind of posts will help other people to avoid being in the same situations instead of me just being a b***h for no reason hahaha, Thank you very much for reading and responding!
aku jg suka cara post cc~
ReplyDeletekadang2 malah suka pengen jd org kaya ci mindy, ak klo ngomong ato protes sm org suka ga enakan soalnya :(
btw, kok yg lola box bisa gitu ya? :O trus jd nya cc ga jd bayar 375rb nya ato gmn? o_O
Hehehe iya Icel, kalo aq org nya emg no nonsense gt loh, kalo ga suka ya ga baakalan bisa bilang suka, jd kdg kelihatannya b****y gitu (emang iya :p).
DeleteMrk bilang SEPERTINYA itu tagihan aq yg jaman November 2013 gitu, keren banget kan *LOL*. Aq juga udah ga bisa cek krn statements yg lebih dr 2 bulan udah aq buang semua, credit card nya juga udah keburu di blokir krn mrk respon nya lama banget *LOL* jd ya ga tau deh jd nya gimana :p
post yang kayak gini nih ce yang bikin company melek.
ReplyDeletejd jangan berhenti nulis post begini ce, krn tidak sengaja post ini banyak mewakili orang2 yg tertindas jg haha
makin banyak aja yg bermasalah ya ce, pdhl mereka "katanya" sudah kasih pelayanan terbaik. >_<
ckckkc
Huahahaha org2 yg tertindas donk, melas kali kedengerannya Wie :D
DeleteIya nih belakangan silih berganti gitu jd butek sendiri pfffffttt >.<
Hi Mindy,
ReplyDeleteI'm from Lolabox and here's our point of view:
You have send your email on Sunday, March 9th at 2AM - we have replied on the next working day: Monday the 10th. I think you are quite exaggerating saying, that we couldn't be reached. On both Twitter and Facebook we have referred to our email reply, which you have never answered. That's why you have received three emails, which unfortunately you call spam.
Regarding the payment - No, your card has DEFINITELY NOT been charged in November. Just to make it clear. The bank has charged your credit card only once.
It is very sad that you don't want to pay for what you have received already. we are all grown ups - just do what you think is right.
Dear, Lola Box
DeleteThank you for your very sweet comment on my blog. Since like you said, we're all grown up here, let me finally answer you why it took me so long to reply your e-mail.
1. You said my credit card's DEFINITELY not charged on November, however nothing on your earlier e-mails (and yes, i do qualify same e-mails that's been sent THREE times as spam, sue me if you think i was wrong. Plus you sent them all BEFORE answering the twitter/facebook) stated that it DEFINITELY hasn't been charged. Like i said, i have thrown out all of my old statements, so i am still trying to get the statements reprinted so i can check my old bills. I have never stated in my blog that i don't want to PAY for what i've bought, i just stated that i have no way to prove if i have or haven't. Since you asked me to CHECK if i have been charged or not, and i cannot verify either way, i don't think i should reply your e-mail. And yes, if it's not too obvious, i am annoyed and it's incredibly INCONVENIENT for me. Is that so wrong to feel annoyed and burdened by this whole thing?
2. In your earlier e-mail, you kept on calling me Ms. Minny and Ms Hendratmi, which i find it very insulting especially as an old customer that you do not have the decency to make sure you type the right customer's name in your e-mails.
3. You stated i was EXAGGERATING stating that you cannot be reached, i tweeted, e-mailed wrote on your facebook wall, and it took you three days to get back to me. Yes, it was not on a working day, but i think it suffice to say a frantic person trying to get some clarification cannot be expected to sit back and relax when the person spotted a suspicious looking transaction on their credit card bills.
4. I edited my blog post as soon as you replied my e-mail to let people know that you have responded to me. However, i do not think you have the right to dictate my feeling upon the reply you gave me. I am not happy to be charged 5 months after the initial transaction. Are you wrong to charge it 5 months later? No. Am i wrong to feel angry because of that? Who are you to say?
5. I have faithfully been a customer since the very beginning of your box, and been praising you to heaven's and back, in the very same blog you just commented very nicely on. I find it very disappointing that you feel the need to even leave such a comment there (don't worry, i will publish it so the world can see it. Isn't that your purpose of writing that very comment there?).
6. I have blocked that credit card i used due to the bank's suggestion which is the protocol of every suspicious transaction. My payment for LOLABOX might be credited back, i will find out about it in a few days. I will TRANSFER the money to you as soon as it's been credited back (if it's not credited back then the money is definitely already going your way). When i receive your reply, like it or not, it was 3 days too late. The blocking was already made and set in motion, there is nothing that i can do about it but wait out for the result.
Thank you very much for everything, and i will post this email as a reply on your blog post comment.
Have a wonderful life
Mindy
Dear Mindy,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the prompt reply via email and comment section.
We totally understand that it's inconvenient and what happened is definitely not optimal - again, we want to apologize for that. We just disliked the accompanying undertone, accusing us of having abused your credit card information. We don't even get to see your credit card information - as it's being directly processed by our certified payment gateway partner, which also is the country's most secure processor.
The card was supposedly charged in late January, so it's at the end of your subscription plan - yes, probably a too late and quite confusing.
Yes, we also have not forgotten your support over the last year, that's why we were quite shocked over the whole issue.
Again we are very sorry for causing you a 'panic' attack, which made you block your card - something that happened to a team member just recently.
Regards.
Dear Lola Box,
DeleteThank you for your reply. I just want to state that my blog is completely personal, it is not a commercial blog that is use to promote brands or sell anything. I write according to my mood (and therefore : subjective and emotional) and with the condition that i am experiencing during that time. I never edit my blog posts no matter what, but i add things (i.e : writing the part about your reply). And i'm sorry if you feel like i was accusing you of anything, because i am not. I experienced unknown transactions various time (that i also wrote in that blog post) so i am now very paranoid and panicky whenever i see suspicious transaction. What you think was an accusation on abusing my credit card, was actually my concern over your system, and if it's hackable (to which you already stated, it's not). I was not even sure that the Lolabox was the same Lolabox beauty box, i asked repeatedly to the bank's customer service if there is any way we can check what company that was.
And yes, i did block my credit card (before getting any answer from you, so i did not block it with the intention of not paying for the boxes) and am waiting out for the result so i would know what to do next. Don't worry, it never crossed my mind to not pay for what i've bought. Either way i will definitely pay for my transaction, it's just that if the cancellation didn't come through, then the money will still go your way (because i have paid my bill in total, last week. Including that Lolabox transaction), if it does then i will definitely send your money via transfer. Please understand that blocking my card is not a move i would do if i was not freaking out, it will cost me more money (for the new card), but given my previous experiences, i just didn't see any way out at that time.
Thank you,
Mindy
PS : A bit of an advice for you (i don't even care if you take it the wrong way), maybe you should really reconsider the way you phrase your words in someone else's blog next time someone bitch about your services. I only represent myself in however way i phrase my words, while you are representing your whole company. The way you wrote the comment in my blog will be even more judged than my words in the content itself, in fact-it already is. You are a COMPANY, so maybe you should stop taking whatever people say about it personally. In the edit i added, i clearly stated that i have no idea if i paid it already or not (so i definitely was not accusing you about the transaction), so i was voicing my disappointment with both your payment system, and the way your representation was answering my question. I was also voicing my anger (yes, in harsh words because that is the way i write in my blog) about being asked to check on my old (seriously, 5 months is OLD) bills that i obviously have thrown out months ago.
PPS : if you don't already know, if you google the words "LOLA BOX", the first few result would be MY blog. So maybe you should consider my humble readers (who clearly find my blog while googling for you, trying to figure out whether or not they should subscribe to you) when writing something accusing in my blog.