The online community knows me. I'm Aizuddin Danian, blogger at http://www.aizuddindanian.com/ and http://www.mycigarblog.org/ and ex-GM of LOTH, and long-time member of LYN. I'm not a TM mole or employed by TM in any way. I've been asked to represent us, and i will try my best to do so in an open and honest manner. Don't shoot the messenger, i only bear the news.

Right, partly because of this http://www.aizuddindanian.com/voi/2010/10/...uring-unif.html but mostly because of this http://unifi.athena.my/, and a couple of scathing emails i sent out to Dato Zam and all his senior staff including his Head of Technology, Marketing, Corporate Comms, i've been invited (together with our very own Rizvanrp) for a dinner with the TM CEO on 11 November 2010. Several members of his senior management committee will be present as well.

They have asked me to compile a list of questions from that we want the TM CEO to answer during the meeting.

I am opening this thread to give everyone a chance to submit their question. If it's suitable (meaning, its a reasonable question, no profanity or abusive tone or language), i will copy it word for word, and present it to him for a response.

The questions can be about anything related to TM, however, i think they are concerned about what we think about Unifi and Streamyx in particular.

TM has indicated to me that they are very serious about improving their broadband services, and this dinner is one of the means in which they are getting the ball rolling. It's not everyday that the TM CEO himself is coming to the ground (or at least as close to it as his schedule allows) to get feedback, so i think we really cannot miss this opportunity to ask the right questions and get the answers that we as the paying customers deserve.

EDIT 11/11/2011

Alright guys, dinner is tonight. Unless someone has something really earth shattering to add to this, i'm going in with the following main issues.

I've chosen these issues because i believe that they will have the maximum impact on the majority of us, and its something that we are all concerned about.

1. Pricing of services, especially when compared to what the rest of the world is paying. Either we should get more, or we should pay less.
2. Bandwidth capping -- there needs to be a more elegant solution to this problem, including allowing us to "burst" our bandwidth through buying more "airtime" (cheaply).
3. Customer service -- frustration with their call center (which is, if i understand correctly, an outsourced vendor, not TM staff).
4. Customer engagement -- one of the reasons why we feel as though TM doesn't care about it's customers is because (a) their call center is pretty poor and (b) we never feel that we are able to talk directly to TM. I sincerely believe that if TM hears our voice (rather than sees just the numbers of our voices in their monthly reporting), they will be more serious and pro-active in solving our problems. This dinner is a perfect example of that belief. I spent several months constructively engaging with TM on several issues, some personal with my own experiences with their service and some on behalf of the community such as the Unifi security flaw -- if they don't care, why bother meeting me?

Alright fellas, thanks again for everything. Wish me luck.

I will post up the full report and all the pics for this meeting after it is concluded. Thanks fellas.

EDIT AFTER THE DINNER

 Q_A_Aizuddin__rizvarp_FINAL_11Nov10.pdf ( 133.21k ) Number of downloads: 435

That's the official response to a bulk of the questions we asked.

Obviously, some are sidestepping the issue, and some don't answer the question very well, but it's a start, and at least we have in writing from their senior management a document that we can hold them to in the days to come.

Dato Zam was a very gracious host, he said he could only spend an hour with us, but ended up staying for nearly two because he seemed quite interested in what we had to tell him. I got the impression that he is the captain of a very big boat, and just like all big boats, despite what the captain wants, making the boat change direction takes a huge turning circle. He seems to know which direction to take, its just a question of how long it takes for the rest of his boat to catch up.

TM has a new VP of Group Corporate Comms, and she's a real firecracker with some sweet ideas to be more engaging with us in the future. I look forward to many of her initiatives, such as a Blogger Briefing, and also a TM sponsored Tech Council. I think the days when we could claim that TM kept us at arm's length will soon be a distant memory. This lady is bringing TM right into our face, if she has her way. Watch out for her.

The biggest surprise to me and Riz tonight was on the issue of extension throttling. Their Head of Retail, and their senior tech officer looked us right in the eye and said they knew nothing about it. I sincerely believe they were telling the truth, it did seem quite a shock to them. They have promised to investigate.


This post has been edited by Tentris: Nov 11 2010, 11:57 PM

I don't think this is the right platform to answer specific grievances; i wish i could go up to him with each and every case, but that would be a waste of the opportunity.

Ronn77, do you have a specific question to ask? or does my question of "Why do many customers constantly feel frustrated when they try to call the TM support lines? (Streamyx/Unifi)" cover the problem?

Yes, they are reading this thread.

Even before i sit down for dinner, i'll bet their PR and tech people will have all the answers ready.

Keep it coming guys, great questions here, real issues from real people.

---

Added on November 9, 2010, 6:42 amMore elaboration on this pls, if you can cite specific examples even better.


This post has been edited by Tentris: Nov 9 2010, 06:42 AM

You never know unless you try.

I've never met Dato Zam before face to face, but i can tell you that his senior team has been engaged with me on several issues, including the security problem Rizvanrp found. The fact that they are doing something about that means that they do have some intention to listen to our feedback.

Of course, we can't expect to get our complete wish list. But the fact that the CEO wants to meet us (or at least me and Riz) is positive news. Its a multi-billion ringgit company. Why would he even bother if he wasn't really curious about what we had to say?

I need more information about Net Neutrality and the alleged censoring of certain websites.

I think this is very important, and i want to be armed with more information.

Guys, please help provide exactly what you mean + specific examples of censoring.

---

Added on November 9, 2010, 5:52 pmNo, i don't think so.

But coming from a corporate background myself, i think i understand what he wants.

A good leader trusts his lieutenants, a great leader double checks all the facts.


This post has been edited by Tentris: Nov 9 2010, 05:52 PM

Alright, looks like everyone has asked all the questions they wanted to ask.

Any more?

Dinner is tomorrow night.

Alright guys, dinner is tonight. Unless someone has something really earth shattering to add to this, i'm going in with the following main issues.

I've chosen these issues because i believe that they will have the maximum impact on the majority of us, and its something that we are all concerned about.

1. Pricing of services, especially when compared to what the rest of the world is paying. Either we should get more, or we should pay less.
2. Bandwidth capping -- there needs to be a more elegant solution to this problem, including allowing us to "burst" our bandwidth through buying more "airtime" (cheaply).
3. Customer service -- frustration with their call center (which is, if i understand correctly, an outsourced vendor, not TM staff).
4. Customer engagement -- one of the reasons why we feel as though TM doesn't care about it's customers is because (a) their call center is pretty poor and (b) we never feel that we are able to talk directly to TM. I sincerely believe that if TM hears our voice (rather than sees just the numbers of our voices in their monthly reporting), they will be more serious and pro-active in solving our problems. This dinner is a perfect example of that belief. I spent several months constructively engaging with TM on several issues, some personal with my own experiences with their service and some on behalf of the community such as the Unifi security flaw -- if they don't care, why bother meeting me?

Alright fellas, thanks again for everything. Wish me luck.

 Q_A_Aizuddin__rizvarp_FINAL_11Nov10.pdf ( 133.21k ) Number of downloads: 172

That's the official response to a bulk of the questions we asked.

Obviously, some are sidestepping the issue, and some don't answer the question very well, but it's a start, and at least we have in writing from their senior management a document that we can hold them to in the days to come.

Dato Zam was a very gracious host, he said he could only spend an hour with us, but ended up staying for nearly two because he seemed quite interested in what we had to tell him. I got the impression that he is the captain of a very big boat, and just like all big boats, despite what the captain wants, making the boat change direction takes a huge turning circle. He seems to know which direction to take, its just a question of how long it takes for the rest of his boat to catch up.

TM has a new VP of Group Corporate Comms, and she's a real firecracker with some sweet ideas to be more engaging with us in the future. I look forward to many of her initiatives, such as a Blogger Briefing, and also a TM sponsored Tech Council. I think the days when we could claim that TM kept us at arm's length will soon be a distant memory. This lady is bringing TM right into our face, if she has her way. Watch out for her.

The biggest surprise to me and Riz tonight was on the issue of extension throttling. Their Head of Retail, and their senior tech officer looked us right in the eye and said they knew nothing about it. I sincerely believe they were telling the truth, it did seem quite a shock to them. They have promised to investigate.

---

Added on November 11, 2010, 11:54 pmPlease use this thread to continue the discussion, and/or post your response to their response.

I have asked them to monitor this thread, and they have promised to do so.

This post has been edited by Tentris: Nov 11 2010, 11:57 PM

On the issue of price, Dato Zam said it will not be reduced.

However, he also said it will not be increased.

And over time, they will add more value for money.

e.g. Unifi customers will get their cap increased for the same price, Streamyx customers will get their speed increased for the same price as today.

No definite timelines on when this will happen, however, this will be their strategy going forward.

Thanks for all the comments guys. It does seem like we've exhausted this thread.

TM has promised many more discussions with customers in the future.

If i happen to be invited to one, i'll make sure to get the community as involved as i can, just like this last meeting.

Cheers.