Dear TRS,
I have posted on StarHub’s Facebook page regarding my displeasure with the way they handled the bundling of 4G as a free add-on without informing customers, but less than 30mins later, they removed my post. So I am hoping you would put this up for all Singaporeans / StarHub Customers to read. They did not remove posts made by other commenters but only mine, which suggests that I do make a point.
This was what I posted:
"Dear Starhub,
I am extremely unhappy with the way you have hidden your 4G clauses within your contract and brochures. This is extremely unethical for any company to do under any circumstances. To not explain to us customers that the terms and conditions of the 4G was a free add-on is no different from lying – the lie of omission (from the perspective of a salesperson not explaining to the customer) is and will always be a lie (even if you have printed it black and white).
When I renewed my contract in November 2013, your salesperson even bothered to ask if I would like to take on an extra SIM card with a different number for free, explaining that it was on promotion for a year. This goes to show that it is not the incompetency of your sales people in explaining contract details to customers but instead a deliberate attempt from the management to cheat customers. If your sales representative would already explain to me about the free SIM card add-on, why would he not do so for the 4G add-on? **Unless he/she is instructed from management to deliberately not mention about it?
Quoted from one of your earlier replies: "Since launch in September 2012, 4G Speed Boost has been offered free-of-charge as a promotion for a limited period. This information has been made available on our website, in our brochures and at point of subscription." is NOT how a company handles its' PR to customers. One does not simply throw facts and details to customers when prompted for explanations – you are simply avoiding the desired explanation.
As customers, we want to know why we were not being informed of the 4G add-on as a free item at the point when we signed the contract. If you had intended to deliver these details to customers, you would have done so through your sales representatives at the point of sale before customers signed the contract, just like how your sales person explained to me about the free SIM card. Your replies to multiple customer's queries only goes to show that this entire saga was premeditated, that it was a "marketing strategy" to deceive customers.
I hope that the management will treat this seriously as my voice does not just represent myself but a majority, if not all, of StarHub users. No 4G user, upon hearing this news, would be anything close to pleased so I urge you to rethink on your decision to increase your prices from June.
- An Unhappy Customer”
TRS Contributor