In a forum letter published in Straits Time on Monday (24 Feb), titled “Clarification sought on ‘bonus items’ in Singtel’s plan”, Dr Oh Jen Jen asked for Singtel’s clarification on the contradictory instructions of their “bonus items” service plan, which caused her to be charged for extra subscription fees.
“I would like Singtel to explain why it gives its customers contradictory instructions, resulting in confusion and a waste of time and effort to correct an error that should not have occurred in the first place,” she wrote in the letter.
Dr Oh was informed by Singtel of the new plan which included two “bonus item” – both are free of charge for three months – called the Security Suite Plus ($9.25 a month) and the Qustodio Bundle ($2.80 a month) when she decided to recontract her home fibre broadband plan.
Noting the “bonus item” would be charged for subscription fees if the user did not call Singtel before the offer’s expiry date to void it, Dr Oh declined to subscribe the service.
However, she has been told that the services are included in her new plan.
A week before the offer’s expiry date, Dr Oh received two SMSes from Singtel for the confirmation of service, but she did not reply as she assumed that the service will be void automatically.
As a result, both “bonus items” were listed in Dr Oh’s latest bill, and she had to contact Singtel for them to remove the service by submitting the request manually.
Dr Oh said, “I would like Singtel to explain why it gives its customers contradictory instructions, resulting in confusion and a waste of time and effort to correct an error that should not have occurred in the first place.”
Responding to the issue raised by Dr Oh, Singtel on Wednesday (27 Feb) explained that the two add-on services, which is the “bonus item” claimed by Dr Oh, are optional to their broadband subscription plans.
“When our sales agent spoke to Dr Oh, she duly outlined the terms and conditions of Dr Oh’s contract, and also informed her to call the hotline should she wish to cancel the add-on services after the free promotional period,” said Singtel.
Singtel also apologised for the unclear message given by their sales agent to Dr Oh as well as the incorrect information on managing the subscription.
