Operator, the line is dead.

I'm pretty sure by now your exposure to certain varieties of advertisements consist a dialogue between an operator and a consumer.

Often time, it's a foreign one, specifically the United States.

Recently, I've contacted a few major companies to investigate and do some purchases for my stall. It's vital to get your products at the lowest cost to cut down your budget.

Companies like FNN was decent in terms of their operator service. Just some minor miscommunication which led me to another 2 more calls in order to reach the appropriate department.

After that I contacted Walls ice cream. The operator who answered my call had a decent service too. However, after requesting me to contact their supplier, who was a Digi user (Digi sucks and yes, that's only thing I'm extremely bias about), this was roughly how the dialogue went. (The dialogue is summarized to the important points only)

Me : Hi, ms XX.

XX : Halo.

Me : Is it possible for me to purchase your product directly instead of buying from the hypermarket?

XX : Yes yes, you can.

Me : What is the minimum requirement to make an order?

XX : 10 cartons. That'll be 6 tubs of ice cream.

Me : Okay. How much that'll be?

XX : How much ah.. er.. err...

(10 seconds later)

XX : Can you contact this person? Her number is 016-DIGISUCKS.

After contacting her and investigated the pricing, I did some calculations to do a comparison between buying from them directly and from a hypermarket.

Wa-lla!

The price has no difference or whatsoever.

Instantly, I contacted Ms. XX to find out whether she got the pricing messed up or anything like that.

XX : Ohh.. you see ah, the hypermarket make big orders one. Big order got ..

Me : Discount?

XX : Big order got discount. They order at least 50 cartons ..

I was thinking in my mind, that'll be 300 tubs.. and the fact that certain hypermarkets keep running out of stock begins to cause suspicion.

To my dismay, we had no choice but to resume purchasing from hypermarkets since there's any difference.

Meanwhile, humorous encounters with operators such as kickapoo and MBPJ occurred.

The kickapoo operator was literally whispering on the phone. I had to glue my ears so that I could at least grasp a gist of what she was uttering.

It was until a certain point I had to request to increase her volume.

Me : What..? I, I can't hear you. You're speaking really soft, can you like, speak louder?

Angry Kickapoo Operator : MY BOSS' LINE IS ENGAGED. CAN YOU CALL BACK LATER?

Meanwhile, the MBPJ operator was.. well, rather ..

Operator (Machine, fast paced) : Terima kasih kerana menghubungi MBPJ. Untuk *mutter mutter*, tekan "0". Untuk mengulangi, tekan bintang.

Obviously, the rational choice would be to click the star button.

Operator (Machine, fast paced) : Terima kasih kerana menghubungi MBPJ. Untuk *mutter mutter*, tekan "0". Untuk mengulangi .. (the line got cut off).

I had to redial and was obliged to click the "0" button.

The first line I said to the operator was,

"Do you converse in english?"

"Yes I do."

I didn't mean to offend her but it's not like I had choice of,

"For english, dial 1."

"Untuk Bahasa Melayu, tekan dua."

Just one last experience with operators, our most familiar and often called operator.

McDonald's delivery service.

During peak hours, you usually get 2 replies. One makes you angry and the other really makes you angry.

"Sorry sir, the nearby outlet at your area is busy. Can you wait for another 45 minutes to an hour?"

That reply, makes you angry.

"Sorry sir, we cannot receive anymore orders. We are fully occupied."

Now that, really makes you angry.

Anyhow, it was 9p.m., when I made my order, stomach was growling and I received the first reply.

Fine, I'll wait. Since it's late and I don't want to go out and dine. I'm paying for the delivery service anyways.

1 Hour later.

1300-13-1300.

The same operator picked up my call.

Me : Where's my food? It's already an hour and I don't see it yet.

Operator : Oh, can you wait another 25 minutes?

Me : 25 minutes!? Excuse me, I'm really hungry.

Operator : Hahaha.

HE LAUGHED. Now that really ticks me off. He thinks I'm cracking a joke.

Me : Is there any way, McDonald's can compensate my time and starvation? Because this is one really dissatisfied customer.

He knew I was serious when I mentioned that I'm really hungry. He quickly changed his tone.

Operator : No sir, there's nothing we can do about it.

Hmm, I'm lovin it huh?



Thanks for your time.

God bless, cheers.