OF TELEMARKETERS & ANNOYING PHONE CALLS

So I think it was somehwere in July or August when I got the phone call from Maybank Kota Bharu officer, En Sh******  A*** (if I put his real name here, his job could be in jeopardy and yes, I do still have a heart) offering me an Islamic Credit Card. Though I adamantly refused and stated my obvious choice to be credit cardless for as long as I live (with the advice of my father and through my own logical thinking, you could never get out of debt if you own one), he kept pushing and finally I hang up the phone thinking he should get another lesson in basic Bahasa Melayu so that next time, he would understand when to stop when people has said no a million times.

Soon after this particular call, I received  abundance from calls from insurance companies, Sunway Lagoon, Palace of the Golden Horses and etc and the first thing that they asked me was, “Are you a Mastercard/Visa credit card holder?”

Pissed off and irritated with the calls and the telemarketers who sprinted away like bullet trains without giving me any chance to explain that 1) NO, I DON’T HAVE A CREDIT CARD and 2)HOW DID YOU GET MY NUMBER?

The telemarketers usually gasped in horror for question number 1, some of them did not believe me and questioned me why I did not have a credit card, to which I was tempted to answer “Ikut suka hati aku la” but still with the last remaining civility in me, I managed to answer politely with just a little hint of annoyance.

For question number 2, they usually would dilly-dally and try to stall me as long as they can and never answering my question directly.

So, these telemarketers called at the most inappropriate of times, they even called during school hours while I was teaching in class. One lady called in the afternoon, which was lunch hour for other office related jobs, and when I said I’m working, she replied rather sheepishly saying, “Oh lunch hour pun kerja jugak ek?” I almost lost my cool and called her a stuck-up bitch but still I bit my lips and just said yes, some people have to work during lunch hour as they don’t have a designated period of time to take their lunch or even for toilet breaks.

Tired of them and their aggressive persuasion, I went to Maybank Kota Bharu to confront the officer whose name I did not mention as you can see earlier in this post, but was greeted by half-assed attitude and a lame response saying, “Hok calls tu kito tokleh tulung la mugo buke kito hok bui no telefon cik” and inside I was saying, “Kepala hotak lu” (Yeah, I do swear a lot, only at appropriate times, judge me or hate me but that is the way I am, P/S: read that in Eminem’s tone). Since he said there was nothing that he could do, I should have just gone to the manager instead, right? But I still have some compassion left in me because I do that, he would surely get ‘something’ for the stunt he pulled on me.

So I called Maybank Customer Care Line (care la sangat) and complained. The kid answering my call was helpful and took my predicament into account.

I thought the matter was resolved but later, I got a letter from Maybank asking me to pick up my credit card in the Grik branch. My first reaction was, “WTF?”

However, since in the letter, it stated that if I did not pick up my card within two months, it’ll be automatically destroyed. So, I just disregard the letter as I believed I have made the correct decisions by going to Maybank KB and calling the Customer Care Line.

Then, at the end of November, I received a call from an officer in Maybank Grik asking me to pick up my credit card. Again, my reaction was “WTF?” but I told the lady that I never applied nor approved this credit card application and when I asked her how the hell did they pull it off, creating a credit card without the customer’s consent, she said she did not have an answer for that question and I should call the Care Line or talk to the officer in Kota Bharu, which I did but it seemed both parties had some sort of brain damage and could not process the fact that I did not request for the credit card to be processed.

At that time, I was busy with SPM Marking meeting and my mind was fully occupied with the scripts and this lady kept asking me to pick up my credit card or else, it’ll be destroyed and my response to that was “Eat Me”. Again, this was all in my mind and I tried to reply with much grace as possible.

A few days later, another telemarketer called from Multi-Purpose Insurance and that was the last straw, so I made a formal complaint to three related Maybank services. First, at their official Facebook page ( there was a Maybank KB Facebook too but since they could not understand simple instruction, I don’t think they would be able to handle this lady’s scorn towards their poor service), second, at their Maybank Card Facebook and another to its Customers Relation officer through e-mail.

My friend suggested that I should go to Maybank KL but why would I waste my money and energy going through a 6-hour journey just to fix a shitstorm that wasn’t even my fault to begin with. My other friends told me that I should complain to Bank Negara Malaysia since this is a violation of my personal information and could be considered as credit card fraud. But still, being as courteous as ever, I just merely post a complain on Facebook and sent them an e-mail.

I lodged the complains on Friday last week, and they responded saying it would be investigated and a Maybank officer would be calling me to resolve the problem. So I waited until Wednesday but still, no one calls me. So I send an email and IM on Facebook, saying that if I did not receive any response from them within 24 hours, I would lodge a police report and make a formal and written complaint to Bank Negara Malaysia. And on the very next day, a customer relation officer called me and said the credit card is closed and no, RM 50 tax for every credit card issued has not been deducted from my bank account.

Today, I received another call from Maybank KL officer, this time from the credit card department asking me whether I could recall all those numbers that have been calling me. Of course, I did not save the numbers as to me, they were annoying as hell and good riddance if they never call me again.

And after the threat has been made, my email was also replied and I asked for a written statement saying that I did not, ever, apply for any sort of credit card as a proof to clear up my name. Although the matter has been resolved orally, but still written proof could be used later if any misunderstandings still occur in the future. As of now, I’m still waiting for the reply to my request.

As for you out there, I am sure that some of you have received weird phone calls or text messages, trying to dupe you into believing that you are one of the luckiest people who have won a sum of money and blah, blah, blah. Or they are just persuading you to try a package to stay at their hotels. Or they are selling insurance of life policy that can give your family benefits and long-term medical protection. Whatever they are selling, don’t believe these people as they are just trying to take advantage by preying on people who would be careless to fall into their traps. Here is a link http://www.zuraidin.com/2012/01/annoying-phone-call.html for a list of annoying phone calls that you should be aware of.

As for me, not until I get a written statement would my mind be in peace. And to think that I have to deal with this during marking papers is a pain in the ass. And to think of the face of that Maybank KB officer and his nonchalant attitude to this fucked-up situation started by him is also another pain in the ass. Please, even if you are trying to make a living, don’t make it a hell to live in to other people just to get your products sold. If people are looking for insurance, they would find you if you are respectable enough to leave them alone when they say they are busy and in a meeting. Respect other people’s privacy and be courteous enough to stop babbling away when people are just not interested to listen to you. And value people’s personal information and don’t distribute customers’ numbers just for the sake of getting a few bucks.