I was overseas last week when my friend called me up, and said that my kutu dues are up... ok, ok... so we men play kutu too! He had advanced his money to settle my portion to this month's beneficiary, and then his dad passed; he needed the cash quick.
With the advent of Internet banking, I can "go to the bank" 24 hours a day, but I was in the middle of the foreign city, and no Internet access.
Empathising with a friend in need - who had advanced his money for my dues without me asking so - I texted my brother in KL.
"Abang, can you get to a Hong Leong Bank anytime soon? Need some assistance to deposit cash into a friend's account."
"Sure, if the one near my house has a cash deposit machine" was his response.
I then sighed relief, and sent him this message:
"My friend's father passed away and he needs money that I owe him from kutu for the prayer ceremony. Please deposit RM500 into this account (I gave the name and number)".
He replied in the affirmative. But about five minutes later, he said:
"Mood, is this really you? When's my birthday?"
Hah! My brother was not sure that he'll end up actually helping me or giving money for nothing to a man he know nothing about!
I sent him a text message not just confirming his birthday, I added the name, colour and registration of the first car he bought upon his return from Swansea. That convinced him that I was who I said I was.
But think about it...
You trust the technology that's available today don't you? From the ubiquitous mobile phone, the laptop, the automated teller machine, the Internet. We trust them in the absolute; in fact we've taken them for granted.
But remember technology can be manipulated. What if my brother trusted the message he received absolutely, and didn't bother to check if it was indeed me that was asking for the favour, AND, that it was a fraudulent message.
He'd be a good RM500 poorer.
People will do anything to make a fast buck these days, and technology - which I should point out is supposed to make life easier - is also making it easier for con men and fraudsters to do so!
My posting on "How I Became A Multimillionaire" is an example of how the Internet is being used by fraudsters to keep food on their table.
And they do! A police officer I spoke to in the country I visited said numerous reports have been filed under "Internet Fraud"; but he admitted many don't come forward in avoidance of shame.
For the record, I have become a multi billionaire now... :)
Remember the brou-ha-ha over the ATM scams?
Phishing of bank account details over the net?
Think about it... are we developing technology for the better? Are we totally trusting technology to a point that we forget that it is man-made, and thus may be prone to man's frailties?
UPDATE:
Case in point: RHB Bank's current account holders were denied access to their accounts between 2am Friday the 13th of April to 6:50pm the same day (the time I received a phone call from their Customer Care Centre) about the system having been fully revived.
I was at the RHB Bank in Precinct 8, Putrajaya today, trying to withdraw some cash from the ATM. Five attempts failed, with the screen each time displaying an transaction error message, while the ATM slips saying "Transaction Denied".
I was frustrated as I was due to get my kids' passport renewed and hence needed the cash. I walked into the branch, and a lady at the last counter smiled at me and enquired if she could be of help.
I explained my situation, and true enough, the failed attempts were attributed to a "technical glitch" on all CA accounts nationwide. But she offered hope when she asked this question:
"Is yours a RHB Islamic account?"
I replied in the affirmative and she said then there should not be a problem But she walked to the backroom, enquired and related the gloom news that RHB Islamic accounts were also caught in the glitch.
"Can I get money out at the home branch in Shah Alam?", I enquired.
She immediately called the branch and after a short conversation said that they still can't honour my cheques at the branch.
Right... I was stumped.
I had money, I had the STM card, the machine worked well, but I cannot access my cash. Not through the ATM, not through the net, and not over the counter either. What was a man with an empty wallet to do?
She said that things should be back to normal "by tonight", but she revealed that their first target was 1:30pm. It was then about 2:20pm, and the system was still glitched.
But the lady - god bless her soul - was very calm, apologetic and helpful. She empathised, and that was some consolation.
I left the branch, and decided to take the kids to Alamanda for some grub. On the way I called the customer care centre.
After manoeuvring through the voice prompted system, I got through to an operator.
"Can you tell me when exactly your CA system will be revived?", I asked.
"I can't say exactly sir, but we think it should be ok tonight", said the voice.
"You already missed the 1:30pm target right? So what assurance do I have that your vague "tonight" target will be met?", I asked further.
Stumped, she asked for me to hold, and came bavck on air to repeat that she couldn't be exact.
"That's ok, I suppose IT issues can be so. But I need a favour. I need this money quick, so can you please call me as soon as the system is up and running?"< I asked hopefully.
"We can't do that sir, because we don't know when it will be up", she replied.
I was getting increasingly annoyed.
"But surely you MUST inform your customers via SMS or a radio announcement that the system is ok... we can't get out money! It's the least you can do!", I said.
After a few more exchanges saying they can't and me saying they must, she took my phone numbers and promised to call.
And the call came in at 6:50pm, much to my surprise actually.
Problem solved, my wallet will be full as soon as I post this, and alls well that ends well.
Technology can be wonderful, but let's back it up with:
- caution
- customer service (RHB did rather well)
- common sense (empathise with the customer; they're yours and you're failing!)
Like Non of LightFM says... "Technology should be as simple as the box it came in".
It can. Just listen and be alert.
Comments
Oh God, you are so patient! I would have been pissed off way before you man.
When I am pissed the bank I normally start my sentence with "I am your client, it is your duty as a banker to bla bla bla bla....."
I am so sorry your day went bad. Hope you managed everything at the end. Good weekend my friend
Salam sejahtera.Rasanya benda macam ni, selalu berlaku tak kira bila kita berurusan dengan govt sector or private sector.
Compare with private sector ...govt sector, pleaselah banyak sangat karenah birokrasi ..Improvment please.
Our Malaysian Mind set, dengan SIKAP TAK APA apa and nowdays dengan prinsip Customer is always right dah tak di pandang oleh most of our Malaysian.Kekadang terasa pulak macam kita pulak yang buat silap kita pulak yang macam meminta sedekah.( Sorry for using this word )
Lagi satu nak juga nyatakan dekat blog saudara ni....Kita dibekalkan dengan KEMUDAHAN KELAS BERTARAF DUNIA...AIRPORT FIRTS CLASS, LRT BAWAH TANAH...ETC. Tapi we comes to the service ...why the service become macam servis untuk dunia ketiga . What Malaysian mind macam ni. Insiden dekat bangunan Imigresn Putrajaya , one of the latest contoh. Bangunan tak sampai sepuluh tahun diduduki dah bocaor. Apa nak jadi ni. And more thing nak luahkan kt sini..kt dalam PUTRA or STAR LRT...dah start ada tulisan yang menyakitkan mata memandang. Kita punya LRT ni dah jadi tempat lepaskan geram ke?
Benda-benda kecil macam ni...our Malaysian tak pandang sangat. Same goes with the problem dalam entry ni... Should be benda-benda kecil macam inilah kita jadikan pengajaran bagaimana untuk menyelesaikan. It become a lesson on how to tackle masalah yang lebih besar lagi in future. I face the same problem with you... tapi the incident happen masa bulan posa..so i kena banyak-banyak bersabar.
Yang penting kt sini, kita punya servis kena lah first class. Jangan benda macam ni kita buat ibarat melepas batuk di tangga . Then bila TOP management dah find out semuanya kena stay back just to tackle out this problem. That really show our Malaysian attidude.
Sampai bila kita nak berubah, our vision 2020 dah makin dekat ...tercapai ke hajat kita nak jadi negara maju..bila benda-benda kecik macam ni selalu berlaku.
Sama-samalah kita fikir.
Chow
Come to think about it,I have come across,on my PDA,messages that come in from one party but under a different name as per saved in my Contacts. Now how did that happen??
Eg: message from my Service Provider but under the sender as 'Office'. So I suppose if that can happen,we can also receive text messages from someone we may think we know but actually it can be a hoax..So I suppose we shouldn't rely on technology a 100%.Always check upon doing the transaction as in the case of yr brother and always stash away some cash somewhere (under the mattress or in the bathroom cabinet!!) in the event the Automated Teller decides to work against us as in yr case!! Good day ahead bro...