31 January 2010 Sunday | The speed demon
After the post event supper at Katong last night, I headed back to the office to finish up some production work. I had about 1/4 petrol left, so I thought I should top up the tank because I have to travel to Tuas (from the north east) for a wedding dinner on Sunday evening.
The drama began after I paid for my fuel at Shell, Lornie Road (right outside MediaCorp). The car wouldn’t start. I’m a total noob at this. I only know how to speed travel from one point to another, and do reverse parking. Ok, I can do parallel parking if there are two lots. Hahahah.
Jan, who was working the next day, was on her way home. Irvin, who was about 3km away from my office, answered my call and said he was already in bed. I told Don, “Come save me! I don’t know what’s wrong. Is it the battery? You don’t be so loh soh! Come quick!” No Ps and Qs there. Haha.
He jumpstarted my car and revved hard to charge the battery. His advice was to head home immediately, in case the car stalled again. No, I couldn’t go back. I had urgent work to do. And true enough, the car died when I tried to restart the car after parking it safely in MediaCorp premises. LIke I said, I’m a goondu cos I’ve never encountered such problems in my 4 years plus of driving.
Had plenty of time while I waited in despair. Just so you know, the first thing I did in an emergency was to make phone calls, and not ask for help via social media.
Upon Kar Huat’s advice, I called Mazda’s 24 hour hotline (as printed on the servicing booklet). No one picked up the call.
(Note: Eisen and Wee Teck are from Straits Times and The New Paper respectively.)
I tried Automobile Association next. Because I saw on their website that they only provided assistance to members, I called to check the fees. $175 for two years? All right, I’m a spendthrift, but I couldn’t justify the need to sign up.
I logged on to Mazda’s website next and found a different number to call. Quick suggestion here: If you want to change your helpline number, it would be much appreciated if you could have an automated message informing your customers of the new number. Especially so if your unhappy customer spreads the message to a lot of other people. Try it and tell me if it’s fun to listen to a dialing tone and curse and swear in the wee hours of the morning.
There was a $58 surcharge for instant replacement. I thought it was reasonable for a service at that hour. “Ok, come please!”
The next call was to MediaCorp Security Control Centre explaining my situation and to have them allow the Mazda guys in. We usually require names, NRIC numbers and vehicle numbers for clearance. I’m glad they didn’t press me for those details, or I’d have freaked out. Thanks hor.
Twenty minutes later, a van from the Automobile Association drove in. What the…
So, Mazda outsourced the service to AA?
The guy confirmed I had a weak battery, and proceeded to ask if I would like to become a member. Yes, that $175 for two years shit. Of course not! Hello, if your association does provide assistance to non-members, I would be very grateful if you could have that on your official website and not try to con me by saying:
“You will need to join AA to receive complimentary roadside assistance services. An express fee of $32.10 applies. In addition to AA membership one-time entrance and subscription fees if you are signing up on-the-spot or if your membership has expired. Don’t leave it to chance; sign up for or renew your AA membership now!”
And if it is a partnership with the car manufacturer, you should not take the chance to sell your membership scheme. I feel.
Two hundred bucks later, the drama ended. Well, it could have been worse if the car died while I was on the roads, or if I had parked at somewhere ulu. Heng ah.
