rinnah’s consumer views|what a consumer really wants and thinks about products and services

Note : As a consumer, my goal (and I think everyone else’s goal is too!) is to get the best value out of my hard-earned money. So occasionally I will blog about tips and tricks about being a smart consumer that I myself have personally used. This is one of them.

In this day and age of technology, it seems that almost everyone has a mobile phone. Even school going kids have mobile phones – my 9 year old nephew has one too! Besides the convenience of being able to be in touch with others all the time, there is also the cost involved in owning a mobile phone. However, this money saving tip will only work if you have a postpaid plan like I do.

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My family has been using Maxis as our line provider for as long as we have been using mobile phones, and that’s a pretty long time. We used to have different plans under different providers, both postpaid and prepaid, but it made so much more sense to group the family lines under one service provider for convenience and cost-saving.

Recently, I made a discovery that not many people might take the time and trouble to do so. I had been checking out the data rates and plans available through Maxis as I had upgraded my mobile phone to one that had 3G capabilities. Halfway through my surfing though, I noticed that Maxis had recently rolled out a new family line package which was significantly cheaper than the current plan we were on. Now, as existing customers, we hadn’t received any notice that this new rates were available and thus were continuing to pay the older, higher rates. Being the thrifty Chinese that I am, of course I wanted the better rates! =)

So, I made a quick phone call to Maxis to see if there was any way that I could switch my family plan from the old one to the new one. As it turns out, I could do so, and it only took that phone call and 3 working days for the change to be effected. When I next checked the phone bill, there was a savings of MYR40.00 overall (not full savings, considering that the rate change happened in mid-billing cycle). I don’t know about you, but that bit of money adds up to quite a bit over say, 1 year = MYR480.00.

So, it pays off to keep in touch with your mobile provider’s latest rate plans. Have you checked your mobile rate plan lately?

It’s a pity, really, because I have a friend who swears by their facials and I really love her clear, flawless skin. But the thing is, every time I get anywhere near a Clarins counter in Malaysia, I get very put off by their beauty consultants. They don’t seem to realize that their service is the make or break factor for customers. The break factor for me was my bad experience with one particular beauty consultant as detailed below.

Clarins recently ran an online promotion (valid until 31 December 2008) giving away two samples of their skincare line, a hand massage and eyebrow grooming. If I’m not mistaken, it had to do with their “Clarins We Care” charity promotion? Anyways, I put down my contact information and printed out the e-voucher that allowed me to redeem the items above. My voucher told me that I could collect the same from the Clarins counter in Parkson KLCC and I headed there on a weekday after work with a colleague. My colleague also had the same e-voucher, but for some strange reason, hers was printed as the Clarins counter in Isetan KLCC. Weird.

Anyway, we went over to Isetan first, being nearer there and my colleague was attended to by a very sweet girl who mentioned that she was temporarily assigned there. All went well and we (my colleague and I) were quite pleased with her service. She did say apologetically when we asked that she couldn’t assist me as my voucher was clearly printed as redeemable at Parkson KLCC but I was fine with that.

So after we were done with Isetan, we walked over to Parkson KLCC, where we were greeted with an empty Clarins counter. No beauty personnel around. We walked around for a bit before coming back to the counter and saw one of the Clarins personnel come out from the door behind the counter. When we approached her to redeem my e-voucher, she brusquely said that I could not redeem the items listed on the e-voucher as I did not make an appointment. I then asked if I could just get the skincare samples – I was willing to forgo the hand massage and eyebrow grooming as I was more interested in testing out Clarins’ skincare products – but again, the beauty personnel brushed me off, saying that I could not get anything from them because I didn’t have an appointment and she didn’t have time to do a skincare analysis for me. Instead, she told me to go to the Clarins counter at Isetan KLCC to redeem the e-voucher. When I mentioned that we had just come from there but since my voucher stated Parkson KLCC I couldn’t redeem it there, the beauty consultant then said disinterestedly that I should come back tomorrow if I really wanted the products. I had enough of her uppity attitude and we left the counter.

I just can’t help but compare the difference in attitude and service rendered between the beauty consultants at Isetan KLCC and Parkson KLCC. It is also pertinent to note that my colleague did not make any appointment at Isetan KLCC before redeeming the exact same e-voucher that I tried to redeem at Parkson KLCC. What’s also interesting to note is that no skincare analysis was done on my colleague before she was given the skincare samples at Isetan KLCC. Hmm. Was it an oversight by the beauty consultant at Isetan KLCC or merely an excuse by the beauty consultant at Parkson KLCC?

Anyway, I don’t think I will be going back to Clarins for a long time, if at all, because of the attitude of one beauty consultant.