JARING/MIMOS WANTS TO TAKE LEGAL ACTION AGAINST JFK FOR USD$99.50 DUE UNPAID DIAL-UP BILL IN 1996.

(updated on the 9th of june 2011 to include lawyers letter reply, scroll down to read)

Assalamualaikum & Good Afternoon Friends,

I have never written a note like this ever, and although I could merely settle/close this case by paying RM$300, I simply will not stand up to bullies. Big corporation, failing or not, I now hereby represent my friends and family who are also consumers with hopes that if such an event would happen to them soon, everyone could learn from my experiences.

In 1995, I subscribed to Jaring (www.jaring.my) and because I was one of the first on the internet, I even had my username “JFK”. Yes, I understand that some of you haven’t even been born yet or may have been too young to know what “Internet” or “Dial up” was so i’ll share this with you.

Once upon a time, we used to connect to the Internet using telephone lines. There was NO Unifi, NO Maxis HSBB, NO Digi USB Stick, NO YES Mobile, NONE of that. You had to buy this thing we call a “Modem”, put the telephone line into it and then you had to call a certain number. When the number gets called, instead of someone saying “Hello?” you hear a high pitched tone that sounds like a fax machine now, the modem would connect and voila! You would be connected to the Internet with speeds as fast at 14.4kbps (back then lah).  Only years later did we get ISDN (64kbps/128kbps) etc.

Anyway, BEFORE I joined and worked for Telekom Malaysia (TMnet) in 1997, I was with Jaring. Using it as my Internet Service Provider.  I paid my bills promptly to Telekom Malaysia (as back then the internet usage bill & the phone bills were seperate) however, never received a bill for Jaring. As a matter of fact, this was in 1996 so I have no recollection at how the deal was back then? (If anybody remembers please enlighten me).  All I remember was, I have an excellent credit line, no debts, prompt payment of all bills, loans etc — proud of that too, till this very day!

So…….. A month ago (this is 2011 btw), I get a letter from MIMOS/JARING from their lawyers saying “Hey JFK, you owe us RM$300 for the internet access you used in 1996”.  I immediately called their customer support line and said “hello there! nice to hear from you, but can you please check that you got your dates right? Was it 1996 not 2006?”.

You see, years later after joining TMnet (that was cool as my internet was free then woohoo!), I opted to go back to Jaring. So I subscribed for their FLITE broadband services (it was 1mbps) and had a 2 year contract. Well I stayed for god knows, I can’t remember, 3 years? 4 years? Maybe more, I really can’t remember. But hey I managed to get back my USERID : “JFK” too! Woohoo….. ANYWAY…… last December, I wanted faster broadband, and because Jaring didn’t have any, I went to their customer care center (which is conveniently next to ASTRO in Technology Park), paid the full bill, brought back all the equipment (which they didn’t want in the end) and said Thank you. We parted ways, all accounts settled and bye bye.

As a matter of fact too, i’ve always paid my JARING bills in advance. I pay 3-6 months in advance. So literally I walked into their customer care center last december empty handed just saying “Ok guys, i’ve paid up to this date, I want to close my account now, do I owe you anything?” They checked their system under “JFK” and voila, nothing. Obviously, all good? OK Case closed.

Well apparently NOT! As mentioned in my underline bold sentence above, they were talking about 1996! Yes. They are charging me for a bill dated 1996!

So I managed to get them on the phone line again and told them who I was, where I live now (you are aware that we are talking about a 15 year gap here yah?), what I do etc and they said that they will call me back (as I did request for someone with authority to speak to me).

Well nobody called me back. So I managed to get them (JARING/MIMOS customer care) on the phone again 2 weeks ago. Telling the whole story again, because the person had no idea what was going on, she did transfer me to someone else who did mention she’d get back to me after assessing this case bla bla bla…….

Today, I get this email, sent to my jfk @ hitz.fm email account:

———————-

Dear Customer,

We would like to thank you for taking time to notify us of your unsatisfactory experience with our services. We will take every step and measure to resolve this matter fairly.

With regards to your issue, we have reviewed the profile of the above account and wish to confirm that the said account was registered for JARING Dial Up services on 4 November 1996 with the following details;

1 – Name – Johan Farid bin Khairuddin

2 – IC No – ******-**-***9

3 - Address – No **************************** 60000 Kuala Lumpur

According to our records, the above customer had made numerous accesses to the service from the date of registration till the date JARING terminated the service due to  expiry. Last access to the service was in January 1997 with balance unpaid RM298.47.  This dial up was registered under the unlimited package and there was monthly charges of RM50.00 imposed from February 1997 till  February 1998 amounting RM650.00. However we have credited back the amount as there was no usage during that period.

We admitted our lack of communication to our customer on the above status and would like to thank you for your feedback as it will help us provide better services.

We would like to offer you a 50% waiver on the legal cost and hope that this can somehow compensate for your unsatisfied expectation.

We hereby confirmed that the total amount payable to JARING inclusive the legal cost is RM323.47

Copy of statement of account and our payment instruction is attached for your reference.

Payment can be made via Maybank account or Maybank 2u as attached payment instructions. Once you have settled all the outstanding payment we will issue a letter to inform that your account has been settled.

Any enquiries, please feel free to contact us at 01*-**** ***9/ 01*-**** ***8 or email at fin_credit@jaring.my.  

Thank you for your cooperation.

Regards

Credit Finance

———————————————————-

Okay, stop laughing. Please. Okay laugh lah for awhile. Okay now stop. Thank you.

So here is my public response to JARING/MIMOS. Exclusive to my friends on social media. Johanfaridkhairuddin.com, Twitter.com/jfkjohan. Both my facebooks (/jfkjohan & /jfkhitz), LinkedIn and wherever else I’m planted on this world wild web.

Now.

Dear Jaring,

1. Your opening line could be insulting to many, but I will play devils advocate and take it with a pinch of salt because; I never said or complained about your “unsatisfactory services”. Is that your standard line/greeting or? Anyway, I just called to say your lawyers sent me an email threatening to take me to court and/or take legal action because of a “dial up bill” you are claiming from me dated as far back as 1996 worth RM$300 (or USD$99.50).

To remind us, the year is 2011 and notwithstanding, the 7yr statute of limitations, why didn’t you give me the bill in 1996 itself? Or 1997? Or 1998? Or 1999? Or 2000? Or 2001? Or 2002? Or 2003? Or 2004? Or 2005? Or 2006? Or 2007? Or 2008? *phew so penat to type lah..* Or 2009? Or 2010?

Also why didn’t you say anything to me when I first subscribed to FLITE? Its still the same person. Its still the same address. Same IC Number, Best part is, ITS STILL THE SAME USER ID !!

2. Dear Jaring again. I’ve been with your FLITE broadband services for years as a loyal customer who never delayed payment. I’ve also represented your brand & business globally as the United Nations e-Leader & Youth Ambassador for the UN Global Alliance for ICT Development in New York, Geneva and around the world, traveling with your Diplomats, Ambassadors and representatives carrying the JARING/MIMOS flagship. I’ve also served as the Youth Ambassador for Malaysia’s Youth & Sports Ministry under the CDC Program, amongst others of course. All carrying your brand & business on my back! How can you NOT know me lah?

3. You “crediting” me back an amount you shouldn’t be charging in the first place is not doing me a favor. Nice try. Also, if you realized this in February 1998, why didn’t you bill me in February 1998? or 1999? Or 2000? Or 2001? Or 2002? Or 2003? Or… *eh seriously penathlah, u get the picture*.

4. Also Dear Jaring, why didn’t you tell me I had an amount due WHEN I signed up for your NEW FUTURISTIC & MODERN FLITE BROADBAND SERVICE? I mean, you knew who I was, the records clearly state I am using the same name as per ic, same address, same USER ID “JFK” osso… aiyoh. Haha

5. Jaring/MIMOS you said : “We admitted our lack of communication to our customer on the above status and would like to thank you for your feedback as it will help us provide better services.”

JFK: I’m sure you would appreciate that the first step in learning is to listen. With that said, I have never mentioned or said anything about your service. My only qualms are with your credit department who is asking money from me for a bill dated 1996. And the way they asked through a lawyer letter also further displeases me.  Not to mention the way I am being handled now post speaking to your customer care officers countless times, nothing is being done AND, instead of calling me back as your team promised — I get an email with the above.

OKAY. That pretty much sums it up. Now, as you are reading this, I would strongly appreciate it if you could help me spread the word on this through your networks as well.

Also, please do tag who you reckon would be relevant or who could help me in this case?

As a surprised twist, I will be offering the following.

If anybody reading this is able to help me solve this mess with JARING/MIMOS, I will donate the total amount of this bill USD$100 to a charity of their choice or, should they wish as well, the MALAYSIAN CANCER RESEARCH SOCIETY which I just participated in last weekend as well called #RELAYFORLIFE 2011.

This should help strengthen my stance that i’m NOT doing this about the money, but for the morale of the story. Also, I do NOT support bullying.

—————— UPDATED 9th JUNE 2011 —————

Here is the official response from my lawyer to JARING. Obviously I have withheld the identity of my representative and his/her firm (for now). Lets just read the letter sent:

My name is ******** and I am the personal legal advisor for Mr. Johan Farid Khairuddin. I refer to your earlier email to my client as forwarded below and to the letter of demand from Messrs. Nizamuddin Hamid & Co dated 01052011 (ref:NHCo/NOR/J/01-05-2011)(hereinafter referred to as “the LOD”), for which we are now requesting for further clarifications as there are a number of discrepancies discovered.

Please also refer to the attached statement of charges. Kindly take note that the date of the purported Dial Up Services Agreement is stated as 04/11/1996 in the LOD, but in the statement of charges attached herein, the services commenced from 01/01/1996. Also in the statement of charges, various log-ins were recorded from 01/01/1996 but charges were only made beginning 01/01/1997.

We request for clarifications on the dates and how the charges were made seeing that log-ins were recorded since 01/01/1996 but no charges were recorded. I have also been informed by my client that the purported Dial Up Services Agreement (if any) was terminated prior to him engaging in your subsequent services under the FLITE package. No outstanding amount for dial-up services was informed to my client when he signed-up for the FLITE package.

In any event, my client categorically denies any amount outstanding and/or owing to you.

In the premises, we would appreciate for your prompt response and clarifications of the above. Kindly take note that this request for clarifications is made on a without prejudice basis to my client’s legal rights for counter claims.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

******

—————— END UPDATE 9th JUNE 2011 —————