DHL Sucks!!!!

I never wanted to put any more entries into here but my recent experience with DHL really prompted me to write this down....and those of you who read this entry, please spread it out...hopefully the people in DHL can finally wake up and do something about it.

As I only have limited items to be shipped back to my home, I've been advised to use DHL or FedEx as it will be cheaper and more convenient. I visited DHL website and got interested in its Economy On The Road service. And since there is a DHL shop on the lobby of my building, I decided to make a visit and ask for more info on it. The only answer I got was a "We do not know anything on this. Please call the Call Centre for more information".

I did call and managed to get some info. Next, I called again to ask if I could get some boxes. And since I'm not a corporate client, I need to make a visit to the nearest DHL center to get the boxes. Now, this is not at those small DHL service point, as those shops are really for collection only (pretty useless!) At this bigger center, I thought the staff will be more knowledgeable but then again, they are just slightly better than a bimbo...

Anyway, after getting the boxes, I contacted the Call Center to make appointment for DHL to collect the box. Once they learnt that you mean business, the Call Center staff passed me to another staff (likely the one who's handling this On the Road service). This new staff after asking some similar questions asked if I'm already registed with the Custom on the new Paperless registration requirements. Then I asked how I should do it as I'd no experienced on this. The staff just sent me some forms and asked me to visit the Custom Department to get it done. After making the visit to the Custom Department, I realised something is not quite right as the documents required seems to be for traders and I'm sending personal belongings home. Hence we call DHL again, talk to the Call Center staff, then pass to the On-The-Road service staff (answering similar questions, got my name registered with DHL) and I asked if they had anyone who could assist me on this. And this is when the staff asked me to contact another staff in DHL. Again, with similar questions, I was again asked to check email for documents to fill, documents to prepare and payment of 1500 Baht cash.

This is getting a bit ridiculous. I make a call again to the third staff and re-iterate my objective of the shipment and only then he told me that I just need to fax over a copy of my passport and it's Free of charge. After getting it done, and setting the appointment for Monday 10am, I started packing and putting in every details and such.

Monday came, 10.30am still no sign of DHL, no phone calls. I called and was told there's no such appointment number/code. Then I re-told my story to the staff about the date, etc...and then she managed to track my number. Sad! And she asked if it's okay for the staff to come and pick my stuff around 3-4pm. I okayed it and asked the staff if i need to prepare any documents. She just told me that I just need to fill up the Profoma invoice and the DHL staff will hand me the Airway Bill to fill up.

4.30pm and still no sign and no phone from DHL. I made another call, usual questions and answers, and came back with "Staff will arrive in 20 minutes". The staff finally made his appearance around 5pm. After getting everything done up, the staff asked for a copy of my passport, which I had but was all packed up into the boxes. I told the staff that I did ask the Call Center on this and she never mentioned about it. He said he's from another (business center)! Since it's already after 5pm, I'm not able to find any photocopy machine and was asked to copy the details onto a piece of blank A4 and sign it. (Note: DHL already have a faxed copy of my passport)

On Wednesday morning, I got a call from DHL staff asking for a copy of my passport. I got furious, manage to trace back the name of the staff that I faxed my passport, called DHL and told them to talk to their staff on this. After learning about the name of that staff, she quickly told me that she will contact him for it without utter a single 'Sorry'.

Honestly, I have no idea what DHL is doing. The staff are not talking to one another, it seems there is no centralize system for all staff to access to get info of its customers. REALLY REALLY SUCKs. DHL have so many contact points for its customers to access and yet, the staff in most contact points are pretty useless. Wouldn't have been smoother if up front, the staff at the Call Center able to handle the queries, the appointments and including advice me to fax over the passport.

DHL YOU SUCKs and YOUR STAFF had no courtersy of even utter a simple 'SORRY'.
DHL, YOUR STUFF are bad in time management, how can you assure your customers on time delivery?
DHL, it's not me, it's YOU!

The last entry...?

It has been nearly four months since I last had any entry in this blog. And i've decided to make this the last entry and to start a new blog early next year to signify the new start, my new journey into the next chapter of life.

I probably have less than 2 months left in this city and I found myself harbouring no hatred or anger (not even to those who had broke what precious to me the most) but only memories and moments that I will cherished and remembered for the rest of my life. And to those whom I might have hurt emotionally unintentionally, my apology.

And to really end this, I left you all with this beautiful song composed by David Foster and Carol Bayer Sager.

Somedays we forget to look around us
Somedays we can't see the joy that surrounds us
So caught up inside ourselves we take when we should give.

So for tonight we pray for what we know can be.
And on this day we hope for what we still can't see.
It's up to us to be the change and even though we all can still do more
There's so much to be thankful for.

Look beyond ourselves there's so much sorrow
It's way too late to say I'll cry tomorrow
Each of us must find our truth It's so long overdue
Even with our differences there is a place we're all connected
Each of us can find each other's light

So for tonight we pray for what we know can be
And on this day we hope for what we still can't see
It's up to us to be the change
And even though this world needs so much more
There's so much to be thankful for

The Biological Clock

It rain pretty heavily yesterday evening, started around 6.30pm and spoiled all my plans.

Since eating out is absolutely a no-no, one will have to make do with what one could scramble out of the Fridge and dry goods storage for a dinner, much more challenging when the fridge is practically empty. I'm not going to revisit what i had for dinner though.

With the rain not likely to stop at 9pm, and the front of the condo is clearly flooded and the Dragonball DVD which i borrowed from the gym could only speak in Thai language with no English subtitles offered and having no mood to continue working after spending few hours earlier in finishing the additional analysis for a report, i decided to sleep by 9.30pm.

And my biological clock continue to work even on a Sunday (unless i'm totally wasted), i found myself awake at 3am...and could not really return to dreamland despite the attempts.

And if I'm to go out, the security guard will very much wonder where the hell i'm going.

Hence, watched an hour of sitcom reruns and finally finished John Grisham's The Associate (of which Shai LeBouf will starred in it). Glad that I managed to finish this within 7 days, far from my 2 days record (Da Vinci Code).

Compared to the previous, The Appeal, this gives a much better satisfaction. Though both are very much appealing and exciting to read, but I hated how The Appeal ended. Though The Associate has no fairy tale ending but at least, it's more acceptable.

Well, it's almost 6am...can go out for breakfast!



,

A-Maze-In Moms

After staying awake for almost 36 hours, I finally gave in at around 10.30pm and went to bed despite Josh, my nephew was playing around with my phone on the bed. I just had no more energy to play with him. Justin, my other nephew already gave up on me in view of my non-responses.
With a good 7 hours of sleep, the next morning i was given a task to find my mom in the wet market and drove her back home. And that’s when trouble begins.
Despite the wet market near my house is relatively small, but that place still reflecting a maze. A maze fill with moms, who tend to dress quite alike and also having the same style of hair, the same body size.
And to find a mom, one will need to fully understand moms. They are undeniably the first generation of shopaholics. While my mom is not one when it comes to fashion and even groceries, but she automatically transform into one as she enter the wet market. It’s like the nanochips in her DNA automatically activated upon the sights/sounds/smell of wet market.
To illustrate my point, this is just an example of how my mom behaves. After breakfast in a coffeeshop, she would ask us to wait for her while she makes a quick dash to the market to buy meat or fruit. After 15 minutes later, her sight has yet to be seen. At times, we either wait further or we make a walk to the market and you’ll be surprise to see her with bags of stuff. Pre-store, she only had one or two items in mind, despite the lack of point of purchase materials or any in-store media, the in-store triggers are so strong that she would end up buying some other unplanned items as well. That’s mom or moms!
That morning, I make a few tour around the market but couldn’t find her and eventually missed her, as she walked back home while i’m still standing outside the market searching all four corners for a sight of her since she could also e in the mini-market outside the wet market, or the fruit shops outside the wet market. Despite her shopping mission just being the Wet Market, but she could end up having a few other side missions as well, which is beyond the wet market.
Which is why modern trade is still not able to compete with the traditional wet market despite we have more in-store activities and triggers, it just ain’t wet market. Perhaps we should really try to do depth analysis into the in-store triggers or how my company terms it as the ‘Delta moments’.

but instead and just

instead of putting effort in controlling the epidemic, here we are scurrying for power & status
instead of focusing on what we should be, here we are seeking for something that's not there
instead of exploring new routes, here we are continue to return to places that haunt & hurt us
and just when you give up on it, it came right back to you
and just when decision had been made, course had been altered, it seems to pull you back
but instead and just
is there anyway we could?

Yes, they can.

The last time I fell in love with a Pet Shop Boys album had to be their Very, which was after their successful Behavior album.

While I've became a fan by then and continuously bought their releases but I was never as satisfied with the releases except for specific tracks (Se A Vida E in Bilingual, I Get Along in Release). I also managed to skip the Nightlife album although I'm very much in love with its New York City Boy track.

In across it all, there's also the release of PopArts compilation, the Concrete live album which were quite a good collectibles.

Somewhere in 2006, they release Fundamental, which critics claimed to be their return to the disco days which I don't agree about. Perhaps the only track I like is Integral and I'm With Stupid. But then again, PSP's work by now are very much for its fans and possibly self indulgence.

Yes, the album is perhaps, I could safely say see their return to form, something that makes me fall in love with their Very album. More pop less techno, More down to earth, less alien-ish concept.

Love etc, the first track lifted of this new album is nothing new but something familiar, something of the "Can You Forgive Her?" style, which is nice and comfortable.

The next 3 tracks (All Over The World, Beautiful People and Did You See Me Coming?) are perhaps the tracks I loved the most. Beautifully arranged backed by nice orchestra-ish music.

The next few are very much album tracks with familiar synthesizers flare in it.

Thankfully, there is Pandemonium that brightens up the whole album again.

The last track Legacy is another familiar track, something one can find in Jealousy, although 6 minutes could be a bit too long for this mellow ballad.

Overall, it's a very pop album and I'm glad I bought it.

Simply

IF YOU DON'T KNOW ME BY NOW
YOU WILL NEVER NEVER KNOW ME!