The manager there told me the promos can only upgrade in the same class. For example they have a $88, 188, and 288 plan and you can upgrade higher without penalty, I’m on the $249 plan so only the $49, 149 and 249 can upgrade.
Since both plans are ending in 99 for you you can upgrade.
Interesting. I am with fareastone. Their latest unlimited plan is 488. Does that throw a spanner in the works?
And I went into the store and they insisted that you have to use the website.
No, it’s not discrimination. It’s a technical error but we can’t help you. Riiiiiiight.
Yeah, Don’t worry. I’m going to push this even further. MP already notified and said don’t worry, we’ll fix it. (Paraphrasing)
I think the level of service with companies here is astounding. I don’t understand, I don’t want to chalk it up to “culture” because well… as seen by the MP, they know what good service is.
I bitched to customer service and expressed extreme dissatisfaction towards the fact that the website still does not recognise the TAIWAN GOVERNMENT issued ID numbers for foreigners. Instead of saying “Oh! You’re right! Let me get on that and I will help fix it for you!” I get “Maybe you should consider finding another company” and “If you don’t like this so much, why do you still want to sign up for us?” Why is the MP able to perform better customer service than the companies themselves?
The lack of business sense is astounding. Even after five years.
I pledged that this will be solved. I will push harder and harder and harder until we can walk into a store with dignity. Not me. We.
So, why don’t you get another contract ?
Other contracts cost more. Why should foreigners pay more when their only offence is their existence? I’m not second class. I hold credit cards and a high level of trust. I followed the laws. I paid my taxes…(as a business owner, I pay more tax than Taiwanese because I actually report EVERYTHING lawfully). I deserve fair treatment.
It’s not about the contract, it’s the arbitrary and byzantine rules(don’t forget illegal as well) they have in all telcos here “rules” that disadvantage foreigners without any basis in fact and are done in bad faith because it’s just simply “easier”
Simply accepting the situation is not the answer because the insulting practises will continue unless someone speaks up. So I have and continue to do so.
so, isn’t the difference like super small?
I have to admit, I dont know how much the contracts are as my wife just got me the unlimited and I never seen the bill, but wouldn’t the difference only be a few hundred tops ?
there are bigger injustices in the world than this …
Not all of us have spouses like you do who can vouch for us and be our guarantor, placating the xenophobic companies. I’m not worried about the cost savings. I’m concerned about my rights and freedoms and will fight for them, no matter how small. It’s bigoted when you blanket ban a group of people because of something that has no bearing on their risk factor. It’s not bigoted when you discriminate based off of actions. Believe me, if I was worried about cost savings, I wouldn’t have spent $12000 in lost income going to the government multiple times to harass the company. Any savings i would’ve gotten have been wiped off the map completely by now.
You’re right. There are bigger injustices in the world than this. But this isn’t an injustice, this is just simple laziness on one end and complacency by some on the other end. I don’t have the means yet to end the bigotry found in most of the world. But if you accept bigotry for small things, then where do you draw the line? If you show to people this is acceptable. When does it become unacceptable?
It’s not about the costs. It’s 100% about the bigotry. To bigotry, I say No.
Sure, but isn’t this a private company ? I don’t see any big injustice if a private company doesn’t want you as customer. Go to the competition
They’re all the same! It doesn’t work when all 5 choices give you a hard time. It’s the same thing everywhere. And I’m not going to let them win. They don’t want foreigners. So I’m going to give them foreigners. I’ll drag them kicking and screaming into the 21st century. Once I’m done with this one. It’s Taiwan Star next. I didn’t forget about them. APT was the lowest hanging fruit because it was written in Plain Chinese their policies against foreigners. Government has made it clear that they need foreigners to come to Taiwan to contribute to the economy since major problems like the birth rate are hurting the economy. But yet, executives continue on this path of bigotry can’t figure out why people might not want to come here. If you can’t get basic life services, who would want to come here?
It’s just as bad as Canada. If you’re unhappy with Robbers, who are you going to turn to? There are only three major players and many places only have one or two providers.
I could have gotten the $x99 service, as I have enough Taiwanese friends who would have been willing to sponsor me. But I went into their office and asked for help and the service and the clerk was about to help me (or, was pretending to do so) when the clerk next to him whispered, 外籍！外籍！ At that point, I decided not to support a company like that.
I ended up going with Taiwan Mobile (大哥大) I got a contract with just an ARC. They’re the company I want to support at this point.
Well you don’t need sponsorship anymore. That was solved. Now it’s fixing the website so that I don’t have to play customer service ping pong.
At this point, I wouldn’t call it supporting, I’m just spiting them now.
They are giving me the service, but it still requires going to the store, then calling service, then going back to the store to give the “authorisation”. I’m trying to end the pingpong now. After that. Taiwan Star is next on my chopping block. I have an axe to grind with them too.
They don’t want foreigners? Then I double down.
I’m the same as Marco. I’ve targeted many banks over the years over credit card denials for foreigners. Now I have fistfuls of cards.
They are a private business but that doesn’t give them the right to discriminate. My steps were first ask for a manager, the girl on the phone will refuse to let you speak to a manager. Then I warn them i will contact the FSC and the bankers association . I then do so. Next day I get a call from the bank apologizing for the ‘misunderstanding’ and the situation resolved.
Same with phones. I’ve called the NCC on a few phone carriers and got what I wanted.
Most foreigners just accept what they are told and that’s why we have no rights here.
Additional story, a few months ago a credit card I had with Taichung Bank expired and I noticed I didn’t get another one. Called them and a girl said they were non renewing foreigners cards and if I still wanted i had to go to the branch to reapply but they wanted a security deposit equalling the credit limit. I asked for a manager and she pretended she didn’t understand me. I said I’m a 5 year client with good record you can’t just cancel me. She just kept Buhaoyisi ing.
Called the fsc, a manager from the bank called the next day saying I just misunderstood , they just wanted to confirm I was still living in Taiwan … absolutely not true but she would not admit to their mistake, i said you record the calls go check. In the end they accepted no responsibility it was all my fault for not understanding.
They did reissue the card.
It’s now sitting in a drawer never to be used again. Also closed my account with them too. I keep the card because I can. The poor service means it will not be utilized.
Yes , not a great Bank , but been with them for over a decade and it’s just easier . My Credit Card with them a long time Mastercard . Called the credit Card company a few days ago , as they had not shown a credit payment I made to clear the card. My friend called for me and the next day , they called her back by mistake. She told them to call me …I am still waiting . Utterly inept.
You only need to observe the antiquated methods, whilst waiting at most Banks, to realize just how far behind Taiwan’s banking system is.
Taichung Bank (or Bank of Taichung), I believe a decade or more ago was Taichung Business Bank 台中企業銀行, or basically a government run bank, like Taitung Business Bank, Kaohsiung Business Bank. All crappe. Some went under, like the one in Taitung. So, doesn’t surprise anybody that Taichung Bank is still sheet.
Could you share the FSC and NCC numbers you used?
I physically went into the NCC locations.
Update here. I paid the deposit and got the sim card. Now waiting for them to do their business with my info so they can finally turn on the card as it has no service at the moment. Really starting to hate TPE-Free Ad Wifi at the moment. Never connects half the time.
May sound silly, but have you tried restarting your phone? It worked for the last guy I suggested it to here.
