Not So Alluring Offer Whorelink

Today’s 8.45 p.m. message:

“We’ve credited RM2.50. Please make at least one call by 21/10 to receive your next RM2.50 on 23/10.”

Well that’s so alluring offer with subtle coercion asking customers to waste their prepaid credit aren’t it? Passive-Aggressive might be the correct words to explain this. I’ve lived with it my entire childhood. Same theme layered over throughout life and bullying doesn’t stop at high school. That…I can assure you.

Retracing over to 18^th September message:

“Special Hari Raya Promo! Free RM10 if top up min RM10 in a single transaction from 17-22/9. Get RM 2.50 by 2, 9, 16 & 23/10. Make min 1 call to get rewards!”

I did top my cell up with unnecessary RM10 waste when I still have about RM40 +/- in my credit balance. Thanks to multiple offers I was lured into before. I miss my promised 2^nd and 9^th October credit because I didn’t make any call as required. Got fucked off.

It seems that Maxis YouthClub competition with Celcom U.O.X backfired badly on the former. They offer credit validity up to 5 years from the time we change plan to YouthClub with some added benefits such as cheaper SMS and call rate (bullshit!). It seems to me my credit validity will be ended on 30 /04/2013. I thought it was major relief not having to reload your phone every week or month to ensure connectivity. Less than I anticipated it came with multiple hoax and hook.

First, if you want to keep your reload point reward every month, you need to top up at least RM30 per month or your point will not be counted.

Second, they came with multiple offers each week to ensure customers will keep on reloading regardless their credit balance. Such as:

15/10/09: “SPECIAL OFFER! FREE RM3 airtime when you top-up min RM10 in single transaction from 15-18/10/09. Receive RM3 by 21/10/09. Enjoy BEST RATES from Whorelink!”

Underlined are the terms and conditions.

6/10/09: “Exclusively for u! FREE RM9 airtime when u top-up min RM30/transaction btwn 6-9/10. Receive RM9 by 12/10. Stay ACTIVE to receive MORE REWARDS from Whorelink!"

Third, the offer was not an easy giveaway, you need to reload at certain amount, in one transaction, at certain period of time, after doing certain stuff to enable you to received it. At first it sounded like a steal, but we are at the losing hands (or end). They use some sorts of marketing strategy cum psychology to make us feel that it was worth a deal so we ended up reloading when the money can be put to use for other things necessary for life-sustaining like foodstuff. Something that actually nourish you not robbing you poor.

I wonder if Kementerian Multimedia & Komunikasi can do something about this. It’s a complicated deal and we are emotionally abused to think that if we don’t reload, we’ll lose such good deal. It’s nothing crime-worth but it’s torturing the customers’ emotion having to reload every week when the credit balance is piling up. I received the promotion SMS every week and sometimes up to 3 times a week, with different offer. Sometimes it arrived every other day. This scheme is sooooo dark and twisted.

Being a loyal customer for 5 years, I expect Whorelink to be less rigid and confusing with their offer. It was not like I’m going to have any hanky panky with other service provider, am I?

So Dark the Con of Man