Honour thy words

My latest experience with a cab company call center was atrocious.

First off - this is SMRT cabs - already one of the cab companies in Singapore.

Second off - it was a human operator, not a machine.

Picked up my call, gave me a cab number, tells me my cab is arriving in 5 minutes.

15 minutes and still no sign of the cab. I had to call them back to ask. Tells me the driver says the system showed a cancelled call, and he did not respond. Gave me another cab number, and said 5 minutes.

DID NOT arrive in 5 minutes! What's up with that?

If you cannot deliver, then don't promise!

If you have drivers that do not honour their commitment to the passengers, take that as a service agreement problem, and deal with it! Otherwise, why am I paying for a cab call?

BTW, SMRT Cab fans out there - a called Comfort cab came in less than 5 minutes.

The truth needs to be told - fake Ferrero Rocher chocolates

Makes you wonder whether you should avoid them for a little while, just to be safe...

Just a long line in a string of issues that have befallen the confectionery manufacturer in Asia. Surely this is not the first time we have all heard complaints about Rochers (whatever their official statements may be).

From worms found in the product (imagine already biting into one before discovering them); to claims of quality lapses being a result of parallel importers not knowing how to properly handle and store the product in the humid Asian climate.

C'mon guys! How do we know whether this round of fakes did not make it to our shores?

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Ten tons of counterfeit chocolates - worth £208,000 - were seized at France's most famous wholesale market outside Paris before they could make it onto the diplomatic festive season party circuit.

The haul of 33,000 boxes is believed to be the biggest seizure of a counterfeit, everyday food product in France.

The spherical, gold-wrapped chocolates gained cult status after a kitsch television advert in which they were served at an ambassador's reception.

In the advert, an elderly butler produces a pyramid of Ferrero Rocher balls on a silver platter to gasps of "execellente" from the gathered dignitaries. One female partygoer, obviously impressed, declares: "Monsieur, with these Rocher, you're really spoiling us."

The advert inspired several comedy sketches and follow ups, and "really spoiling us" briefly became a popular catchphrase.

The seizure was made at the end of November, but details of the operation were released yesterday.

The fakes arrived in France in a refrigerated truck from Turkey. The load contained various lines of fake Ferrero chocolates. Each was wrapped to look like an authentic Ferrero but the individual wrappers did not bear the sticker with the company's logo.

The fakes were not found to be dangerous, but they were poor quality and will be destroyed.

Ferrero, which has promoted its Rocher line of round, hazelnut chocolates as high class and "a sign of good taste", is said to be suing the importer.

(article courtesy of telegraph.com.uk)