The Craftsman’s Forge

Dear Nokia Rep,
Nicholas Aaron Khoo passed me your email address. Let me recount my experience. I excitedly purchased a new N97 from Parkway Parade’s Nokia Store on the 9th of June. I went to Ovi store, and downloaded a copy of Gravity on the same day receipt number #0DP782N84GQ3 for S$14.99. All went well, and I was fairly happy. On the 20th of June, my N97 kept hanging due to bugs on the firmware, and I had no choice but to hard reset the phone.
After i hard reset the phone, I realised my Gravity software was gone, even though I had backed up all software. All my other software was intact.
I thus had no choice, but to visit Ovi store again to try and download the software. When I logged in, I realised that Ovi Store did not allow me to download the software again, even though I had purchased and downloaded the software before. My Ovi Store log showed my download and purchase history, but did not allow me to re-download again.
I thus had no choice, although very frustrated by this time, to pay again, and download the software. I was prepared to pay for the software again.
I paid for the software (Receipt number #EXUZQP0WLL1J). While downloading Gravity, to my horror, the download failed halfway, forcing me to download the software yet again. I paid for the software a third time (Receipt number #5MENULBYBMWW). The download failed again, and I had no choice but to go through the process yet again. I paid for the software a fourth time (Receipt number #4641QFW10HT9) and proceeded to download the software. Thankfully, this time, the download went through.
I wrote to Ovi Store to report the issue immediately, on the 20th of June. Someone only got back to me 6th of July, a full 16 days later! And this, is only to ask me more questions!
I replied quickly, on the same day, and again had to wait for 11 days for another yet unsatisfactory reply from Nokia on the 17th of July. I replied to the mail on the 22nd of July, but there has been no reply from Nokia!!!!
In the mean time, my credit card company has already charged me for the downloads.

I cannot believe that Nokia who seeks to compete in the global mobile industry can be so slow in handling customer issues! This is absolutely disappointing, and completely unexpected to say the least.
In the meantime, I have sold off the complete disaster of a phone (N97), and have resolved never every to purchase another Nokia phone again.
Please, if you can help to refund me the money I paid Ovi Store, I would be exceptionally appreciative. It is such a pity, as I was really excited to purchase the N97. But it had been a complete nightmare owning a piece of Nokia’s flagship phone. In selling off the phone, I have made a loss of $300 as I had purchase the phone without a contract. That was how convinced I was about Nokia’s N97 when I started. I can only stand fully corrected on my misplaced trust and enthusiasm for Nokia.

Sincerely
Paul Chan

It’s July 5th, a good 4 months since I took on this new role. Things are moving along, and stabilizing. I’ve hired 3 new staff, 1 of whom could not stand the stress and will leave soon. The work is tough and expectations are high. Thankfully, my bosses (yes.. I have three) think pretty well of me. The team I joined in March lacked credibility, drive and was a bane of the business. Everything could not be done, and IT became a hindrance and slowed down the business.

Today, IT is looked upon as a driver for the business. It is the eyes of the company. Everyone looks towards IT for support, and most importantly, we’ve gained back our credibility. IT has never spent more money then after I joined, but no one is complaining. My bosses are supporting me and have told me in no uncertain terms that they would never second guess me. If I said we needed to spend on something, they would all align behind me and go.

Much progress in 4 months. I cannot think of how I have achieved the most important shift in the minds of people, except that it is God. No one could have done this.

Are all the issues gone? Absolutely not.

We still have issues. But, they are under control, and we are no longer the laughing stock of the entre company. Last week, the IT head in Thailand called me and asked for help. He said that the bosses have pointed out that the Singapore IT team has done a phenomenal job, and asked him to check with me how we’ve done it.

I look back, and know that God and only God alone has brought this about. And I’m shouting this out to the whole world!