telecom - "Customer first"


The best way to prevent frustration here in China is to manage you expectations. So when I went this afternoon to the office of China Telecom in Xujiahui to transfer a phone line and adsl connection from far-away Pudong, I was prepared for the worst. China Telecom has 'Customer first' as its slogan, but we still do not take slogans too literally. Traditionally Chinese companies, just like the country, are divided into bureaucratic fiefs that would not cooperate under any condition.
It took me (and Scott who helped me out to fill in the still unavoidable paperwork) twenty minutes and 230 Renminbi that will be put on my next bill. Transfer will take only seven days. Again: pleasantly surprises that the possible is suddenly possible.