Ukrainian business model
Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2010 5:53 pm
I'm an American and I get used to business done certain ways. However, there is always a certain base line level of service that I think people expect no matter where you live in the world ... except Ukraine (and possible other former CIS countries). Here is an example of what has happened over the last couple days. I'd like to point out that this is not a flame, nor am I upset (well maybe a bit ... guess this could be considered a rant), but just some insight for anyone who is interested to know about life in other countries. By the way, for reference I speak Ukrainian with only half proficiency, but I do speak it somewhat.
So, many of you know about my internet struggles over the last few months. I used to enjoy an awesome connection, but recently have been crashing about half the time when I zone not to mention just typical slowness. Sometimes it was ok, sometimes not ... always inconsistent. I'm a patient man, perhaps too much some would say, and I always thought, "It'll get better", but I finally walked down to the internet place the other day to ask. Of course I had a hard time completely conveying my ideas and I got the typical reply telling me that it is fine and I just need to reboot my computer ... (I'm also a former business network admin ... who apparently doesn't know about that sort of thing).
They kept blocking me attempts to describe my problem, but I would attribute that to my weakness in language. So I talked with my friend tonight who is Ukrainian and he called the place ... here is what has happened.
A year ago, I was forced to change plans when they discontinued the old one I was using. I spoke even less Ukrainian back then so it took me about a month to figure out that I had to log in to their web page and change it (I chose a 5 up/5 down plan). What they didn't tell me evidently though is that I had only logged into a billing system which means my billing changed, but for the last 8-10 months, but actual plan was unchanged.
Every time I went to the main office to pay, they asked me to pay for the higher fee because I had changed it to that, but they never told me about the other login I had to do (this was not because of misunderstanding, this was from written instructions).
On Thursday I plan to go to the office and plead my case for a return from the fact I've been paying more than I should have, but my friend tells me not to expect it to work since, "this is Ukraine, they don't do that" which I've largely found out to be true. Thankfully, I've only overpaid about $100 over the past year because Ukrainian internet is so cheap (the plan I was using was $3.75/month and the one I was paying for was only $11.88/month).
Anyways, those of you who have been familiar with my internet problems will be happy to know that they've been figured out and my connection will be what it should be come the 1-5 of Feb when the changes go into effect. Too bad my apartment will be empty from Feb 3 onward while I'm in the USA
Ironic
So, many of you know about my internet struggles over the last few months. I used to enjoy an awesome connection, but recently have been crashing about half the time when I zone not to mention just typical slowness. Sometimes it was ok, sometimes not ... always inconsistent. I'm a patient man, perhaps too much some would say, and I always thought, "It'll get better", but I finally walked down to the internet place the other day to ask. Of course I had a hard time completely conveying my ideas and I got the typical reply telling me that it is fine and I just need to reboot my computer ... (I'm also a former business network admin ... who apparently doesn't know about that sort of thing).
They kept blocking me attempts to describe my problem, but I would attribute that to my weakness in language. So I talked with my friend tonight who is Ukrainian and he called the place ... here is what has happened.
A year ago, I was forced to change plans when they discontinued the old one I was using. I spoke even less Ukrainian back then so it took me about a month to figure out that I had to log in to their web page and change it (I chose a 5 up/5 down plan). What they didn't tell me evidently though is that I had only logged into a billing system which means my billing changed, but for the last 8-10 months, but actual plan was unchanged.
Every time I went to the main office to pay, they asked me to pay for the higher fee because I had changed it to that, but they never told me about the other login I had to do (this was not because of misunderstanding, this was from written instructions).
On Thursday I plan to go to the office and plead my case for a return from the fact I've been paying more than I should have, but my friend tells me not to expect it to work since, "this is Ukraine, they don't do that" which I've largely found out to be true. Thankfully, I've only overpaid about $100 over the past year because Ukrainian internet is so cheap (the plan I was using was $3.75/month and the one I was paying for was only $11.88/month).
Anyways, those of you who have been familiar with my internet problems will be happy to know that they've been figured out and my connection will be what it should be come the 1-5 of Feb when the changes go into effect. Too bad my apartment will be empty from Feb 3 onward while I'm in the USA
Ironic
