Starhub Review: How I Still Don’t Have Broadband After a Month

Singapore is usually known for its efficiency, so when Starhub proved to be inefficient at handling my application for internet broadband, I was naturally very frustrated, to put it mildly.

I find it ironic that they use the above photo to advertise themselves when my interaction with them in the past weeks have been the exact opposite.

Below is the timeline of my interactions with Starhub Parkway Parade branch.

Feb 9, 2019

My flatmate Jemma went to Starhub to try to sign up for a broadband. She was told she needed to submit a tenancy agreement and her work pass in order to apply.

When they saw that she had less than 6 months validity on her work pass, she was declined, so when she told me this, I said I would do the application once I got back from abroad since my work pass is valid till 2021.

Feb 12, 2019

I landed in Singapore, and even though I was tired, I cabbed to Parkway Parade so I could sign up for the internet since Jemma was told it would take up to 2 weeks and I wanted to get it started even though we were only moving into our new flat on Feb 16.

When I got there, I was told that aside from tenancy agreement I was also supposed to give a PUB bill for the same address.

Note that whoever helped Jemma previously never mentioned this to her, so I had to leave because I needed to ask our landlady for this.

Feb 17, 2019

I didn’t have time to return until the day after we moved.

This time I brought everything they asked for. However, they spotted a new problem. Our new flat is right on top of a shop – or what they call a shop house – so our tenancy agreement and PUB has the exact same address as the shop, even though technically we live in a separate flat on the second floor.

The PUB is marked as “Non Domestic” because it is a commingled bill for both the shop and our flat, so this was a problem, because non domestic units can only apply for commercial broadband, which is way more expensive.

The guy I talked to said he would need to email Netlink, who is in charge of activating all internet fibre cable ports, and it would be up to them to approve our case. He said it would take them 3 to 5 business days to respond and that once they do, he would call me.

Mar 2, 2019

I had to go down to the Parkway Parade branch yet again because I heard nothing from Starhub.

The person I talked to checked their system and said that Netlink had not responded to their query, then suggested that I follow up with Netlink myself and gave me a number to call.

But when I tried to call Netlink, there was nothing pending for my address.

I decided to go to Singtel instead because this was becoming irritating. We had chosen Starhub because they offered $10 cheaper internet, but I was willing to pay that small difference.

This wasn’t a simple case of just not having wifi for fun – this was impacting my work. I need to work from home on some nights, and having no wifi meant I couldn’t dial into a conference number and see presentations done over the internet at the same time, because personal hotspots drop whenever you use the phone line.

When I explained my situation to a lady in Singtel, she told me that I really did need to get Netlink’s approval, but that I could get a letter from HDB stating that our flat was really a residential place and that would prompt Netlink to send someone to survey our place to check this, and we could push through.

So I asked our landlady for this letter from HDB and explained the whole situation. She said that the former tenant had her own personal internet from Starhub and didn’t have any issues with applying for internet but would find a way to help me.

Mar 4, 2019

I decided to go back one more time because if the previous tenant had a Starhub account, shouldn’t they be able to find this person’s account in their system? And if they found that record, shouldn’t that be enough proof that our place was indeed residential and that we deserved to have the same service that the he did?

The lady that got assigned to me was the worst. You know the kind – sour faced, impatient, not suited for customer service. She said there was no such record and was very dismissive, saying that I had to apply for commercial internet. Her callous attitude towards me made me super angry, at which point, for the first time ever in my entire life, I uttered, in a raised voice: “Can I speak to your manager?!?”

She tried to dissuade me, but I held my ground and insisted. She finally went inside and looked for said manager.

It took a very long time for someone to finally emerge and speak to me. I explained the situation to the manager, who checked the system and did find the record of the former tenant. She said this was indeed proof that I could go ahead and apply for a residential internet application, but that it was still up to Netlink to provide approval. I was fine with this.

So the incompetent employee helped me process my application by filling up my application forms and asking me to sign them. She then told me that the next step was for Netlink to approve it – when this would be, she said she didn’t know – and once that was done, she would call me for an appointment to install the internet.

Upon hearing this, I was filled with dread, because if she’s in charge, this obviously wouldn’t go as planned.

Mar 9, 2019

Netlink called me to make an appointment for them to survey our area and activate our fibre broadband point. We settled on Mar 13, 9am.

Mar 13, 2019

At 9 am, I got a call from the Netlink guy, saying he would need to move his appointment to 10:30 am.

He actually arrived at 11:30 am.

After 30 minutes, he and his colleague had managed to activate our fibre broadband points, and they said the signal was good.

Mar 19, 2019

I called the Starhub hotline to follow up, because I don’t want to go down to Parkway Parade yet again.

The guy told me that my application status was pending and that I would get a call within 48 hours.

Mar 22, 2019

This morning I realized that it was beyond 48 hours and called the Starhub hotline again.

The guy on the line agreed with me that it is ridiculous that I have been waiting for more than a week after our fibre broadband point had been activated.

He then said he had gotten in touch with Parkway Parade branch and that they would call me within 24 hours.

I still haven’t gotten a call. It’s not yet 24 hours, sure, but really? I think I’m gonna head down Parkway Parade again today after work and see how it goes. But before that, let me hit publish.

Update: After I published this post and posted it on Starhub’s Facebook page, I got a call from the Parkway Parade manager. She said that she had emailed Netlink to ask them if our fibre cable port was ready, but that they hadn’t replied.

Nevertheless, she was going to proceed with booking a schedule for our broadband to be set up. We settled on Sunday, Mar 24. I will update if that actually pushes through.

Mar 24, 2019

I am pleased to report that finally, at long last, our wifi got installed! Home is finally:

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