The Importance of Being Able To Laugh At Yourself

Case Study 1

1. Hisyam gloriously returned to his motherland and decided to sign up for "M broadband*" right away. It read '3.6 mbps' on the leaflet and that screamed "heartwarming downloading experience!" right into his ears.

2. The nauseating connection rate rang him a wake-up call. Waking from a flawless broadband dream, that peak speed suddenly appeared too good to be true. It turns out that instead of 'megaBYTE per second', that 'mbp' actually stands for 'megaBIT per second'. Which is not much, at all.

3. Despite feeling like a complete sucker, Hisyam laughs rolling in the aisles. Let him be and do not bother giving him any patronizing pat on the back.

Case Study 2

1. The guy in the "M broadband*" booth also told our poor guy Hisyam here that there would be no minimum contract period for the registration. Hisyam, with a satisfied looking grin, thought there'd be nothing at stake if he tried out this sophisticated piece of technology. If it turns out horrible, he'd just simply terminate his subscription. Hmm, a perfect plan, he reckoned.

2. Two weeks later, he read out the brochure, and in innocently tiny letters, it said "There is no minimum contract period. A handling fee of RM200 is payable if you discontinue the service before 12 months".

3. Although that term is undeniably a bunch of misleading bollocks and it makes Hisyam feel like a giant Chupa Chup since his signature proves that he faithfully agrees with it, he can't help but laugh at his own moron-isme. He thought he was so smart that no tricks could manuever him into believing something false. He never stops guffawing and it would be so kind of you if you can chuckle along.

Conclusion

Don't take Terms and Conditions for granted. And don't lose yourself in the shiny smiles on the ads. Things aren't always what they seem. Or rather, things always aren't what they seem.

*No prizes for guessing the exact brand correctly. Or would you still like a cookie?