Singtel owed my son a small refund - from the unused portion of an earlier paid bill - and sent him a notice on this on May 10.

Expecting a cheque to come in, we waited, only to realise later, when I called Singtel on July 2 to check, that subscribers actually have to call Singtel before it makes a refund.

This is something it should do without any prompting. Contrast this with its practice of penalising subscribers for late payments.

Also, the customer service officer on the phone said I could not make the refund request, as only the subscriber - my son - could do it. That was then done.

Why couldn't Singtel have made the refund straightaway, in May, instead of requiring my son to make a request for it?

Why can't anybody, such as a family member, make this refund request? This is not like signing up for a new line. Furthermore, if the refund is made as a cheque payable only to the subscriber, no other person can benefit from it.

Such a small matter, of less than $20, requires three people's involvement, and two months' wait.

I am perplexed by such policies and wonder how many customers are similarly inconvenienced.

Seow Joo Heng