Fishy Malaysian Service (review: Sushi King, Low Yat Plaza)

One concept I kind of like is the Japanese "assembly line" style sushi places.  It is quick and quite tasty - even if it usually end up a tad expensive.

In Malaysia there used to be 2-3 different chains operating this kind of places, but I think the only one remaining is Sushi King.  According to their web-site, Sushi King is a Malaysian concept, so it is apparently not part of any international franchise (unfortunately - but I'll get back to that).

Today I decided to grab a quick bite in the early afternoon, and I entered the Low Yat Plaza outlet of Sushi King.

When I entered the place I was in for a bit of a surprise.  Half the shop was absolutely completely packed and the second half was absolutely 100 % empty.  I really don't like rubbing shoulders with strangers while eating, so I naturally headed for the empty part, but I was told that it was all reserved (let me repeat - this is important - I WAS TOLD it was all reserved!).  Anyway - my response was the same it would always be - something along the line of: I want to sit there (pointing at one of the empty tables) or you can ask me to leave in which case I will take my business elsewhere.  Obviously not having the nerve to tell me to leave, the waiter just let me sit down - and then promptly ignored me for the remainder of my visit.

Fortunately - with the exception of drinks - the brilliant thing about this assembly line concept is that waiters are not really all that important - so I quickly grabbed some sushi.  At this point I got somewhat curious what the hell was going on at the place.  The setup didn't change - I was sitting absolutely alone in one half of the shop - while people were practically piled on top of each other in the other half.  While I was sitting there about 12 people entered the shop - only to stop at the "section closed" sign and then leave the shop again (obviously having more respect for that sign than I did - or Malaysians usually don't like to "break the law" in public - they only do it if they can do it secretly).

At this point my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to ask the supervisor about this somewhat curious approach to "crowd control".  I managed to flag down a waiter (none ever stopped and asked if we wanted any drinks - let me repeat - NONE ever did that!) and asked to talk to the supervisor.  A few minutes later a guy - with A MASK covering his face and with a sign saying: "Trainee" -  approached me from the preparation side of the assembly line and asked what he could help me with.  I informed him that I asked to talk to the supervisor - not with a trainee wearing a mask, and he responded that he was the trainee supervisor.  Ah well - I asked him about why half the shop was closed (the half I was sitting in) while the other half was so packed people actually left without buying anything.  His response was that they were understaffed so they couldn't handle it.  If there is one thing I can't stand it is being lied to by anyone who get their salary partly from my money, so at this point in time I just decided to leave.

While trying to flag down a waiter to pay my bill, the trainee supervisor approached me again (this time minus the mask) and said the supervisor just arrived so if I wanted to talk to her he could fetch her.  I responded that: "yes sure - if the supervisor wanted to hear what I had to say - she was welcome to come over."  The trainee supervisor then walked over to a lady in the opposite part of the shop - but this lady made NO attempt to approach me at any time, even though it took me some 5-10 minutes settling my bill (so safe to conclude that she was NOT interested in what I had to say).

I also noticed that the sign saying "section closed" mysteriously was moved away when the supervisor returned (the above picture show the sign having been moved to the side but the section still empty while the rest of the shop is packed) - so my guess is that the staff just couldn't be bothered while the supervisor was not present or the supervisor realised that her laziness might actually backfire.

No matter how often I see it I simply don't get why anybody would piss on their customers like this.  Within a very short time frame I was lied to and ignored and I most certainly didn't leave with a feeling that Sushi King appreciated my business in any way whatsoever.

I find it unbelievable that the supervisor or manager couldn't even be bothered to listen to a reasonable customer complaint.  I think however that said supervisor MIGHT have forgotten that her name was prominently displayed behind the counter:

  

So there you have it Sitty Noor!  While you were on duty, customers - who may I remind you are the ones ultimately paying your salary - were lied to and ignored in the most pathetic way. You are a shitty manager and I sincerely hope you will be kicked back to mopping floors once the owners read this blog.  And if you ever read this and get upset, do not forget that you had the opportunity to listen to my complaint while I was there - you just couldn't be bothered.

As for Sushi King I have definitely spend my money there for the last time ever and I am quite sure that the 12 people who were turned away while I was there might feel the same way.  As always on my blog, the option of leaving a comment is open - so should you feel like explaining yourself, by all means do so.

Update Sep. 27, 4:15pm

I decided to give Ms. Yang a call to see if she had any comments.  I'll update later if she decide to get back to me.

Update Sep. 28, 12:08pm

Still no update from Sushi King.  Meanwhile this page is yanking up hits quite quickly - people reading the page without any explanation from Sushi King - but obviously no great sense of urgency at their side.

Quite interestingly I noticed on Google Analytics that the most popular search query is: "sushi king low yat plaza complaint".

Update Sep. 28, 21:43

Well - reply from Sushi King - and here on the blog no less (which even if I sound slightly sarcastic - I do appreciate).  I will leave it to the readers of this blog to judge if this is good enough for them, but personally I think it's just too little too late and there's no way it's going to convince me to spend any more money in Sushi King ever again.

Scary Food Handling - Big Fat Warning (review: Secret Recipe, Bikit Bintang)

One franchise that is scattered everywhere around Kuala Lumpur is Secret Recipe. I have written about their bizarre lack of quality control before, but since they are everywhere and they often are the only ones serving anything different than all the mamak stores (local Malaysian/Indian street food), I occasionally forget how bad they are and give them another shot.

I have got to learn not to give them a chance because each time I get surprised just how bad it is.

This time I ordered a Lamb Pie. About 15 minutes went by, before the waiter came back asking me - I stress: ASKING me - if I wanted to change my order because: "The lamb pie is not fresh". I got a number of problems with this. First of all, what was the pie doing in their kitchen in the first place if it was no longer fresh. Don't they have any system in place, or do they just keep it until it becomes obvious that it's no longer well. Second, how did they discover this? Did they cook it and then got overwhelmed by the stench or did they discover green stuff growing on it. Thirdly why ASK. Did they hope I would actually enjoy a non-fresh pie and still accept it?

I decided not to try the lamb pie and instead went for the Shepherd's Pie. This one obviously passed their rigorous inspection and was served after another 15 minutes. They do not get points for visual presentation though:

It would be hard to make anything less visually appealing. A tiny bit of greenery (the kind you put next to a dish - not the kind that grow on the foul smelling ones) or a tomato would go a loooong way.

Eating about one third through, I hit solid ice - ice - not gold. Once more - how on earth is this possible. You make a Pie of a certain size and freeze it. Defrosting and heating it up will require the same amount of time in the microwave each and every time. There are absolutely no variables, so if they get it wrong it's because they never bothered to figure out how to get it right - or the staff just throw it in there until they get some kind of smell - if good serve customer - if bad ask customer if they want replacement.  Something like this:




While waiting for their third attempt, a supply truck was arriving and parking right next to where I was sitting:



For the next half an hour it was belching out diesel fumes creating an unbelievable stench. If you drive a truck and you bring food to a restaurant with dining guests at LEAST have the courtesy to switch off the engine.

I admit I must be slightly stupid going there again, but perhaps I just can't imagine just how bad it really is. I can only urge - stay away from these places. Their food is mostly rubbish but even worse, their food handling is suspicious and it might very well kill you one day.

Last but not least, the previous time I wrote about Secret Recipe, I send a link to their marketing department asking for their comments.  I never received a reply.  This time I will do the same.  I will send a link to this blog and urge them to leave an explanation.  My guess is they will show the same enthusiasm as they do on their quality control.

Comment added July 31 2010:

It's been a week now and a few things are becoming obvious:

1. A lot of the "fans" from Facebook have been checking and reading this link (data from Google Analytics)

2. This page has begun to show up on Google search (also data from Google Analytics)

3. Someone has started emailing links to this article around (referrals from hotmail, yahoo and gmail according to Google Analytics)

I am by no means and expert in how to run a profitable franchise business, but I do think that if I was responsible for these cock-ups I would at least try to explain it as a single mistake.  I reckon the reason they don't is that they really truly don't care.  It is obvious that a high level of quality is not high on the agenda.  Please do keep that in mind if you ever consider actually eating any of their products.  And if you get violently sick you had been warned.

And I have been asked a couple of times which branch I was writing about.  The experienced described above was from the Bukit Bintang branch and it was actually written on my mobile phone and posted on the spot while I was still there.

Update Aug. 3, 2010

It took them a while to respond, but today Secret Recipe actually did respond on their facebook page.  Message read:

Secret Recipe Malaysia Sorry for late response, you message has been noticed and under investigation. thanks!

 Ah well, I reckon that's probably as far as it will go and I am really not sure what they need to investigate - except if they are checking with their lawyers how much liability they've got if one of their customers get violently sick.

Update Aug. 7, 2010

As predicted no comments or explanations whatsoever, except from: "your message has been noticed".  So - my messages has been noticed and then silently ignored in the hope that it will go away.  But that's the thing with the Internet - it doesn't go away - and this page keeps getting hits and popping up in Google searches.

Update Sep. 28, 2010

I never quite get what makes Google rate some pages higher than others, but this post generates far more Google hits than any other post I have ever written.  I think it's the food handling part.  So I guess it's time to add that after almost 2 month they must still be investigating because they most certainly have not returned any other comment than that.

Malaysian "Service"

I have written before about the fact that "service" is a completely unknown concept in the Malaysian service industry.  The weird thing is that even when Malaysian companies try to copy American franchise concepts they always - without exception - forget the level of service.  I am not a great fan of American franchise concepts but one thing they do have in common (apart from the food mostly being utter rubbish) is a high level of service and even when these franchises operates in Malaysia, they mostly do try to bring a reasonable service level with them (they don't always get it right - but they mostly try).

One of the local copies are a cafe style franchise called Dome (at least I think that's Malaysian).  Coffee is just as good as places like Starbucks or Coffee Bean and the food even a little bit better (not that that is hard) - but the service?????  I don't even know where to begin.

A few days ago I was waiting for a friend at Dome's KLCC (Kuala Lumpur City Centre) outlet.  When I arrived I guess about 2/3 of the tables were occupied.  I know that it is a local custom but I normally can't bring myself to yell at a waiter - so I would normally just wait until either being serviced or being pissed enough to leave.  In this case it took 20 - I am not joking - 20 minutes until a waiter paid any attention to me.  And when he approached it was not to pick up my order but to inform me that the table was reserved.  WTF?  Reserved???  At this time all the other tables were occupied except one that was squeezed in tightly between other tables.  When I complained the waiter directed my attention to a sign on the table "clearly stating" that the table was reserved:

Yes that's right - that's how the "sign" looked and well - if one bothered to unfold the paper it did indeed say "reserved" handwritten on the backside.

One thing I have learned in Malaysia is never ever to discuss with waiters - first of all they are not really responsible and second - they mostly couldn't care less and quite often get rude if one complain, so I asked to talk to the manager or supervisor on duty.  I waited another 15 minutes or so - during which time I reminded the waiter about 2-3 times that I would like to talk to the manager or supervisor - but he or she whoever it was - was clearly not interested in listening to me.

After 15 minutes I just decided to leave.  It is not as if there are no other choices.  Chinoz has got pretty OK service.  So - all in all I spend about 35 minutes waiting and at NO point did anyone bring me a menu or asked me if I wanted to anything.

It is amazing that a place like that can survive pissing on their customers that badly.

Upstairs Neighbours from Hell

Imagine having these people as upstairs neighbours:

Let's take a closer look at this in case you didn't notice:

It would appear that the upstairs neighbours have decided it's easier just to throw the garbage out the window, rather than actually bring it down for proper disposal.

I took this photograph in the center of Kuala Lumpur - sitting at Coffee Bean just opposite - thinking that whoever live there belong in a freaking Zoo - not int he center of a big city.

How do they do that?

Another good one from the Malaysian newspapers this time evolving around sperm samples:



This one made me wonder - how exactly would they take such a sample if they had indeed done so. I mean I am fairly convinced that I would not be able to deliver one under such circumstances - and I am faily certain that if I didn't want to give them a "shot" I would be able to hold back.

Tourist Boost

Joke of the day from Malaysian newspapers:



They actually argue that dressing up kick boxers in islamic dress will boost tourism. Sigh!

Rubbish on Bukit Bintang (review: First Cup Cafe, Bukit Bintang)

I have written before about Secret Recipe on Bukit Bintang (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), and I suppose we should all be grateful for the fact they keep their recipes secret. This time however, it's a place right across the street that get the hammer - called First Cup Cafe.

First Cup Cafe is one of those places that attempt to rip off an American franchise concept but does so in a way that is even more "discount". While places like Starbucks and Coffee Bean isn't exactly culinary experiences you end up dreaming about at night, the food at these local rip of places are usually completely uneatable - if not downright dangerous.



In this particular case I decided on a sandwich.

A sandwich is after all pretty hard to fuck up completely. And yet they managed to do just that. Not so much the sandwich itself, which while definitely not good wasn't absolutely disgusting too. But in their wisdom they was serving it with a cold (and I mean straight from the fridge - they hadn't even tried to heat it) half (thank God for that) baked potato. Not only is a baked potato pretty darn bad when cold, but to tip it over the edge into the truly horrible it was covered in a substance which I can only assume was meant to resemble mayonnaise. Let me repeat that - cold baked potato covered in some mayo stuff out of a jar.

Seriously - how a shop serving that can be allowed on the most important shopping street of KL is beyond me and how they can have any customers whatsoever even more so.

Open Letter to Scott Davis (Chairman and CEO of UPS)

Dear Mr. Davis,

It was with great interest that I read your speech: "Why Companies Fail.  How Companies Win", posted on the UPS web-site.  In this speech you focus a lot on the current financial crisis as a cause of problems, but later in the speech you also quote Alan Wurtzel, the former CEO of Circuit City saying:

"At some point along the way, we were too focused on making a profit short-term... rather than building value for customers long-term."

The reason I write this letter is that I just had the misfortune of being a customer of UPS and I can assure you that not a single person I dealt with in UPS was focused the least bit on building value for their customers.  In your speech you focus on the current financial crisis, but you do seem to overlook the importance of providing a service that is actually attractive to your customers (or maybe I am misguided and this really doesn't matter at all - which would be a very very sad thing).  I don't know if you are aware of this, but a search on Google for "UPS sucks" return around one million hits.  That is 9-10 times more than a search for "DHL sucks"  and nearly 5 times more than a search for "FedEX sucks".  Some of this is obviously caused by the fact that UPS is larger than DHL and FedEX, but still - it should be a concern for you.

Before I go into the sad details of my experience with UPS, I would like to point out two things.  First of all I am fully aware that when one move several million parcels around daily - mistakes are going to be made.  That is perfectly natural and I doubt anybody would ever complain about that, provided that they felt that your customer service was actually trying to fix the problems.  Second, I am not particularly offended by the fact that my parcel got delayed.  I am however deeply offended by the way this has been handled by a number of UPS employees and because of that I would like to explain to you the experience I had as an UPS customer.

I have attached a complete log of my experience as a UPS customer (a work in progress - I still have not received my parcel).

And to answer the question you yourself asked in your speech.  I think any company who let their customer service agents leave a customer hanging on a phone queue for 20 minutes after going home deserve to fail.

Regards

Lars Bøgild Thomsen

UPS Customer Service - the horror story
------------------------------------------------------
This represents the exact list of events I experienced when ordering a computer gadget online (sorry about the image of a sloth to the right - it was just the first thing that came into my mind).

1.  2010-04-15 (Thu)

I order a computer gadget online.

2. 2010-04-16 (Fri)

The vendor has identified the fact that I currently live in Malaysia and handed the case over to their Singapore office.  I receive an email from their Singapore office with a quote including shipping.

3. 2010-04-16 (Fri)

I accept the quote after office hours so obviously nothing is going to happen until Monday.

4. 2010-04-19 (Mon)

Email confirming my order and mentioning that it will be shipped Tuesday.

5. 2010-04-20 (Tue)

I receive an email with a UPS tracking number.

At this time I went online on UPS web-site to check the status and at the same time I went through the feature that can calculate the time it will take.  This is the result:

In other words, since this was shipped to my private address, I decided to work from home on Wednesday (somewhat naive you might say - but in my world a guarantee is a guarantee).

6. 2010-04-20 2:16 UPS Tracker Update

Billing Information Received

7. 2010-04-20 17:01 UPS Tracker Update

Singapore Collection Scan

8. 2010-04-20 20:17 UPS Tracker Update

Origin Scan

9. 2010-04-20 21:47 UPS Tracker Update

Changi Departure Scan

10. 2010-04-21 3:41 UPS Tracker Update

Shenzhen Departure Scan

11. 2010-04-21 7:15 UPS Tracker Update

Sepang Arrival Scan

12. 2010-04-21

In other words - the parcel arrived and was scanned at the airport at 7:15 in the morning, so I still at this point expected to receive my parcel at the guaranteed time - in other words before the end of the day.  Nothing happened though - no updates on the tracker the whole day.

13. 2010-04-22 2:58 UPS Tracker Update

Shipment pending release from clearance agency

At this time the status changed to "exception" which indicates that this was not really expected.

At this time I should point out that it is really not to be expected.  Computer equipment of any kind carries no import duty or other taxes in Malaysia and each time I have ordered anything online using DHL or FedEX it has gone straight through without delay.

As mentioned earlier I am fully aware that this could be Malaysian customs creating the problem.  My complaint is not the delay but the treatment I received later from the customer service staff.

I expected a call from UPS explaining the situation but heard nothing the entire day.

14. 2010-04-22 Morning before lunch - first call to UPS

Since I had not heard anything from UPS I decide to speed things up by calling customer service myself.  I forgot to note the name of the person I spoke to but she promised to investigate what happened and she promised to get someone from the airport to call me.

15. 2010-04-22 Afternoon - email to shipper in Singapore

Wrote an email to the shipper in Singapore to ensure that they did in fact include my mobile number.  They wrote back half an hour later:

"UPS Malaysia will call you abt this shipment if they need further assistance."

16. 2010-04-22 17:00 second call to UPS - spoke to "Dila"

I explained the situation to her and explained that I was somewhat upset that nobody had called me from the airport as promised during the earlier call.  Dila promised me that she would mark the case as "urgent".  I requested to talk to her manager, who she identified as "Padmini", but she explained that Padmini "was not available".

17. 2010-04-23 11:30 third call to UPS - spoke to "Ani"

By this time I was getting somewhat tired of idle promises, so I decided to see if I could push through to her manager.  She identified the manager in charge as Miss Elaine - but explained that Miss Elaine was not in the office.  She did however promise personally to call the airport and check what was going on and she guaranteed again that I would receive a call "within 10 minutes".

18. 2010-04-23 14:00 forth call to UPS - spoke to "Farah"

This time I made it absolutely clear that I am perfectly able to read the tracking status by myself and my only concern was idle promises.  I insisted on speaking to Farah's manager.  She explained that Miss Elaine was on a 2 day conference so she was not available.

By this time I was starting to get a feeling that it simply was the manager that refused to talk to me, so I insisted.  At the end Farah transferred me - straight into Pat's voicemail.

19. 2010-04-23 14:10 fifth call to UPS - spoke to "Jacklyn" (spelling?)

Asked to be connected to Farah (who transferred me to voicemail).  I immediately got transferred to another voicemail account getting the message: "the person on extension 6026 does not subscribe to this service".  Then I got back to the start queue.

Finally got through to Jacklyn - who - promised to call back herself.

20. 2010-04-23 17:55 sixth call to UPS - spoke to "Chandra"

This one really beats them all.  Chandra asked for my tracking number, I gave it to her and she said: I need to read the case so I'll put you on hold.  I was on hold for 25 minutes before I hung up.  I know the office close at 18:00, so I can only assume Chandra decided it was time to go home and leave me on hold until the morning.

21. 2010-04-24 6:20 UPS Tracker Update

Now, why on earth didn't they do this two days before instead of Saturday where they have no deliveries.

22. 2010-04-24 8:53 first ever call FROM UPS - spoke to Kasturi

As I sort of expected, malaysian customs did not know what a PVR is, so Kasturi needed an explanation.  She also informed me that there's no deliveries on Saturday nor could I pick it up myself - so no possible delivery until Monday.

When pushed for a delivery today she was "very sorry" but she did say it was impossible to deliver on Saturday.  Reminds me of Avis slogan "We try harder".  I explained several times to Avis in the past, that I really couldn't care less how hard they try - what I care about is how they do.

The most interesting part was that she was pretty keen on giving me her phone number and inform me: "absolutely no need to call the head quarter any longer".  Guess someone in the head quarter did get tired of me.  Perhaps Chandra that left me hanging on hold.

Anyway - better give Chandra a call, after all I have been on hold since yesterday evening.

23. 2010-04-24 10:50 call to UPS - spoke to Ani (again - same girl as earlier)

Informed her that I was still on hold after Chandra left me the day before.  This time she actually insisted on talking to "senior level" - came back after a few minutes and promised me that Miss Manjeet would call me back by 11:15.  We'll see if that is going to happen.

24. 2010-04-24 11:10 call from Miss Manjeet (surprise!)

Ok - would appear that I finally after two days have caught their attention.  Explained the "half an hour on hold" situation and Miss Manjeet was: "speechless" (well - I guarantee that I am not and contrary to UPS guarantees my guarantees are exactly that).  She promised to investigate and get back later today.

25. 2010-04-24 11:54 call from Miss Manjeet

Informed me that she would try to get the parcel and deliver it personally later "today".  Personally I think the girl who left me on hold for half an hour should be doing that - but then again that's just me and I am sure she's busy enjoying her weekend (which started while I was waiting for her to get back to me).

26. 2010-04-24 12:00 - 13:00 Multiple Calls from Miss Manjeet and Kasturi

Around 12:00 I got a called that the item was cleared through customs, but there would be a tax of 75 Ringgit.  In other words - they declared this as a video recorder rather than what it is - a USB device.  Kasturi asked me to send an email with an image (no they do not have Internet connection as their system was "under maintenance") and I was urged to send it quickly since she was off at 13:00 (and I know what that means - they leave sharply come hell or high waters - or customers on hold).  I send an email from my mobile phone (since I was out for lunch at this hour) with an image showing this clearly but obviously I was too late.  Or rather - NO - I was not too late - UPS was too late.  If they had called me Wednesday there would not have been any issue.

Anyway - I just want my parcel right now.  Guess I am down 75 Ringgit due to UPS incompetence and I am fairly sure I will never ever get reimbursed that amount or indeed any of the shipping cost.  Best lesson learned - next time - use competent shipping agent.  If ONLY they bothered to give me a call earlier this would have been smooth sailing.

27. 2010-04-24 17:00 Personal Delivery by Ms Manjeet

Finally I managed to get my parcel.  Had to pay 77 Ringgit for customs.

First, let me give credit where credit is due.  Ms. Manjeet is so far the only person I have dealt with at UPS that was not full of idle promises and idle apologies.  I can't take it when people just automatically apologize on behalf of someone else.  If you fuck up - apologize - if someone else fuck up - do the best you can do to fix the situation and that is it.  And that is exactly what Ms. Manjeet did - just friendly professionalism all the way.

While this explains why Ms. Manjeet is a manager at UPS it does not in any way excuse the endless list of fuck-ups by every single other UPS staff I have been in touch with.  My parcel was 3 days delayed AND it cost me 77 Ringgit in customs - which I shouldn't have paid - only because of UPS incompetence and utter neglect.

I believe UPS owe me the following:

1. A full refund of all shipping cost - as per their own promises.  The parcel was late BEFORE it got delayed in customs.  I could suspect that they deliberately fucked up customs so that they could use that excuse.

2. A full refund of the customs fees.  If UPS had done their job I would not have had that expense.

3. A personal - face to face - apology from every single person who have lied to me (and that is basically every single person I have talked to at UPS except from the manager that delivered the parcel).  I will NOT accept a blanket apology "on behalf of someone else".

4. A written explanation from UPS management explaining HOW a customer can be left on hold for 25 minutes (would have been until next morning) while a customer service agent is checking a tracking status and what exactly has been the consequence for said service agent.

A final note is that it is completely incomprehensible that UPS at the airport does not have Internet access.  A simple Google search would have shown the true nature of the product I had purchased and that it was indeed not taxable in Malaysia.

28. 2010-04-25 Email from Ms. Manjeet

Received an email from Ms. Manjeet that she will look into my "claims" and while she can't promise any result she will get back to me.

To be continued (perhaps - we'll see - perhaps UPS is quite content leaving this asis).......

Update May. 2, 2010

Received the following email from Ms. Manjeet:

Dear Mr Lars:

Good day!

As promised, I got approval from our import team and we will refund duty taxes billed to your goodself.
It is already being processed and I will keep you updated.

As for the staff mentioned below, we have an internal process on disciplinary action to be taken & this will be followed.


Thanks,
Regards
Manjeet K Gill
CRG Team Lead
CSC SG/MY

Update July 12, 2010

Send email reminder to Ms. Manjeet since I still hadn't received the promised refund.

Update Sep. 1, 2010

UPS obviously never reacted on my reminder.

Meanwhile I received a parcel send by FedED - same kind of product.  Here's how it's done:

That's it - it didn't take them more than a few hours to get it through customs clearance.  THAT is how it's done - not the bloody amateurish approach by UPS.