Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by redkop63

Dilapidated Road Along Jln Kepong/Jinjang/Segambut

redkop63 — Sat, 25 Aug 2018 09:51:30 +0800

If this matter has been raised before here, my apology. The issue is with regards to the approximately 500m stretch of road along Jln Kepong/Segambut/Jinjang, before the MCA building towards KL where there is the MRT works in progress on the left side of the road. The state of the road is in such a dilapidated condition that one would have mistaken for a wild west ride in a horse coach. One could take a short drive along this stretch to verify my point. There were multiple patching of the road and much has sunken since then. I am not assuming what or whom has caused the road to be in such a condition but i hope if there is anyone linked to the authorities please do pass on the information. Besides that, there were motorbikes carrying children to school in the morning and they were wobbling along albeit some close shaves that i have witnessed and certainly it doesn't require a fatal accident to happen before something is done. Besides that, vehicles trying to avoid this bumpy/patchy stretch of road almost ran into other vehicles and resulted in close calls. Jln Kepong/Jinjang/Segambut is one of the busiest stretch of road in KL and thousands of cars plied this stretch daily and sitution will only gets worse before it gets better if nothing is done to rectify situation. Cheers.

Poor Level Of Service Provided By Plus Berhad

redkop63 — Mon, 22 Jan 2018 22:08:15 +0800

Before I write further, I would like to assure whoever that reads this post that I'm neither a compulsive moaner nor a serial complainer and I hardly complaint anything online as I'm just too plain lazy to lodge a complaint until this incident that occurred today. I have been using PLUS highway since 1994 and heard so much moaning here and there about PLUS, never had I lodged a complaint to PLUS except for once many years ago where my Touch N Go card was charged wrongly.

This is what took place, went past Bukit Lanjan toll and about 3 minutes drive had a flat tyre. Pulled to the road shoulder and parked at the emergency lane and made a call at 1716 hours to PLUS Highway via 1800 88 0000 for help. Meanwhile, cars of all sizes, lorries, pick-ups, motorbikes, long trailers, haulers etc and what not stormed pass me and it is certainly not for the weak hearted. The PLUS staff on the phone asked for my location and I told him, I just went pass Bukit Lanjan toll and perhaps about 1 kilometre away from a split road ahead where the right side leads towards Sg. Buloh toll.

PLUS staff over the phone asked me to locate a signboard to tell him my exact location, so I saw a signboard about 50 metres away thinking it is the signboard but no, it is some telcos hazard signage. As far as my eye could see, I can't see anymore signage ahead, so I abandoned my search and walked back to my car. At 1621, PLUS called me back and asked me whether did I managed to locate the sign. I said there is no sign that I could see and they could easily spotted my car as I'm not too far from the Bkt Lanjan toll. If I had continued my search to locate the signboard, I would probably have ended up as minced meat in view of the heavy traffic and trailers and long haulers were just about a foot or two from the side of my car and I had to get back into my car from the front passenger door, that's how near those trailers were to the side of my car. And the PLUS staff, informed over the phone that help will arrive in 20 minutes but it never did.

Next, a dude on motorbike turned up and offered help. I'm recovering from a sprained leg and I couldn't change the wheels to aggravate my leg, so I asked the dude to help at the expense of RM 150.00. Besides that, motorcycles were avoiding my car at the emergency lane and shifted to the slow lane where trailers were at breakneck speed and I would probably be the culprit that causes an accident if I had prolonged situation. Similarly, the longer I prolonged my presence on the emergency lane would probably mean that the chances of me being rammed by say a trailer from behind is higher and if that happens, there's only one outcome that we could imagine. Strangely, at 17.53 hrs approximately 37 minutes later PLUS called me back 3 times and by then I was on the way and never answered the call, I can't as I'm not on hands free. That 37 minutes could have caused me to loose my life or someone else to loose a life. What if small children were present??? I dread to imagine what would have happened and it is no wonder why there were so many fatalities of similar situation over the years.

So, my question here to PLUS Highway; is this the standard operating practice For PLUS to ask stranded car owners to locate the signboard before you provide assistance? Haven't you guys heard of GPS. Are we having a dinosaur SOP here which is dated back to the 90s. What happened if the signboard is. say 2 kilometres away, do you expect your customers to walk that distance to locate the sign and put your customer's life at different risks and left family members behind more so small children??? I would now like to suggest to the Snr Managers or Directors, or even CEO of PLUS Highway to simulate a similar incident that I have went through and tell me that my complaint is without substance and nothing more than spouting nonsense. Hear the sound and rumblings of vehicles that went pass you, believe me, you will freak out and your thoughts then would be that your life is hanging in the balance and a reckless driver would probably have tilted your survival scale.

What is your ERT practice? Don't you have an emergency toll truck or any truck for that matter that is stationed between toll booths. In view of the thousands of cars that went past from toll to toll in the Klang Valley, is it asking too much to station one toll truck? I'm sure it is just a small fraction of the hefty collection that you guys collected from the toll booths everyday.

Since I'm on moaning mode, I'll now point out a few other shortcomings that the toll operator should have attended to long ago and not as if we're still in the 1990s. Tool booths are dirty, touch n go readers are dirty and old, some waiting to come off anytime, readers are difficult to reach. Can't you guys turn to medium range readers, it will certainly speed up vehicles going past toll booth. Touch and Go card was once the state of the art technology in the 1990s but it is now a dinosaur. One would probably need to slam the card against the reader before it decides to read or perhaps you;ll need an extra long arm to reach the reader comfortably. Haven;t you guys seen customers using a self made "mosquito swap" gadget to ease the the struggle to reach the reader?

The NKVE have been around for the last 25 years or so, perhaps it is very tired over such time a long period and perhaps mundane that naturally leads to complacency. My hope is that the toll operator sits up and take stock of this long read and get serious and not put your customers live in danger. perhaps a new toll operator would breath new lives into the operations and brings everything to a higher level. This post is written without malice but purely for PLUS to hear it first hand from a disgruntled customer on what are the shortcomings and get it rectified to improve your level of service and perhaps safe a few innocent lives along the way

Surely, I will not be using the PLUS highway for a long time to come after this sorry episode today.

Peace to everyone.

How To Charge For Advertisement Space?

redkop63 — Sun, 07 Jan 2018 04:05:47 +0800

There were requests from tenants to place product advertisement signboards at the common area of the office space of a building that I'm overseeing. Anyone here can throw some ideas what rate I should charge them and on what basis. Thanks in advance.

Will They Ever Complete The Road Widening?

redkop63 — Wed, 27 Aug 2014 06:14:25 +0800

I enter the Sg. Buloh toll and exit at the Duta toll going to work everyday. From the Sg. Buloh toll to the split road to PJ/Damansara and KL is about 1.5km. The road is under widening since after CNY and works still remain on-going after 6-mths. I mean what is going on, why took so long? It is only 1.5kms and the whole road got jammed up every morning from 6.15am onwards and it is affecting thousands of motorist because plastic barries lined this 1.5kms effectively reducing the overall width of the road. Hope and pray there's no vehicle that breaks down, if so, expect to be stuck in a jam for this short stretch for 45 mins to an hour.

So my questions :-

1. Does the highway authority knows that by putting up the plastic barriers along this 1.5kms, with no serious intention to complete the works asap has effectively reduced the width of the road and works seems to take ages to complete, god knows when it is going to be completed, or will it ever gets completed?

2. Motor cycles will have to now travel onto the main lanes and with cars zig-zagging in and out of the lanes, a case of an accident waiting to happen or that it has already happened.

3. Isn't there a timeline for the works to be completed by the contractor? Why is it that it has taken so long? Who is monitoring the works? May I know who is the contractor?

4. Road users don't pay toll to get into a jam at 6.15am going to work and contractor dilly-dallying on the work, no real intention to complete it asap. This is totally irresponsible. PLUS must do something, you collect toll and you have a "duty of care" to ensure the works completes on time without causing inconvenience to road users.

5. Isn't there a LAD (Liquidated Ascertained Damages) imposed on the contractor for not completing the works on time? It looks like the contractor is allowed to drag their feet to complete the works and as a result thousands of motorists suffers everyday.

6. Moreso, from the split junction point of the road all the way to KL, we can see plastic barriers galore all the way to Duta toll a good old perhaps 20km and only certain stretches of the road where works are on going. Looking over the other side of the plastic barrier not much works on-going only certain stretches.. Why bother to set-up barriers all the way from Sg. Buloh toll to Duta toll when there's no serious intention to carry out the works and to complete it expeditiously? It only helps to inconvenience road users.

If any senior highway authority govt staff or PLUS toll senior staff reading this post, please please use your goodoffice to do something, it is affecting everyone using this stretch of the highway and it has come to a boiling point to many road users.

Some of my friends were so agitated and frustrated that they are thinking of doing a protest somewhere at the jejantas Sg. Buloh, I stopped them and I said I will post in a forum and see whether it helps. Failure which, I will go to the relevant govt departments or PLUS HQ and talk to them.

Paying for the toll and getting into a jam everyday going to work because of the contractor's or someone's incompetency is no fun and is not helping. Rising cost of living, pressure of going to work everyday to make ends meet and many other social problems makes such situation unbearable and it is a perfect recipe for road users to hate tolls more.

I don't usually goes to a public forum to rant but situation has become unbearable that left me with no choice but to rant here, hopefully on behalf of thousand of motorist as well.

Any senior PLUS toll staff or govt staff pls PM me to let me know what's the real problem so that I can understand better. There could be some valid reasons that I may not be aware of that contributes to the delay.

Sorry for the early morning rant here.

Selamat Tengah Hari, Selamat Petang & Selamat Mlm

redkop63 — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 18:46:36 +0800

I have no problem with Selamat Pagi, it's between the hours of 12 midnight to 12 noon. How about Selamat Tengah Hari, Selamat Petang & Selamat Malam. What are the time zones that separates the three?. Forumners yang bijaksana tolong beri nasihat, hamba kat bangku sekolah tak beri cukup perhatian, di ikuti dengan ribuan terima kasih.