(A few weeks ago, I received vouchers that can be used for ANY restaurants in a certain shopping mall. The vouchers have the mall’s official stamp, issue date, expiration date, and a seal, so it’s not a fraud. One day, I decide to use it in one of the restaurants.)

Cashier: “May I have your order?”

Me: *orders*

Cashier: “That will be [amount].”

Me: *pays using vouchers*

Cashier: “I’m sorry. We don’t accept that voucher.”

Me: “Look at the voucher first. It said that this voucher can be used at all the restaurants in this shopping mall.”

Cashier: “Sorry, but we don’t participate. See? Our restaurant name was not listed in the voucher.”

Me: “That’s because it’s stated clearly in the voucher that it can be used for all restaurants in this shopping mall! See? It even has the official stamp and seal of this shopping mall.”

Cashier: “Yeah, but—”

(She then tries to find any fault in my voucher.)

Cashier: “Ah, see? This voucher has expired.”

Me: “Uh, that’s the issue date! The expiration date is printed next to it, and it’s still good for three more months.”

Cashier: “Uh…”

(She then tries to read the terms and condition to find another fault. When she can’t find one, she calls for her shift leader.)

Shift Leader: “Hi, sir. I’m sorry, but we don’t accept that voucher.”

(I repeat the explanation above one more time to the shift leader, once again pointing out that this voucher was officially issued by the shopping mall and that it has an official stamp and seal. Finally, after several minutes arguing back and forth…)

Shift Leader: “Okay, sir, if you can wait, I’ll call the shopping mall first.”

(I wait while the shift leader takes the telephone and calls the shopping mall manager. I don’t hear the conversation, but I hear the shift leader asking him about how to redeem the voucher. At that moment, I know that I am right and the voucher can be used. Finally, he finishes his phone call.)

Shift Leader: “Our apology for the inconvenience, sir. We were not informed by either our own management or the shopping mall management about this voucher. But yeah, we can accept the voucher.”

Me: “Finally!”

(They finally accept the voucher. The cashier, however, still tries to make it difficult by complaining that she doesn’t know how to handle the voucher. Thankfully, the shift leader is still there and tells her how to handle it. After the payment process is finished, I wait for the food. But suddenly, the cashier bursts out:)

Cashier: “JUST SIT DOWN! THE FOOD WILL BE DELIVERED TO YOU! YOU’RE BLOCKING THE OTHER CUSTOMERS!”

(I could no longer hold my anger, and I began complaining furiously to that shift leader! The shift leader could only apologize over and over again, but the cashier just stood there in her station refusing to even look at us. I don’t think I will come back to this restaurant anymore, free voucher or not. It’s a shame, though; the food is actually good.)

(One of the major ISPs in Indonesia, who’s also the main telecommunications provider, is blocking Netflix since its expansion, due to Netflix’s refusal to share its revenue with the ISP. To compensate, they provide their own rip-off streaming services, but the service is really bad. One day I decide to stop my subscription, since they’re blocking Netflix, and also due to their really silly Internet filter. If we cancel our subscription, we could also lose our landline, and I don’t want to lose it, so I need to make sure.)

Me: “Hello, I want to cancel my subscription to your Internet service. But I have one question: would I lose my landline number?”

ISP: “All right, ma’am. Could you tell us the reason you’re ending your subscription?”

Me: “I can’t watch Netflix. You block them.”

ISP: “Sorry, but they’re not our product. To stream movies and TV series, we suggest [Rip-Off Streaming Service #1] and [Rip-Off Streaming Service #2]. Have you reconsidered?”

Me: “YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter are not your products, either, but I can still access them; why is that? Besides, your streaming service is really poor, and it crashes most of the time.”

ISP: “Netflix doesn’t cooperate with us, but the other sites have.”

Me: “So, you decided to just block them?”

ISP: “Netflix’s content is full of violence, so we decided not to cooperate with them.”

Me: “But [Rip-Off Streaming Service #1] and [Rip-Off Streaming Service #2] have also provided violent content in their service. To be fair, the responsibility of filtering content is the customer’s responsibility, and I’m capable of it.”

ISP: *ignoring my comment* “I’m sorry, ma’am. They’re not compliant to this country’s regulation.”

Me: “First you say it’s because they don’t cooperate with you, then you say that it’s because their content is violent, then you say that they’re not compliant with regulations? Which one is true?”

ISP: “I’m sorry, ma’am, but we have [Rip-Off Streaming Service #1] and [Rip-Off Streaming Service #2] with quality movies; have you reconsidered?”

Me: “…”

(I guess I won’t mind losing my phone number, then.)