It was reported on June 12, 2014 -- on the day World Cup 2014 started -- that last-minute sign-ups for the SingTel mio TV World Cup package caused SingTel's hotline to crash, enraging fans.

Now that the World Cup is underway, here are two other complaints plaguing the telecommunications giant:

Lower-quality World Cup telecasts

I AM a StarHub TV subscriber using HubStation HD set-top boxes, who signed up for World Cup broadcasts through the cross-carriage arrangement.

After a few days of watching the matches and studio segments on Channel 223, I realised that the quality of the broadcasts was far from HD1080 quality when compared with the other HD channels that I subscribe to from StarHub and the 2010 World Cup broadcasts.

The StarHub agent who answered my call said the broadcasts were in high definition, and that I would have to bring up the matter with SingTel, which supplied the feed.

The SingTel agent who attended to me said the service provider could not help me and that I would have to call StarHub.

A field technician from StarHub confirmed that although my TV set received HD transmissions, the football matches and SingTel studio segments were not of HD1080 quality.

I believe the problem rests with the feeds from SingTel.

Can SingTel and StarHub work together to resolve the broadcast quality issue on Channel 223?

And can the Infocomm Development Authority look into cross-carriage subscribers' woes and improve on the framework?

While it was assumed that competition would improve service quality, it seems that I am paying more for lower quality.

Yeo Eng Huat

Telco holding on to $13k overpayment

I PAY most of my bills through Internet banking, which is environmentally friendly.

On May 31, I accidentally keyed in $13,873 while paying my SingTel bill of $138.73 through i-banking.

After realising the mistake, I called SingTel immediately to ask for a refund of the excess payment, but the customer service officer said the telco's practice was to keep the excess amount as credit to offset future payments.

I explained to her that the amount was too much to be left with SingTel, and she assured me that it would be refunded in two to three weeks.

One month has passed and I have yet to receive the refund.

Does SingTel have the right to hold on to a large sum of money that is accidentally paid by customers?

Can the authorities assist me in getting the excess payment back from SingTel?

Chua Teo Ngee

These two letters were originally published in The Straits Times Forum.

Top photo from SingTel

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