Staying in a dorm during your University days are great, but it also means more responsibility- one of which is doing your laundry.

But getting your laundry done proves to be a problem whenever you go to the laundry room, and all the machines are taken. Cue yourself having to go back and forth before finding a free machine.

Well, fret not anymore – a few NUS computing students have made use of their education and created a laundry bot on messaging app Telegram!

The bot was introduced on the Facebook page of NUS Whispers with a picture posted by an anonymous user.

The Collage Laundry Bot

So what does the bot do, you ask?

The bot is an user-dependent tracker that tracks the laundry machines in NUS’ Utown Colleges. It allows users to check the status of the machines’ availability, and they get notifications whenever there’s a free machine.

Students are able to load their clothing into the machine, take a photo of the “Use” QR code and send it to the bot. It will then let them know once their laundry is done.

Users who collect their laundry can also take a picture of the “Collect” QR code and send it the bot. It will register that the machine is free, and inform others waiting in line.

However, users need to have Telegram to be able to send the QR code to the bot, so for those who don’t have it, maybe it’s time you download it.

The Reveal

Being that the NUS Whispers page is meant to be anonymous, there wasn’t any information of who the creators were, and their motivations.

That was until NUS Associate Professor Ben Leong became one of the coolest Profs around, and posted on the thread.

Soon enough, user Sam Mauris Yong replied, claiming that it was himself, along with his group of three friends who were responsible for the idea.

Questioning The Usability

Albeit some of the NUS students are commending this group on a job well done for making their lives much easier, others are doing the opposite.

Some are commenting that this app requires user input – in other words, they feel that it requires effort to use the app with taking pictures of the QR code, and many might therefore not be so cooperative.

However, majority of the responses are still in favour of the laundry bot.

The Verdict

Many university students are starting their own startups just as they graduate or even before. This group created a bot to solve a pressing issue at their dorms, and from the way things are going, they are definitely going somewhere.

Who knows, the next thing they create might be not only be a hit among NUS students, but among the rest of us as well!

Vulcan Post is all about living life with a digital edge, up and coming startups, and people who inspire conversations.
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Apple’s new iPhone 7 is just around the corner as Sept 16 draws closer.

Keen customers of our local telcos would probably have registered their interest to pre-order Apple’s new flagship smartphone. Singtel customers who’ve indicated their interest would probably have received an e-mail to remind them to reserve their phone today (Sept 14) from 3pm. Through the reservation process, you can specify the iPhone 7 model, colour, capacity and preferred method of purchase/collection options.

While all sounds well, we noticed a small note in the T&C (terms and conditions) section of the e-mail reminder sent out to reserve the new phone that raised our eyebrows:

Let’s face it, nobody likes admin fees, but it is part and parcel of a business organisation to add a cost to such admin tasks. So it’s understandable if you’re signing up a new mobile line – depending on the prevailing promotional terms – you may have to cough up an admin fee.

However, if you’re already an existing customer of the telco, we find it hard to justify yet another admin fee of $10.70 to be levied just to re-contract with a new phone; it’s almost as if you’re paying a penalty to be their customer. More so, you’re tied to the telco for another two years and the cost isn’t absorbed as part of your monthly payment obligations. Yet, that’s exactly what Singtel is doing, it seems, starting with the new iPhone 7.

Looks like this new admin fee will be effective from Sept 15, just when the new iPhones are about to be launched.

Just to be clear, the norm is to pay admin charges and any handphone offset charges should you change to a lower-tier plan when your contractual period isn’t over.

The new rule effectively makes you pay the admin fee, regardless of the state of your existing plan, when you want to re-contract with Singtel – it doesn’t matter whether your previous contract has expired, or you’re at the 21st month (when telcos usually allow you to re-contract), or if you’re still half-way through the current plan. As long as there’s a change to your current plan, you pay the admin charge. Should you downgrade the plan prematurely or end the contract prematurely, other charges will come into play to recover the mobile phone offset offered for your ongoing plan – these aspects don’t change. Here are further inputs from Singtel on this matter:-

The S$10.70 administrative fee covers the handling and processing cost for the purchase of a subsidised handset for recontracting customers. It will not apply when customers upgrade to a higher tier Combo Mobile Plan (example, upgrade from Combo 2 to Combo 3).

According to inputs from Singtel and as seen in the above exchange on Singtel’s Facebook page, there are a few “escape” options where Singtel’s re-contract admin fee won’t apply: Re-contract to a higher-tier plan, re-contract online (via singtelshop.com or easymobile.sg), or when you are a user of Singtel Circle nominated keylines, a Red Prestige customer, or a Singtel UOB credit card holder.

So, if you’re a Singtel customer, the easiest way to avoid the admin fee is to re-contract online.

Does this admin charge for re-contracting also apply to other telcos?

In short, no.

We quickly reached out to check on the policies of other telcos and we are glad to confirm that M1 and StarHub don’t levy an admin fee for eligible re-contractual periods (when your old contract has expired) – no matter whichever plan you will be signing up next. You can also re-contract before your contract expires and not incur any charges – as long as you don’t downgrade your plan, since that will affect the handset subsidies provided in the former contract.

This article was first published on Sept 14, 2016.

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See also: Singtel’s Chua Sock Koong, Temasek’s Ho Ching on Fortune’s list of most powerful women outside US