For about 10 years now I have been using Smart Prepaid cards in order to use my telephone and have been quite happy with the service as I have had no problems to bother about in that time.
Lately, my kids have been hitting on me to get Sun Post Paid Plans as plenty of their school friends at Notre Dame have them and you can call and text to other Sun users all day long if you wish without any extra charges so I thought, why not, lets give it a try.
Me and the wife went down to the Sun Shop in Robinson’s Mall and asked for the details of the requirements to get 4 plans, for Me, Ellie and the 2 kids, I was given them and went away to put the requirements together.
A couple of days later with the requirements we went and applied to a girl in the Sun Office who quite obviously did not want to entertain us and she was a bit sharp in her manor, maybe it was the wrong time of the month for her. Her customer relations skills were really lacking but we got by her and handed in the required items as requested on the application forms.
Cell Phones
A week went by so we went to check on the progress and we were should supply them with a pay statement to prove my income! I informed her that I was self employed and did not have such a thing so she said it was OK so we left.
A few days later I received a text message from Sun stating that I had been approved for the Plan 350 Sim Only, This is a plan where anyone with a valid id can walk in and get that plan on the spot and I had been approved for this, Right!
We went to the office once again and confronted Miss Misery and she explained to me that my Credit Rating was not good and if I paid cash for everything so how could anyone check my credit rating, she also told me that if I paid with a credit card this might help. I asked her if the other customers like Market Vendors or Jeep Drivers paid with credit cards, She did not answer. I told her that if this was Sun policy, Sun were a bunch of racists and to shove the plans where the sun does not shine (not quite as politely as that I might add) and left the office.
My next move was to e mail Sun direct, I explained my circumstances to them saying I had been here for 21 years, had business, pension, good record etc and told them that I was racially profiled in the gen San office. In their reply they told me that that was not the case and that my application was not finished and all I had to do was re apply and all would be well! Sure!
We decided to go further down the mall to the Smart office and make an application there. The lady who served me was very nice and explained the requirements to me, showed me a plan for a family of 4 and even asked which phones I would like, A the Samsung Galaxy Pocket is what she recomended, a bit different to the Sun Service.
I filled out all the paperwork and handed it in including the exact same paperwork as required by Sun and in just a few days received a text telling me I was approved and my phones were waiting to be picked up.
Later in the day I collected my phones and on passing the Sun office waved at miss misery and showed her my 4 Smart Bags. If Sun can afford to lose custom like that then good luck to them.
When I got home, the kids were very happy with their phones and I took a minute to e mail Sun and informed them that I had taken a Smart plan, I do not think that they will reply to me somehow.
I have been with Smart for around 10 years pre paid without any problem and hope to continue with the good service post paid.
I did not add any pictures to this post as I do not wish to advertise Sun in any good way!
Chris Dearne, aka "GenSan Chris" is a long term resident of the Philippines. Chris has been living in General Santos City since 1992! Chris owns a hotel in General Santos called Cambridge Farm Hotel, and also the Cambridge Dive Center, formerly Tuna City Scuba Center. Chris' interests include Scuba Diving, Instructing, and Formula 1 Racing.
About GenSan Chris
I have heard the same thing about Sun many times. SUN is not SMART…
Hi Gary,
I am happy with smart!
Funny how the first point of contact seems to determine the whole experience in the Philippines. There is just not the same level of service. Out of stock how many times have you heard that. Or how many times have you been to a meeting where your host has canceled without bothering to tell you.
Hi Corjo,
I see where you are coming from, I am well used to such dissapointments but this one blew my head gasket.
Hi Corjo,
I see where you are coming from, I am well used to shis one just blew my heuch things but tad gasket!
Miss Misery, too funny.
Hi Boss,
Maybe I caught her on the wrong week.
I used to have a mortgage with Chase Bank. Their motto is: The relationship is everything. It was always a pleasure doing business with Chase, because they lived up to their motto in keeping customer service first. Unfortuntately, when I refinanced my mortgage, Chase had a higher rate than my credit union, so I went with the credit union (which, unlike Chase, doesn’t have great PR skills). Sometimes it is worth paying a little more. I guess that’s called: You get what you pay for.
When I was in the RP I lost my wallet along with the 2 credit cards, a Chase card and a credit union card…I promptly called Chase, was on hold for 20 minutes before I could inform them of the lost card. I was told by Chase it would take 2 weeks and $75 dollars to have my card replaced and mailed to me…thanks but no thanks..I closed the cardout. Next call to my Credit Union, within 3 minutes I informed them of the loss, they said there is no charge to replace and it would be a $25 dollar charge to Fed Ex it to me and I should have it within 5 days..she was overly helpful since I was ‘out’ of the Country. When I arrived back home I withdrew my $ from Chase, closed my business account with them and went straight to my credit union !! Never again will I deal with “Banks” . !!
Hi Brian,
I have learned to live without credit cards as I am on Pesos so I really do not need one. I had lots when I worked but not any moer.
I Jamie,
Thats very true, you get what you pay for. I am very dissappointed with sun as plenty of my friends have the service but they refused me for reasons known only to themselves!
I have been using Sun for many years now, and I love them. For P200 per month I can send unlimited texts to other Sun users, and I also get 200 minutes per month of voice calls to other Sun users and 500 texts to other networks. That is dirt cheap and I know of no other network who can come close. I am using prepaid.
Sorry to hear that you had a problem trying to sign up for post paid. Feyma was also rejected for post paid. She is Filipino, so I don’t think that was based on race. We are very happy with the prepaid, though.
Sun is a double edge sword for me, yes they are the cheapest, but boy they sure arn’t “Globe” !
I have never had a problem with Sun. Their signal quality in the area where I live is at least equal to Globe. Never had a customer service issue with them.
Hi Bob,
I know lots of people who are happy with sun but for me It was not to be for some reason.
You did exactly the right thing Chris…apart from losing your cool with Miss Misery that time…by going elsewhere then showing her your products from the competitor. I think the system is such that she probably assumed you would never be approved and therefore were simply not worth the effort. Well, that probably represents a reasonable amount of lost commission for her, but I doubt it will be a lesson learned. What was the look on her face, I wonder?
We had an issue last march where we bought a smart micro sim for an iPhone, which turned out to be faulty, from a kiosk at SM in Davao…and boy, did we have a hassle getting the girl to replace it. She seemed to think it was coming out of her personal pocket, and seemed confused when I said “it’s faulty, just send it back to Smart…what’s the problem”? Later I found out that lots of these little booths are not proper authorised retailers at all, they just buy their stock from somewhere else and can’t return things.
The truth is, it probably did come out of the girls pay! That’s how it works here in many cases.
Hi Jim,,
Her face was something to behold, se was as near to a blsh as any Philippina I have ever seen.
Buying stuff from small dealers can be a pfoblem, thats why I do not go for cheaper stuff, its safer!
I tend to believe that things happen for a reason Chris. So in your case with Sun, you will ultimately be happier long term and have avoided some bigger problem in the future.
I can also relate to your frustration. I had a problem with a (nameless) cell phone company in the USA and it took all my patience and losing my temper (both) to get resolution. Afterword it felt like I had played an emotional football game; lots of bruises and exhaustion.
Hi Casey,
An emmotianal football game is a good way to put it, I do not get many problems here but this one really got me!
Speaking of service. United Airlines used to have a slogan, “Fly the Friendly Skies of United.” They don’t use that slogan anymore, because they can’t live up to the slogan. Service in the USA is not that great sometimes too.
Delta Airlines should include a dentistry policy so you can have your teeth extracted from your knees and re-inserted in your mouth caused by the excessivly cramped seating conditions !!
Hi Bob,
Service here is usually OK but this time for me it was not!
Hi Chris, Nice to know your opinion. I have been a SMART prepaid subscriber ever since I started coming to the Philippines in 2007. I have never had a problem (well, one little one) and really like their service. Thanks for your input on Sun.
Hi John,
I have had no problems with Smart so now I will stick with them
Sun and Smart are both subsidiaries of PLDT. It is kind of like Coke and San Miguel. I have come to the conclusion that most businesses in the PI, have no Smarts when it comes to MARKETING and CUSTOMER SERVICE nor how to give incentive to people who work.
My step-son works at a small store which sells motors and small appliances. He is the only person there about 99.9% of the time. He has the keys to open and close the store. He gets an allowance of 150P a day. They some times want him to do collections, to do that he would have to get a license to drive a motor. We will not allow him to get a license, like a lot of Filipinos, he is an accident looking for a place to happen!!
He has asked in a round about way to be paid commissions on what he sells, they have said no the 150P a day is all he is going to get. If he got a 5% commission on his sales he would make about 12000P a month.
I tell him not to worry about it, he learning how to be a SALESMAN, once he learns how. Then he can make more P’s than he could make at anything else.
Back when I was double nickels, I worked at United Healthcare as a security guard. Quite a few nights a week one of the salesmen would come down about 2200 on his way home. He would be angry an frustrated, I would talk to him an calm him down. One day, he came down, just before lunch, he told me Subway an a catering company were coming. Let them in and show them where the lunchroom was, he was very very happy!!! He was buying lunch!!!
I asked what was up, he said he had finally closed the deal, that had been driving him crazy, for the last four years!!!
The deal was for ten years, at 30+ million a year, which he got 10%
Hi Fred,
There are some very wierd business practices here, I think that some people like to stay in the position that they are comfortable and some business owners want to keep people in such positions.
I like your story about the salesman, good luck to him!
The only issue I have with SMART is the time the load lasts, it just disappears without trace most of the time all on it’s own without me making calls, I never seem to get my money’s worth.
Jack
Hi Jack,
I have had that once or twice but I found out that if you put a bigger load in then you have a good time to use it up.
I have been here 6 years and have been with smart pre paid the entire time. I tried globe and had utter disappointment similar to your sun experince. Honestly I do not think it was racial it is this feeling here that you are doing them a service. Over the past few years this has sunk further and further. Where companies feel customer service is unimportant.
Hi Tim,
I had Globe many years ago when cell phones were a new thing. I changed to smart when I had a SIM problem and I was advised to get Smart so I did abd have been happy with them since.
thank you…..all your comments felt like I was in a customer feedback session. I work for a telco…..glad that for the most part the feedback is positive. let me share some hi level items.
1. micro sims should be bought from authorized dealers only specially when your looking at LTE capability.
2. there’s been a spat of foreigners who got post paid accounts from all networks that are tagged a nopsa no payment since activation ..before a postal ID, ACR and proof of income is enough….now not anymore.
3. higher load equals longer expiry date/time…check also that your kids did not subscribe to any downloads or did pasa-load without your knowledge.
hope these help.
hi chris, the first two years i did not even own a phone here because i did not want to deal with these backward business processes in the phils and i never felt the need for one. i had a smartphone using free skype and email only. it is still fine for any communication needs that i have. now i have a prepaid number but i hardly use it because i am not an emergency doctor. any other appointments do not need a phone and my business is done on the web only. my social and sexual life is great without a phone. i believe everyone should boycott these phone companies and render them useless. their ripoff is only about small amounts but they are very bold. when my credit expires (why ? wtf!) i will just let it expire
I’m glad I read this story because we are also having difficulties with the postpaid plan we applied. By “we” I mean my GF and I.
Its been almost 3 weeks and not a single sms or call has reached us. Followed up once. Will follow-up again this week. If it goes to a month I’m switching to globe