Again, this week, I am sharing my column from SunStar Davao here on LiP. This article is appearing in SunStar on Friday, November 6, and the same day here on LiP. Enjoy the article.
Does PLDT know what customer service is? It would seem that they don’t, based on my recent experience with them.
I earn my living on the Internet. All of the money that I earn comes through my work on the Internet in one way or another. Because of that, it is important for me to have a reliable Internet connection. If I don’t have good Internet, I can’t earn money!
Because of the fact that Internet connectivity is so important to my livelihood, I have multiple Internet accounts. I recently got a third Internet account, through PLDT, with their MyDSL service. I had been a MyDSL customer from 2002 until 2008 and had always been very happy with the service, until May of 2008 when they cut off my account three times for no apparent reason. Every time I would inquire, they would get me hooked back up, but it was a hassle to never know when my service would be off again. Because of that, I canceled the service at that time. I got two different Internet connections with different companies when I had the PLDT disconnected.
About a month ago, I decided to give PLDT another try, since I had been happy with them for a number of years, so I got a third connection. Having backup connections made me feel secure that I would always be online, and if one was interrupted there were still two more backup connections.
Well, the other day, my PLDT connection stopped working again. I figured that it was just a regular outage and would resume in an hour or two. By afternoon, though, and still no Internet from PLDT, I was a little concerned, so my wife went to the PLDT office to find out what happened.
The people at PLDT informed my wife that they had disconnected my account. Hmm. Why? My wife assured them that the bill was paid, and we owed nothing on the account. PLDT informed her that indeed the bill was up to date, and the problem was an account issue with PLDT’s computers! Because there was a problem in their own computer system, they cut me off! They even told my wife that there were “a lot of people with the same problem” and they were all very angry about the fact that they had been cut off.
I understand that problems happen, and must be worked out. Here is what I don’t understand, though. PLDT is the phone company. They know my telephone number. Why didn’t they call me and inform me that they were having a problem and would need to terminate my account (hopefully temporarily)? Is that not the way customer service is supposed to work? Inform the customer of what is going on. But, PLDT, as they always have done, just cut off the account without any notice. A simple phone call would have been so nice, and as I say, they certainly know my phone number.
Hi, Bob, I suspect that PLDT's customer service, if such a thing exists there, may not be comfortable speaking to you in English that is why they never call you before they cut off your service. I have experienced a similar problem occasionally in the past when dealing with Philippine entities and government agencies (national and provincial) during my years in the U.S. Federal government. I know Filipinos to be well conversant in the English language, yet I get the run around when I call, getting transferred to various extensions with an abrupt, "One moment, please", before I finished talking. Then, inexplicably, I get the dial tone, without having spoken to anyone. I later discovered that I had more success engaging someone at the other end and obtaining the desired information when I spoke Tagalog. LOL
Hi John – It's not a language issue, believe me. Firstly, I speak Bisaya (yes, they do not know that, so they probably think I don't). But, back in 2008, the phone service was in Feyma's name. They have no idea what languages we do or do not speak. People who are local, not foreigners at all, tell me that they get the same treatment from PLDT – no phone calls. So, it's certainly not a language issue at all.
Hi Bob – Hmm, I don't know what service Meriam has in Tagum City but she is waiting for me (and my super computer) to show up. I have wireless now. Checked it the other day and I had 2 Meg download from CDO. Not bad for an 8,000 mile hop. Meriam sent some photos a couple of days ago and she said that her and her friend Lyn took 2 hours at a internet cafe to send. That is so slow!! What customer service is that? I don't have anything to worry about. I am still here in the States. When I am there? Nothing I can do about it. I will just growl and let Meriam take care of it. 🙂
Hi Gary – It's not the speed that I am worried about…. like you I also have 2 Mbps speed, so it's not a problem. But, when you are trying to make a living on the net, and they just cut you off… well, it's hard to make a living then! If they called and told me that there was a problem, perhaps I could make arrangements, or at least know what was going on. It will be interesting to see if there is any reaction from PLDT after having this writeup in the newspaper today! 😀
Glad you wrote this, Bob, and glad you put in in your newspaper column as well. In my expereince, (with Smart), customer service is outsourced! To a tool-free number (no tool-free to cell phones of course … Smart is a cell phone company, so of course they will offer free customer service tp ;and line clients, but charge like a wounded bull their very own cell phone clients … that is why they are called Smart???
One of the major detriments to doing business for Filipino companies is that theri customer service is terrible. Horrid in some cases. And sadly, this is one of the easier things to work on … Filipinos are smart people. They are also a caring people. And many times customer service is nothing more than caring.
There are many Filipino companies I have dealt with that I would never, ever recommend to as friend .. not becuase their prices are bad or their products are bad, but becuase their attitude toward their customers is just well and truly, bastos.
In particular with anything Internet related … even many companies in that business don't seem to realize that the Internet is not a toy … they cut off service for any number of reasons and think nothing of it. Truly a sad state of affairs
Anyway, called their customer service hotline for an outage with my Smart Bro Canopy service, got a fellow who was obviously struggling with English. I have patience with that but when he told me to reboot my computer and then try to connect with MSIE because FireFox was so good, I asked my wife to take over. Guess what?
Hi Bob – Another case of great minds thinking alike? I've a pending article in queue wherein I vent on "The BRO's" (PLDT's) customer service among other things.
For us, contacting customer service (a "toll free" call to Manila) is via cell phone as we don't have a landline (don't want to install a landline just to call PLDT customer service). More than once my cell loads have been burnt listening to PLDT advertisements after a "courteous," "One moment, please, Sir Paul."
Aw, just read the article when it comes out – I tire very easily, these days, after venting! 😀
Hi Dave – I have had a mix of very, very good customer service from Philippine companies, and very, very bad service from Philippine companies. Although I would consider myself very pro-Philippines, in general I would say that Philippine business is really trailing the rest of the world in Customer Service, though. I mean, for the actual phone company to seeming not be able to understand how to use a telephone… well, it baffles me!
Tommy has an article coming up, next Monday, I think that demonstrates Customer Service that is far above anything that you could ever expect, and it is from a Philippine company. I think that while most businesses here offer very poor service, those that know how to do it really do it right!
Hi Paul – Ha ha… yes, I read your article yesterday already! And, it's a good one. I find your situation and mine different, though. I had no customer service complaints. The service was working, and working fine. Nothing to complain about. Then, they just terminated my account with no notice, and for nothing I did wrong. My complaint is that if they knew they were going to terminate my account, they really should have consulted with me and let me know what was going on.
Hi Paul,
I had Smartbro for more than 2 years and switched early this year to PLDT dsl. You can call *1888 on a mobile phone with Smart. Not sure if they require a certain load for prepaid phones, but nothing is charged on my postpaid phone account.
Also, make sure to get an SR (Service Reference) number after each call, and subsequent follow ups. I also usually follow with an emailed complaint using an alternate internet connection. I normally link up the emails with the same type of complaints so they will see a long email email thread and a history of the problems. I also cc NTC (National Telecommunications Commission) when the thread gets long. Email address is at their website at http://www.ntc.gov.ph
I had to do this about 2 times for different problems, and they were solved for good. At some point, they were even texting me of projected SmartBro downtimes when a scheduled job is to be done at the base station my antenna was linked to.
With PLDT, I had very minimal internet downtime, although they changed my phone number when I didn't ask them to. I got a snail mail apology from the head of operations here when I complained about that also.
Oh.. and also, if you get through to the smartbro helpdesk, tell them you're using linux (which could be true if you have a wireless router in between your PC and smartbro). That will throw off their usual list of things for you to do on the PC.
And a wireless router will allow you to keep the internet connection up 24×7 without your pc powered up all the time. The smartbro canopy antenna doesn't have to pair up with your device all the time. Your antenna also doesn't have to do the handshake protocol everytime you need internet connection.
Hi Milper – Thanks for stopping by and giving a few tips for Paul. I agree 100% on using a router to keep the SmartBro connected 24/7. That's what I do too. My SmartBro Canopy system is by far the most reliable connection that I have. I doubt I have 10 minutes downtime per week with SmartBro.
I wish the PLDT DSL was that good… I especially like PLDT because no NAT problems on the Torrent… I know that you appreciate that too, Milper! 😉
Bob: I'm seriously looking at the Sky Cable offering (As usual, they advertise their top speed, but I'm happy with 1/4 of that. SMART keeps disconnecting when I use Skype?!?) … Will let you know how it goes. I'm not holding my breath, though, given the cable customer service.
Thanks Milper and Bob – I do keep my link up as much as possible with a wireless router continuously connected (at least physically).
Trouble is, I don't get 24×7. When service is back, my modem, router and a few other "toys" all recycle and get life back to BOC – Before Outage Conditions.
Don't need to tell them I'm using linux or anything to keep their silly questions away from the conversation. I tell them what conditions exist between my computer and the SMART telecommunications tower equipment, citing levels, percentages, microseconds, etc. just like a real technician.
(I have the Canopy System troubleshooting protocols and am able to prove to them that everything on the last 5,978 feet of the circuit – between me and that tower – is fine and dandy.)
What I really need is a two by four with a nail on the end, long enough to reach Manila! 😆
Hi Paul – Just to clarify, I don't think Milper was advising you to say you were using Linux in order to lie or keep their questions from being asked. The fact is that both Milper and I are Linux users, and I think he was just throwing that in because we both experience that kind of thing when we tell the tech we are using Linux. It tends to throw them for a loop, because their little script that they use doesn't tell them what to say if the client is using Linux! 😉
I am glad not all companies have bsd customer service Bob, fortunetly I have not had the displeasure to deal with our internet or phone csr's as my wife and house help does all that but i am proactive with local access issues as you will read in my next article that gives the other side of customer service here in the Philippines !
You're lucky, Tommy! 😀