And I won the battle...
By Toni
@toniganzon (72281)
Philippines
June 28, 2011 10:20pm CST
I posted about a month or so ago about smart telecom billing me too much and it was their fault. Now the thing is it happened again and by God's grace i called their hotline before the bill was debited to my credit card. This time it's not only 9000php but it's 31000php.
The same thing happened. They were charging me per gprs rate when i've subscribed myself to the unlimited bb package for a month. They said that the subscription failed and it was not recorded! How come? I did my subscription right in front of the customer representative in their wireless center and after that i even got a call from their hotline that i'm already subscribed and it will expire June 11. Come June 11 i didn't receive any text message that my subscription expired thus i made a call and that's what the customer rep told me.
I stayed calm, explained my side and presented my cause clearly. After a week they called, admitted it's a system fault and promised that i won't be billed for those amount.
Finally, i won the battle! But smart telecom will never ever get any contract from me after it ends next year. WE have three postpaid lines under them, one will end this July and i'm not going to renew. The same goes with the other two lines. They simply suck!
1 person likes this
9 responses
@chuyins123 (2112)
• Philippines
29 Jun 11
They simply suck! I don't know, they're as big as they are, smart's mother company is dual listed. It's listed in the US and Philippine Stock Exchange, but they don't live up to their name. They just suck at customer care. They just don't care at all. I am so fed up with these companies' services, so poor.
Yeah, if you're not satisfied with their service, you have a choice not to renew their contract. It's their loss anyway.
See ya friend. Congratulations for winning the case!
@toniganzon (72281)
• Philippines
29 Jun 11
Thanks friend! And their customer representative also sucks. I told them i will never renew my contract and in fact i will have the other line cut already as soon as possible. Guess what their response was? It's ok. Just go to the nearest wireless center and have it done!
SEe how arrogant this company can be? Just because they're the biggest doesn't mean they'er the best.
Globe telecom on the other hand, begged us to stay and offered an iphone 4 for free. Now who is the smartest between the two giant companies?
1 person likes this
@toniganzon (72281)
• Philippines
29 Jun 11
NOpe i don't think so. Globe's Blackberry service is way much cheaper than smart and they never fail. Cost wise? I'd go for globe. Smart is cheap but charges you with unexplainable amounts of money.
So think about that.
1 person likes this
@SIMPLYD (90722)
• Philippines
29 Jun 11
You did what was right and i congratulate you for winning over them. Good for them!
Well, with those gross errors of Smart, who would still want to subscribe to them. Ours here at our office is Globe. So far, we have been with them for 4 years now and problems like that also occurs, but would immediately be solved.
@toniganzon (72281)
• Philippines
29 Jun 11
You are right. WE've been with Globe for 6 years and Smart 4 years. Have we ever been compensated by smart for our loyalty? NEVER. Have we ever been compensated by Globe for our loyalty? Definitely yes with an iphone4 for free and at a lower plan than it's supposed to be.
REcently globe has overcharged my billing and just one call from them my bill was reconstructed immediately. No hassles, no wrinkles. So, goodluck to smart as i will never ever avail of any services they offer.
@toniganzon (72281)
• Philippines
29 Jun 11
Yeah but they never considered their clients valuable. That's smart telecom! No wonder they couldn't keep any postpaid subscribers in their company.
@xtedaxcvg (3189)
• Philippines
29 Jun 11
You did the right thing and by not getting any more contracts from them would ensure that they polish up their systems and customer service. They should maybe upgrade their systems if they plan to sustain their business. I plan on not continuing my subscription once my contract expires as well.
@toniganzon (72281)
• Philippines
29 Jun 11
The problem is they just don't care whether they lose their subscribers or not. I hope that if all subscribers would give them a lesson by shifting to another network provider then probably it would have a great impact.
@Rainegurl (2156)
• Philippines
29 Jun 11
That is the reason why I never attempted to get a postpaid line from Smart. I had a friend who was always battling with Smart because of her bill 
However, my internet connection in the office and at home is Smartbro and they are always calling me up if I delay in my payment even for just a few days. One time, an agent called me and told me that I am behind payment. I told her I already paid my bill for the month a week before. After a moment she said that oh but I owe another month. To which I answered it's not even due yet 
Oh well, I did not embarrass her further and just let her off easily but I was really p1ssed that time.
Yes, they suck.
However, my internet connection in the office and at home is Smartbro and they are always calling me up if I delay in my payment even for just a few days. One time, an agent called me and told me that I am behind payment. I told her I already paid my bill for the month a week before. After a moment she said that oh but I owe another month. To which I answered it's not even due yet
Oh well, I did not embarrass her further and just let her off easily but I was really p1ssed that time.
Yes, they suck.@toniganzon (72281)
• Philippines
30 Jun 11
I do get the same call but they do apologize after checking their system that i already paid. WEll, i'm still not renewing my smartbro contract with them though.
@ravisivan (14079)
• India
29 Jun 11
I am sorry to hear to wrong billing. Even if it is an amount equal to 10$ when it is billed without warranting, we will feel bad.
In Philipines u have competition in telelphone industry. It is good. Who are the other players who will be giving you service.
have a good day.
@toniganzon (72281)
• Philippines
30 Jun 11
The bill actually amounted to US$1000. Yes, it's good that they have competitors. That gives me a choice. But i really want them to learn that no matter how small the contribution of one client is, that person is still important to your company! But i guess they didn't study that in a good university.
@ravisivan (14079)
• India
30 Jun 11
beyond some level companies become impersonal. Most of the activities are computerised and people do not use their intelligence or discretion to solve issues.
I am happy your problems are getting sorted out. have a nice day.
@arshan18 (51)
• Philippines
29 Jun 11
aren't they contented on their earnings that they have to do those kind of actions to their customers who have been availing their services for so many years. just this morning, i watched the philippine news which endorses that text and call rates would be diminish only if the certain bill passes it's hearing. every minute of calls would be charged 1 peso, three years after the implementation of the bill. and i think text rates would be lowered to 0.30 cents(although i am not sure about the exact rate).
any reactions if it would be really implemented into our country? and will the telecommunication companies such as Smart agree into that deal?
i'am hoping for it's implementation.
@toniganzon (72281)
• Philippines
29 Jun 11
Back in the late 1990s text messaging was free and we could text all we want. A little delay in the message would make us run to the main office of globe telecom and complain. Smart was analog at that time and doesn't have such service. Text messaging was totally free as an add on service. I miss those days when I was in college.
@vindiku (255)
• India
29 Jun 11
Its good to hear such a thing. Usually what happens is these telecom guys they don't accept their mistakes. They behave like accepting a mistake is a serious crime. I had such situations too. They used run their offer on my number without my confirmation and bill me for that. On calling back they will never accept it. I still two of my numbers way below in the negative side and the executives are still calling. Anyway your success brings me hope.. Have a nice day
@surfer222 (1714)
• Indonesia
29 Jun 11
Unbelievable.... there's a communication provider in philippin named 'smart-telecom' that behave exacly like smart-telecom in my country. I wonder if the owner are the same people. In Indonesia there's a company with the same name and behave more or less the same as you describe there...
