For one whole year, I was stuck with Bayantel’s DSL service. It gave me frequent, almost regular, headaches — mainly slow and intermittent connection. I was paying good money for Bayantel’s rather expensive service (1,699 pesos for a 784 kpbs connection). I couldn’t wait, as you can imagine, for the one-year lock-in period to end.
And at about the same time that I was planning to abandon Bayantel, somebody dropped a flyer for Globe Broadband into my mailbox offering the ideal DSL plans. Having subscribed to Globe DSL a few years back and was generally happy with that experience, I decided to switch to Globe Broadband.
But the moment the agent told me that the plan I wanted would not be available in my neighborhood, a suspicion crept inside me. But I ignored it because, hey, this was Globe, the second-largest telecommunications company in the Philippines.
The agent told me that the plan I wanted (3 mbps Internet only for 1,995 pesos, which I consider terrific, given what I was paying Bayantel for 784 kbps) would not be available in my area in Quezon City. He offered instead the 2 mbps plan for the same amount but with a landline. Although I don’t need an additional landline, I agreed because the agent told me I can always upgrade later.
Sounds good. So bye-bye Bayantel, hello Globe Broadband!
The second problem cropped up immediately afterward. You see, Globe Broadband promises to convert, for free, the modems for plans 2 mbps and 3 mbps into Wi-Fi modems, which would essentially turn your house into a Wi-Fi zone, which was also one of the reasons why I switched to Globe. We have two computers in the house, and for the second computer to share my DSL connection would be perfect. I called up Globe and asked that my modem be converted to a Wi-Fi modem.
The customer service people at Globe’s call center (171 or 9198888) didn’t have any idea what I was talking about. I talked to two of them and both kept insisting that Wi-Fi only works in Wi-Fi hotspots. I told them that was not what Globe promised. Apparently, they mistook the free Wi-Fi modem comeon in my plan for Globe’s Worldpass, the company’s Wi-Fi service (subscribers like myself are entitled to free 120 minutes of Worldpass Wi-Fi access a month). I made clear to them the difference between the Wi-Fi modem and Worldpass, that I know exactly what Worldpass is and I know exactly what a Wi-Fi modem is. They were stumped — and referred me to a supposedly technical guy, who was also as clueless and was only sort of helpful when he told me to personally go to a Globelines Center. I did and the guy behind the counter told me that, indeed, I could have a Wi-Fi modem. The only problem was, he said, they ran out of such a modem. Great.
(While at this, why couldn’t the guys at customer service know this? This information was something call centers can handle perfectly well, but Globe’s couldn’t and so I had to go to Globelines at North Edsa and brave the horrendous traffic jams there and endure the endless search for a parking space.)
Then, barely two weeks after Globe installed what I thought was my Internet salvation, my Globe Broadband DSL connection began to act up. The connection was intermittent. The dial tone of the Globelines phone disappeared every so often. Naturally, I called up Globe’s excellent customer service and they promised to deal with my problem in 24 hours. Somebody, a guy who reeked with the strong and unbelievably offensive smell of cigarettes, came to my house but only to tell me that the problem was being taken care of and that my nightmare would be over soon.
But the problem persisted for about four days. A cheerful guy then called to happily inform me that my connection troubles were over. He assured me that Globe takes these things seriously.
Two days later — yesterday morning — my DSL connection went dead. I called up 171 again and asked what the problem was. Some lady told me that they were having "corrections." Hmmm. Okay. Any idea when it’s gonna be done? "Nope. You’ll just have to wait." That sounds unfair, given that I depend on the Internet for my livelihood. "Sorry but we’re fixing this. Besides, we will give you a rebate for the time that the connection was out." Sounds fair. Okay. Can I use my account for a dial-up connection? "Yes, but you would have to pay 33 cents per minute." Grr-great.
In the afternoon, two Globe guys came over to check. When I told them I was still offline, they tinkered with the modem. "The problem must be with the modem," one of them said. He replaced my modem with another. Then another. Still no connection.
He gave up and said, "The system must be the problem." Yeah, I told him, it’s always the system.
I also told him that that was exactly what the customer service guys had told me and that, to myself now, your coming over was entirely pointless. They left, their technical egos bruised.
This morning, I flicked on the Prolink Hurricane 9200 modem sitting on top of my table and hoped for those four small, green lights that signal my connection — hell, my communion — with the rest of the world. Only three — Power, LAN, ADSL — were on. Below the white letters that read "Internet" was a small, black void. Strangely, I felt alone, cut off, abandoned. And angry.
I called up customer service again and left no doubt that I was extremely disappointed. I pleaded for them to give me an idea when all this would be over. All the lady could say was, "We have no idea, sir. We’re sorry," and added that I should get a reb… "I don’t care about your stupid rebate!" I yelled on the phone. "Just give me my connection back!" Silence. Then a profuse apology. Poor girl.
And so I’m on dial-up again, which is like a lifeline but a thin lifeline just the same that offered no comfort to me. As I was typing this rant, my eyes kept darting at the modem. The three green lights looked forlorn, perhaps hoping, like me, for the Fourth Light to flicker back to life.
