It has been approximately 3 mos since we’ve been having problems with PLDT. You see, for the past 10 years we’ve been loyaly paying PLDT every other month, but in full. (pwede eh.) Why go to a store 12 times a year if you could just go 6 times a year right? Sayang sa oras mag-pay ng maliit na bill, if you could accumulate it. I’ve actually been gotten accustomed to the same process paying my Globe Bill. (Every other month.)

For some reason, starting this year, they started using this new “automated system” that automatically “bars” you from using the internet if you have a pending balance. 

February Experience

The first time we experienced our internet being blocked by PLDT services. They even keep on repeating that they didn’t “cut our services” they just “barred” us from using their internet. WHAT’S THE FREAKIN DIFFERENCE? We only have this 2nd line for fax and internet. Without the internet, we could have the fax on our primary telephone line. For one, stop thinking that the customer would understand the difference between “barring” and “cutting.” It’s the same thing for us, we can’t use your services, THAT IS IT. 

They cut us without warning. On the 2nd month of billing, there’s usually a statement which reads “If you do not pay by this date, we’ll be cutting your services.” But there’s none this time around, we were just barred off, and the thing was, they kept on showing us 2 mos worth of billing that has been registered in their “automated system.”

There was no point arguing, we paid the next day, called PLDT to inform their “so called automated system” that we already paid, had our internet up and running a few hours after.

March Experience

I have to admit, we were getting hard headed with PLDT’s “new system”. We received our latest bill, it had the huge ass sign which was saying we’d be disconnected from their services, but our latest payment wasn’t reflected on their latest bill. We actually assumed they had it all wrong, got annoyed when we got our bill, and didn’t pay on time again. Same process happened, they barred us, and we payed.

We called after paying, asking them to put our internet back up, but now their saying “we can’t do that because the system does it automatically”. Well their automatic sucks. It’s fast to bar, but it’s freakin slow to put back up. How is that fair? They even went on to say that “we’ve already experienced this multiple times so we should be used to it.” ONCE is not synonymous with multiple. Multiple = 2 or more. NOT ONCE. Once being Feb, and of course this was the “multiple”. They say it’s going to be up within 24 hrs, if we want it to be quick, we have to pay through their tellers. Again we seemed helpless, didn’t do anything, waited the 24 hours and our internet went back up.

April Experience 

For one, WE NEVER GOT OUR LATEST BILL. I went with my dad to their business center, we wanted to pay through their teller to have our internet back up within the day. It was 10am, we rush to PLDT after getting the barred screen for the 3rd time.

We complained that it was wrong for them to cut our services without making sure that we got the bill accordingly. Their response: We should be responsible enough to know when our deadlines were so as the won’t bar our system after a month. Well, THEY SHOULD BE RESPONSIBLE ENOUGH TO BE ABLE TO SEND US OUR BILLINGS STATEMENTS EVERY MONTH. 

Again we let it go, paid our dues, actually waited 24 hours, and nothing happened. I even had to call their hotline, they already had a record of our last payment, but it wasn’t until I hung up when they put our connection back up.

I complained about their so called “new system”. How can they have so little power over their system? How could they not have a manual override to activate a users internet once their sure the customer has paid their dues? I’m sure it won’t be too hard unless they hired some cheap ass programmer to do their “automated” system. How could their customer service be so helpless when in line with the “automated system”? Systems are developed to help the people, not to be on top of the people. I’ve been complaining about their system for their past 3 mos and no customer service representative has been able to answer me appropriately. Either their system sucks big time, or their staff is poorly trained with the system, or their tech guys aren’t working.

The girl from the customer service help desk actually admitted that they’ve been having a LOT of complaints about the system. It’s time they make some changes with it and not let it rule their company and make their customers helpless with the services. 

This time though, I’m not just gonna let everything slide as if nothing happened. They’re making their customers helpless but in reality, without their customers they loose everything. This isn’t the only time their customer relations sucked.