May forever sa PLDT… forever lousy connection service!
Despite the soaring inflation being experienced by Filipino consumers who are still struggling with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) reported that its consolidated service revenues jumped to an all-time high of P141.9 billion in the first nine months of 2022.
However, subscribers of the country’s largest fully integrated telco company continue to suffer from lousy service, leaving them helpless and in distress over frequent loss of signal or dial tone and intermittent internet connection.
But its billing department is quite efficient. As early as two weeks before the bill’s due date, its diligent staff already sends email, text or call reminding subscribers to pay on time to avoid being disconnected.
Its 171 service hotline has improved a bit. You can now talk to a real person after less than 20 times of hearing this automated message: “We are aware that some of our customers are experiencing no dial tone and internet service. Our technical teams are already doing repair work.”
Most of the technical assistants are courteous and repeatedly apologetic over the telco giant’s often poor and sometimes non-existent connection service issues.
In the past week, I had to go out of the house to check my email, return missed calls or respond to online messages because my PLDT internet connection was down. During working hours, I had to move to a relative’s house nearby to attend Zoom interviews and meetings, write and edit stories. Too inconvenient!
I get some consolation though from working alongside my 10-year-old grandniece while she’s in online class. I also get a free home-cooked lunch. These somehow make up for the inconvenience of lugging my heavy work gadgets to be able to gain internet access but, at the same time, still pay for the malfunctioning internet at home.
Strangely, my Globe and Smart mobile data connections also break down when PLDT Fiber is not working. Worse, when I use these outside, my usage goes beyond my limited data subscriptions, so I pay more. Wala na ngang cable internet service, may dagdag bayad pa for more data consumption.
I have considered dropping PLDT and switching to other telcos. But it seems that the competition is not any better in terms of service or lower subscription rate. Are they all oversubscribed and cannot cope with the growing demand for infrastructure, so that subscribers are left suffering from inefficient service?
I get this feeling that the bulk of PLDT’s earnings came from services paid for with the hard-earned money of subscribers but were not delivered. PLDT offers partial refund or rebate subscription fees on days when services are interrupted, but claiming it is yet another inconvenient process that one would just give it up.
I had the most terrible experience with PLDT when I was overbilled by around P400 a month for more than five years. I paid P2,099 for a plan subscription that should have given me a tablet that never came. Several calls and appeals for help for refund and correction of the plan subscription were useless. I finally dropped that plan and had the line terminated in June 2021.
A few months later, I received several text messages almost every day even during the wee hours from various numbers, demanding that I settle unpaid subscription amounts due for the line I had terminated, and threatening me with a lawsuit should I fail to pay.
I patiently responded that I had zero balance when I had my account terminated. This went on for a few months. It gave me so much stress that made me fall on my knees and pray to God to help me get through it. The threats and demand messages finally stopped coming last May when I asked them to review my calls to 171 and count the number of times I raised my complaints over utterly inefficient connection-related services and over-billing.
Several relatives and friends with whom I have shared this woeful experience with PLDT have switched to either Converge or Globe. But I am still with PLDT. My brother had one of his subscriptions transferred to me, so I am still stuck with PLDT.
When I read news stories about PLDT’s earnings running into billions of pesos year after year, I can’t avoid the feeling of being robbed with consent. Once the lock-in period for this line ends, I guess I have to seriously consider switching. I just hope that the choice won’t be between a lousy and lousier service.
Can’t the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) crack the whip on telcos to raise the level of competition for better service? The NTC people appear to be playing deaf and blind to numerous complaints about the inefficient services of these telcos. Are they getting free unlimited subscriptions and commissions that they seem to ignore mounting complaints against the telcos that are reporting billions of pesos in earnings?
The views in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of VERA Files.
This column also appeared in The Manila Times.
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