March 10, 2009

Update on iPhone/Globe billing issues

FOR those wondering what happened to Net activist Gerry Kaimo's complaint to Globe's Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala (Jaza) regarding his phone charges, I'm posting Gerry's email to our yahoogroup re: the resolution to the problem:

Hi Gang,

I brought my problem to the top, and got my problems solved the next day.

Also, I was given a tutorial for the blackberry i replaced the iPhone with. (Actually my GF won the BB in a raffle so I just sold the iPhone. She gave me a BlackBerry that cost nothing. It's a Curve model at that). What a relief.

Globe and I also agreed on an amount, not the P27,000 on my bill, far from it.

All's well that end well. But John (Silva) was right. Unless you bring it to the top, it is very difficult to get things moving.

In my case I felt that things could have been handled at a manager's level, but apparently a lot of phone calls around their network by their head honcho got my problem resolved. My faith in Globe restored, am enjoying the BB. It's easy to operate and can handle up to ten emails, though a caveat- remember that you will be paying for airtime for ten email accounts. I set mine to my *****@mac.com and will probably use that and that alone for my BB. I wonder when the time will come when things get settled at that level as it should but I think many people, even at a VP level, are afraid to "overplease" the customer (as if there was suck a thing) and opt to let clients hang out to dry rather than make a decision like giving the customer a rebate. Hopefully one day we shall get somewhere better in terms of customer service. Also, Globe has lost a few really good people like Gracie Khoe and Lance Agudo (head of customer service). And those were real customer oriented people.

As for those who still have the iPhone, congrats for being able to keep your bills down.

Gerry

8 comments:

noemi said...

It has been over a month since I complained to Globe regarding my bill and they still have to act on it. They told me all my transactions were valid but I don't buy it because I don't use 13 hours of internet /daily average. Anyway, they will send me the times I logged in and the minutes involved.I will make sure to scrutinize it and match it with my daily appointments for that day.

Stella Arnaldo said...

I wish I could help you Noemi. I can't seem to find JAZA's email add so you can email him directly. But if I were you in your shoes, I probably would cancel my subscription ASAP.

Oh you can try filing a complaint w/ the DTI Consumer Complaints Dept. and the National Telecommunications Commission. Not promising though that that will help. But at least there is a record of your complaint.

Good luck, and pls. keep us updated about how your case is going. Thanks.

Unknown said...

my sister is happy on her iphone 3Gs plan with Globe, so far no problem yet on the billing especially whenever she connects to the internet, her plan is only 800 monthly. just call everyday their CSR, i know they will act on it! just my 2 cents Stella and Noemi

Stella Arnaldo said...

Hi Joshua! This post was entered in March, so I would suppose Globe has addressed the iPhone issues already and trained their CSRs to respond properly to their customers' complaints. Nevertheless, thanks for your comment.

Al said...

Hi Miss Stella. Im not an iPhone user but I have a concern regarding my bill which shoot up to 15k after less than 6 hours of internet. Post paid Globe SIM cards are set on a KB default mode. Though Globe offers an option to switch it to time-based charging (which is much cheaper) when the cellphone is connected to a computer to have internet access. The default mode placed me on the losing end.

Can you help me forward this concern to the proper authority to address this issue? My position is that the default mode is a case of unjust enrichment. Hope you can help. Thank you in advance.

Stella Arnaldo said...

Hi Al. Did you ask your Globe customer service to check it out?

Al said...

Thanks Miss Stella.=) I did. I was able to talk to a CS and I told them that I will not pay my bill until finally the management reviews the charging system. If the senate wants to review the telcos per minute charging, I would like to think that this issue is as important.

The first time it happened to me, Globe slashed a minimal amount but I paid almost 7k for 4 hours of internet service. My argument relied heavily on the fact that even Globe employees do not even recommend per kb charging. I did mention unjust enrichment and the employee from Credit and Collections immediately deducted the ceiling amount which he was empowered to deduct.

This second occurence to my other Sim card which I gave to my mother as a gift is very sad. The CS told me that they will still wait for my bill to be generated before they will entertain the concern.

I fully understand when CS reps say that the per kb is system based and there was no error on my bill. However, systems can also be modified to serve the public properly. I wish I Mr. Kaimo can also bring this issue to the Globe management. 15k is too much. Had they known, they could not have used the service.

Sad. Please help. Thank you very much.

Anonymous said...

Stella

Its not just iphone. Am not a user of iphone but similar thing happened to me. Its begining to smell fishing with globe billing. They have a promo P599 and you can call all the globe number and land line for free. But they will still charge your for it. Very nice. Who should you call for this kind of FRAUD and what does Truth in Advertising say to this?. By the way its a very nice business model. I now understand how they were able to make P12.6 Billion in 2009.