For iPhone users/Globe subscribers

MY old friend Gerry Kaimo has been tearing his hair out over his Apple iPhone/Globe Telecom service because his phone bill had skyrocketed to P27,000 in just two months, all because of the default Internet settings.

I've checked the Philmug site and apparently this problem of overbilling by Globe has been happening since the phone was introduced last year. So if you're still thinking of buying such a unit, please be warned. Globe's customer relations system isn't exactly the most efficient in the industry, so you may want to ask a lot of questions about your unit first and Globe's charges before making that final purchase. It also helps to make friends w/ the techie guys. (The Philmug site does have suggested procedures to adjust your Internet setttings and thus protect yourself from getting overbilled. So check that out, too.)

Let's hear it from Gerry:

To all of you out there who may have bought the Mac iPhone. Please consult your nearest Globe Tech Support. There is no manual, so it's a guessing game mostly. I was at Globe Towers today and found out that I was not the only one who had a problem with this Mac iPhone.

My month's first bill came up to a whopping P15,000+. Second month seventeen I think. Basta the total was P27,000 FOR TWO MONTHS!! It was because of the settings. You all know that this iPhone lacks a manual. Mac does not give out manuals. You have to source a third party manual to learn about your Apple product. Thing is, Globe COULD HAVE given their buyers lessons, even if they had to charge them for it. Consider this: If you had a choice between paying a thousand peso seminar fee to save tens of thousands, that's still a good deal.

Thing is, they knowingly sold a phone with no manual and NOT ENOUGH techies to help the customers who paid almost forty thousand pesos for the iPhone. What happened to me also happened, according to a Globe employee who shall remain unknown because they could fire him for being honest to me. At any rate, I was told that my fifteen thousand and then seventeen thousand bills were NOTHING compared to the other customers who ran up bills of 37,000-forty thousand peso monthly bills. They should have warned us. They COULD at least have warned us. But no, it is apparently more important that Globe sell tons of iPhones before more people learn that if you are not INFORMED (caveat emptor, remember?) before people find out that they will be paying thousands more than their usual bills.

FOUL by GLOBE. A deed MOST FOUL. A warning that if you don't set the phone right, you can end up paying thousands monthly. I wonder what Globe will do to let me have it. I wonder if they will... After all, messengers are apt to get punished in this country, just ask Jun Lozada. But no matter. Do what you must. But hey, do the right thing and call your iPhone buyers. And please stop telling your tech support people to encourage your customers to switch their plans from per kilobyte to 5 PESOS FOR FIFTEEN MINUTES. because the fifteen minutes keeps going and going and going. FOUL PLAY by GLOBE, in my opinion, they should clarify. CLARIFY and inform your customers of what may may ahead of them.

That's all from me. Globe's turn. If you had the same problem, please pass this on. Help the others who may just now be getting the shaft. Thanks.

Last I heard from Gerry, he has written Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, chairman of Globe Telecom, about this issue. I hope Gerry gets an answer soon.