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  • 4 Post By huja

A more useless mobile phone company than in HK....

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  1. #1

    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Gold Coast Marina
    Posts
    17,934

    A more useless mobile phone company than in HK....

    In Manila right now. I have a Smart Bro SIM which I use in my Galaxy Tab for internet.

    I wanted to do something very, very simple..... reload my balance. Having been away, it's now all expired and I have zero balance... Here's the story.

    1. Purchase a reload card.
    2. Follow instructions on the reload card to send a txt to RELOAD....

    ...except the text will not go.

    So I ring up the FREE help number ....

    "ring ring, ring ring...
    Automated voice tells me to press 2 for accounts.
    Press 2.
    Automated voice asks for my phone number.
    Input phone number.
    Automated voice asks for my PIN.
    ...er... what PIN?
    Automated voice tells me to log onto my account online to get a PIN.
    ..er.... I can't logon I have no load so no access to internet
    Automated voice tells me I have not given it the right answer and hangs up.

    Great. Try again....
    "ring ring, ring ring
    Automated voice again. Try pressing 1 for sales and promos.
    Eventually get through to a woman and explain the problem.
    She goes away and comes back 5 minutes later.
    "please ring the automated helpline for help with account balances"... hangs up

    This is tedious. Try again.....
    "ring ring, ring ring
    Automated voice. Try pressing 3 for technical support.
    Eventually get through to a man and explain problem.
    "Oh, you cannot send a text to reload until you have some load on your account....
    ...go and reload your account in a shop".
    "BUT I HAVE A RELOAD CARD AND IF I WERE IN A SHOP I WOULD NOT BE RINGING YOU.
    "Sorry, you cannot send a text unless you have 5php load on your account. Goodbye. " Hangs up.

    WHAT AN F'ING CRAZY SYSTEM!

    Go and purchase a Globe SIM and start surfing ....... now online.

    I have not had to try and reload the Globe SIM yet so no idea if they are just as bad


  2. #2

    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Tri-State
    Posts
    11,648

    And now you know why Manila does NOT hold the title, Asia's World City.


  3. #3

    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Posts
    1,845

    That is why that place has been an economic backwater for so long.

    Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using GeoClicks Mobile


  4. #4

    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Posts
    2,879

    Would it have been different in another country? In the good old USA you'd probably have spoken to 17 Indian guys (in India) to arrive at the same dead end...

    And in some European countries the hotline number would cost you money.

    I think no matter where you are, it's sadly how customers are treated nowadays.

    Last edited by 100LL; 22-02-2012 at 01:38 PM.

  5. #5

    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Hong Kong
    Posts
    6,734

    That's funny, I don't remember having that issue loading my Smart Buddy or my Globe Tattoo...sometimes it takes a few tries, but it always works.


  6. #6

    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Gold Coast Marina
    Posts
    17,934

    What was hilarious was that I spent about 20 mins in aggregate on the various free phone calls, on the self same SIM, to figure this out .... one little SMS would have been much cheaper for them!


  7. #7

    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    new territories
    Posts
    52

    MovingIn07, next time you run out of load, consider using the AUTOLOAD services.
    No card, no scratching, no instructions to follow. Just give your number to the retail.
    Its everywhere. Don't be surprised that a cigarette vendor would be able to reload your SIM.
    Enjoy your stay in the "texting capital of the world"


  8. #8

    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Gold Coast Marina
    Posts
    17,934

    To the two people who suggested a shop... I was IN A MEETING at the time. (Those familiar with Ppine meetings will know it's perfectly possible to have a 20 min phone call mid-meeting with no-one batting an eyelid!). In an office nowhere near any shops. Knowing that this was likely to be the situation was why I'd purchased a reload card on the way home on the previous trip .....