Consumer complaints

THIS column is not a consumer complaints section but I’ve been getting a lot of mail (electronic and snail) of the type it’s hard not to give attention to some of them. These people write to perfect strangers like me apparently because they have been ignored by the very companies who are supposed to act on their complaints. It’s really somewhat an act of desperation that they (paying customers) have to turn to the media so their problems could be recognized.

Maynilad’s waterworks

Mary Anne Mallosa of Pablo Ocampo Street, Manila, seems to be wondering whether there is really a method to Maynilad’s waterworks madness.

“Of course, sir, who would complain about road diggings when they tell us they are laying down pipes so we could have stronger water, so we won’t need to use electric pumps and so save on our Meralco bills? We welcome this,” she writes in her letter.

“What we are just saying is, where is the sense of urgency? They started these diggings a year ago, and now classes are about to start, and the rainy season is about to start, and they are still not yet done. Their road diggings cause a lot of traffic jams, even flooding, and are an inconvenience to both commuters and pedestrians.”

Mallosa observes that Maynilad’s road diggings seem to be undermanned and not so organized.

“For example, they dug up our street. One day, I just woke up to the sound of this huge machine breaking concrete. It even destroyed some of the concrete of our gate and garage.

“Our car was still inside the garage and we couldn’t get it out because our front was dug up. Our neighbors had no problem because they just park their cars on the street. Anyway, after a few weeks, they covered the diggings with sand. I thought they were finished laying down the pipes and we were waiting for them to pour concrete over their diggings. Nothing. After a few weeks, they were digging up the sand again! They were digging up what they covered, doing it all over! When I asked why, they said they were just finished testing!

“The thing is, sir, they dig up one street, then leave it for days at a time. Naiiwan lang po nakatengga. We don’t know when they will be finished, they also can’t tell us. Their construction in Singalong, where several gates of St. Scholastica’s College (my daughter’s school) are located, started before classes last year. Classes ended last summer and they still weren’t finished.

“And yet often times, you just see their diggings unmanned or undermanned. They are still all over Malate and Pablo Ocampo. I don’t blame the workers because they are only hired help and are probably not even paid well. But their bosses, Maynilad and the contractors who undertake these projects, seem to be in no hurry. Otherwise they’d put more people and organize themselves better. I am sure after everything is done, they will raise water rates anyway to make up for the cost of all these so-called waterworks improvement.

“I complained also to the barangay, but they seem resigned to the fact that we just have to wait for Maynilad to finish. Whenever.”

Internet service provider

Smart or Globe, it doesn’t matter—these telcos should really be improving their services because there are so many complaints about their connections, especially when it comes to their wireless services.

“My husband got a Globe Speak and Surf to use at home because he’s an online editor of a local publication,” writes Diana Lynn Le-Cruz. “It took them more than two weeks to activate after we paid. The delivery guy just delivered the ZTE modem to our house and told us to install it. We couldn’t and so we called their tech support, the first of many calls. It’s so hard to get through to them. When we finally did, they said somebody will come over to our house within 24 hours. The next day nobody came. And so we called again to relate the same problem to another tech support person who promised the same thing. This went on for a couple of weeks before we finally were connected.”

“The connection speed is supposedly up to 2Mbps but it is on the average much less. There is frequent service interruption, and you have to call their tech support again and again.

“My husband got fed up and got a Smart Bro prepaid for P2,500 as a backup. Again the promise was the speed of the connection is up to 2Mbps. “Depende po sa site,” says the sales lady. We should have known. When we plug-in the Smart Bro modem and try to connect, the connection is either too slow to do anything, or right away it prompts, ‘no connection, service not found.’ Where is this site where you could get 2 Mbps? When you are standing next to a Smart tower?”

Industry experts say it costs five times more to get a new customer than it does to retain one. I guess if you control the market you can afford not to care. –Ernesto F. Herrera

ernestboyherrera@yahoo.com