Smart Bro

I no longer remember how many times I have dialed 672–7277 and have spoken with SmartBRO customer service agents, getting the same robotic reply ( I’ve memorized their spiel) regarding my connection problems (Bakit ko naman sila tatawagan kung maayos serbisyo nila!). I am not very techie but I am also not stupid. Only weeks after my broadband (October 2007) was installed, my connection already showed signs of slowing, parang dial–up. Okay lang sana kung hindi nila tinawag na broadband yun, di ba? At least, wala akong expectation. Imagine, not even the most common websites like Yahoo, Friendster, Youtube, hindi mo ma–access? I applied for the service basically just to regularly check my e–mail but woe of woes, attachment pa lang ng word document (think about a simple resume), pwede ka ng matulog muna sa soooooooooobrang bagal.  Siyempre, nung una, nabobola pa nila ako. Step 1: Tatanungin ka nila sa IP address mo or yung physical address ng computer mo. Syempre, very willing ka naman sumagot. Tapos, they will instruct you to open your command prompt, ask you to ping 10.0.0 x x, and wait for results…Well, of course, I will get the usual Request Timed Out. Marami yan. Meaning…in layman’s terms, mabagal ang connection ko. Whatever term they use to make it sound better, I am still getting bad connection. I would say I am lucky kapag 25% loss lang yung result ng pinging, usually, 75% loss, worst obviously is 100% loss. They will even ask you to do speed test (last time I called, sa pldtplay.com ako nag–“bandwitch” test. Naturalmiente, the result will be the obvious. Speed test, huh? Lastly, you will be given a 24–hour prescription time. After 24 hours, wala naman talaga akong nakikitang improvement sa connection speed. Smart BRO’s advertised speed is 384 kbps, pero the numbers I got were way beyond that e.g. 69.10 kbps, 78.60 kbps, 161.00 kbps (using 2wire). I have the screenshots with me. But nonetheless, these numbers could speak for themselves. Once, I felt better kasi pinalitan nila yung antennae ko. Sabi ko, siguro this time, mas okay na connection ko. Importante lang naman, I can access the net, check my email, watch videos, etc. Ang nakakataka lang kasi, palaging sinasabi ng customer agents na the technical people will remotely check my connection. As far as I am concerned, I am a paying customer. I need to get my money’s worth. These SmartBro people are too eager to install my connection when I applied, had me locked–in for a year to a sucking service, making me pay P999.00 pesos a month, only to be told I had to wait 24 hours for a good connection that I was supposed to get anyway? And these happened quite, “normally”–––normal bad connection. How would you feel about reloading pages quite often? How would you feel not being able to forward an important document simply because Smart Bro people do not care? Made me wait forever? I used to work home–based. I stopped because some reports that I was supposed to send within a TAT (turnaround time) never got to its recipient. Why? Because I cannot even attached said documents to my e–mail or use the YM service. Imagine, word documents? Not large documents that require complicated technical knowledge. I never complained before, never posted it in my blog. Because I always believe that Smart Bro’s marketing arm is intelligent enough to keep its paying customers happy, right? I am wrong. They don’t care. What they care about is if I am paying my monthly service fee or not. Look, my billing statement comes on time. But my service, well, haven’t you heard me? I need to wait another 24 hours. They will be checking it remotely. Blah blah blah.  I am not going to waste my time with Smart Bro. My energy is useless. I have better things to do but I am warning others to think twice about getting Smart Bro broadband service. Do not let yourself get deceived by false advertisement. Read other blogs. Read forums. You will be able to compare. Do not take my word. I am speaking out because I felt victimized by Smart Bro’s false advertisement and should learn from this experience. Go to a broadband service with reliable technical support and nice, knowledgeable customer service staff which is definitely not Smart Bro.  I am looking forward to ending this service come October and move to a better broadband service provider. (crossing my fingers)

Tribute to Mayor Tato

by: Robert Julius Reyes

"Kami ay nabigla, nalulungkot sa balita.

Mahal naming si Ka Tato, kinuha na ni Bathala.

Marahil magdadagdag ng mga taong dakila

Sa ating kalangitan, sya'y gagawing tala."

"Mga Kababayan mo ngayo'y nagluluksa,

puno ng pighati sa puso at diwa,

Ganunpaman sa pagpanaw mo dito sa lupa,

sa aming alaala'y buhay ka sa tuwina."

"Maka-DIYOS syang tao, subok na matulungin,

Sa kanyang kapwa, pantay-pantay ang pagtingin.

Mahirap o mayaman;mangmang man o magaling,

Bata man o matanda, parehas lang ang turing!"

"Lider na pangsimbahan, gayundin pang-sibiko

Tunay na marangal, may matatag na prinsipyo.

Nakalulungkot man kanyang buhay-politiko,

Mananatili syang mahal ng mga tao."

"Yamang paglilingkod natapos na sa daigdig

Mahal naming Panginoon, dinggin aming dalangin,

Sa Banal Mong Kaharian, si Ka Tato'y tanggapin

Nawa'y marapating, bigyan diyan ng bagong opis."

*(with permission from author). This poem originally circulated via Lumban Hipong group.