Last Sunday was the Nth time I called Smartbro to report my connectivity problems. I started only March of this year, but there isn’t a month that I haven’t called to complain. So finally last Sunday, after my antenna conked out on me, I headed to my friend’s pad and braved the rain, the flooded streets and the danger of having my laptop bag snatched, just to get a free wifi connection! She lives along Pasong Tamo, Makati while I live in Quezon City. It’s a 30 minute MRT ride from North Ave (see map) to Ayala Station, where I got off to get Lorie’s BK Butterfinger mud pie in Glorietta and its also a bus and jeep ride to get to where she lives.
If there is such a thing as a rehab for Internet dependency, I would have been the ideal candidate, without Internet connection I feel the withdrawal symptoms of a cocaine addict. Despite the malevolence of the message boards and blogs of former Smart Wireless broadband users, I paid no heed to it. It is only now that the nightmarish truths I read became real. I must say though that I did enjoy my connection for two months but when the rainy months came, that’s when I started to connect, disconnect, connect, disconnect. If this began in May, then maybe it was in that month that my antenna started to malfunction. Did Smart dispatch any technicians? They did not — and being busy with work, I don’t have the luxury of time calling their helpdesk, and wait on their long queue for 30 to 40 minutes. I know, I held on that long before deciding to call on non-peak hours.
I did not have internet connection Saturday last week. I called Smart on a Sunday morning and gave the representative an earful litany of my connectivity woes. They called me back in the afternoon to inform me that someone will come over on a Monday between 4.oo-6.oo pm to fix the problem. Come Monday, nobody came as scheduled. Later in the evening I got a text message probably from one of the technicians that they finished late and requested a reschedule the next day. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday came but it was only on a Saturday that they came unannounced, knocked at the door several times before they texted me that they are outside the apartment. This is happened a week after I lost connection.
I know I can call Smart and get a refund because I didn’t have a decent internet connection for two weeks. In fact, when there was a storm in August, I did not have stable connection for two weeks too. I have learned from the technicians themselves that the antenna when exposed to the elements — wind, sun, rain easily gets busted, sometimes it does not even last 2 weeks. There’s one more thing I find annoying too – because on their job slip, they reported that it was I, the client who requested a reschedule when it was they who actually texted me and asked for reschedule.
I don’t want to continue giving my readers stress by complaining more, but I hope this convinced them not chose to Smartbro as their ISP, unless of course, the service becomes better.
As for my dear friend Lorie, it’s not just her wifi that I am after — we had a rift that lasted for three months with me sulking in silence but then as friendship goes, making up is about quality chika (chats) and hugs.
No comments:
Post a Comment