It’s December 16 and it’s been two days now since my PLDT’s internet connection at my place has stopped. This isn’t the first time this happened, mind you; it’s happened before, and the same “processes” happen.
First, you wait…
Then when you realize that, hey, this will last longer than anticipated, so you call their hotline 171. You will be prompted (nowadays, no customer service representative ever talks to you) to press 1, 2 or whatever; and then prompted again to press 1, 2 or whatever, until a voice message tells you that they logged your report.
Perhaps you’re just impatient, so you use the data of your phone to go to PLDT’s social media accounts (e.g. @PLDT_cares in Twitter, and PLDTcares in Facebook). You express your frustration.
And then you wait. And wait. And wait.
And then you realize, hey, nothing is happening.
If you are lucky, you get some copy-paste response. In Facebook, for instance, I got this:
“Hi Michael David, thanks for contacting us! We’ve received your message and appreciate you reaching out. One of our Cares squad mates will get back to you soonest.
“In the meantime, please let us know the details of your concern such as your telephone (starting with the area code) or account number, and your location so we can speed up resolution.
“Talk to you soon!”
But then you get mostly silence.
And this is what’s irresponsible, and is unacceptable.
The thing is, in the scheme of things, a handful of home-based clients such as myself may be “nothing” to giants like PLDT. In the second quarter of 2020, for instance, the company reported that it net income grew by 15.8% to P6.37 billion (from P5.5 billion posted in the same period last year). The second-quarter net income is 7.8% up from P5.91 billion earned in the first three months of 2020.
We’re not talking of thousands or even millions of pesos here. We’re talking of BILLIONS.
And this is what’s grating with PLDT’s “cares” claim.
The company expects its clients such as myself to pay the EXACT amount every month (i.e. flat rate of fees), yet it does not deliver the right services that allow these customers to earn that money that they get from these clients.
Again, to stress, this is irresponsible, and is unacceptable.
Check PLDT’s social media accounts to see complaints after complaints after complaints (some of them for weeks already) of non-delivery of service. And the main issue remains the same: the company receives the exact amount of money/payment even for services not delivered.
PLDT should not be allowed to collect any money/amount on the days when their goods were not delivered (through no fault of the clients, it is worth stressing).
If people only pay for what they used to the likes of Meralco and Maynilad, why is PLDT so… privileged to collect even when it doesn’t deliver the promised goods?
Prorating makes sensible – even moral – sense.
