Tag: globe

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Goodbye Globe

I finally discontinued my last Globe account. I’ve been a Globe subscriber for over 10 years but I started discontinuing my accounts starting last year. Then there was the terrible experience I had recently. The last straw was a several days ago when my Tattoo Superstick’s data connection went down for a few days. And as usual I got the “there’s no reported problem in your area” line. But I knew it was the area because when I finally got to bring the Superstick elsewhere, it was fine. GG. Goodbye Globe. It was fun while it lasted. Well, not really.

 

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A Terrible Globe Experience

I have a Globe Tattoo Superstick plan (plan 1299). It came with amortization for device (Huawei E-5) factored in. The device was the difference between plan 1299 and the cheaper plan 999. I inquired back then if I could change from plan 1299 to plan 999 once the 24-month lock-in period is done. The answer was affirmative. So I signed up.

That lock-in period was finally done a few months back. A few days ago, I called Globe to request the change to plan 999 or whatever is equivalent now. Here’s what happened:

  1. I called the Globe call center and talked to a CSR regarding my request. There were a lot of times I was being put on hold after I ask something. I could almost picture the CSR talking to a colleague and/or frantically paging through a reference. Eventually, I got forwarded to another group.
  2. The new CSR said they don’t handle my account and got forwarded back to the first group. Didn’t the first CSR know who handles my account?
  3. The new CSR said such requests are handled by Globe centers. Nice.
  4. Today, I walk into a Globe center. I asked around and was told to call since such requests are handled by the call center!
  5. I called using the in-house phone. After more of the talk-and-hold routine, I was told such requested are handled by Globe centers. Not again!
  6. I talked to the person who seems to be in charge at the Globe center. After some discussion, I was told such request are really handled by Globe centers. She said something to the effect that CSRs may not be fully knowledgeable and when that happens, I am to get the name and give to her.
  7. I called again using the in-house phone. After more talk-and-hold and being put on hold for the nth time, I put down the phone and stormed off to get lunch.
  8. After lunch and when I got back home, I called the Globe center again. After the more of the usual talk-and-hold routine, I finally simplified my request to “just switch me to plan 999”. That did it pretty quick.

Total time wasted: 2-3 hours. Globe definitely needs to improve their call center CSR training. And what’s with not handling customer requests in person at the Globe center? Is that part of cost-cutting? Not good.

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Going Smart

I’ve been a Globe postpaid line subscriber for over 10 years but I finally decided to disconnect. Here’s why:

  1. It’s so hard to talk to a person via 211.
  2. I used to get a sizable loyalty bill rebate. But when I inquired recently, the rebate I’ll be getting would less than half of what I used to get. So the longer I stay, the less my rebates get.
  3. The loyalty phone package is exactly the same as what a new customer will be getting.
  4. No stocks of the iPhone everywhere.
  5. They’re not willing (or didn’t offer to) notify me when stocks are available. Instead, they want me to call every now and then to check if stocks are already available.
  6. Finally, they have this automatic image compression when web browsing using a mobile data connection. It even affects my Tattoo MyFi. Image compression is not bad per se but the whatever they’re using absolutely fuglifies photos.

So goodbye Globe! And hello Smart!

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Hell, It’s About Time!

Finally completed downloading the Starcraft II installer as well as all the patches. I was able to download everything overnight, much less time than I initially expected. Due to the 1GB per day limit to its “unlimited” surfing, it would have taken a few days at an estimated cost of P200. So I decided to use Globe’s time-based browsing which is P5 for 15 mins or P20 per hour. Total cost is about the same at P200 but with no usage limit. You would think postpaid is not a complete failure until you realize that time-based browsing is also available with prepaid. Anyway, looks like I’m now late in finishing Red Dead Redemption. Gotta double time on that now.

UPDATE: Still haven’t finished Red Dead Redemption. But couldn’t resist the urge and played a few missions :D

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Buying Starcraft II

Since I’m almost done with Red Dead Redemption on the PS3, I decided to finally get Starcraft II. Everything went smoothly at first. I logged on to the Blizzard store and picked a version. I decided on the US version since it is less expensive at around P2600 compared to P3600 for the Asian version. I paid and started downloading.

Then I hit a snag: Downloading the Blizzard Downloader was so slow using my Sun Wireless Broadband connection. After finally completing the download, the Blizzard download site won’t recognize the downloader as authorized anymore. I tried it several times with the same result.

I needed a faster connection. So now it looks like my US version savings is going down the drain. Since Globe’s unlimited surfing promo doesn’t work for postpaid, I borrowed Michelle’s phone, sent “SUPERSURF50” to 8888 and tried downloading again. Success! I was able to get the downloader and start the download of the game client.

After a few hours, I hit another snag: Globe SuperSurf “unlimited” surfing stops after you have downloaded 1GB of data. It not just slows your connection, it completely stops you from connecting. Fail! And you can’t even register for another day of SUPERSURF 50 because the previous one has to expire first! Double fail by Globe.

I guess it will be a few days before I can play.