They may be working for a company named Smart but they are not that smart. Really.

I have had tons of bad experiences with these Smart customer care people. I have been arguing with them most of the time and only around 2 or 3 people are exceptions. I am not finding the whole Smart experience funny, that I tell you.

I used to be a loyal Smart subscriber. A few years ago, I realized that even when I was not using my mobile phone, my load has been deducted. I mean, nobody was using my phone at home and it was always beside me. How can such happen?

I called 'em up and they told me that I had subscribed to some service of theirs which I honestly do not remember. I told them that and they said that to deactivate the service, I would have to type in some message and send it back to their company. Wow. That's another P2.50 just to stop the services. But the thing is, I am not receiving any kind of product from them - messages, ringtones, photos, etc. Nada. So how can I deactivate it?

For the tons of times that I had called them, one was only able to answer my questions and had been able to listen to what I had to say. She even said that she would then send in a request to their technical team so that the services would stop. Well, at least she did something. But the thing was, I did not get any refund. Boohoo.
Then there's this thing with my SmartBro connection. For a week at the very least, I had no Internet connection. So I told them such. To contact them, I had to wait like 5 to 10 minutes just to talk to somebody. My emails went unanswered. And because I was pretty busy, I had not much time talking to them much less wait for them to answer the phone. Those times that I was able to talk to somebody, we did some troubleshooting. But nothing still happened and they told me to have my LAN card reinstalled.

Being the PC inept that I was, I had my friend reinstall my LAN card and nothing was surely with it, he told me. So I called them up again (after almost an hour of waiting for somebody to pick up the phone and trying to call again), and they said that they would be sending in a report and I had to wait like another 48 hours. Geez!

I sent in a letter asking for a refund for it was money that was spent on nothing. But come my June bill, I see that no amount has been deducted at the very least. I told them to give me a refund for the reasons I have already stated and now they send back a reply saying that I got a P93.67 something refund. I mean, for a week's worth of no connection, you give me that mere amount as a refund? Please.

Not only that. They could not get my address right. I've sent in my information to them and still, they put in the wrong address so much so that I get to receive my bill super late. I mean, the due date is the 30th of the month, and I get it like after three days.

I wonder if Smart's doing something about this because if such continues, there will be a lot of people complaining about their services and how they handle their consumers. I realized that they are still offering the unlimited texting offer but you have to be very patient and wake up early to register. Or else, you won't be able to. I mean, how's that for an offer. Globe is offering unlimited texting as well but registering is no big deal. Send in the message and in less than 5 minutes, you're in. No need to wait for schedules or when to register and all that.

I also did get other complaints like this one from Tonyo Cruz and this one from The Smart WiFi Chronicles.

I am going to Manila this Saturday.

My ticket is already safely hidden and I'll be flying to the Big City this Saturday afternoon. What will I be doing in Manila, you ask? Well...

• meeting up with old friends and orgmates
• meeting new friends (hoy Coy and Shari! meet up naman diyan.)
• unwinding a bit
  
• renew some important documents (like my UP alumni ID and I also have to get a new transcript of records for my old one went underwater for quite a few hours during the supertyphoon Reming)
• scrounging for some DVDs of my fave shows
• celebrate my birthday there

Ano pa ba? I can hardly think of what else to do. But after the four days that I'll be there, I'll probably want to extend my vacation. But I need to go back to work and earn my bread. *Sob*

Right now, I'm excited. Just drop me a note here in my blog or sa tagboard ko. Or maybe sa YM. Kita tayo. See ya!

You judge me.


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Mingle² - Online Dating

I have been born and raised in Bicol. Although I spend around 6 years in Manila, I still chose to come home and work here in Legazpi City. I have my roots deeply planted here but am I totally Bicolano?

You see, they say that Bicolano's love spicy food. I do not. They say that the Bicolano loves food cooked in gata (coconut milk). I am not much of a fan. They also do say that Bicolanos are quite religious. I have my own faith but I sincerely am not happy about religion. I dunno. But at least I can say that I can speak (and understand) at least 3 Bicolano dialects. (They're pretty interesting.)

Anyway, I tried out a quiz to see if I do understand really deep Bicolano. But I guess not. I only got 5 correct answers out of a total 10. 50%! Sheesh. I was told, "Salamat Atomicgirl. An saimong nakua: 5 sa sampulong pipilian. Kaipuhan po na mag-adal pa nin bikol." and this means "Thanks Atomicgirl. You got: 5 correct answers. You still need to study Bicol more."

So, if you're a Bicolano, understand the language, or you would simply like to try it out and see how you fare, try this quiz.

And yeah. Leave me a comment. I'd like to know how you fared.

Appetizer: How many pieces of jewelry do you wear most days?
One - just a pair of earrings.

Soup: What is your favorite instrumental song?
The Pirates of the Caribbean's main theme.

Salad: Who has a last name that you like?
A former boardmate. Her last name was Cagandahan (which means "prettiness" in English). Oh yeah. I also would love to have Johnny Depp's last name. Heehee!

Main Course: Name a popular movie you’ve never seen.
Schindler's List

Dessert: Fill in the blank: Nothing makes me ___________ like ____________.
Nothing makes me uber happy like my son can.