SMART: SIMPLY AMAZING INDEED!

To cut costs, I maintain a SIM of my network's competitor-- Smart as most of the people I know are using this network; this is because all telco promotions are exclusive to their own subscribers. Promos such as unlimited calls or texts allows us to communicate more with friends and relatives without having to pay a premium. One of those promos I avail with Smart is its Talk20, which allows a subscriber to make three three-minute Smart to Smart calls for only twenty pesos. With even the discounted rate I get for my postpaid plan with my network- Globe, twenty pesos is only worth a three minute call.

Talk20 is one of those usual call promos wherein calls are routed to VOIP to cut the cost of transmission. As such, the quality of calls can be a bit gritty; but people don't mind as at least they are able to call at low cost. This doesn't bother me either. The service though gets a bit shady as it often eats up your unused call allowance even if you are not able to contact the number you are calling. This happens to me almost every other time I register for the service. I still didn't mind it then as most of the time one or even two calls get through.

Early this morning, I was trying to reach my niece with still two calls I have for the promo that I have registered for the past evening. I was surprised to have been connected to somebody else on the other end, and the recipient herself was surprised to get me instead of the one whose number is appearing on her phone. I thought I dialled the wrong number, but then I figured it couldn't possibly be as my niece's number is stored on both the SIM and the phone itself and even on our two other phones. I tried to dial again from the phonebook but again Smart connected me to a wrong number. This time again the person I have been connected to said it was another person's number showing up on his phone and not mine.

My niece sent me a text message asking why somebody else is calling from my number. I told her exactly what I did and that I think Smart is messing up with the connections-- calls are being routed to wrong numbers. I tried to call again but this time it returned a busy tone; and shortly afterwards I got a message from Smart saying I already have used up my three calls.

I called up Smart's customer service to let them know what happened. I was not even about to complain. After the ususal touch tone menu, and a few minutes of being on hold, an agent finally took the call. She asked what she can help me with, and I told her exactly what had just happened. She simply thanked me for calling and hung up. A bit furious with the previous agent, I again called their customer service line and got through with another lady agent. After hearing what I had to say, she simply said that they only accomodate postpaid subscribers and hung up.

Some two years ago, I decided to switch over to Globe for the same reason-- Smart's lousy customer service. They simply haven't changed even now-- they'll tell you right in your face they don't give a damn. Globe on the other hand hears out their customers, and even calls you back to let you know of what they did to address your problem.

That makes Smart simply amazing!