Closure...sort of....

Four weeks, four days, and fifteen hours after I first registered a complaint with PLDT myDSL regarding my excrutiatingly slow internet connection, I'm finally getting the bandwidth I'm paying for. It took them so long to fix it that it all feels so surreal...like emerging from the fogginess after waking up from a bad dream.

It seems so anticlimactic, especially after numerous phone calls to their 172 hotline, and emails to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC). It would seem that PLDT only got off its ass when they received a copy of my complaint addressed to the DTI, a copy of which was in the possession of the technician who dropped by our house. He jokingly remarked that his unit was stirred into action when they received a copy of my complaint. I certainly didn't think that a month of lousy service was anything to laugh about.

The technician even mentioned that my allotted bandwidth should be around 256 Kbps. I had to open PLDT myDSL's site to show him that the correct allocation is 384, not 256 Kbps. While I conducted myself pleasantly during the entire exercise, I couldn't help but be annoyed with the technician's ignorance with the packages offered by PLDT. He even offered to replace my ADSL modem, which wasn't even broken to begin with. What was that all about? My present modem (a Siemens SpeedStream 5100) allows me to login via PPPoE automatically. The modem he was offering in exchange was a bulkier unit that required that I login manually. I can't help but think that he was trying to screw me into accepting an inferior modem, especially since there was nothing wrong with the one I have.

I just hate it when technicians assume that I'm a tech ignoramus, when they come up with stupid explanations and propose even more stupid solutions. Especially since in all probability I know more than them. Hey, I'm not bragging. I used to work in our MIS department, and I have received certified training in systems development, programming, systems, network and database administration. Suffice it to say, that I know my way around computers and networks.

So, how did they resolve the problem? They ended up giving me a new login name and password. Entering the new login name and password immediately gave me a faster connection speed. That simple. And yet it took them more than a month to come up with a solution.

I'm still wondering if PLDT deliberately screwed up my first account when I requested a downgrade without paying the P5,000.00 downgrade fee they were initially requiring. Considering that the solution to my problem seemed so simple, I can't really figure out why it took them so long to fix it in the first place. It would seem that they are either technically incompetent, or that they maliciously and deliberately screwed my account of the bandwidth it was entitled to. I don't know really. Take your pick. Well, good faith is always presumed, so they're probably incompetent. Either way, its inexcusable.

Its so inexcusable, that I'm not done with my tirade just yet. My DSL line may be working as it should be now, but there's no way I'm paying for the previous month's DSL subscription without some sort of rebate. I'm not paying full price for a month's worth of lousy DSL service, when I received less than half the bandwidth I'm entitled to.

So this entry marks the end of one chapter of my (mis)adventures with PLDT myDSL, and the start of a another one.

*sigh*

What has the world come to? It has come to a point that if you're too nice, or too timid to complain, there are always people (or companies) who will take advantage of you. Too bad for PLDT. I'm not one of them nice people.

Given my rather frustrating experiences, I find it difficult to recommend PLDT myDSL to anyone looking for broadband internet service. Too bad there aren't that many other choices though.

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