Monday, September 25, 2006

Evil Land Lord teamed with Evil PLDT, A Force to be Reckoned with

We live in an increasingly globalized society, thanks to the wonderful and innovative technology called telecommunications. Specifically, telephone and internet. Even the most rural corners of Ilocos and the boondocks of the provinces are connected to the world via internet. With the help of laptops and wireless fidelity aka wifi, you can be connected internationally while taking a dump.

Hmm. Break. Gotta eat this chicken pot pie.


Back to telecom. I have a Globe sim card in my Blackberry that is roaming here in the US. Wow, I can receive text messages for free from my friends and family across the Philippines. Though service sucks overall, I guess you get what you pay for. One thought about cellphone service in the PI: Why in the world do people continue to use Globe and Smart, when Sun Cellular has free Sun to Sun phone calls? This is really mind boggling for me. Note to self: When I get back to the Philippines, convince all my friends to switch to Sun or get a new phone with a Sun sim card.

Then there's the monopolistic giant they call PLDT. I'm glad that the cell phone companies are getting in the action. I hate monopolies. So bad for consumers. Are you following my drift? Yes, this post will lead towards the monopolitic evil in the form of PLDT. What's my beef?

I have a friend who just moved into a condo in Makati. One year lease. The unit doesn't come with an AC since the previous tenant took it with her, and the landlord refuses to put in an AC and wants my friend to put his own. Speaking of landlords in the Philippines, they really do live by that name "landlords". They act as if they are the kings and queens of the kingdom called Third World. They are the lords of evil, if you ask me. Fine, not all. But a lot of them, in my experience, have been quite Napoleonistic, wielding power. Talk about power tripping. But that is another blog altogether.

Back to the monopolistic power tripping of PLDT. Actually, I take that back. It's not power tripping. It really is a monopoly, thus real power. So come to find out, the previous tenant not only took the AC with her, she also owed PLDT about 7000 pesos for her telephone line. So when it came to reconnecting the line under the new tenant, PLDT said that balance has to be paid for first. What the fuck kind of policy is this? First, the previous tenant should be held accountable for this, not the new tenant. Thus, the new tenant should not be held back. Second, the landlord should have taken care of it right away when the previous tenant moved out. It's called "deposit." Helllllooo?

So Evil PLDT cannot offer my friend a new line, even though he has all the qualifications, which are two IDs, recent pay stubs, and the lease agreement under his name. Greedy, evil PLDT wants the balance paid, or else my friend will not be connected to the world. What the fuck in hell policy is this? Bayantel or some other companies are not yet connected to this building, which is right across Greenbelt. So two lords have a hold on consumers. PLDT and the Landlord. I wonder if you pit the two evils together, who would win? Does two evils cancel each other out? In this case, they become a bigger force.

So here's the deal; if the lord of the land does not deal with Pucking Long Distance Telephone company, my friend will just move out and find some other lord of the land to deal with. Can anyone say, where the heck is the consumer's group? Consumer watch group? Do people even care about this? Who the heck is protecting the consumers? Where are they? Congress? Senate? President? Petition? Democracy? Watch groups? Watch dogs? Where are these concepts?

When I come back to the Philippines, I will write to the president of PLDT. I will write to my senator. I will write to my congressman. I will find a consumer's group that can help deal with this issue. This is unfair. This is unjust. Because they are monopolistic, and there are no other competition in that area, in the end, the consumer is the loser. That is the Filipino. We keep getting screwed. Time to fight back. Time to let my people go.

Addition:

After doing some research, here's the information for Consumer Welfare in the Philippines. I am including this on my blog now so that I have a reference later when I have problems with products and services in the Philippines.

http://www.bps.dti.gov.ph/ConsumerWelfare_ConsumerAdvisories.php

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is just plain stupidity on the landlord’s part. He definitely should have gone after the previous tenant who’s responsible for the bill in the first place. Some of our native people are just so naïve or scared about their right, but they need to know that they don’t have to put up with that shit. That they too can write their congressmen, senators, petitions, etc. I am with you with this, let’s help our people from those no good hoodlums who is just not helping the cause. You have my support.

Anonymous said...

fry in hell those sunavabitches....

Anonymous said...

Actually, there are a couple of consumers group here. Unfortunately, they're not as influential as their counterpart in the States. The big corporations (like pldt, and Meralco) have the moolah and the politicians in their pockets.

Anonymous said...

To hell with monopolies.

Why has not everyone switched to Sun? Maybe because there's that social status thing, if you're a Smart subscriber, you're the average mobile person. If you're on Globe, you're one of them. (the Libis or The Fort regulars) if you're on Sun...you do not exist at night. (blame network congestion and Digitel's still growing network infrastructure)

It's like a pecking order of some sort.

Anonymous said...

Agh, I hate monopolies. And PLDT customer service sucks, damn them. They need more competition.

I agree with you: consumer rights is really not a big thing here in the Philippines. We should spread the message that it's okay to demand what we pay for; it's okay to expect to get our money's worth; and that we've had just about enough of tolerating bad customer service, idiotic business policies, and low-quality products.

(The Filipino's tolerance of sub-standard service/goods and his "bahala na" attitude is really one of the things that contributes to the stagnation of this country.)

schumey said...

I know where you're coming from. PLDT is hot water now as it seems foreign firms own majority of their shares. They are being investigated now. Foreign ownership is limited to 40% percent. Meralco has been recently ordered to refund the illegal increase which they billed the consumers back in 2003. I too am a landlord as I inherited a few apartment units from my Lolo who passed away. But I have not increased my rent for the past 7 years. Life is just too hard to ask my tenants to pay more. I even allow them to skip payments when they have emergencies. Sometimes, its best to understand their situation than just plainly evicting them. Just imagine if I'm the one in their shoes? And where would they go if I kick them out, what would happen to their kids? Its not always about money but more of concern and doing the right thing.

American Accent said...
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