I am here at school taking advantage of of the broadband connection they offer for free for students like me. I usually do my blogging at home, but for the past three nights I was having problems connecting to my broadband subscription via Smart Wifi.

Well it is not the first time that I have been having problems with their service. The most significant happened last January when they were doing "system upgrade and maintenance works" that left me to have no connection for one whole month. Talk about great and reliable service!

Oh, I won't forget mentioning that they also have their own call center which I called for I-forgot-how-many-times and all they can say is they don't have the idea as to when the maintenance works will be finished. A lot of times they couldn't even check your account coz their customer interface system is inaccessible and they'll ask you to call them back after an hour or after a few hours. That is customer service!

I've read in the internet that I was not alone in my problem, there were a few people who are ranting (same as to what I am doing now) about Smart Wifi's poor and unreliable service. They even suggested to email NTC (National Telecommunications Commision) regarding this poor service, which I did, but not only that, I've tried to post my woes to what is supposed to be the Department of Trade and Industries' online consumer support — http://www.i-reklamo.ph, but I was only getting 404's (Page cannot be found). So I tried to email DTI regarding my woes on their website together with my woes on Smart WIFI service. Sad to say, I've never heard from them.

February 13, they sent the contractors to "fix" my connection at home.

A few weeks later I called their call center again regarding my rebate which they gave after a few more calls. They keep asking me as to when the problem started and when was it fixed. I argued that they should have a record of those calls coz it has been more that a month since I've made first call to them. I've also argued that they should have started counting the rebated days when they have started with their systems upgrade which is a few days earlier than my first call to them, which unfortunately they don't have a record of.

A few more weeks after they've fixed my problem, I received a call from them confirming if my problem was already solved. They reason they called me really is beause NTC has forwarded my email to them. NTC has kept a very close eye on them due to the numerous complaints they are receiving regarding their poor service. But still NTC is still a too-late-the-hero. Moreover, I still haven't heard anything from DTI.

Last sunday night while downloading some Tiesto music I got disconnected again, I called up their call center twice and gave me the basic troubleshooting procedure and it didn't work. Now, am waiting for their higher technicals to call me and give me the advance troubleshooting procedures. If it still doesn't work, they might send the contractors again to fix the problem.

It's a waiting game again. Another cycle of complaint. Darn!