Attention PLDT Cebu - What's Up With Our DSL Connection?!?

And I thought I wouldn't be posting anything about PLDT again.

I just sent an email to PLDT customer service regarding our intermittent and mostly slow internet connection at our internet cafe. This has been happening for the past weeks but the problem got worse this past 4 days. Today was the first time I called 171, their customer service hotline, to report the problem because I kept on telling myself that the issues we've been encountering is pretty much normal. But, because of what's been happening since Monday, I couldn't take it anymore.

We're on the 3.5MBps plan with 1 static IP (Php 5,200 per month, including landline). That's more than enough for an internet cafe with just 10 client computers, 1 server and 1 laptop connecting to the web. But, hell, no. We only had decent connection from June to July but since August, the speed has been inconsistent and the connection is just not good enough for what we're being charged for it.

Monday, September 7th - we closed early because we lost our internet connection and phone lines. Good thing I had the mobile # of 1 of the PLDT technicians here in Cebu. He told me there's some maintenance going on and the system should be back within the day. Well, we didn't see the problem get fixed or our internet connection restored 'coz we had to close early 'coz our customers already left. We were closed on Tuesday because I was too sick so we didn't get to see if the problem was already fixed.

Wednesday, September 9th - We were glad that when we opened the cafe, we already had internet connection. But, then, after a few hours, we suddenly lost our internet connection again. I called the technician again 'coz I can't contact 171 'coz we don't have access to any PLDT landline in the area. He said there's another maintenance 'coz of the power failure earlier. I believed him (although I was kinda upset already) and after a few minutes, we got our connection back.

Since that time until today, we barely stay connected. We consider ourselves lucky if we stay connected for 30 minutes to an hour. And for Php 5,200 per month plan, this is not good enough.

My partner and I started observing this inconsistent, intermittent and slow connection speeds just these past weeks. We're thinking that it could be because the other internet cafe in our building switched to PLDT so we're playing tag-of-war with them. Or maybe someone's tapping on our DSL connection. Or it could also be because of the modem that was given to us (Zyxel p600).

I really hope PLDT Cebu can do something about this ASAP. We've lost a lot of money already because customers are not happy with the connection. This isn't fair!

*sigh* This really upsets me. Today, we had to close our cafe early 'coz we lost our connection again. I don't know what's going on.

I reported this through their Customer Service hotline 171 and spoke to Jane Aves. The girl didn't sound sincere and didn't even try to pretend to actually listen to what I'm saying. I don't believe everything she said about turning it over to technicians who'll be running whatever tests to check our connection to their servers blah blah. I've worked in a call center, handled a DSL account, and most of the excuses we use when talking to irate customers is so close to that. Plus, I've been with Bayantel, PLDT, Smart Bro and Globelines so I know that all of them just tell customers the same thing. But, hell, this is different. We're talking about a BUSINESS here. We lose REAL money when we don't have internet connection. Sheesh!

I'm not even looking for any compensation here. I just want RESOLUTION to this problem. We want to feel and see that we're getting 3.5MBps most of the time since that's what we're paying for. And our own Static IP should've assured us of a WAY better connection than what we're getting now.

I hope that the complaint email that I sent and this blog would be as successful as my last complaint with PLDT back when we were still applying for our account. I still want to stay with PLDT because I know that they're still the most reliable ISP here in the Philippines.

I'm crossing my fingers and really praying that something good will come out of this.

The # 9 is not my lucky # after all.

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UPDATES:

9/16/09:
We're still having issues with our connection. We barely stay connected for 30 minutes straight. I sent screenshots of traceroutes and ping tests I did to various sites that we've seen our customers are having problems with to Greg and to PLDT's customer service. Not sure what's going to happen next but I hope this'll be fixed within the next 7 days.

9/14/09:
Greg Yap of PLDT Cebu replaced our modem with a new Zyxel P600 with a different adaptor (110-220v). He verified that there was indeed problems with the connection but he wants us to monitor if there's any change with our connection.