"We often feel helpless."
"We often feel helpless."
What is it like to be a consumer in this country? Do we know our rights as consumers? Where do we go if we are victimized or shortchanged by unscrupulous companies and sales persons?
Everyone, no matter our status in life, is a consumer. We buy and pay for the things and services that we need to get by in life. No one is immune to sales pitch of sellers, big and small. Many times, we are captive consumers especially by businesses who supply us with necessities such as water, electricity, and in this web-based world, telecommunications including Internet service.
Surely, we all have horror stories to tell. How many times have we been induced to buy products that do not work as claimed by manufacturers and sellers? How many times have we been sweet-talked into paying for lousy service? How many times have we been promised after-sales service that turn out to be non-existent? How many times have we complained to sellers about products that we bought only to be given the runaround to tire us, and eventually give up? Times like these, one cannot help but feel helpless.
Sometimes, consumer issues happen on a massive scale like what happened recently when Manila Water failed millions of its consumers. The acute water shortage made life quite difficult for months. I know because my family was victimized. I never thought that this kind of a problem could disrupt lives, but it did. What could consumers do besides rant? No one seemed to know. We were virtually paralyzed.
Another company that provides lousy service and customer relations is the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT). For the longest time, we have been complaining about the quality of Internet service available in this country. Internet is no longer a luxury. It has become a necessity in our lives. We use if for almost everything. I need Internet to get in touch with family and friends, for personal matters, and for work.
I have been a loyal client of PLDT for almost 25 years. It has been my and my office’s Internet service provider since the first day we had the service. We have had problems with PLDT but I have never been as irate as I am now.
Our plan in our house is worth almost P2,100 monthly. Last month, my son received a delivery of a new unit of telpad. We did not order this because our unit works perfectly. The delivery person merely had my son sign a delivery slip. When asked for what the telpad was, my son was told that it was just an upgrade so he received it. There was no letter or any notification from PLDT about this.
When I learned about the delivery, I simply thought that perhaps it was already time to change our old unit so I was not bothered. After all, in the past, PLDT would change telephone units with newer models and we never had any problem. Still, we did not use the new telpad.
Last week our Internet service in the house was cut. When I asked PLDT on Twitter, I was informed that we needed to pay an unpaid bill of P400+ before the service could be reconnected. I knew that we were up-to-date with our payments but still checked our receipts.
We called customer service (those familiar with PLDT would know how hard it is to get through and how circuitous their system is) and explained our problem. We were told that the extra charge was for the new telpad that we neither need nor ordered. After four hours of more calls and transfers to different departments, we reached an agreement that: the extra charges will be removed, they will retrieve the telpad they delivered, and our internet connection would be restored. And it was.
We thought the problem was over. However, on Thursday morning, our connection was again cut. I was on my way for work so I could not do anything. When I came home in the evening, we still did not have connection so I again spoke with PLDT through Twitter because their customer service only operates during office hours.
I was furious when I was told the same thing said to me a week earlier when the problem started. Again I had to do the tedious explaining of what has transpired, and the agreement with their customer service. Still, I was told that the case was being “investigated” and for the connection to resume, I now had to pay P3,200+!
I stood my ground. I was only willing to pay for my plan, nothing more. This is not even about the money because I could readily pay the amount. This was about PLDT abusing me as a consumer and I will not tolerate this. I repeatedly asked for the name of the person I was talking with and was repeatedly ignored.
Why would I pay for something I did not order but was imposed on me? Why does PLDT punish consumers for their lousy work? Clearly, this is unfair and abusive business practice.
This led me to search for a law that protects Filipino consumers. And I found Republic Act 7394, or the Consumer Act of The Philippines. This law is aimed at protecting the interests of Filipino consumers and to establish standards for business and industry. Among other things, the law says that the State shall implement measures to achieve that will protect consumers against deceptive, unfair, and unconscionable sales acts and practices; and provide of adequate consumer rights and means of redress. The law created the National Consumer Affairs Council that aims to “improve the management, coordination, and effectiveness of consumer programs.”
So there is a law that we, consumers can use. Instead of feeling helpless, I will study this very long law and will find out about how this law is being implemented. Consumers do not even know that there is a law that should protect us. Let us all stand up for our rights as consumers and refuse to be victimized by businesses that will do everything to cheat us out of our hard-earned money.
@bethangsioco on Twitter Elizabeth Angsioco on Facebook
