Due to the unavailable PLDT line in my parents’ location in Makati, I opted to apply them for a Globelines Prepaid. For a year since it was installed, service of so far, so good.

However, around July of this year, when my parents started complaining that the telephone line does not have a dial tone  every now and then. Since the line is named under me, I will call their Customer Support (919.8888 — it’s more of a support now since they ARE NOT REALLY IN SERVICE) and report the problem. The usual CSR spill is that, “Sir, please wait for 24-48 hours, please monitor the line’s dial tone, and our technical crew will visit your phone or contact you.” That’s BS (pardon me)!

It will take 3-5 days for the dial tone to go back and a day later, someone will give me a ring (or my father’s mobile phone) asking if the line is OK already. In between those 2-5 days, I will make follow-up calls to my complaint, and they will usually say, “It’s still under process,” or “They are still checking on the problem.”

Now, around a week ago, my brother (living with my parents) noticed that it seems our line has a “party line” — uso pa ba yun?! He was about to make a call when he heard someone speaking on the other line. He tried to speak with this person, but apparently, that person (on the other line) is speaking with somebody else. My dad and mom experienced the same thing Monday and Tuesday afternoon, before the dial tone went out again yesterday.

I am getting pissed with these guys. I’m here at my parents’ house now and my dad contacted the Globelines Customer Support again, and I asked him to give me the phone so that I can speak with the CSR. What made me irate is when I asked when will the lineman pay our telephone unit a visit, and the CSR told me that all of their linemen were busy as of the moment. BS again (pardon me agin)!

Two (02) crew cabs of Globelines are parked just across our street and the linemen are just sleeping inside it. My dad one of the linemen to check on our unit, and he asked that he has still to receive the work order and advised my dad to just call the customer service.

It seems that Globelines is going the way of PLDT now.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Robert “Bob” Reyes is a technologist, an IT Consultant and Tech Speaker, a certified Google IT Support Specialist, and an Open Source advocate representing the global non-profit Mozilla (makers of Firefox) in the Philippines. Bob is a Technology Columnist for the Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation and an aviation subject matter expert contributor for Spot.PH.

Follow The Filipino Tech Explainer on Facebook and X/Twitter.

If you liked my articles or any of the contents or if The Filipino Tech Explainer has helped you in any way, you can buy me a coffee and share your thoughts. Help me continue producing awesome articles by supporting my website. Maraming salamat po! Thank you very much!

What’s your Reaction?
+1
0
+1
0
+1
0
+1
0
+1
0
+1
0
+1
0
19 thoughts on “Lousy Globelines Customer Support”
  1. What is with telcos that they keep duplicating each other’s practices, even the bad ones? To be fair with Globe, PLDT, Smart, big companies have a natural tendency to suck at customer support because of the layers and layers of bureaucracy they put in to keep everything moving. And the person who has the power to improve things usually has no idea what’s going on below because because there is no incentive for the bureaucracy to bubble-up the problems.

  2. The Globelines in my parent’s house still does not have a dial tone since Thursday (it’s already Sunday morning!), just after I posted this blog entry.

  3. Fuck these people! Fuck Globe! It’s almost a week now, and I again called them and now, they cannot promise when will the dial tone will be back! Bull shit!

  4. wah! I can’t even connect to a CSR in Globelines! I’ve been calling 9198888 but I keep getting busy signal or dead air. Gusto ko kasi sana mag-inquire about wired internet nila. Sukang suka na kasi ako sa PLDT!!!!

  5. Lyn, trust me. Don’t subscribe to Globelines Broadband. Its sounds good, but a very terrible and hell experience.

  6. yeah…
    I agree..

    Globelines offers fast internet connection but bad service…

    It’s been already been 4 months since I requested to upgrade my internet connection to 1 mbps…. since then they cut out my phone and the speed is just the same!!!

    I emailed them three times already..
    but none of them replied…
    That’s so stupid…

  7. I learned it the hard way. My Globe landline was installed last 26 August 2008 and until now is still not rining when being called up. I have called up customer care at least once a day and all they can say is SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE. That’s a lot of BS.

  8. Yes, don’t even think in subscribing for globelines or their dsl.. why? because globe really sucks.. they keep on expanding but the service is not upgrading. pldt or digitel lines can’t call my newly installed globe line. i have to used ndd just to call my neighbor using a digitel line a few blocks away.. and dsl is really slow for a 1mb connection.. kawawang globe subscribers…

    http://www.globesucks.com

  9. Well let me tell you i have had little to no connection since Jan 2009 till now May 23 DSL and internet light goes out. I keep getting restoration and a no restoration from the tech’s at the 171 # and they did give me a 2 month’s rebate for the 5 months i been out of service which i did pay 2 month’s of it and really think i shouldn’t have had to do that because with no sevice i should be getting charged anhways. I been on Globe for about 4 years and the ppast 2 years have been hell with these problems and they sure don’t seem like there doing there job.

  10. Since we had Globe as our provider for phone line and broadband, we’ve experienced a lot of “no connection” and “no line” problems. WORST, we cannot change our provider because they are the only one that our condo contracted.

  11. i am now contented with my globelines sevices rain or shine it works but the problem is when the digging of globelines started everytime it rain water really pours in front of my house almodt whole year round thats why we are alwayssick and insects really attacts us every now and then. they did some repairs to stop the pouring but it didnt word. even the cement on our road is always destroyed. i hope youwill take a good look at it before other deseases like dengue and other infections attacts us

  12. Globeline is the only internet option where I live. The agent sold us a 1mbps package and said installation would be 3-7 days later. 3 days later it was installed. In talking with the installer I found out the agent used an outdated brochure, and I did not receive a 1mbps package. He (the installer) tried to get it changed that very day. We called and texted the agent many times over the next 2 weeks, but no response. We saw the installer 2 weeks later on the street, and he then called Manila and told them the problem. We spoke to Manila then and was told the paperwork for the upgrade would be entered into the system that very day.
    That was 2 weeks ago, and the installer has not received the work order, nor has he received the work order for my neighbor who also signed up (with a different agent) 2 weeks ago.
    They need to change their name from Customer Service to Customer Fuck Off.

  13. Globelines has a new excuse now,
    They have been telling me that they are working on my dsl connection for the past 10 days and every time i call they say they are doing a facility repair in my area. And of course they have no idea when it will be finished.

    Guess facility repair excuse replaces the old system restoration that last for months excuse.

    I have been testing my connection by pinging sites and getting major packet loss sometimes 100% loss of information.
    Sites like google or yahoo cant be found or take too long to respond or sometimes won’t load all the way. Speed tests stop midway thru.
    Now this problem has been getting worse everyday for the past 10 days, yesterday internet was totally unusable for about 18 hours.

    Calling Globelines customer service is equally bad now, high volume of calls (probably lots of people with complaints about their service) even after midnight i still get the auto message they are having high volume of calls and then placed on hold for a half hour and have to listen to their 10 second ad’s play over and over about their new super service (haha).
    Now this is if you actually get thru and not get a busy signal for 3 hours like i did one morning.
    Having to dial for 3 hours then placed on hold for a half hour and have the cs reps tell me the same thing every day for the past 10 days that their tech’s are working on my connection and it will be fixed as soon as possible.

    Globelines has some serious problems with their service, not sure if they don’t have the staff to service their customers or if the people they have are just incompetent.

    If they can’t complete a facility repair in 10 days and if i believe the customer service reps who say their tech’s are working on it then i would have to guess that they need to hire some professionals to replace the clowns they currently employ.
    The sad thing is the customer service rep’s will continue read that lame excuse for weeks and try to convince you that they are on the job haha…Almost forgot they even said my bill would be automatically adjusted due to the ongoing facility repair which is a lie ( i really don’t know if the cs reps really believe that stuff they tell us) But i know for a fact globelines won’t automatically rebate my money for poor service.

    A sample of Globeline’s dsl quality after their techs work on your connection for 10 days. (still unusable)

    Results of ping test to globelines

    http://www.globe.com.ph
    203.177.23.57
    Location:Philippines
    Packets Sent:24
    Packets Received:7
    Packets Lost:17(70% loss)
    Response time Minimum:62ms
    Response time Maximum:63ms
    Response time Average:62ms
    ============================

    Great job Globelines

  14. Calling 211 results in network busy signals for hours and hours now, Calling at 1am if you get thru the first part and have the auto answerer pick up it will still put you on hold for who knows how long due to a high volume of calls at 1am.
    Having problems with my dsl internet service this entire month. Called on July 2nd report loss of internet, July 3rd Globelines starts with the Facility repair excuse and no idea when that will be completed. They assure you their tech are working as fast as possible. Two weeks later the internet works for 2 days in a row then another 18 hour loss of internet. Called customer service they informed me they were doing a facility repair? I asked him when that started and he said yesterday, I followed up with what about that 2 week facility repair that started on the July 3rd that globelines said was to blame for my useless internet?
    That’s when they go into their we apologize for the inconvenience.
    Called again the next day and globlines informs me that i am not part of the ongoing facility repair and they will send a tech out to the house in 4 days? Of course no tech showed up that day they scheduled.
    Internet continues to work once in a while with 18 hour outages. Called Customer service yesterday at 2pm and they informed me there is a ongoing system restoration in my area which means the globelines tech’s are too busy to investigate and fix your connection so wait a while a couple weeks or so and maybe they will fix it then.
    So to recap, first report of internet not working July 2nd, Facility repair for 2 weeks did not fix my problem, Another facility repair that i may or may not of been a part of depending on which cs agent you talk to, and now a System restoration that started July 24th that will last for weeks or months. Asking customer service how long their maintenance’s will take and they have no idea. Call a month later and its likely they are still blaming your internet problems on some facility repair and they still have no idea how long it will last.

    Getting a internet connection fixed by globelines is getting to be almost impossible, the customer service exists to read a page of lies to you and to apologize a hundred times for their terrible service and to assure you they will fix it as soon as possible.
    When a customer has to call 15 times a month trying to get the service they are paying this company for its apparent globelines is not capable of being a internet provider on any level. Expecting their customers to wait for months for stable internet while providing nothing but facility repair and system restoration excuses, sorry for the inconvenience and we are working as fast as possible crap.
    When you point out that they have been saying the same thing for over 3 weeks, the exact same thing for 3 weeks, no new information at all on why your connection is not being fixed but rest assured they are working as fast as possible to fix your connection.
    Globelines is a bad joke, they count on their customers to accept their lame excuses for weeks or months.

  15. My latest encounter getting my connection fixed. Called on tuesday morning Aug 10th 2010 reported no dsl signal, the call center employee apologized and told me their tech’s would fix the problem as soon as possible.

    Called Wed morning asked them when their tech’s were gonna start working on my connection, The call center employee said a tech would come to my house sometime today Aug 11th. Waited all day no tech showed up.
    Called the 211 tech support call center Thursday morning and told them no one came on wed, the call center employee apologized and said i would now have to wait 12 days for another on site visit.I informed the call center employee that i would cancel my account before i wait a total of 16 days for someone from globeline to start working on my connection and that’s dependent on if they even show up this time as scheduled.

    Decided to stop wasting my time with the Globeline technical support hot line and went down to the local office at 1pm. Talked to a rep about the problem and he made a phone call and told me a tech would come to my house. A repair team showed up about 4pm and checked the telephone pole outside and there was no signal which means the problem was between that pole and the facility box. The
    tech informed me that they didn’t have a key to open the box so they would tell some other tech’s to check the box on Friday.
    Woke up Friday morning and my connection has been finally fixed.

    To recap

    Tues – no attempt to fix my connection

    Wed – no attempt to fix my connection and a no show on the on-site visit.

    Thurday – Repair crew shows up at 4pm not prepared or equipped to fix a internet connection.

    Friday – Connection restored at around 9am.

    It took Globelines 4 days to fix a internet connection that could have been fixed in 15 minutes. I had to call numerous times which were a total waste of my time and had to go down to the local office in person to get them to start working on the problem.
    As a customer paying for a service i find this level of service unacceptable and globelines needs major improvement in the way they service their existing accounts.

    1. I don’t need a call center employee to tell me their tech’s will fix the reported problem when in fact no one is working on it.

    2. When a on-site visit is scheduled it would be nice if someone showed up.

    3. Reporting a no show from Globelines on-site visit the next day and informed that since the tech
    did not show up i now have to wait another 12 days for the next available tech is just retarded.

    4. When a repair crew goes to fix a connection problem they should be prepared and equipped such as having a key to open a box.

    5. Globelines need to staff their tech support call center with people who are able to do more than and generate reports, they should beable to make a phone call and resolve problems instead of saying sorry our tech didn’t show up but now you have to wait 12 more days for the next available tech.

    6. I should not have to call numerous times to coordinate the repair efforts on my connection, I should not have to make a on-site visit to the local Globelines office in order to get a 15 minute repair job done. If i had not done these things Globelines technical support hot line employee’s would have me waiting an additional 12 days on top of the 4 days i had already waited for another on-site visit that they may not show up for again.

    I would hope who ever is in charge at Globelines takes the time to improve the response to reported problems someday as the process that Globelines currently employs appears dysfunctional and broken in it’s current state.

  16. Update…

    Thought it was fixed on friday morning but turns out even tho i can now connect to the internet i am getting around 30% of the speed i am supposed to get. My 3mb dsl connection wont speed test faster than 0.7 – 0.8.
    When i first got it hooked up i speed tested the line and got 3.2 to 3.4.

    Called Globelines about it and was informed of a area wide network problem and was told the internet was down in my area. I informed them that i could connect but it was less than 1mb download speed.

    They said a tech would look into it, Saturday afternoon a tech shows up and tries a different modem which made no difference and then left. While he was here he said there was a major upgrade going on somewhere.
    Getting problems now where i can’t connect to most sites like google, yahoo, etc…Still connecting to some sites tho.

    Sunday morning, can’t connect to most sites altho i can connect to some.
    Called repair people again. They said they will try and send someone out later today.
    Sunday afternoon and i can connect to most sites but still only getting 30% of the speed.

    To recap…

    First report problems to Globelines on Tuesday Aug 10, 2010 its now Sunday Aug 15th and still not fixed.

    Globelines has alot of excuses but i really can’t understand why a major telecom like Globelines needs weeks to fix a internet connection.

  17. My wife and i have applied for globe broadband 2mbps, w/ free samsung champ to be delivered afer 8 days upon installation. Upon installing, we are very fortunate to use it for at least 1.5 hr. I called the hotline number and i was asked by an agent to monitor the connection for 24 hrs. I was told that it really happens.. its normal.. can you believe that piece of a..? Until finally, after going the same process of calling and the usual reasons, for a long period of time an agent from the suppport group called up and troubleshoots it. If your trying to call the hotline number, you will be lucky to talk to a decent agent that will provide you accurate infos. maybe not in the 20 some agents or 10 supervisors perhaps. I can tell! trust me, the free cellphone they offer, we have yet to receive it until now. It has been 15 days and still no phone. What the f…! And of course, i really want to mess up with my stupid self, I’ve called up the HOTLINE no. imagine? An agent told me they attempt to deliver last Nov. 2, but they can’t find the location. I called again, an agent told me it depends on the availability of the phone. What? that’s the stupidest reason i got so far. It doesn’t make sense? they tried to deliver, and yet it depends on availability? Things messed up with different information. I have talked to different agents, still unable to provide exact info, I”ve spoke with 2 supervisors, and i was like hanging on a thread, and my brain is halfway to insanity. They have no heart at all, they just tell what to do, and you’ll be fooled. Call again and you’ll be fooled again twice. Ask for the supervisor, and your making the worst of all.

Leave a Reply