We availed of Globe Visibility last April. The benefit of the service was simple: Speedy, mobile internet surfing. During our first month with it, we were very happy with the service. But when May came around, we observed that surfing was much slower and connection timeouts were getting more frequent. I am writing this to caution you about this Globe product. I am extremely dissatisfied with the service. I agreed to pay P2,000 for premium service, premium speed. I have paid that amount. I’ve kept my part of the bargain, Globe Visibility. How come you can’t live up to yours?
What is Globe Visibility?
Globe Visibility is an unlimited mobile internet plan that allows you to access the internet from almost anywhere. For only PHP2,000.00 a month, you get unlimited mobile internet access via Globe HSDPA, 3G, EDGE, and GPRS!
With Globe Visibility, you get a HSDPA data card that will deliver HSDPA speeds of up to 1.4Mbps!
Globe 3G Mobile Broadband with HSDPA: 25x faster than dial-up and up to 4x faster than residential (-384Kbps) DSL
— [Source]
Pass the Load (the load being ME)
A week ago, I contacted Globe over five times to ask what was wrong. The common reply was “there is a network outage in your area.” Does that mean that there had been a network outage for the past three weeks? For three consecutive nights I spoke with reps named Vic, Ashley, and Nino. All said they would forward a report to their Technical department since they weren’t equipped to answer my technical questions. I couldn’t talk to Technical by the way because they weren’t 24/7, and I was calling in the evenings.
On the fourth day someone did call — Minda. I asked if she was from Technical. She said she wasn’t. I tried not to scream in frustration. According to her records, there was still a network outage in our area. I told her I wanted to speak with someone from Technical. She said she’d ask someone to call me within the day. Nobody called.
On the fifth day, there was still an outage. We talked to Cathy of The Hub at Power Plant and she said she’d forward our complaint again to Technical. Someone would call me the next day, she assured. The next day, I waited. Nobody called.
Outrage from Outage
If there is indeed a network outage, I would like to know when it will be fixed. If there is indeed a network outage, I would like to understand what caused it in the first place. If there is indeed a network outage, I would like to understand why Globe Visibility would not advise us about it considering it has been going on for more than three weeks. For sure someone from their company is smart enough to know what caused the outage and when it will be fixed. For sure someone from their company has enough social skills to advise their customers about it. We deserve to know.
I’ve been advised by the reps so many times that perhaps my laptop is at fault. It is not my hardware. No troubleshooting made the net go faster. In fact, they already knew there was a network outage so why do they have to tell me it’s my laptop that’s faulty? Pointing fingers? Or maybe protocol. Whatever it is, it is not right.
Obviously, I am very upset. I am upset with the customer service. I am very upset with the product. I am very upset with the brand. Turns out that I am not the only one outraged with Globe Visibility’s terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible service.
Getting through Technical
Today, by husband took his laptop to Quezon City and tried Globe Visibility. If there’s a network outage where we live (not Quezon City) then it should work in QC right? Wrong. The speed was just as slow. Network outage in our area, you say, Globe Visibility? Network outage in a lot of areas, you mean! He got to talk to someone from Technical, who then advised that they would give us a call within the day to update us on status. Oh, whoopee, another call that won’t come.
In a raging nutshell…
As of right now, Globe Visibility absolutely sucks. The customer service is bad, the product is horrible. I am really hoping that they get their act together. I would advise you not to avail of this product until it irons out its kinks. I am close to canceling my account with them. Really really close.
So Globe Visibility. When will I get the answer to my many questions? Will my bill be adjusted given that your service is not delivering? If I terminate my service now, does that mean I have to pay for my free data card because 24 months haven’t passed since my activation date? That’s what it says in the fine print, right? But doesn’t it also say that your “Globe 3G Mobile Broadband with HSDPA is 25x faster than dial-up and up to 4x faster than residential (-384Kbps) DSL”?
Globe Visibility? Globe INVisibility is more apt. We customers deserve to know what’s going on. We customers deserve to get what we are paying for. Premium price for premium products and service. We are not getting that from you. There is no truth in your advertising. It would be a shame for the Visibility product to tarnish the Globe brand and make it lose its subscribers. Apparently, it seems to be doing just that.
Hi! I'm Toni Tiu,
and I've been blogging at
at Wifely Steps since 2003. This started as a blog to help newly weds adjust to married life. It has evolved into a home and parenting blog. I write about things close to my heart -- good eats, good reads, family, marriage, and the little things that make everyday happy.
jher
May 23, 2007 at 11:39 am (17 years ago)OMG! I’ve never seen you this angry. Hopefully the power of your blog will give you the solution soon. And yes you should ask for rebates. Since you have reported this to them they should have a record as to when this problem occurred and they should give rebates accordingly.
Toni
May 23, 2007 at 11:44 am (17 years ago)jher: Mother, ang init ng ulo ko. Natatakot na nga ako dahil palpitations EVER. Kaloka. Sobra akong furious since last week pa. Rage and fury ang theme ng mga phone conversations ko with Globe. Happy ako with the Handyphone service, pero dito, hay. I am filing a formal complaint na rin today, as in in writing and all. Hopefully it reaches the people who can really do something about it.
Tina
May 23, 2007 at 11:58 am (17 years ago)I’m not a Visibility subscriber, but I had the same kind of experience with PLDT customer reps a few weeks ago when our DSL is down. Inis na inis ako, kasi they keep on telling us someone would call, but no one called until my mom got angry na talaga. Dapat 24/7 ang technical nila, since it’s a 24/7 service! Kainiiiiis. I wanted to tell them na I’m a CompSci grad and I know what to do to see if I can revive my connection without calling them, but I stopped para lang hindi mainis. Grr.
Hope everything gets fixed na soon. Good luck sa Globe, bad publicity to sa kanila.
bryanboy
May 23, 2007 at 12:15 pm (17 years ago)Hay naku, at least ‘network outage’ ang excuse ng Globe sayo. Sa akin, pabago bago. I heard all sorts of excuses under the sun kaya I made sure I recorded all of my conversations with Globe. Nakakainis! Visibility has the potential to be a great service pa naman.
According to my latest convo with one of their reps, they are gonna refund the $$$. I’m giving them until the end of the month to fix it.
Meeyagirl
May 23, 2007 at 12:34 pm (17 years ago)i started typing something pero i realized i’ll just email you separately about this, baka ma-demanda ako. haha!
Jerome aka Bridget Jones
May 23, 2007 at 1:30 pm (17 years ago)pareho kami ni husband, mare! hindi ako sanay! toni is not all fluff…she’s a woman who asserts herself when needed. pero hindi pa rin ako sanay. hahahaha! hay naku ang mga service providers talaga natin….
watson
May 23, 2007 at 2:53 pm (17 years ago)Toni: off-topic po. About the photos… sure! Feel free to steal them. hehehe!
Junnie
May 23, 2007 at 3:13 pm (17 years ago)Globe just lost a subscriber in you – a thought leader pa kamo…
sorry na lang sila
jeanny
May 23, 2007 at 4:46 pm (17 years ago)Hey Toni…This is my first time that I see you raging mad. Cool lang sis…tomorrow is the D big day for us.
Hope this entry reaches those people from Globe na can help you with this.
aloi
May 23, 2007 at 5:01 pm (17 years ago)i’m really not surprised! globe had its heyday … it’s time for them to stop resting on their laurels! hay naku, kailan ba tayo bibigyan ng matinong service? the consumer still isn’t king in the philippines.
Robin Lim
May 23, 2007 at 5:26 pm (17 years ago)They have been saying its our hardware, than when we try other hardware, they say its the area. When we go to different areas, they say their network people are looking into it….
One particularly industrious blogger, Istik Online, after several follow-ups reports that the network is congested. They sold more Visibility Plans than they could accomodate.
Would be nice to get a straight answer from Globe.
If you cut now, they cannot charge for the data card or any penalties, after all they breach first.
Robin Lim
May 23, 2007 at 5:27 pm (17 years ago)Sorry “they breach first” should read “they breached the contract first”… sorry, will check for errors next time before posting.
pinayhekmi
May 23, 2007 at 11:18 pm (17 years ago)Don’t they know that so many people have blogs now and when a dissatisfied customer complains it may not just be to a handful of family and friends but to hundreds of people? Dumb and dumber.
Hope this gets ironed out one way or another toni!
Marc Macalua
May 23, 2007 at 11:19 pm (17 years ago)Talked to a friend from Globe. She said she’d try to show all the online postings about the service to a manager who can get things done. Let’s see how that pans out.
cookie
May 24, 2007 at 8:39 am (17 years ago)Wow..I didn’t think you had it in you, girl. Ganyan ka pala magalit. I’ll make sure to be careful with my posts. Baka ako ang mapag-initan mo.
Sorry, I’m so engot with all the techie stuff. Me kasi if service is down, I sleep na lang. Hahaha. Or I threaten to sue them kasi my husband is a lawyer. Which, btw, I never do. My service usually comes back up even before I ask my sweetie to draft our case. Spa ka muna to detoxify and destress.
Raul
May 24, 2007 at 11:05 am (17 years ago)all customer reps are train to make an excuse in behalf of their company’s lousy service I guess..
SMART BRO customer reps usually go for “Technical Activity” and will not usually pickup the phone when their service is down in my opinion ( esp when raging complaints comes all at once )
Sana may BIG rebate for any interruption at company’s fault — parang Bayan-tel ( kung totoo nga sinasabi sa tv ads nila hehe)
Renato
May 24, 2007 at 11:04 pm (17 years ago)Isn’t there something that can be done by hapless consumers like us who are being victimized with the way things stand as far as Globe’s Visibility is concerned?
I am another one of those sorry subscribers who got conned by the empty promises of unparalleled speed since the day I signed up for this extremely inferior service last May 8, 2007. Imagine paying that much for something that is a lot more inferior than dial up connection!
Potential subscribers should be warned lest they too will experience the travails all current customers are experiencing.
Riz
May 26, 2007 at 9:11 am (17 years ago)Power outage? That’s outrageous.
Funny thing is, that’s the same “excuse” they gave me when I called them. I’m in Caloocan. And Ortigas. What’s this? Power outage in the whole country? The connection gets faster around 2am though. Then again, it’s the “prime time” that’s important. Some of us need the connection whole day round.
You’re not alone. Let’s saturate the google SERPs with protests on Globe Visibility. Maybe then they’ll start to notice.
Potnas
May 28, 2007 at 4:42 am (17 years ago)Edi halos lahat tayo na subscribers ng mag file ng formal complaint eh hindi na nila pagababayarin for the whole month. Edi kung halos lahat tayo nag file edi lahat libre na. Would GLOBE do that? I wish they do that and refund/rebate our payments to them.
Base on the forums/blogs about this. Customer service sucks. Eh yun kasi ang utos sa kanila, kawawa lang sila di naman siguro mga manhid yon sa dami ng sumigaw sa kanila. Toh talaga management ng GLOBE oh. Tsaka ang tagal ng action nila grabe ba ang problem nila about their system? Siguro grabe na talaga. At hindi na nila alam ang gagawin.
I hope they can fixed this problem. Sirang sira na GLOBE VISIBILTY sira na sila.
Mel Manalo
May 28, 2007 at 8:13 pm (17 years ago)I tried to apply for that visibility. guess what, without even a warning they already increased the monthly subscription to 3T a month! and you have to pay for the card now for 11T aside from the installation fee. With all the feedbacks i’ve read here and on other sites, i have second thoughts now. i might settle for the rival service even if it’s not as ‘hi-tech’ as the capability Globe is boasting about. i mean why pay for that much for such s***y service.
shadow77phl
June 1, 2007 at 5:33 am (17 years ago)indeed, it is true! globe had not been holding to its promise. ive filed a complaint last may 4 and until now, im getting an average “static” connection of say 45 to 6o kbps using globe quest’s bandwidth meter with an all time low of 15.806 kbps. technically, that speed translates to real time donwnload speeds of 2-4 kbps. too much for 2k a month for 24 months ehh? as per this nice lady who introduces herself as divina of globe platinum hotline, they are going to waive my payment for may as i have not been getting the service they promised. as previously commented, yes, we were douped into singing a contract with them, but that contract is bilateral, both parties have to fulfill their respective obligations. the company, globe is supposed to provide us the service, we, in turn pay for that service. for their failure to do so, i believe that constitutes a breach of contract for which we, the consumers have the right to rescind the same. ive talked to customer service regarding this matter and asked them what will happen if i give up my subscription- oh yes! standard answer- i get to be charged 10k for prematurely ending my subscription. yeah right, for a non- existent service. they will get back to me next week on this matter according to king, another service rep ive talked with. but im done with them, i have been a loyal globe subscriber for more than 4 years and have 2 platinum accounts averaging on a 14-17k bill a month. im returning my huawei and rescinding my subcription with them on the the 19th (where i customarily pay my bill) if they cant resolve this problem until a day before.
maam, if i may, would you please be so kind to provide me with the contact details for the lance martinez you were able to confer with? i guess our compalaints would be heeded faster if we write to the person where the buck stops rather than the reps giving us the run-around. thank you.
shadow77phl
June 1, 2007 at 9:36 am (17 years ago)this is a copy of the letter i sent to custhelp@globetel.com.ph with a screen shot attachement of globequest’s bandwidth meter:
im a current globe platinum subscriber and a visibility subscriber for a little less than two months now. i have been calling 188 almost everyday for the past 1 month as i first brought up my complaint on may 4, 2007, a couple of days since i got the huawei kit that was sent to me by your sales people. unfortunately and apparently this problem was never resolved by globe and this is not limited to me or my area or my hardware for that matter as there were a lot of subscribers similarly situated as me; check the web, and you would realize that there is a deluge of complaints out there.
before i got the visibility line that i had, i was using a dial-up internet, i was reviewing the service on line and it was getting good reviews, yet i was skeptic and tried globe’s data transfer capability or internet capability using my nokia n70 as a modem on one of my postpaid lines (0917312xxx), cross- check it with my april bill for which i was charged 600 something for internet browsing. at that time, i was getting a speed of 480 kbps. wow! so i subscribed to visibility, only to find out that the speed the huawei e220 provided was 236.8 kbps! at that speed, i would have been satisfied compared to my 33.6 dial-up speed, who would not be? but when i checked your service’s real time speed using no less than your globequest visibility bandwidth meter, i am getting speeds way below the indicated speed on the icon and certainly way below the speed globe so proudly advertised.
this is certainly not i signed up for, PHP2000 for the speed(s) im getting? attached are screenshots of my real time speed. a certain platinum customer service rep ive talked with, i think her name is divine or divina, who incidentally was so nice, told me that she would request for a waiver of my may bill; fantastic! but this is my predicament, it seemed to me that globe is not doing anything about this or if you did, it is almost a month and nothing had happened, would that translate to a very poor action on the other departments? perhaps the network technical team is not doing what they are supposed to do or perhaps they know what the problem really is but they cannot solve it since the problem is the bandwidth is so congested as globe had been selling the service like hotcake and yet the network cannot handle the traffic resulting to its apparent congestion. i dont know, i could only speculate because nobody is giving me and my fellow dissatisfied subscribers the answer to our querries.
i have been a globe subscriber for a little over four years now with an average consumption of more than the average consumer (check my account details) and a very good debtor as there was never a time that i was delayed on my payment for the past four years (between 19-20 of each month), never was i delinquent for once. but i am a discerning client as reflected by your targeted market and hence i always demand for good service, i always do.
our contract is bilateral and reciprocal, my obligation as a client is to pay the service provided for by your company, your company’s obligation on the other hand is to reciprocally provide me with the service agreed upon. certainly, that service agreed upon is not 2000/ month for 24 months for a dial-up speed, it is for broadband speed; that is a breach of contract for your part entitling me the right to rescind the same, im sure your legal department can explain this further.
i had a god run with globe for the past four years and would want to be with you for the next four years, but unless i get an affirmative and concrete action on the problem i raised (which remained unanswered as of this day), i will sever my business relationship with you company. please, act on this.
ely reyes
September 25, 2007 at 5:36 pm (17 years ago)hello guys, despite these nega re globe promo on hsdpa unlimi enet access for p2000.
I need one of this plan.. anybody who want to transfer or sell its existing globe account?
thanks..09209222569
Ed Aspra
September 30, 2007 at 11:42 pm (17 years ago)Globe needs something to do with their very poor service. Network outage? Huh… am living just about 500meters from the Globe office in Boni (Mandaluyong), and my connection is very slow. SMART’s GPRS is much faster.
Actually, am getting a 3.6MBPS connection to Globe (connection to their switch somewhat, but its the LAN speed). HOwever, the actual internet speed is very slow. The problem is within the servers of Globe connecting outside. As i have noticed, they only have 1 SERVER to cater all subscribers — whatismyip.org will show the gateway we are using. ANd correct me if am wrong, all of us with have this gateway: 203.177.91.252
Even when I was in Legazpi city I got that IP of the gateway.
Imagine that!
So GUYS from globe, can you not at least divide the traffic coming in and out by using several connections. The bottleneck is somewhere there. YOu T1 lines are OK so probably you could dedicate some more bandwidth to us subscribed to your (in)Visibility Plan.
Macnerdzcare
December 9, 2007 at 6:23 pm (16 years ago)yah typical service from a filipino company. sa una okey tapos habang tumatagal bad trip na