the trouble with smart...and me?

i promised myself i'm going to be more patient with delayed services and other irresponsible actions with regard to anything i ordered or purchased. but i can't. and i still snap easily, like, if the reasonable time until a reasonable person snaps should be after two hours, my current "detonation" is after mga 2 seconds. anger management training, i still need badly.

to think, hindi naman super hassle yung nangyari. well, "hassle" is pretty relative. here it is, you be the judge.

last week, i paid for my smart wi-fi installation. i was told someone will call me to schedule the installation. after two days, someone did. i was scheduled on january 10, yesterday, after bargaining for january 7 sana. they can't daw, a lot are in queue na, so sige, okay lang. yesterday, i called smart twice and on both occasions i got confirmation na scheduled nga ako yesterday for installation. nakauwi na lang ako sa bahay at lahat, wala. on my third call, i was given the ,"ma'am, marami po kasing naka-line up na iinstallan" to probably mean, "hindi lang ikaw ang kliyente namin, maghintay ka naman." and this was around 7 p.m. na. galeng no? so alas-otso, alas-nueve, wala.

this morning, some raul, an impertinent raul called the house casually saying, "wala pa ho kayong antenna sa smart kaya hindi kayo nakabitan." i called them back and ano ba namang mga contractors yon, alam mo yung parang mga nakahilata lang sila sa office at tinatamad lahat. i need to know a few things, and the corresponding replies fumed me.

"i called smart TWICE, confirmed na yesterday ang schedule bakit hindi kayo dumating?"

"eh kasi po...(talking to companion, "bakit nga ba?" "itanong mo kung taga-saan"), ma'am, anong street po kayo?"

"chromium."

"(to companion, "chromium daw, hanapin mo nga meron ba", then after a while) ah ma'am, kahapon nga po kayo pero coding pala kami kaya hindi kami nagpunta."

"at bakit wala man lang nagsabi na hindi kayo dadating?"

"eh....atsaka wala pa po kayong antenna!!!!"

"anong antenna?"

"yun pong galing sa smart...yun pong ano, yung para maikabit yung internet..."

"walang sinabi sa akin ang smart pagbayad ko na kailangan ko ng antenna."

"kailangan po yon eh."

"sino ang tatanggap non, ako o kayo?"

"ah...kayo po...?"

"ako o kayo??!!"

"kayo po. tapos iseschedule po ulit pag meron na."

at mahaba pang exchange so i would know if he really knows what he's talking about. at one point, nagmura ako talaga. minura ko yung kausap ko. if only for that na sobra na kasi nagtatatalak na nga ako di ba bakit kailangang magmura, i felt guilty for a while...but anyway...see, i was never told of that friggin' antenna, whatever it is. i paid, was asked to wait to be scheduled, was given a list of requirements which are mostly computer specs, and accomodate the installer people when they come, that's all. so, negligence yon sa part ng smart, tama ba? pero the contractors should practice good customer service so it would seep into their bone marrows naman dahil as the classic impression goes, they represent smart pa rin. well, dito rin sa amin, the mistakes of our call center contractor bounce back without us knowing bakit sila nagsabi o gumawa ng nakakawindang sa client. hmph.

anyway, i called smart again and was told that this will be "elevated" to the "higher support group" (dahil baka lower support group ang nag-handle nung una? hay). so ang ending, i should have been expecting pala for a darn equipment before mainstall. major buwisit talaga. then i have to "wait" for a notice na malamang sa hindi means ako din naman dapat mag-followup sa kanila ulit na parang ako pa ang may utang na loob ganung ako na nga ang tumangkilik ng produkto nila. tapos sinasabi ng iba maikli ang pisi ko? aba naman. sa halagang dalawang libong peso at "low price" ng 988 kada buwan, ganitong serbisyo ang ibibigay sa'yo. hah.

before i end, eto pa pala, yung hilong contractor pa, hiritan ba naman ako sa tonong "gaano ba kaimportante yang tawag mo?" ng (nung panahong hindi pa tumataas yung boses ko), "KAHAPON NGA PO KAYO NAKA-SCHEDULE, ANO PONG PROBLEMA??" o di ba, ang sarap salaksakin ng pruning shears. hmmmppphhhh!!!! anong problema???? yun lang namang "kahapon" eh tapos na!!! *haaaaaaaaaaahhh!!*