THEY say that it is advisable to express one’s grievances and frustrations verbally or through writing, sports, exercise, hobbies, etc. As a consumer, let me whine this time, just to maintain my sanity.

Whine #1

“Up to 800 Mbps.” This sample catchphrase is commonly used by internet/Wi-Fi service providers in the country today. To many businesses, this is a good marketing and promotion gimmick. To me, it is an escape clause, a protection from liability.

How else can one explain or skirt the fact that we pay thousands for a subscription plan of a speed of say, 800 megabits per second (Mbps), only to get an average actual download/upload speed less than half of what you have subscribed to and paid for?

To make sure you get a good enough bandwidth or speed, you have to subscribe to a plan three times higher and more expensive.

We spend an average of P21.44 per kilogram of bananas. We get what we pay for, depending on the accuracy of the weighing scale. Nevertheless, the exchange of money for the product is quite accurate. Those with defective scales (intentional or not) are considered illegal and are liable, monitored by the Department of Trade and Industry, especially in times of food emergencies.

However, if you spend an average of P21.44 for 1 kg of bananas and you only get one half of a banana, there is a problem.

So it is with these ISP providers. Can you help, NTC?

What is it with deliveries of orders done online? You want to open the package so:

1. You can verify if it is indeed the correct order and

2. To check if the item is working or not.

The courier refuses to do so and won’t release the package to you if you insist on doing this.

So, you don’t have any choice on the matter. You pay him, he takes off and you open the package to try it out. If it works, congratulations, rejoice!

If it doesn’t, then you need to fill up many forms online which can be quite exasperating.

I ordered a solar pump for our fishpond.

It arrived without the solar panel. So how am I supposed to deal with that — return it or look for a separate solar panel online?

I tried to return it but the service agent sounded like she didn’t have a good grasp of English. I switched to Tagalog. Same response, not at all relevant to the question.

Their final response: they didn’t get my messages so I should repeat the procedures.

No wonder President Marcos himself is bent on “intellectualizing” the educational system in our country. Many are not proficient in both English and Tagalog.

Hence the very poor comprehension. Unless malnutrition has taken control of their brains.

Most of the time, you need to pay for the return shipping of the item. I ordered a fog machine from a popular online store based abroad. It didn’t work. When I communicated with them, they informed me that I needed to take care of the shipping costs and they only accept LBC shipping.

It cost more to pay for the shipping than the price of the product.

The unit is now gathering rust among the things that I will sell to the junk shop.

Whine #3

I have been calling the customer service hotline of these telecom companies many times. I still have to receive some of my bills that I had been requesting for physically or through electronic means, for years.

That is, if I get lucky enough to get through to their never ending “our customer service representative is busy at the moment . . .”

You feel as if you hit the jackpot when someone answers you on the other end. However, you sense that the agent you are dealing with is reading from a script and after a few brainless responses to your narrative, it turns out that the agent cannot access your account because “they are not authorized to do so.”

This, after asking you all the security questions read from the script.

Their last words: “your concerns have been typed in and will be submitted after your call.”

They might as well communicate through paper cups connected by a very long string. This aptly describes their efficiency.

I still undergo the torture of calling them monthly to ask about my bill. I still get the same responses. These call centers are something else.

If this is the state of our communications systems and IT infrastructure, only the flood of troll messages every election season will prove efficient. Are we slowly getting to be rude, crude people?

Seems to me, we are becoming a Third World country going on Fourth.