The Journey Continues…

Once again I’m ranting against my internet connection! It was Sunday, April 12, 2009, I opened my PC to check the sites that I am administering, to my dismay, I can’t connect to the internet. I did the usual troubleshooting, I removed and reconnected the LAN cable to my PC several times and no success. I also restarted the PC thinking that it was a “fault start”, this laptop is more than 2 years old and I experienced it several times, it was also not successful.

The only thing left to do now is to call *1888 (SmartBro Customer Service) for technical support. Unlike my previous encounter with them, I was calm last Sunday, maybe because it was Easter, I kindly informed him of my concern and waited for his responses. Finally, I was informed that they will send the contractor to check what’s wrong with my connection, that was about 10:00AM.

Past noon when I received a call from them followed by a text message informing me that the contractors will visit my home to check my connection on April 13, 2009 between 8:00AM to 7:00PM.

The contractor came the next day a few minutes after lunch, they checked and checked and checked my connection, finally, they told me that they currently don’t have antenna on their stock and it is expected to be delivered in the afternoon. They told me that they will return to do the necessary repair once the replenishment arrives. They returned in the evening to give me the bad news that the stocks never came.

Now I know the feeling of being helpless.

Unlike before, SmartBro is the only choice for internet service provider that is servicing our subdivision, PLDT recently introduced it’s DSL service here. The moment that they started erecting exchange boxes inside the subdivision I immediately applied for a service connection, that was about 16 months ago. It was January of this year when they started installing telephone lines and DSL, I asked the installer about my application and they told me that I was not in the list. So I visited the nearest PLDT office to inquire regarding my application, I was told that my application is currently pending since I did not provide any proof of income. WTF! As far as I am concerned, I provided them with all the requirements they’ve listed more than a year ago. As a freelance photographer, my proof of income is the cash that I’m receiving after the end of each gig, there’s no documents proving that I earned anything on that day. To my frustration, I just gave up on it.

So what am I ranting about?

Last month I accepted an online where I would be paid more than 10,000 Pesos a month, It was a full time job that requires at least 8 hours of work. All was well during the initial stage until the time when my connection started showing signs of being slow. It was disappointing when your in the middle of the process and your connection became chaotic. Helpless and was not able to do anything, I quit the job. Such a big price for not having a “payslip.”

April 14, 2009, after waiting the whole day, the technicians came a minute after the nightly news ended. Again they checked my PC and finally they’ve isolated the problem, it was the antenna. Since it’s past 8:00PM, it would be difficult to replace the antenna that is located on the roof, I suggested that they come early the next day to replace it. I inquired (politely) on why they came late, I found out that they have to attend to 9 other clients and I’m the 10th, it was convenient them to put me last on the list since they live nearby. Oh well, I thought that having been living a few blocks away from them is a perk and not a disadvantage.

Don’t get me wrong, I admire these technicians, they are hardworking and true to their word.

At last! After being deprived of my internet connection for 3 days, my connection is back, now my laptop has more use than playing Freecell with it. If there’s one thing good this experience has brought me is that I was able to develop a new WordPress theme, it’s not done yet, I would say about 70%, I just need to find a good image that would serve as it’s header.

Welcome back to me!