I have been a Smart Bro subscriber for about 10 months now. However, I'm not one of the "noisy" subscribers. I'm actually quite contented with it, thank you very much -- enough to even recruit a couple of other subscribers. It's a lot more stable than my previous account with PLDT MyDSL, and it is a relief not to be put on hold for an hour before finally getting to talk with a live human being.

I do have complaints, however. No, it's not bandwidth stability (although the bandwidth does leave much to be desired). It's not even the fact that they:

• blocked popular P2P ports
• made a mess out of Skype file transfers
• won't allow me to use my own SMTP
• or that they accidentally disconnected my account for 4 days

My complaints are on how customer service is being handled.

That damn "technical activity"

Every time the internet connection is down (and they actually know it), the customer support representative will rattle off these famous words:

"Ma'am, may technical activity po sa site nyo."

They will not give any further details. Nor will they, at the very least, give an estimated time of completion. They actually believe that "technical activity" is an oh-so-soothing excuse, to be taken with wide-eyed delight & acceptance.

I know some people in Smart, and they're composed of a very intelligent lot, so I'll keep the advice short:

Customers do need to know why & when; otherwise, it builds resentment & frustration. These are basics of stakeholder communications. The customer service department, among anyone else, should be aware of this.

"Technical activity? Akala ko kasi merong song-and-dance activity kaya di ako maka-connect. Salamat, ha?"

Troubleshooting process

Much worse, however, is The Unknown Problem: When the rep will insist that there is nothing wrong with them, & all the problems in the planet has something to do with your computer.

Try going around this -- try to convince your rep otherwise, and claim with conviction & vehemence:

• that you actually know how to release & renew your IP address,
• have tried connecting using 2 other laptops with no success,
• have a degree in Computer Science,
• a 7-year experience in the IT industry,
• and that you are Bill Gates in disguise.

Nothing -- I repeat, nothing -- will sway them.

You see, before they will further investigate what is wrong on their end, you have to go thru their "troubleshooting process."

Try going around this one more time. Rattle of the steps you probably already know by heart, and assure them you have already gone thru those steps on your own.

'Di valid yun, dude. Apparently, it has to be done while the rep is on the phone. Para believable. Gets mo?

"Short lang po," they assured you.

But oh no, gracious no. It will not take a few moments of your time. The average troubleshooting process actually takes 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on how slow your rep spells "ipconfig," "ping," "release," and the rest of the commands in DOS history.

The trouble shooting process is their customized specialized high-tech mind-boggling brain-racking procedure, where the rep will make you do the following repeatedly:

• reboot your computer,
• release & renew your IP address,
• set your network properties,
• delete all your cookies,
• clear your browser's history,
• refresh your desktop,
• and set your browser's default homepage to www.yahoo.com.

I kid you not.

And finally, a miracle happens: A moment of silence, a stutter, maybe even some scratching of the head. The rep admits defeat.

They will then inform you that they will "elevate" your concern to the "higher technical group," who is supposed to call you back within 24 hours.

On the rare occasion that you are called back, hold your horses, go back to your seat, take a deep breath, and grab a San Mig Light: Because you will be asked to go thru this troubleshooting process. Again.

Cheers.

------------------------------------------------------------
About the author

This author was very happy that she could use Smart Bro during the Milenyo storm . But it was too good to last. About an hour after the storm left the Metro Manila, when the rest of the ISPs on the finally went online, Smart Bro decided to go down.

The author has already undergone 2 troubleshooting processes ever since, and yet her internet connection is still down.

She still loves her Smart Bro account. But can they please make it frickin' work already?

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trish said:

lol chette!kulit ng post mo! aliw! he he he!!!

October 10, 2006

Andre Carpio said:

I hope that the people in Smart Bro actually get to read your post. I'm glad someone finally articulated the real problems with their service.

October 13, 2006

suwabe! said:

Subscriber ako ng smart broken, tas ng bagyo, di na ako makakonek!

October 13, 2006

melvin escudero said:

Problem with Smart Bro is they keep getting new applicants but they are not upgrading their speed. Before our internet connection was very fast, 50kbs/sec downloads. Now it usually goes as slow as 2 to 7kbps/sec.

October 15, 2006

a guest said:

Thats the funniest thing Ive ever head. I cant believe they actually asked you to refresh your desktop. Wish you said "Gusto mo pati utak mo, refresh ko?"

October 16, 2006

brad_6008 said:

Hello. I really like your website. Can you tell me how I can read my free Smart Bro email

October 18, 2006

a guest said:

Hi brad_6008. Based from the document I got from Smart, you can set up your mail client (Eudora, Outlook, Thunderbird, etc.) using the following configurations: Incoming mail server (POP): pop.smartbro.net Outgoing mail server (SMTP): smtp.smartbro.net Alternatively, you can also check your mail from the web via: http://webmail.smartbro.net/

October 18, 2006

jasper jugan said:

i never thought things like these also happen to you

October 22, 2006

andre said:

this is so true. smart bro-ken talaga ang technical support nila. it's like they don't have any idea as to how to achieve customer satisfaction.

October 31, 2006

mokie said:

nakarelate ako dun ah! hehehe

October 31, 2006

Smart Broken User said:

12kB/s

October 31, 2006

kiko said:

hay naku! yung problem mo pangkaraniwan na lang sa mga smart subscriber! lahat ganyan problema hehe!! Wag ka na maiinis dami naman tayo eh hehe

October 31, 2006

nebur... said:

smart bro-ken talaga...walang kwenta!!!!!! sumabog sana sabay sabay lahat ng base station nila...grrrrrrr... :zzz smart bro-ken talaga...walang kwenta!!!!!! sumabog sana sabay sabay lahat ng base station nila...grrrrrrr... :zzz

October 31, 2006

allison said:

Anyone knows the email address of smart bro? Its easier to email kasi than to call kasi they ask so many questions.

November 02, 2006

abetsky said:

Hayup ka Chette! Galing! Magparamdam ka naman! - abetsky

November 07, 2006

BRO-KEN HEARTED said:

wala kayo sa 4kb/s ko nyahahaha=p smart ayusin nio buhay nio!

November 07, 2006

SMART BROkebacker said:

matapos makaraos tong si BRO s pagnanasa n magsubscribe s knla. Sk ko tinira s likod ng dahan-dahan s bagal ng systema, ang sakit nun. Tama nman ang bayaran, pero d sulit ang serbisyo. Apat n 24 hrs n magkakaibang araw n ko nktihaya s ka-aantay ng interaction/connection, pero tong s BRO d p rin nllbasan ng signal. SMART sn tong c BRO pero d TINITIGASAN ang bandwidth. Pare-parehas tayong experience dyan kay BRO s mail server nya. Nililihim p ang server. BADING pla tong c BRO paMACHO p sa Mail server nya, PACIFICO "palpak" PALAYPAY d pla. Pati 2loy CSR ni puro Bakla pati babae boses LALAKE. Ayyy naku KUYA O ATE, whatever!!!

November 07, 2006

IT Manager said:

Langya tinuruan pa ko! "d n kailangan ng password sa login config ng OUTLOOK" "renew ang ip, miski bta lam yan" "delete cookies; clear ang cache, ano knalman nyan, pwede p renew ip" "check yung portal, l ngang signal pano itsetsek" "tanong lng k kataas-taasan, katatagal-tagalan, kapalpak-palpakan, bakit k p ndyan, anong silbi" Masarap pang magmodem n lng. Sa totoo lng d sulit!

November 07, 2006

Wilson SAsam said:

paano ko idisable ang nat?

November 20, 2006

sergy said:

di na nasusunod 7X faster than dial up! kasing bilis lang pala ng dial up ko dati

November 22, 2006

Starfire said:

7x faster than dial-up my ass... dapat sabihin nila 7x slower, because it's the truth. i swear not even the CSR people know what "Azureus" is... pero pls, let's not get mad at the CSR people, since, after all, they were hired primarily because their voice sounds nice even if they know almost nothing about what they say...

November 22, 2006

davaoeo said:

Dito sa davao walang bagyo, kaya lang nadaanan ito ng smartbro super tyfalse ads that raked damaged to customers. National disaster pala to'.

November 27, 2006

paeng said:

Smartbroke talaga - we have 5 of these stupid shits installed, kapag nagloko sabay-sabay tapus kadalasan dun pa sa boss ko. Bkit ba nagpatangay ako sa magandang ad ng smartbroke na yan.

November 30, 2006

Ryno! said:

Smart Bro is the Best! mahina dahil yun sa computer no! Ang FAKE! Bumili kayo ng Intel core duo Pentium D! Mga *****

December 02, 2006

Jonathan said:

SmartBro subscriber din ako, ok naman ang connection d2 sa area namin, pag nag bandwidth check ako atleast nasa 354 kbps ang connection ko, ang ayaw ko lang sa kanila is every end of the month may technical activity ang labas wala ko internet for 4 days up to a week. Online gamer pa naman ako. Pero sa speed ala naman ako reklamo. Di rin interminent ang connection ko.

December 15, 2006

Ryno! said:

baka malapit kayo sa smart cell site! kaya mabilis ang connection! kami malapit lang kaya mabilis sa amin!

December 27, 2006

ginto said:

Napansin ko rin iyang technical activity. Sana hindi na nila gawin sa weekend, kasi dun lang ako nakaka-surf ng maayos. Basta laging weekend bigla na lang di gagana ang mga ports.

December 27, 2006

bong_bong said:

bagong subscriber ako from gensan. My connection was up and running just December of 2006. As of today, Jan 14, 2007 seems memorize ko na ang speech lines ng mga CSR dahil sa karaming beses na akong sumawag sa 1-800-*****. Concerned lang ako sa very long duration of walang connectivity. Worse Experience ko last dec 30 until jan 8 wala akong connection and naulit na naman kahapon 6am till 8pm today. Naka-ka-turn-OFF talaga... di ko na nga pinansin ang mga frequent cases of seconds-lang interruptions sa internet connection. kung saan mag promt ang portal and you have to log-in to connect again. Sayang... Victim tayo sa magandang ADS!!!

January 14, 2007

Aucyn said:

Hi! Do you have any idea if there's any conflict with smart bro and connecting to an ftp site? I spent two days before I figured out getting through with my emails and now, I cant even connect to our ftp site in the office.Damn! My boss will kick my ass if I wouldnt be able to upload my write ups this week. Pls help. Thanks, Aucyn

January 20, 2007

chette said:

Hi Aucyn! I haven't experienced any conflict with FTP & SmartBro yet. I use FTP a lot. Why don't you post the error you're getting, & maybe the FTP address (if it's not confidential). Someone might be able to help you out.

January 26, 2007

??? said:

waaaaaaaaa ang email sa ofc namin nakakarecieved ng email pero pag sending ayaw ng mag sent ng email.....

February 06, 2007

dennz said:

to everyone, why don't you download and install smartbro quick fix. it might help you solve the problem first before calling a csr. i,ve been a smartbro user for about a yr. and 2 mos. now. sa awa ng diyos, once lang ako nagkaproblema. try relocating your antena. mas maige ito kung nasa tama spot siya and i pwesto mo sa mas mataas na location. enjoy. :-)

February 09, 2007

dragon_rey1 said:

:upset :eek ayos tlaga itong smartbroker na to nkaka broke tlga ng ulo.paano nman kc,nag pa konek kmi ng smart bro e di ciempre excited kmi.pero halos mamuti na ang mata nmin sa kaka intay ng pagpasok sa internet.haaaaayyy cna ayusin nyo na man ayusin nyo na yan bago pa mag refresh ang utak ko at paltan ang intrnet provider ko..........

February 13, 2007

dina virginia said:

:sigh nagka atup

February 16, 2007

danny de dios said:

anyone knows a technical support person around pasig, pinagbuhatan area that can fix smartbro outage problem? Can't rely on smartbro tech guys to fix it right away even when we pay extra.. plpease txt me @ 639284272150. Technical guys that can re-aim antenna's will be good too.

April 19, 2007

JJ95 said:

here's how I fixed it. Leave your POP3 setting as is. Change your SMTP to smtp.smartbro.net Now the bit it doesn't tell you anywhere on the internet.... In "More settings..."/Outgoing Server check the MY outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication. Check the button for Log on Using and input your username and password given to you by Smart. Click OK , next, finish. Go back and try to send test email No username or password coz Smart forgot to tell you???? Username is the first letter of you first and second name plus your family name. eg Charles B Atlas -> cbatlas and the password is 123456 Switch OFF any STMP accelerators such as OnSpeed if you have them installed. Cheers JJ95 www.mdmc.org

April 24, 2007 | url

Nikki said:

lahat ng cnbi ni chette tama.. since april 14 mas mgnda pa dial up ko at stable kesa s smart bro nto.. tapos lagi d mkpnta technicians nila daw dhl marami p knkbtan.. e kng magdag2 kaya sila ng technicians?? :- mga monggo tlga.. nag hire p ng call center pra sumalo ng reklamo sknla.. amffffffff

May 05, 2007

Evilcaster said:

Hay naku!!! SAna galingan nmn ng smartbro ang knilang sevice online gamer ako hayuf mag 4 weeks na ako d nakakalaro!! Grrrrrrr!!!!! T_T ba3rp tlga smartbro!!!!

May 15, 2007

potaness said:

amf naman sila nakaka loko na mas mabilis pa dial up ko dati mga hinayupak sila ayusin nila buhay nila can you belive this 1kb per second? ano ba problema O_O

May 22, 2007

SASABOG NA SA GALIT said:

ALAM NYO ITATAWA KO NALANG TO INIS KO SA SMART BRO ISANG BOONG LINGGO NA AKO ANTAY NG ANTAY SA SIGNAL!!!! ANGHANG NA NG MATA KO PARA NA AKONG ADIK SA DROGA PULANG PULA NA MATA KO 2hr lang tulog ko bawat araw dahil GABI LANG LUMALABAS NG SIGNAL NETONG POTANG CONNECTION NATO!!! dati nung bago pa ganda ng connection. smooth na smooth proud na proud pa ako. yon pala naglalaho din bango netong panis na connection na to!!! KUNG MABABASA NYO TO MGA TAGA SMART PLS NAMAN AYOSIN NYO TO. mas mabuti pa yata PLDT. di pa nag didisconnect. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

June 05, 2007

SASABOG NA SA GALIT said:

ung sakin mabilis connection pero pisti. mabilis nga bigla naman napuputol parang isang kalsadang daming libak libak maganda takbo ng sasakyan mo tapos bigla nalang mahulog sa libak!!!!!!! paki ayos naman o!!! sayang pera ko kakabayad di ako satisfy sa internet ko hayop naman. buti pa nga dial up wala pang disconnect.... tuloy tuloy pa use ko sa internet.... pag di na ako makatiis mag dial up nalang ako

June 05, 2007

stalker said:

does smartbro service sucks??? i got my smartbro connection just now....

June 09, 2007

angelito said:

oi ano ba website ng smart bro para maka gawa na aq ng email na smartbro.net..... TENKZZZZZZZZ pa send na lang ng msg sa e mail ko....

July 24, 2007

zachery said:

ok nmn ang speed ko sa smart bro.. no problem at all and mor than a year nkong user ng BRO pero never pa kong tumawag s hotline because of any problems.. siguro ang masasabi ko lng nasa PC lng yan. check your PC. install utilities, optimise ur PC.. and ofcaurse check if any fixtures blocking ur signal. pag n try ko lng n 4days walang connection sus gera n to hehehehe

July 27, 2007

berto said:

Simple lang ang sasabihin mo sa mga technical "kuno" representatives ng SmartBro na yan: AS A CLIENT HINDI KO TRABAHO ANG MAGTROUBLE-SHOOT, ANG TRABAHO KO AY KUMONSUMO AT MAGBAYAD, OK!

July 27, 2007

eric dacumi said:

When I want to participate in a forum at cadsoftusa.com,their system needs a news NNTP server that will come from smartbro.since hindi ko alam ung hayop na yun tinanong ko sa *1888 tech rep aba walang sumasagot from 12noon to 5pm ako tumawag minayat-maya ko,puro music ang maririnig mo ang haba naman ng break nyo mga tech rep?6pm na ng may sumagot,kaso di rin nya alam kung anong klaseng hayop ung NNTP server.

July 29, 2007

Willy D Great said:

Ano ba ang kaibahan sa WIRE at WIRELESS yung wire naging LESS ganito lng yan eh, ang origin naka wired sa gitna naka less ang distination tayo WIRED parin ang pangkalahatan kung saan man sila kumuha ng connection sabihin natin SATELLITE ay WIRED-LESS-WIRED-LESS-WIRED-LESS-atIKAW! pero alam mo hindi parin ma-a-LESS ang WIRE, kasi lahat tayo naka wired, Kung may problema ang mga naka WIRED ganun din sa mga naka LESS, wala ka option Pre?, magtiyaga at maghintay kana lng kailan gumanda ang Panahon, kasi sabi nga nila ang buhay ay weather weather lang, Kasali na dyan ang INTERNET MO.

August 02, 2007

anshie said:

hay naku sobra nga tong smartbroken na to ni wala namn me gigalaw eh wala na kaagad ang connection ko , sana naman bigayn nyo naman ng legal action kami pra di naman kami lugi diba!!!!

August 23, 2007

raquel said:

ang problem ko eh lagi late ang recibo nila eh pano ko bayad kung walang recibo para sa bank, siguro mas mainam na padala nila mas maaga yung receipt para di late! pano yan kung di dating yung receipt ko eh di me makabayad, kailangan ko pa punta ng wireless center

September 08, 2007

eric said:

Problema ko wala akong outgoing pag gamit ko outlook or thunderbird. Receiving lang. bina block ng smartbro ang port 25 na default setting para sa outgoing. Sinubukan kong gamitin ang smtp.smartbro.net ayaw padin gumana. Ano ba talaga ang dapat gamiting server sa outgoing? May hosted mail kc ako at yun ang gamit ko, pagdating sa outgoing ayaw gumana, kailangan daw gamitin ko yung server ng ISP ko. kaso ayaw padin gumana. Ano ba talaga dapat, dahil na antala business ko. Sana naman mabasa ito ng staff ng smart bro or support group kung meron man. Sincerely, Smartbro subscriber

September 12, 2007

eric said:

hahahah Ay! pusang gala! wala pala ako sa smartbro site hahahah nagrereklamo ako sa wala hahahhaha kaasar na kainis pa mali pa haaha

September 12, 2007

Chette Soriano said:

@eric: Port 25 is blocked. If you're email provider has SSL, I suggest you use that. Or better yet, use your Gmail as your default email address. The ports they require are not blocked by Smart Bro.

September 12, 2007

Nitoy said:

mga pips bat ung sakin may outgoing yung OUTlook ko Pero ang problema e wala naman akong incoming indi ako maka recieved ng mga mail- thru outlook with SMART-BROKE--->> Amp

September 16, 2007

Rey said:

Shared IP kasi ang network ng smartbro, subukan nyong mag-download from rapidshare dyan niyo makikita na hindi lang kayo ang nagda-download. it make sense kasi nga meron clang bandwidth manager na nag-aallocate ng bandwith. kapag na belong ka sa area ng mga user na hindi mahilig mag-download cgurado mabilis ang smartbro mo.

October 19, 2007 | url

mybers said:

for smtp: use the SSL port 465 Others used 587 If the server uses this port. Depende talaga sa webmail provider mo. goodluck

November 07, 2007 | url

ara said:

PUTANG INA ANG SMART BRO! saying ang 999 ang binabayad ko! Palaging nawawala ang connection ko, pag tumawag ako sa *1888 mga init ulo at mga walang alam ang agent dun! Sabi nila within 48 hours mag technician na mag contact sa akin. Bakit hanggang ngaun wala pa rin dumadating! Switch na tayo sa globelines! PUTANG SMRT BRO TO!!!!

January 09, 2008 | url

kj said:

ive also experience this with smartbro... till now their services are really s***.

January 24, 2008

arlene said:

i've experienced it now. ngayon lang me nagkaroon ng net connection for almost a week. bagal ng action nila most esp. pag tumawag ka sa hotline nila wlang nangya2ri.

February 26, 2008

DPSone said:

I suggest na kung taga city naman, wagna kayong magtyagang magpakonekta dito pakabit na lang kayo sa malalapit na DSL ninyo or kung anung anik-anik... pero salamat pa din at may mga tagabundok na nakakapag-internet na. I just thought it meant for users without available communication lines.

April 13, 2008

emo_bangs said:

walang hiyang smart bro na yan sa umpisa umaabot ako ng 300 kbps. pero nung tumagal bumaba na nag 70kbps walang hiya talaga.. tapos biglang nawawala cnnection ng internet.. walang hiya TANG INA smart broken talaga.. hangang ngaun bumaba na speed ko 30kpbs

May 08, 2008

EBs said:

gnto b ung gagawin pg 10mbps lng ung speed ng connection???

May 28, 2008 | url

sonjai said:

tama lahat ang nakasaad sa site nato.. mga tanga yung mga nasa technical support nila..lalo na yung mga nakakasagot sa *1888 mga gago...sayang lang pinasasahod sa kanila...kahit nga yung mga nasa (NOC)network Operation Center..kulang nalang ako nalang ako nalang ang pumalot sa kanila.. mas mabuti pa nga nong nasa meridian pa yang broadband ng smart nga un.. naku!!kailangan talaga ang nandon yung mga proptional lang...hindi yung tatanggap ka ba naman nurse lalagay mo sa it department.. kong hindi ba naman katangahan...hindi naman lahat nangandon mga tangan meron din namng ok...

July 07, 2008 | url

sonjai said:

maganda naman sana yung connection ng smartbro kaya lang hindi nila inanayos...kasi isa ako sa mga gumagawa nyan..badtrip nga ehh.. kaya layas na ako,, sayang nga ehh enjoy na sana ehh. kaya lang pasaway yung mga nasa smart.. lalo na yung nga nasa pldt.. mga hari.. kala mo mga magagaling talaga ang alam lang naman mag ping.. hahahaha... mga bobo..

July 07, 2008 | url

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