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?
lol chette!kulit ng post mo! aliw! he he he!!!
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.
Subscriber ako ng smart broken, tas ng bagyo, di na ako makakonek!
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.
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?\”
Hello. I really like your website. Can you tell me how I can read my free Smart Bro email
Hi [B]brad_6008[/B]. 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): [B]pop.smartbro.net[/B]
Outgoing mail server (SMTP): [B]smtp.smartbro.net[/B]
Alternatively, you can also check your mail from the web via: http://webmail.smartbro.net/
i never thought things like these also happen to you :)
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.
nakarelate ako dun ah!
hehehe
12kB/s
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
smart bro-ken talaga…walang kwenta!!!!!! sumabog sana sabay sabay lahat ng base station nila…grrrrrrr… :zzz [B][/B][B]smart bro-ken talaga…walang kwenta!!!!!! sumabog sana sabay sabay lahat ng base station nila…grrrrrrr… :zzz [B][/B][/B]
Anyone knows the email address of smart bro? Its easier to email kasi than to call kasi they ask so many questions.
Hayup ka Chette! Galing! ;) Magparamdam ka naman! – abetsky
wala kayo sa 4kb/s ko nyahahaha=p
smart ayusin nio buhay nio!
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!!!
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!
paano ko idisable ang nat?
di na nasusunod 7X faster than dial up! kasing bilis lang pala ng dial up ko dati
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…
Dito sa davao walang bagyo, kaya lang nadaanan ito ng smartbro super tyfalse ads that raked damaged to customers. National disaster pala to\’.
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.
Smart Bro is the Best! mahina dahil yun sa computer no! Ang FAKE! Bumili kayo ng Intel core duo Pentium D! Mga *****
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.
baka malapit kayo sa smart cell site! kaya mabilis ang connection!
kami malapit lang kaya mabilis sa amin!
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.
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!!!
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
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.
waaaaaaaaa ang email sa ofc namin nakakarecieved ng email pero pag sending ayaw ng mag sent ng email…..
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.
:-)
: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……….
:sigh nagka atup
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.
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
http://www.mdmc.org
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
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!!!!
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
ALAM NYO ITATAWA KO NALANG TO INIS KO SA SMART BRO ;D 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 >:( >:( >:( >:( >:(
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
does smartbro service sucks??? :'( i got my smartbro connection just now….
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….
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
[b]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![/b]
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. ;D
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.
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!!!! >:( >:( ;)
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
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 [b]smtp.smartbro.net[/b] 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