BayanTel backs NTC rules on consumer protection

Lopez-owned Bayan Telecommunications (BayanTel) has expressed its support to a National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) circular containing guidelines for consumer protection, saying this not only complements, but also reinforces the company’s commitment of always putting customers first.

Under the guidelines, consumers should have the right to opt-out from a post-paid service without penalty for a specified period of time and that subscribers can only be charged according to the rates, terms and conditions the consumer has agreed to.

BayanTel said it has already been doing this with its revolutionary money-back guarantee program (MBG) that gives subscribers the freedom to return any product or service, for any reason, within 15 days and get their money back, no questions asked.

“Each customer is our priority client. We understand that staying loyal is completely their choice. But the difference is that we will make it our business to make sure we stay loyal to them,” according to BayanTel chief executive consultant Tunde Fafunwa.

“For BayanTel’s unprecedented service guarantee, we are setting aside P50 million for the year to back up our claims for our rebate program,” he added.

In the rebate program, if a landline remains un-repaired for more than 24-hours, P100 will be given for every day the problem stays unsolved. For BayanDSL, a rebate of P500/day is given. 

“Our 24-hour quick repair guarantee proves that we are serious when we say that customer satisfaction is our priority. Why should consumers pay for services that they can’t use? With our service guarantee, we will pay the customer until the problem is fixed,” Fafunwa emphasized.

NTC commissioner Abraham Abesamis said implementing programs on consumer protection will address widespread complaints and further promote consumer welfare and protection.

“We at the NTC have made it our mission to ensure that our consumers are protected. With our consumer protection guidelines, we aim to establish a standard process in handling customer complaints because we know problems are part of the territory, but it is how it is resolved that makes the difference,” Abesamis said.