Service with a threat!

I sincerely hope Mr. Manny Pangilinan of PLDT, Mon Isberto of Smart and the rest of the service and utilities industry, as well as the Philippine Bar and Chief Justice Puno get to read this column….

Once upon a time, most service oriented companies proudly shared the common slogan: "SERVICE WITH A SMILE".

The philosophy behind the statement reflected not just a company ideal but a shared attitude of the business community. It was an attitude appreciated and rightfully expected by customers.

A lot of effort went to insure that the skills of people in a company was punctuated by the sincere smiles. Whatever the situation, civility and appreciation was foremost.

That perhaps is what led to the second slogan: "THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT".

A repair crew was always welcomed, a service van always received a smile of appreciation. Even in the dark of night kids would go out to watch these "saviors" fix the problem. There was never any concern for reckless drivers, technicians goofing off, or name tags to identify rude or lazy employees.

The companies made sure they were good at the office and in the field. There was no need to place phone numbers on their vehicles so the public could be their nationwide informers against bad employees.

Unfortunately, the bigger the companies become, the more impersonal and corporately rude they become. In their greed, they use threat and intimidation as an added measure to increase corporate profit.

in the old days, Meralco was as much part of a Filipino child’s world as Popeye the sailor man. With their famous animated character "Ready Kilowatt" a cartoon with the head of a light bulb, legs and arms of electrical flash, and the white gloves, Meralco educated all of us on safety.

The Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company which we now call PLDT was a vital part of our lives. We learned about names, alphabets, and advertising from their Yellow Pages. With all its imperfections such as bad lines, illegal connections, party lines, etc. PLDT was PLDT.

Sadly the companies we grew with, also introduced internal solutions that continually sow hostility and disrespect towards their once beloved customers. Lucifer’s relatives joined their Credit and Collection operations.

The most unforgivable of these are their "Letters of Disconnection".

To begin with, the letters arrive a week before the deadline/due date on their billings. So the customers in fact are not late and are well within the period for payment.

These companies overlook the fact that utility companies are in possession of "Deposits" and "Subscribed Shares" as requirement for service connection.

With Meralco it’s not just a flat fee since it is computed on the basis of the load requirement design for a house. Some people I know had to fork up a "refundable deposit" of P45,000 upwards because they made the mistake of adding safety factors.

PLDT mercifully gives P100 +/- annually as reward and dividends for making them one of the most subscribed stocks without a choice, since it comes with your telephone connection.

The utility companies have always had our money even before any billing problems occurred. So WHY threaten us for something that has yet to happen?

Except for dire financial setback or loss of memory, very few would dare withhold payment from Meralco. So Why threaten your customers? Just to avoid delayed payments?

In the case of Smart Broadband, after failure to repair typhoon (Milenyo) damaged facility, after failure to provide service, after a stream of e-mails and several phone calls, Smart refers the matter to a "law office somewhere downtown".

The alleged law firm without studying the matter and in order to collect P741 and 41 centavos as their fee from a total of P2,532 and 40 centavos, said in their letter:

"Our client Smart Bro, has instructed us to proceed with the filing of civil/criminal complaint against you for violation of R. A. 8484, if the evidence warrants, with the appropriate court of Makati.

"Please be reminded that in the event we obtain a favorable decision from the court, we shall immediately implement the same by Attaching on your properties and Garnishing on your bank account and receivables, which may be embarrassing and inconvenient on your part.

"This is without prejudice to any criminal prosecution, and a jail sentence if convicted, should we decide to file a criminal complaint against you FOR VIOLATION of R.A. 8484.

"For this purpose we are attaching a copy of the complaint that we are filing against you should you once again ignore this demand."

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Most people would ignore or dismiss the letter as nothing but a standard collection letter.

SHOULD WE?

From what I remember there is such a law against Imputation of a Crime, Defamation, Harassment, and Libel.

I’m no lawyer but from what I heard, a lawyer who fails to interview, investigate and make a careful appreciation of case facts, then issues sweeping condemnations can and should face charges with the Philippine Bar.

In the same light, should lawyers be allowed to transform their knowledge and purpose to become nothing more but Collectors of loose change and intimidators of common people? Is this part of the honorable profession of lawyers?

Should major corporations be allowed to retain ALL major law firms as legal insurance so none of the big law firms will fight them? What can the SC do about this blatant conflict of interest?

Thanks to Meralco and PLDT as well as other practitioners of "Service with a Threat" even provincial utility companies now practice the same Anti-Consumer policies.

Thanks to these BIG Corporations whose bulk of capital comes from publicly held shares, even local governments specially cities have resorted to threats of confiscation and auction sale of property simply for a mere delay in real estate taxes.

To get our subscription, our business, our votes they woo us. When they want our money they want it NOW! Some morons don’t even know the definition of what a ‘Delinquent’ is!

Instead of threats, why not remind people to be prompt, to avail of early payment discounts, instead of hiring robotic Darth Vaders to collect, why not resolve issues and service problems?

Why hire Corporate Communication Directors if the way you do business is designed to threaten, intimidate, and harass the public? Why spend millions making your officers and company look good while hiring ambulance chasers who make your customers look like criminals?

For MVP and his friends… why not invite some of your customers for merienda. Maybe then you’ll find out how much more in profits you lost because of incompetence that’s being charged to your LOYAL customers. Something some of your Lieutenants have hid under the entry "bad accounts".

Service with a threat is not just a DIS-service.

It’s a Crime.