PLDT, an insensitive company

Private corporations are organized primarily for profits. So, it is undisputable that the minds of boards of directors, being tasked with the primordial objective of producing dividends, always look out for what brings added wealth to their companies. However, it is rather sad that while corporate directors are mostly honorable men, the boards, in themselves, being impersonal, do not necessarily reflect the sensitive human traits of their distinguished officials. Thus, it happens, time and time again, that in their pursuit of profits, boards of directors take for granted the sensibilities of their customers, perhaps forgetting the marketing notion that appreciative customers make successful business. What is worse is that whatever policies corporate boards decide and agree upon are, also in many cases, carried out and implemented in even more insensitive ways by their officers and sub-alterns down the line.

Take the case of the giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. I must confess that our family has been a loyal patron of its primary business, the telephone. We were so loyal to the company that we took offense whenever we heard people attaching Puro Lungag Dugay Tabon to its initials, in those times when PLDT ravaged our streets for its crew to be able to bury its lines. As an example of loyalty, one of our telephones was connected way back in the early 60's. That is a long patronage of about 50 years.

One day this week, however, I was shocked to hear a computer generated demand notice PLDT must have tapped to our line. I just lifted the phone from its cradle and dialled a number when I heard: "OUR RECORDS SHOW THAT YOUR PHONE BILL IS OVERDUE. TO AVOID DISCONNECTION, PLEASE PAY IMMEDIATELY."

In that programmed notice, PLDT clearly employed a person with an intimidating voice. When I heard it, I could imagine a very muscular someone, not smaller than the mythical Ajax, wearing a PLDT company uniform, towering above me and holding a spiked sledgehammer. He was poised to pulverize me upon our inability to pay a monthly arrearage. That's the physical silhouette of my impression of the giant PLDT, not unlike a monster, harassing a helpless human being in me.

Not wanting to lose objectivity, I took down the text of the PLDT demand and wrote it very carefully to be unerring. I thought that I could have just given a harsh interpretation to a different prose that I heard. Deep in my psyche was a huge bundle of respect for the company such that I held on to a justification that I did not hear it quite correctly.

I hid in a corner of my office afraid that the Ajax PLDT man would suddenly force his way in and there was no Hercules to succour me. In my lonesome, I read the text again to my horrible realization that my initial appreciation of the demand notice was not, in any manner, wrong. To me, the language did not carry any semblance of dignity and respect. It exuded vile and contained wanton scorn. PLDT only had contempt because we had a phone bill that was overdue.

PLDT did not recognize that for half a century we were loyal customers. It even asked us, decades ago, to subscribe minimally to its capital structure. Alas, our total monthly bills for the last 50 years might not have been much, in their computation, such that we were not entitled to a little respect. And because we live in modesty, PLDT thought (it must still think) our connection was (is) no longer necessary.

I am not sure if we are the only victims of the arrogance of this company. It is entirely possible though that some other modest customers, also insignificant stock subscribers, might have delayed in their payment where in such a case they too, must have been insulted and harassed by the venomous computer generated demand notice and ultimately threatened with disconnection. If there are some other such souls, I can only ask them never to descend to the stinking gutter PLDT has gone. They may, like what I plan, avail of the service of another telephone company, like GLOBE-Telecom, maybe, that is capable of treating us like human beings and avoid the volume of indignity that PLDT has for its lowly customers.

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