Consumer Complaints and DTI webpage

I have been browsing the webpage of the Department of Trade and Industry (www.dti.gov.ph) to look for a link where I can post my concerns on certain products like the Bayantel Wireless Landline (Dial up issue which I posted days ago). I can't find it in the DTI webpage. Isn't it supposed to be there? Where should I lodge my complaints?

ASUS EEEC LAPTOP

My sister in law got an ASUS laptop from Taiwan. I like the weight, it's very light. It looks very robust and with the 512MB RAM, applications such as OpenOffice run fast. She like the Operating System very much which is Xandros Linux. Except that, the characters are in Chinese or Taiwanese. I don't even know what language is used. So, I thought of installing a new OS particularly Windows XP or Ubuntu. But I was not able to do it last night because the laptop does not have a CD drive.

On my way to office, I was contemplating on what to do. When I got in the office this morning, I thought of searching Google for possible help. And there's really a way to tweak the language to English. Here is how I did it.

I pressed CTRL ALT T and type this code in the console /opt/xandros/bin/locale_dialog. A new window popped-up and I chose the first button. The system auto restart and it now display characters in English. Wow!

Bayantel Wireless Landline Weak Signal

It has been weeks already that I experienced a poor signal of Bayantel Wireless Landline. Everytime I call the house where my Bayantel Wireless unit is, it's either they can't hear me at all or they can't understand me because it's choppy. When will this service improved? Sun Cellular signal is far better.

Bayantel Wireless and Dial-Up Internet

It is Sunday morning and the place is a bit cold. It was raining last night. It was last night also that I got disappointed with the service I got from Bayantel. I'll tell you why.

I brought my laptop home because I was planning to connect to the internet thru dial-up. I don't have a DSL at home so dial-up is the alternative. It will appear to be cheaper when compared to the per minute rate of Bayantel. (Note: My cellphone (SMART) internet rate is even cheaper compared to Bayantel's).

I tried to used the program ZTEConnector which is automatically installed after you install the driver from Bayantel. I supplied the username and the password and tried to connect. The message was, "the remote computer did not respond". I pick up the telephone receiver and dialed the number directly from my telephone. To my surprise, the remote modem responded. I tried connecting again. This time, I used my laptop. Still, I can't connect.

I decided to call 171, the helpdesk of Bayantel wireless. I was able to talk to a lady who's name is Marie. I asked her why I can't connect. She told me that I have to have my internet service activated before I can make any internet connection. I told her, I will only be connecting to a local number and not with Bayantel internet. I explained what I wanted to do. I only want to dial to a local number using my laptop. She got the same answer, I've got to have my internet activated. So I ask her, "does this mean the internet connection is exclusive to Bayantel only?". She answered "YES".

I still don't want to believe it because when I purchased this unit, I was told that this unit can act as a USB modem as being reflected in their manual. So, if this is a USB modem, I should be able to use this to connect to a remote computer which uses a local number only. I was told to dial 181, their technical call center. But.. you won't believe this. THEY'VE GOT THE SAME ANSWER! BAYANTEL'S SUPPOSED TO BE USB MODEM IS EXCLUSIVE TO THEM! How unfair! I asked, does DTI know this? Did you get the same complain from other people? Or, am I just the only one complaining on this?

Here's another suprising thing. 181 forwarded me back to 171. A lady told me that they can't activate my internet because I still have a bill to pay that's 1,700+ just for this month. I said, "WHAT"? How come? And I was told I've called cellphone numbers from my Bayantel unit. I said, "WHAT" (again)? I realized my helpers could have used my unit to call their text mates! (But this is a different story. So homeowners, guard your phones!).

Anyway, I was exhausted having talked to Bayantel help line. After all, they were not able to solve my problem. I was just so desperate I told them I am going to report this to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). But will DTI act on this? Will our right to be able to choose providers be safeguarded? Or, am I talking the right thing here?

Should I just report this to the councilors of Davao? I was thinking I'm going to report this to Councilor Peter Laviña who is known to be a fighter for people's rights. Or, am I just out of sync here?

Please let me know your opinion beecause if this is not worth discussing for, I will have my mouth shut.

Overwhelmed with Google's New Offerings

About a year ago, I have been exploring on content management applications. It has somehow helped us but the project was not sustained not only because of the difficulty of maintaining the site but also it can no longer address our unceasing demands due to our unstoppable growth.

Yesterday, I had the time on exploring Google calendar for our company ( www.citihardware.com ) using our account in Google apps. I was surprised that Google calendar has already a lot of features that would address our need. The need to collaborate especially on our schedules. After a few clicks on Google calendar, I told myself, "Starting today, I can no longer live without the internet".

I shared my discoveries on my adventure with Google Apps to my colleagues in IT and they're also very excited to explore on Google's new offerings. I will also be sharing to the rest of the management team of Citihardware on our upcoming regular meeting.

I am sure, they will also be overwhelmed with what Google can offer to the business.