202P.O. Box 1161, QCCPO, NCR, Philippines 1100
Cell No. : +63 917-812-5546
Email : labankonsyumer@gmail.com
: dimagibavic@gmail.com
: dmagiba@pldtdsl.net
Facebook: Laban Konsyumer Inc.
Website : www.labankonsyumer.com
LKI PRESS STATEMENT 2020-063
September 19, 2020
Interview LINK: https://www.facebook.com/dzbb594/videos/932139443948864
CALLS OUT INTERNET CONSUMERS TO SEEK REDUCTION OF MONTHLY FEES FOR BAD SPEED AND SERVICE –LABAN KONSYUMER
Consumer Group Laban Konsyumer Inc. (LKI), in an interview with Orly Trinidad of DZBB, said “the past weeks we have been getting on our hotline many complaints about bad and rolling internet and signal speed. We as consumers pay in full and complete, and there is a minimum speed such as 10mbps in the plan of the service providers. That is why we believe we can conduct our own speed test, and what is troublesome is uploading, moreso than downloading. You can see the meter struggling to go up. Being a consumer advocate, I also brought my concern to NTC. I was able to get my refund, and I paid for what plan is nearest to what speed I was getting. We can advocate the same kind of treatment, consumers can go to their respective telcos. Consumer can be reimbursed for the speed that is not delivered. NTC knows the problem. We must pay for what we are getting for service, must be alert for unfair sales practices. That’s a No No under the Consumer Act. Especially during the pandemic, there must be more consideration for consumers, and we should watch out for profiteering. Government should be on guard, so we must ensure that there will be fair compensation to avoid a bigger case of profiteering.”
Laban Konsyumer said “our group calls for reduction of what we pay for, or fair compensation, as we will pay for what we are provided, both for prepaid and for postpaid plans, even for those packages with cards. NTC should be the one to lead the charge and fix this issue, now that schooling has begun. This is like traffic, where you have to divert the main traffic so the highway is loosened up. Sometimes we are forced to use landlines because of the slower speeds.We can also ask for faster response on the customer service end. Right now while we wait for additional cell towers, we are suffering from low internet speeds, and service should be 24/7. In the meantime, solution is to give back the money to those who do not get their fair share of subscription. Monitoring of regulator is crucial and essential.”
Vic Dimagiba, Laban Kosyumer President said “for the need of faster speed of internet, especially during the start of many private schools which use internet, the solution for the telcos is really to put up more towers so that residential and student users of internet will benefit from more agile and speedier internet. Tower permits should be in compliance with the directive of 7 days so as to have more user towers. The lockup period right now for the moment, our call for consumers if they are not getting the value for the service that they paid for, their option is to downgrade their plan according to the speed that they are getting and using, which can be tested. Right now our country is limited with options, considering the duopoly but you can claim refund instead of self stressing over the speed. Customers should be able to get the option tor refund or downgrade their plan, based on their average speed.”
Dimagiba said in the interview “another situation is the postpaid, in which they can call for mutual termination of contracts. If you have a unit of a telephone for example, that you paid for the lockup period, and you have no means of making money or working, through the impact of COVID 19, they can give you the opportunty to stagger the loans or the payment that you still have to pay. These companies also owe money to the manufacturers, so they also have to settle their accounts, thus consumers can ask for staggered payment. For example, they can extend or even give the option to cancel your plans. “.
Consumers can file their complaint online in the NTC website, www.ntc.gov.ph or to labankonsyuumer@gmail.com. END END