On the 13th I wrote a blog post about Globe services. I tried to keep the tone neutral, to be fair. We’ve been having some problems with them, but I wanted to give them a fair chance to get their shit together so the post was mostly just about what they offer in terms of Internet services. However, every single day we seem to have an issue with Globe and their response is less than adequate, even for a provider in a 3rd world country.
Globe Sucks
Globe’s WiMax Rip-Off
My biggest issue right now is with Globe’s WiMax service.
We had two choices when we signed up. We could either pay 795 PHP per month for a 512 kbits/s plan, or pay 995 PHP per month for a 1 MB/s (~1024 kbit/s) plan. We figured it was worth the extra 200 pesos for double the speed so we went with the higher plan.
WiMax is high speed broadband, or so they claim, and for a while it was fantastic. When it was first installed, the morons put it on the side of the house, under the eaves, so the signal was bad. When we finally got it installed correctly on the roof and our signal strength went from 36% to 100%, it was like I was in the US somewhere. Well, ok not that great, but it was close. Everything was fast and download speeds were reasonable at 100 kbits/s, on average, meeting the rate quoted in our plan.
So here’s the fucked up part. Everything went to crap after we had the service for about two weeks. On the 8th, our connection speed dropped from 1 MB/s to 300 kbits/s. Now, just to make sure you understand, that’s 1/3 of what it should be, and is lower than the lower tier plan, which is supposed to be 512 kbits/s. So, we’re paying for a higher tier plan and can’t even get the connection speed of the lower tier plan. What kind of sense does that make? I’ve contacted their customer support numerous times, in numerous ways, to try to get this fixed, but the answers are getting increasingly stupid and I think we’re just being screwed.
Globe has a Twitter account, @talk2Globe, and I figured why not give it a shot? It’s easier to communicate in type when you’re talking to someone that has trouble understanding English, which is the impression I have of Globe CSRs after having dealt with them many times previously. Either that or they’re trained to make conversations intentionally more difficult than they have to be So, the day after the connection slowed down, I DMed their Globe account with the details of our problem.
The following day I received these DMs from Globe:
So, I messaged them back letting them know I’d checked all of those things before messaging them and that the problem was ongoing.
They replied with this:
That’s a reasonable request, so I went ahead and used Speed Test and sent them the results.
As you can see from the results, the speed seems to be fairly well capped at .30 Mb/s down, or about 300 kbits/s. That’s constant. It’s still this way now, as of the 21st (keep in mind the times on the Speed Tests are in GMT, not local Philippines time):
I sent links to these Speed Test results to Globe via DM. This was their response:
This is the first time I heard Globe say that 300 kbits/s is an acceptable speed for their WiMax, and while that might be completely fine if I had the 512 kbs/s plan, I expect more from them when I have the 1 MB/s plan. I expect at least more than I would get from the tier below me. Common sense tells you that 1 MB/s is the maximum, but not the speed you’ll get all the time. Common sense also tells you that you should get 1 MB/s at least most of the time. Unfortunately, I’m not getting it, period. Ever. I can’t even break 512 kbits/s.
So, I let the Globe guy know his response wasn’t satisfactory, because there’s no way we’d be getting 1 MB/s speeds consistently and then suddenly be completely capped at 300 kbits/s.
“We hope you understand.”
Ya. I do understand buddy, but I’m not going to let your company keep screwing me.
I resolved to call the hotline, lodge my complaint again and also lodge a complaint against this Twitter imbecile.
Call to the 211 Customer Service Hotline #1
Right after sending my DM replies to Globe’s Twitter account, I called the hotline. I explained the problem to the CSR and he walked me through their standard trouble shooting techniques. Then he got smart and had me access the modem’s information page. He had me read off some numbers on the page and told me that one of them, either the ‘RSSI’ or ‘CINR Reuse’, he didn’t specify which, wasn’t within acceptable limits. Right on. So then I told him about how inept their Twitter CSR is, and asked him why the guy wasn’t trained to find the same things that he did.
Then we agreed that he’d send out some technicians to look at my set up and figure out what the problem is. These technicians showed up on time the following day (the 12th) and checked everything out. They looked at the figures on the modem’s info page, ran some speed tests, and then told me that the problem is with the tower that our modem connects to. They said they’d submit the report and have it checked out.
Call to the 211 Customer Service Hotline #2
On the 14th I called back and asked what was going on since our service hadn’t improved. I was told that the tower in our area would be serviced on the 16th and to just monitor our connection speed. We were told to be sure to call back if nothing improved, but then, despite the fact that there was a verified problem, she also reminded me that 300 kbits/s is “an acceptable speed for WiMax.” I told her we had a perfectly good 1 MB/s connection until it suddenly dropped off, that it was a verified problem, and that I expected my regular speed to return to 1 MB/s since I knew it was possible, and it’s what we are paying for.
Call to the 211 Customer Service Hotline #3
I kept an eye on the connection speed and nothing happened. It stayed slow and steady at 300 kbits/s. On the 19th I called back again, asking what the problem was and when I could expect my connection to return to the speed we’re paying for. That’s when I had to argue again about the supposed acceptability of 300 kbits/s for WiMax speed.
I asked them how it was possible for us to have 1 MB/s speeds for two weeks and then for it to suddenly drop off and stay capped at 300 kbits/s. I asked why I would pay for a 1 MB/s plan when they couldn’t even offer the speed for the lower tier plan. The moron couldn’t seem to understand the concept, so I had to make it really simple for him. I asked him:
“If you went to the gas station and paid for 10 liters of gas and they only gave you 3, would that be ok with you? Would that be acceptable?”
The analogy isn’t quite right, but it’s close enough.
I’m sure the person on the other end of the line finally got what I was talking about, but instead of agreeing with me, he just went back to quoting company rhetoric about 300 kbits/s being acceptable for WiMax. Do they really think we’re going to pay 995 PHP per month when they can’t even give us the level of service that people paying 795 PHP per month are getting? It’s not an issue of it occasionally being 300 kbits/s. It’s ALWAYS 300 kbits/s.
The call ended with them assuring me they’d send someone out to look at our connection again. Those people were supposed to show up yesterday, but didn’t. They called at 6:30 PM to tell us how deeply sorry they were and that they’d come today instead (Saturday, the 21st). Thanks a lot. I’m glad I wanted to sit around the house all day Saturday waiting for them after doing the exact same thing on Friday.
My Theory
It’s really possible that there’s something wrong with the tower, considering the response from the 1st call about there being something wrong with the RSSI or CINR Reuse figures, and they’re just too inept to figure out how to fix it. Or it could be that they know what’s wrong with it but won’t spend the money to repair it. Neither would surprise me, but it’s still not acceptable.
However, I think there might be another reason for it. I think Globe did this on purpose so they could accommodate more customers using that same tower, without upgrading their hardware. Since we got our WiMax set up, I’ve seen other Globe antennae popping up in the neighborhood. From a greedy, ‘fuck-the-customers-let’s-make-money’ perspective, it makes perfect sense. What doesn’t make sense is that my connection would be perfectly good and then suddenly drop off, never to rise above 300 kbits/s again. If my connection regularly hit 1 MB/s but sometimes slowed down to 300 kbits/s, I would understand. That’s definitely network congestion and I can live with that. What I can’t live with is that either my connection is being forcibly limited at so low a speed that it’s in the next lower tier of service, or they’re too stupid to figure out how to fix their own hardware.
However, I’m not going to just stand around and get screwed. One of two things is going to happen: they’re either going to fix my connection and get it back where it should be or they’re going to shift us down to the lower plan. We’re not going to pay for what we’re not getting. It’s just too bad we’re locked into a contract.
In the meantime, I’m going to make sure to cost them as much money as possible by constantly calling their tech-support line and constantly having house visits by their technicians. I’m also going to start visiting other people in the neighborhood to see what kinds of speeds they’re getting on their connections. If their speeds are being capped too, then that’s all the more ammunition I can use to blast out their corrupt business practices on my blog.
Bradley Farless 
guys after i read the blog and some of your comments about this crappy net, i did this because i got a bad feeling about this globe internet services. i knew it’s too late since we just recently move to a new house and then my dad get a plan from some random guy offering globe internet connection, at that time i didn’t know anything about the service and im busy so i ignore it, but what surprise me is after they installed this crap at the house and when they leave, i try to test the speed, check the load time of any browser and it’s all compromising. we got a 1299 plan but it feels like what bradley says is true.
note: it’s just 1 day after installation the net slow down and keep disconnecting, so my suggestion is how about we try to “MAKE A PETITION THAT AFFECTS ALL OF THE CUSTOMER FOR GOOD OR THEY WILL COMPLETELY SHUTDOWN THEIR CRAPPY INTERNET SERVICES”. i knew we can do this if we unite. please lets do this.
LikeLike
globe really sucks!! i am a 3 month user also and awesome speeds for the first month the suddenly drops off to .16mbps.. I called the hotline they said maybe my pc had a virus so i had it reformatted hoping my connection will go back but unfortunately im stuck on .16mbps..
LikeLike
If the 300 kbps was multiplied by 5.1 it would give 1.5 mbps. Not bad for £10 a month.
LikeLike
Hi man i linked my article to your article, same experience with globe tattoo wimax problem, that can b seen on here http://www.heyitzpao.com/slice-of-life/globe-tattoo-wimax-sucks/
LikeLike
base on my experience, globe wimax is better than smartbro…ang problema sa globe, sinasadya nilang pabagalin ang internet speed mo…100% signal ko tapos 2mbps subscription plan ko…constant 2mbps sa loob ng 3 months then after 3 months sinadya nilang i-lock ang speed ko sa 1 mbps kahit 2mbps ang plan ko…kailangan ko pang tawagan para ibalik sa 2mbps…mandaraya talaga.
LikeLike
Im also having problems with Globe. For 7months globe wimax 1mbps service was perfect, Great speed always connected. Then it just turned to shit. The speed remained great but the connect disconnects every 5 to 10mins. Doesnt matter if you are playign a game, looking at Fb or just letting it sit there not using it. It will disconnect. So we called and complained first they said it was the game i was playing that caused it, Of course i told them it happened when i wasnt even on the game. Next call they said they was repairing the tower in our area and we would have to wait 3months of the service to get back to normal. 1 month later wife calls back and NOW they say they have to many subscribers in our area and have to wait 3 months. WOW wtf.. so we called again for an update they said we can upgrade to dsl or terminate the contract.. we checked into the dsl they didnt have a line here the installers came and tried to charge us P7,000 just to install that cable. I said fuck no make globe pay that. id be happy is the connection was constant and the speed was slower.. i wouldnt recommend globe wimax to anyone.
LikeLike
So basically, they overloaded their system and they wanted their customers to just deal with it. Really stupid way of doing business. Have you looked into SMART? If I recall right, they have a WiMax offering as well.
LikeLike
Yeah pldt/Mybro will be here tomorrow. Today Globe internet has been on for 20mins then off for 1.5hrs , has went off 4 times today so far. Even if Mybro is slower thats fine ill be using Google dns servers for abit of speed as long as the connection is stable.. ive told my wife 100times i Hate Globe Shiternet..
LikeLike
I’m glad to hear you’re getting that worked out. Sometimes here I start to spazz out when Time Warner is acting up, but then I remember my days with Globe WiMax. I was way out in the outskirts of Antipolo, up in the mountains, so my signal was terrible, even though we put the antenna on top of the house’s roof.
I set my router to use Google DNS about two months ago. So far, so good. I mean, I have no way of measuring, but it does seem a bit faster and more reliable to me.
Good luck!
LikeLike
Thank you all for the helpful insights. Like you, I don’t want to waste my time and money with a crap service. When you don’t get the right service . . . terminate it . . .
LikeLike
OK wimax is a point to point connection. as i understand something came in between and you need to raise the height of the wimax antenna on the top. You can try changing the 48volt supply that gives antenna the power through lancable. may be the rj45 connectors are sulfated on the antenna end. now this is for a point to point outside modem.
if you have internal modem buy a longgg extension and try placeing it on some height and try it.
i had a wimax conenctionand i tried all tweaking of signals and stuff. and the problem was the uploads used to break.the reason was the wimax transmittin antenna was too far.
LikeLike
lets hack nalang yung globe wimax nila. ibalik nyo nalang unit nyo tapos kuha nalang kayo free net unlimited…makakabawi na din kayo kay globe
LikeLike
Eto free MAC Address 3Mbps…64:16:F0:C5:8E:E0…alam nyo na gagawin jan tol
LikeLike
just got globe wimax- no choice in our area, acceptable download/upload speed until you want to download you tube or anything with graphics, then you can take a shower eat breakfast, lunch and dinner and maybe if you have the patience get through the day. called their service and of course got a call center agent trying to answer some technical questions. I asked them how come my wimax router only gets 2-3 bars when its hanging outside my window, I get a response that I need a higher antenna, so I told the young lady that I disconnected the antenna cable and still get 2-3bars as long as its hanging outside my window, I got disconnected he he he. finally got some technical guy(I presume) and asked him how come my capable wireless laptop cannot find or connect to their router, my internet connection only works with a LAN cable connected to my computer, and told me to buy a wireless router, I told him you are full of SH>>>>t and the phone suddenly went ngo ngo ngo ngo,maybe with all the digging PLDT is doing in our area, we can get some better service, so Mr. Pangilinan this is your chance to completely put Globe and our TV cable company out of business IN OUR AREA THAT IS. You have to have a killer instinct to put your competitors out of business, lets do it he he he
LikeLike
I think it really depends on the area where you are at and the number of globe subcribers there are in your area that shares the internet.. I am using Globe Wimax 999ph plan and so far my connection speed most of the time is around 1 Mb/s-1.5 Mb/s… http://www.speedtest.net/result/2430221517.png
but connection does get interrupted sometimes.. my only concern though is globe’s 25 GB monthly download limit and I might get capped anytime when I reach the limit. -_-
LikeLike
Hi! I am experiencing this also but only for short intervals during peak hours. I think you got some confusion down there, i’ll clarify this out, telecom offers are displayed in mbps and kbps NOTE: LOWER CASE b stands for bits which is about 8x smaller than uppercase B that stands for Bytes. So if you have a 1 mbps plan you should get about 125 kiloBytes/sec. I understand that you don’t get what you pay for but just to clarify you are paying for a 1 mbps or a 125 kBps connection not 1 mBps. Have a good day
LikeLike
Globe dsl 2mbps download speed and has a limit 5 gigs per day, when you download 5 gigs in a day your speed be automatically be drop to 60mbps and that’s a big BS!! Globe deceive me by their adds in their website the 2mbps download speed and 1,299 pesos per month and it’s more cheaper than PLDT but one thing you don’t know they hide a foolish things to the people.
Now I’m planning to file in court so that this globe will stop deceiving the people. Globe won’t last long they will vanish soon! No Corrupt will succeed they will be curse by God!
LikeLike
My problem with globe right now is their sales rep that have different information and calculations when applying for globe postpaid. as in BWESIT.
that’s not counting my numerous problems to Globe Wimax which prevents me from blogging through wordpress, accessing banking sites and even paypal.
I really wish we had real alternatives here as Smart is just the same.
LikeLike
globe sux like a gay guy on steroids XD
LikeLike
Globe is finally better now… im paying for 995 plan and getting 1.6-2mbps i hope it stayed like this all the time though… but honestly i think globe wimax is better than other networks… especially PLDT DSL… SUSMARYSEP!!! Sa galit ko sa kanila… di ko nga bayaran bills ko… 1 month di ko nagamit dsl ko dahil may problem daw pero may bill ako… im glad i switched immediately to globe… been using it for three mionths now… wag lang nila ako lokohin, di ko rin sila babayaran pati postpaid plan ko hahaha…
LikeLike
I used Globe Wimax for more than a year, Until I decided not to pay them anymore because of the poor connections (Plan 1Mbps). After 4 months,someone occasionally drop by telling He's from globe telecom and He's asking for the retrieval of my Globe Wimax kit.
LikeLike
Now come May 5, when I got home I was surprised to see 7 missed calls from the same number and a text message that it's someone from Globe. I thought it's support to follow up on my issue. I replied back for the person to call me. I answered the call and the caller introduced herself and then she told me this:”I don't like the way you treated my staff yesterday.” WTF!!!!!! Literally yata umusok ang bumbunan ko. Who the hell is she to call me to say that. I told her that her staff is incompetent and needs to be trained better. I was angry yes but was not hostile towards her. Of course I know it's not the staff's fault the internet is down. However, she was never able to answer my questions and wasn't able to offer any help. Tapos sinabi saken na bago lang daw yun and that tao lang naman sya and I should treat her as such, I told her hindi ko binastos yung staff mo, mataas tono but I never personally attacked her. Besides if she was just new and didn't know how to answer or handle my situation she should have called for somebody else. She also implied that I wasn't assisted because of my attitude. So I said did your staff even consider where I was coming from? Nakita nya naman how I ranted on the phone and yet she didn't ask a more tenured staff to back her up. I really wanted to say bobo lang staff mo but I was able to stop myself. And the best part of the conversation, that manager told me na we can waive naman the pretermination fee in scenarios like this, the way you approached her prevented her from discussing it with you. Tangena, so kelangan maamong tupa ako lalapit sa kanila to have my issue resolved? Me solution pala sa issue ni hindi man lang sinabi sa akin. Incompetent lang talaga staff niya.And today I called their termination hotline, lo and behold, di lang pala 2 months worth of bill amounting to 2,600 but also a 5,000 fee because it was a bundle. Nowhere in their terms and conditions and fine print does it state that there is such a fee. It's such a nightmare. I've never been this angry in my entire life. And this is the longest period that I've stayed in an angry state. We oughta sue their asses, like a class-action suit.
LikeLike
I should've browsed around first before subscribing to globe. All I wanted is a fast and reliable connection and what I got instead was a huge headache. I just want to share my story, I've requested for installation May 2, 2012 for a 2mbps dsl with landline. It worked for about an hour and then stopped working entirely until now. On May 2 I immediately called globe support and was informed that there is an outage in my area that started May 1 at 4:05 pm. So I said fine, I thought it's just going to last a few more hours since on previous experience downtime never really lasted long (side note, my smartbro never went down for longer than 24 hours. if there's a downtime it only last for about 2-4 hours problem is it's really slow). I don't use the internet much, just to call my husband on skype who is abroad. So May 3, I came home and still there's no connection. I called support again and reported the issue. Same script there's an outage blah blah blah, on impulse I asked the rep when did the outage start. I snorted when she told me it started May 2 at 4:05 pm. So when i called the day before they said it started May 1, now it's May 2. I let it pass though I'm getting to get annoyed. May 4th I personally went to the globe center here in Baguio and lo and behold, instead of talking to a real person I was directed to their telephone. I was seriously annoyed. When I talked to support again I was informed that there was an outage that started May 3. I was like WTF, gaguhan na talaga to? I then requested to have it disconnected, again, through the phone. And then I was informed of the pretermination fee equal to two months of my bill, it was so outrageous I started ranting on their phone. Worst thing is that the rep said that there is a “system upgrade” that started May 3 and that's the only credit I could get. I hung up and talked to one of the staff in the store and got nothing. I left fuming and really thinking of suing them. I didn't see it on the contract I signed. I used to be a support rep for a US telecoms company and one thing I learned is to read the fine print. The fine print mentioned a pre-termination fee and minimum months but is not clearly stated how much needs to be paid and the actual “minimum” months of service.When I got home I called support and asked the rep when did their outage start, funny but the agent kept insisting the report is not available on my account. I guess the previous rep noted that I was warned several times not to use profanity. To my surprise when I asked how many phone calls were logged pertaining to the account, it's only the call made on May 4th that is showing on their system. I started to feel irritated again and this time when I asked for a supervisor, one was immediately called unlike my calls earlier that no supervisors are available or they're on a meeting. So I asked, how come that my previous calls were not logged. And he explained that these are manual blah blah blah. I said don't give me that BS because I work in a callcenter too, i know the ins and outs of logging calls. He said he will have a trace done yada yada yada. I simply just gave up.
LikeLike
Hi..my friend has the same issue like yours, only bigger amount.close to 15k..he reported it to globe, they want him to pay everything which of course he didnt do.he received subpoenas but disregard it. GLOBE SUCKS!!!
LikeLike
Lxxxl13..STUPID!!! SURELY YOU ARE FROM GLOBE!!!
LikeLike
http://www.speedtest.net/result/1913630625.png SEEEEEEEEE WTF IS THIS? GLOBE FUCK YOU!
LikeLike
I've been using Globe WiMax now for 2months and Globe does suck, badly. I pay 995 monthly to get a good 1mbps internet connection. But that doesnt seem to be working out. Unlike you guys who get 300kbps I only get 250kbps at max and that would be during midnight. In the day I would get around 25 – 50kbps. So GLOBE FUCK YOU. YOU'RE WASTING OUR MONEY.
LikeLike
wow you really hate globe, ahahalmost all of the ISP provider here in the PH have a crappy service when in comes to “wireless broadband / wireless net whatever” due to the fact that it is “wireless” *DUH* if you want faster and more reliable speed with your ISP, try DSL instead.granted it would be costly but the slowest connection you can get with a 1mb DSL is 600~700 kbps. *already tested during rainy season, problem with the provider etc.*.
LikeLike
I'm a Globe Wimax subscriber for about 17 months now and I could say that most of the time I found myself browsing the net slower than 1MBps account I applied for and having disconnected modem for almost 24 hours a day to make it worst. One of the reasons why the service of Globe wimax sucks is the fact that Illegal connections are rampant in our area, some of them I know who even proudly say that their Modem connects like a legit account. I decided to have it permanenetly disconnected when the moron technician came in to our house to fix it and concludingly scratched his head to say that my modem can't connect anymore despite of having a good signal strength and that I should have disconnected as soon as possible to stop me from paying monthly fees. Globe Wimax is an epic fail internet service. Someday the owner of this corporation will reap the fruit of their incompetent and fraudulent service…
LikeLike
buti nga kayo nasa .3Mbps, ako nasa .06 eh:|
LikeLike