TEXT UNWISE

October 17, 2006

I’ve been saving this TEXTWISE card that I got last August, so I could complain about it. It seemed like a good idea – you get to send text messages to numbers abroad at only five pesos – but it was actually P7.50 because you have to pay P2.50 to the local telco which you are registered with every time you text. So I got myself registered for the TEXT WISE services on a SMART number that I was using (I wonder if things were different if I had used my GLOBE number instead).

So I got this message welcoming me to Textwise! And telling me save my Textwise number (which was 378 for SMART) and wait for further instructions. I was then told to register the number of the person I was to text abroad – and I got a message that I successfully did the registration. Now here comes the tricky part: I started sending messages according to instructions and everything was fine. I get a message that my message was sent and the amount of my remaining balance. The thing is, the Textwise system informed me that my messages were sent, but my intended receiver has received zero of my messages – as evidenced by his non-response. And I did ask if he received any messages from me during the past two days, and it really was zero.

So I took the effort to call the Textwise customer service – and it was not very simple because I had to have this passcode so I could have a landline transaction, because apparently, the inquiries I have been sending to the mobile numbers stated for customer service concerns was not responding to me. I was finally able to talk to a Custormer Service Representative who told me they would have to check with their Technical team and that I can check after two days by calling them again! Of course I wasn’t able to call back, but seemingly the next text messages I sent to customer service were received because I got messages (and it was in mixed English and Filipino in the common tone, not formal – so there was actually a human being pressing the keyboard responding to me, which was nice.) So this message said that their system really confirms that my messages were being sent and the problem might probably lie in the telco of the number I was sending to abroad. And that’s it. My problem did not get solved – and I ended up with a card that I bought, thought to have used, but was useless anyway. After a month, I received a message that my card had expired. Thanks, anyway. I have now thrown the card away.