of Philosophy and Technology

My last email to smart: 

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Please inform me if my E61i can have its BB functionality before Sunday as I am going to Davao for two weeks.  I need a definite answer so that I could
transfer to a better provider if you could not do anything about this problem.

I do hope that this time you would NOT leave me hanging like what happened to my previous problem where my E61 could not receive emails.

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I got this answer:

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AS e-mailed to you yesterday we have a process to follow for approval. I am still waiting for a formal request from your end.I am afraid we won’t be able to meet your request before this week ends. Our apologies. Since approval from our officers might take a while.For your information please.
 

The funny thing is I have already sent the request thru their solutions consultant :).

Smart failed, I guess I have to use the better provider.  I have pulled strings and called my contacts inside Smart and yet nothing happened.  With Globe I only need to call one person while with Smart I have to exchage phone calls and emails with at least three personnel only to be frustrated at the end.

Being tech savvy comes handy when tech support personnel could not do anything with your problem.  When Smart tech support was not able to solve (despite phone calls, emails and text messages) why my Blackberry suddenly stopped receiving emails, I decided to put things into my own hands.  I removed the Blackberry application in my Nokia E61 then reinstalled it.  What took Smart’s tech support personnel more than a week of scratching their heads just took me about five minutes to make it work again. The problem was, that more than a week of no Blackberry service was the week I was in China for the HP event.  Good thing I have a backup Blackberry 6230 from Globe, I was able to get in touch with my office.  Also Globe now provides auto roaming service, you don’t need to call to activate your line when you go out of the country.

Now, here’s another problem.  I have changed my unit from E61 to E61i. (The E61i is an improved E61.  It sports a camera, an improved keyboard, a more convenient navigation pad instead of joystick and two extra buttons, one for direct access to contacts and the other one called “my button”  that allows users to assign any application for easy access.) Since I have changed my device I have to register it to the wireless network and go to the Blackberry website to “connect” my mobile number to my new E61i as it was “linked” to my old device.  I have already informed Smart but I haven’t received any reply from them. This time I am not expecting much from them, maybe I have to use Globe Blackberry service on my E61i instead of waiting for their reply.  I have changed device before with Globe and it only took them 15 minutes to PROVISION my number to the new device, I don’t know what’s wrong with Smart why it has become a standard for them to take days even weeks to answer my email.