You may want to think twice about getting the PLDT Telpad

My mom just became "sort of Americanized" by agreeing for an upgrade of telephone service and buying over the phone.

Last month, a telemarketer from PLDT, kept looking for my mom the account holder and offered to upgrade our current PLDT landline and internet plan to a supposed to be better plan: just for an additional 500+ we get to have a PLDT Telpad, a faster internet speed service and unlimited local calls across the the country. She signed up because it was a really good deal and also after thorough thinking how this and the features will fit into our business and lifestyle.

Then the night after the holidays, we immediately received the Telpad package. I thought that was efficient, considering all the paper works and usual hullabaloo that these applications usually come with.

Then the night we got it and had it charged (it doesn't charge while on the dock, mind you. It has to be charged separately from the phone which makes me think What the Fudge is that base for?) I had a hard time figuring out how to turn it on.

When it finally did turn on, it's so slow, that I can make a bathroom break and come back just in time for the rest of the stuff to load.

"You're disappointed because you're used to using an iPad" my friend Poch said, after I ranted how disappointing it is. Actually I was not expecting that it would perform as good/fast as an iPad. I was just hoping it works.

A couple of days later, the first time I actually tried the camera, it had this green blob across the screen that I couldn't even see my subject then it went blank. I did the usual reset, the camera worked with a good photo then the whole screen flickered like it was about to become a disco light.

Then I said, that's it. I am taking this back and it has not even reached a week. I called 171 PLDT hotline ( hotline hours: 8:30 am -5:30pm, Weekdays) and I was advised to take it to the nearest business center and I did:
(More after the jump!)

I will no longer get into details about how I fought my way into cancelling our service after being told that it came with a 24 month bond. But here are the important information that I learned (that might come handy for you too):

1. Those telemarketers who calls you are different from the ones in business centers. It's a hit or miss kind of thing. Their job is only to sell and dispose the PLDT telpads.

2. The Telpad needs to have a different kind of service for it to work. In my case, the agent who sold the Telpad to us forgot to include the service so it became a lot easier to get out of. It looked like they practically gave out the Telpad for free because there's no record, they only found out because I returned it and it's faulty.

3. Only the account holder is authorized to transact and make changes. I had a type written, signed authorization letter with a valid ID when I came to the business center. Your reference number is your phone number, and always get the name of the agent you spoke to.

4. If we went in for repair, it's going to take almost 1 year and we get to use a lesser value/cheaper version of telpad as a service unit.

5. In fairness to the 171  hotline number, it's easy to get an agent (perhaps because no one is calling them anymore?). Just be prepared to speak to an agent who knows nothing about what happened. In my case, I had 6 years of BPO experience with me to back me up and did not hang up until I find a resolution.

In the end, I took back the Telpad to the nearest PLDT business center even if they have nothing to do with because the telemarketers sold it and not them. I was given a recovery receipt as proof that I returned the product and I made the lady manager print out the actual plans that we are only subscribed to as proof. ( I just have to see it for my self.)

In addition, a very reliable little birdie told me that according to track records, the Telpads are faulty. In fact, while I was at the business center, another lady took her Telpad back because it's also malfunctioning.

So if you think having a home phone/ land line tablet is fancy, you may want to think twice about getting the PLDT Telpad