Globe to tighten customer protection

AYALA-LED Globe Telecom has vowed to tighten rules on thirdparty value-added service (VAS) providers amid a widespread uproar from customers over load theft.

Globe, in a statement on Friday, said it would strengthen customer protection against prepaid load deductions commonly described as “or stolen load.

This developed after a Globe subscriber’s social media complaint about load losses from a VAS provider, GotDeals Mobile Inc., went viral.

“In reference to a Facebook post of a subscriber complaining about loss of load due to 3rd party transactions, we at Gotdeals Mobile, Inc. are taking full responsibility for the inconvenience that the customer experienced due to issues encountered in our servers,“the VAS provider was quoted as saying by Globe.

“We sincerely apologize to Globe Telecom and their customer for the damage that this may have caused them. We have rectified the issue to ensure that it will not happen again.”

load deductions usually occur when a Globe user clicks on an online advertisement of VAS providers. It added there should be a text message informing the consumer about the subscription or cancellation processes.

“However, there are instances when partners circumvent the rule, thus, automatically enrolling the customers without consent,” it said.

“We want to assure our customers that we have clauses in our contracts with partner content providers which penalize those who resort to fraud. We are also implementing stricter opt-in guidelines to make our customers are aware that they are signing up for VAS subscription which entails charges,” Globe General Counsel Froilan Castelo said.

Globe is urging consumers to make use of its Load Watch feature to help prepaid mobile customers get real time balance and updates on usage of their load, and to report unwarranted load deductions on VAS services.

“We will not hesitate to impose sanctions against those vendors or partners who are found guilty,” Castelo said.