The Four-eyed Journal » Globe

Good riddance for the Globe iToolbar

jhay — Sat, 19 May 2012 09:46:37 +0000

Yesterday was a complete PR disaster for Globe when they surprised their mobile internet subscribers with their annoying, obtrusive and uncalled for Globe iToolbar.

Check out the screencaps courtesy of Yuga:

I noticed it yesterday morning but was able to blog about it just now. Over the years, these annoying pop-ups and toolbars have taught me to search for the “x” or close button to get rid of it. Easily enough, I was able to find that button the iToolbar but lo and behold, it didn’t completely disappear. It just collapsed to one side yet it was still taking a significant amount of screen space. It purple color was a major distraction to your browsing experience.

What the hell is Globe iToolbar? According to Globe:

“[it is]to make your Mobile Internet experience much more convenient. You can now enjoy quick and easy access to your favorite Globe and Internet services.”

Really?! The only service I need from Globe is that they make sure that they keep their end of the Service Agreement by providing reliable and consistent Internet service, not an annoying, obtrusive and practically useless pop-up.

Who ever thought that this was a great idea should have his/her head examined. Globe subscribers who experienced this, some are even on corporate accounts, have been annoyed big time.

The good news is that Globe has discontinued the iToolbar, as I wrote this post on a Globe Tattoo stick, the annoying toolbar was no where to be seen.

How to speed up your transaction with Globe Customer Service

jhay — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 01:33:39 +0000

In all the 6 years I’ve been a Globe subscriber to their landline, broadband and mobile services, I’ve had tons of experience dealing with their customer support. This includes the agents who answer calls to their hotline, agents whom I’ve talked to in person at their Globe Business Centers and lately, the agents whom I’ve talked with over their online chat assist and their Twitter account.

The experience stems from the crappy services I’ve put up with them through the years, which have been amply documented on this blog. So by now, regardless of the medium, I’ve come to know their standard operating procedure when it comes to receiving complaints/reports from customers.

Ask for your Name, landline/mobile/Globe account number
Ask for your location/address
Verify your identity with questions pertaining to the information in your account. (eg. your date of birth and middle name)
Ask for your complaint/report

In my experience this process of identifying you the caller, the account owner and the location takes roughly around 2 to 3 minutes. Which can be crucial because often times, your call gets dropped especially if you’re calling from your mobile phone and during times when they receive massive calls from irate customers as well.

And when your call does get disconnected, it would be another tough labor of calling the hotline, dealing with the answering machine and waiting in queue. The entire ordeal can be really frustrating, to the point that you’d just give up and curse at Globe.

So, to speed things up. Prepare the following information beforehand, whenever you would call/chat/Twit Globe’s customer services:

Introduce yourself with your full name. State immediately if you’re the account owner or not.
Your landline/mobile number or Globe Account Number (This is found on your monthly bill)
Your location/address

If the agent were paying attention to what you’ve just said/typed/Twitted, they’d give the customary thank you then proceed to verify your identity by asking for your middle name or date of birth. Afterwards, they would proceed to ask for the nature of your complaint/report.

In general, at the end of your conversation stating your complaint they will inform you of what action they’ve taken, most of the time, all they did was file a report about this and then forward it to the respective team/department. They will give you a reference number for your report.

Take note of this number. You will use this to follow up on your report if they haven’t done something to fix your problem after the standard 24-48 hours of waiting or turnaround time. Which happens 98% of the time. So you really need to follow up and that reference number they gave will help.

I think the same procedure is followed by the other telcos, so next the time you’d call up customer services, you’d be able to help them help you a little faster.

Globe Super-Unli Unlimited text and calls

jhay — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 01:02:58 +0000

Finally, it has arrived. Globe is now offering an unlimited text and call service in one package aptly called, “Super Unli.”

Now we can enjoy unlimited texting AND calling to Globe/TM for only P150 for 5 days.

To subscribe to Globe’s Super-Unli, just text SUPER150 to 2824. To make unlimited calls, change the 0 to 238 at the start of the Globe / TM number you are calling (eg 238917xxxxxxx).

This promo will last until October 18, 2009 and is available for Globe Prepaid, Tatoo and Postpaid subscribers.

For Postpaid:

You can now use GLOBE SUPER-UNLI! Enjoy unlimited Globe-Globe/TM calls and text for 5days! Registration fee is charged on top of your subcription plan. To enjoy unlimited calls, just dial 238 plus the 10-digit Globe/TM#. Ex. 238917xxxxxxx. All text msgs to Globe/TM w/in 5 days after registration are free. To check status, text SUPER BAL. To stop, text SUPER OFF. Send to 2824 for free. Promo is until 10/18/2009. DTI4858SO9.

For Prepaid:

Maari mo nang magamit ang Globe SUPER-UNLI! Enjoy unlimited Globe-Globe/TM calls and text for 5 days! Unlimited texts to Globe / TM until xx/xx/xx. For unlimited calls until xx/xx/xx, just change 0 to 238 at the start of the Globe / TM no. ur calling (eg 238917xxxxxxx). Maintain P1 in ur account upang patuloy na makapag-SUPER-UNLI. Promo is until 10/18/2009. DTI 4858.

Unfortunately, video calls are not included in this promo and you can text SUPER HELP to 2824 for free if you need more information.

Hat tip to Jepoy

Globe U-Call – Unlimited calling on Globe

jhay — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 00:16:25 +0000

When SMART Telecoms came out with their Smart Talk Unlimited calls promo, rival Globe will soon answer back.

And just recently, they did with Globe U-Call which offers free unlimited calls between Globe users and Globe to Touch Mobile subscribers.

How to avail of the Globe unlicall

Text UCALL 30 to 2868 unlicall for 1day

Text UCALL 100 to 2868 unlicall for 5days

The promo supposedly lasts until August 22, 2009 but there’s a very high chance that it would be extended.

Either way, it means more choices for us consumers.

Globe WAP/MMS/Streaming settings for Nokia N95

jhay — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 01:22:54 +0000

A couple of days ago, my aunt once more asked me to help configure her Nokia N95′s WAP/MMS/Streaming settings for Globe.

Like clock work, I called Globe’s Customer Service, gave them the handset unit, my aunt’s mobile number and requested that they send the settings via SMS message which was the easiest way. The other options would be to ask for the settings one-by-one and configure the phone manually, which is very troublesome when done over the phone. The least viable option would be to personally take the phone to a Globe Business Center and have their agents configure it there.

We expected to receive the settings immediately after the call ended, as this is what happened before when we asked for the settings of our earlier phones. Oddly enough, the settings never arrived via SMS, the obligatory 24-48 hours of waiting passed and still no settings have been received.

On the third day of waiting, I decided to call Customer Services again. But the Christmas season may have already caused high traffic on Globe’s networks as my call was dropped three times.

Growing frustrated, but decided not to let loose on the hapless CS agent, I just gave them my email address and requested that they send the settings there instead, so that I could configure the phone manually.

WAP Settings
1. Go to Menu>Tools>Settings>Connection>Access points>Options>New Access point>Use default setting. Enter details for the following parameters.

Connection name: myGlobe CONNECT
Data Bearer: Pocket data
Access point name: www.globe.com.ph
User name:
Prompt password: No
Password:
Authentication: Normal
Homepage: http://www.globe.com.ph/globe.asp

Press Options then select Advance settings. Enter details for the following parameters:

Network type: Ipv4
Proxy serv. address: 203.177.42.214
Proxy Port number: 8080

2. Go back to the main menu, select Web, press Options then Settings. Choose myGlobe CONNECT as the default access point.

MMS Settings
1. Go to Menu>Messaging>Options>Settings>Multimedia message>Access point in use>Options>New access point>Use default settings. Enter details for the following parameters

Connection name: myGlobe MMS
Data Bearer: GPRS
Access point name: mms.globe.com.ph
User name:
Prompt password: No
Password:
Authentication: Normal
Homepage: http://192.40.100.22:10021/mmsc

Press Option then select Advance settings. Enter details for the following parameters:

Proxy serv. address: 203.177.042.214
Proxy Port Number: 8080

Stream Settings
2. Go to Menu>Tools>Settings>Connection>Access points>Options>New Access point>Use default setting. Enter details for the following parameters.

Connection name: myGlobe stream
Data Bearer: Packet data
Access point name: real.globe.com.ph
User name:
Prompt password: No
Password:
Authentication: Normal

Press Options then select Advance settings. Enter details for the following parameters:

Network type: Ipv4
Proxy serv. address: None
Proxy Port number: None

3. Go back to the main menu, Find Real Player Application, press Options then Settings. Choose myGlobe Stream as the default access point.

After tinkering around with the Nokia N95, I finally got it working, this is confirmed by sending a test MMS message to my aunt’s number. I even had the spare time to configure the phone to connect to my home Wi-Fi network, so that my aunt could do some web surfing is she so pleases.

I think the same settings would for the Nokia N9x series because the PDF file Globe sent me indicated that it’s the same settings for the Nokia N91.

For others who would like to have their WAP/MMS/Streaming settings configured, simply call Globe’s Customer Service Number 211, and if you can do it manually, simply give them your email address for them to send the configuration settings in PDF format.