Where is my billing statement?

At the end of this month, I’ll be on my third as a Smart Bro subscriber. And if you’ve read my previous blog, it was not all happy moments for me. Twice I requested for on-site tech support and numerous phone calls were made to their customer care group.

For the first month, I was not able to receive my billing statement so I said to myself gee… this service maybe for free? On the following days, I received a text message telling me to pay a certain amount for my broadband service. The only available mode of payment for me would be through the bank. But before I went to the bank, I visited Smart’s local “office” and asked for my billing statement. They said they are not the ones in-charge for it, they do not accept payments and suggested that I checked our local post office. I went to the post office, asked the person there to check if I have a mail from Smart Bro and found out there’s none. Conveniently enough, the post office is near the bank where I do most of our family’s banking needs. I asked a friend who works for the bank on how they handle payments for Smart Bro and she told me that I need to present the billing statement because they need a portion of it for processing. Feeling being passed on too many times, I tried checking on my friend who is also a subscriber and she said that I don’t have to pay anything because I haven’t received my billing statement. She has a point, as a customer, I think I have the right to be presented of the bill I have to pay (although I already know how much). Another point is for traceability, keeping receipts of any purchase is the same as keeping billing statements as proof of services/products received. I called their customer service and they told me my billing statement was already sent and suggested that I view the statement on the web. On their website, I need to enroll before I can view it so I clicked “register.” I need to enter my “account number” which was supplied to me when applied for the service but I don’t know what is a “service reference number.” So I checked their online help and found out that the service reference number is printed on my billing statement! Pissed with the whole thing, I decided not pay the first month although it bugged me most of the time that I did not.

The end of the following month is approaching, and again I am yet to receive my billing statement. I called their customer support again and told them my problem regarding the service reference number and it turned out, what was given to me initially was not my account number but my service reference number… ay sus! So knowing both numbers, I was able to register and view my billing statement online but I stressed that they have to still send my printed statement. All I have to do to finally pay my dues is to print the online statement and present it to the bank. With this kind of setup, I don’t know if Smart is saving up on paper in order to save trees from being cut, stop climate change, save the world or their just being cheap or worst they can’t get their act together. My previous suspicion is of course not their intent because I am the one printing and wasting paper… di ba! The funny thing is, after two days of paying my first two months bill, I received a letter from Smart Bro telling me to settle my dues and here’s the first part,


Dear Valued Subscriber,

You may have overlooked payment for your latest Smart Bro bill with Account No. XXXXXXX, or failed to receive your previous month’s billing statements, which may explain the overdue status of your account.


Thank you for calling me a valued subscriber but I prefer screwed. Well, at least they suspect that I failed to receive my billing statement. The question is, are they doing something about it or they really want to save a lot of trees?... which is a good cause by the way.

Nearing the end of my third month as a subscriber, my billing statement is still nowhere to be found… I guess I won’t pay this month’s bill again and just pay it after two months. I am too trying very much to save those trees… and save the world.