Dear Asus, Please hire a human common sense, thank you!

This Asus "In Search of the Incredible" K555L is my third Asus laptop. It was probably in 2006 when I first bought an Asus. I left it in my office, and was wet the following day as storm water splashed through the glass windows left partially open. I worried it would be the end of the gadget, but the office IT suggested I leave it under sun shine to dry. After a few hours, it is up and running. You've won a loyal customer.

I was even able to sell it 4 years later, still in good condition, as I bought another model at that time: Asus Power Gear 4.
It worked until it blacked out in February this year. When I went to the Metro (as I have become a rural resident since 2010), I was contemplating between a Macbook, and - yes - an Asus. The saleslady (this time I believe I did not use half of my common sense) vetoed my apple choice, and suggested Asus is better, with its 2-year parts and service warranty. I also saw a previous Asus advertisement - or I am not sure anymore but it was my son who showed the video to me- of how sturdy it is and all, the one which was thrown down from up above.

To make it short, I bought another Asus at Market Market!'s Abenson store. In the 31st of January, 2016.

By late May, the rotator portion (the middle bend) started misbehaving - it will not close properly. By June, it cracked. Then, it fell off eventually. With screws falling off also. I travelled 12 hours (daytime) by bus from Vigan to have it checked at Abenson's after they told me to bring it to their store as it was still covered with warranty. Then, when I brought it there, the sales person in-charge said I would need to bring it to MSI-ECS which was 2-commute-rides away from Market! Market!

I called the MSI number they gave and the staff who answered told me that indeed, the flex / rotator problem was still covered and will be repaired for free. In fact, he added that it was a common complaint from Asus K55L customers.

 

After I logged in the details of my product complaint and was talking to the MSI staff, I was informed by the male staff that it would take 3-4 days to diagnose the unit. I told them it does not need diagnosing, as the only problem I had was its rotator / flex cap, and showed them it was broken. It cannot be done without the total diagnosis, he replied. Then, he told me that it will probably take 3 weeks to have the material replaced.

I tried to absorb the information and told them, it was fine with me, I will just return when the replacement is already sent by Asus main. Then, they said I would need to leave to them my notebook... I explained my predicament, that my laptop is the gadget of my entire livelihood, and that I cannot do without it.

They said it was SOP. Standard operational procedure.

I suggested that they expplain it to their human counterparts at Asus. "I am sure you are dealing with humans."

"It cannot be," the female staff said. "They require that the unit be here when the replacement is requested."

"You can make the request now, that the unit is here," I said.

"No, the unit has to be here when the replacement is delivered," she replied.

"Are you trying to discourage me to avail of the free warranty?" I asked.

The lady just kept repeating it was the standard procedure.

"When I called, your staff said that this is already a common problem, I am sure that since you are dealing with digital technology, you have an idea of how many Asus K555L you were able to sell, and with the knowledge that this rotator cap is problematic, you should have at least made an estimate and requested for stock of that rotator cap in order to streamline your service. And now, you are telling me you have to detain my source of livelihood for 3 weeks? What am I supposed to do then during that 3 weeks? SUggest this to your boss, or the humans you deal with at Aus," I said.

She only gave me the Asus number. No human contacts, just a phone number. 

Ergo, will I have to repeat the same stories again and again? Humans - well, the ones with common sense intelligence, will know how to shorten and make things a lot easier than this. It's like calling any other customer service hotline of main brands. You get passed on to different robotic humans because AFTER they get your personal details, they'll only tell you the person in-charge is in another local number or different department, or any other different station in life that I need to be passed on, and on, and on.

I hate digital. We start to act like robots are our bosses. I hope I am wrong that the Asus manpower lacks human brains and human common sense. Otherwise, I would need to reconsider my laptop brand, very badly. Maybe, we need a NEW human relations, and customer service system.

Update: September 12, 2016

After contacting Asus through their website via email, I was able to present my case, and the CSR told me to go ahead and negotiate with the service center branch. The service center confirmed that instead of the 3 weeks time of detaining the unit, they now can "rush" diagnosis of the unit within one day, and they can now process ordering replacement of parts even if the unit will be brought out by the customer. I am then asked to simply return the unit once a replacement part has arrived. 

This is a lot of improvement.

Thank you, Asus for returning humans in your system.

For the Pro-Responsible Mining Students of the Philippines

This referes to the article that blasts the DENR Secretary.

My dears, there is the so-called Cost-benefit analysis, and globalisation. To buy yourself a metal pot, why, we have an over-supply in Chinese stores! But I'd prefer the Camel brand, for durability. I do not know what's wrong with you or where under the rocks in Bikini Bottom have you been hiding?

I am ashamed of you children. You make your grandma want to to swallow those herbal pills, for once.

The Most Dangerous Place is NOT the Philippines

I really do not know where "journalists" get their data but to call Philippines the "most dangerous place in the world" is a lie.

The Yahoo version even used a pic of incoming President Rodrigo Duterte to further add provocation to an already damaged media-presidency relations. And I'd say it's the media ego at play again. Because let's face it, major and mainstream media are business entities that have their own interests to protect, so, they are - most of the time - biased. And in times that they are not, they are ego-tripping, if not working. The third, of course, is the last resort for being in the media at all.

In this age of social media and comedy, we  seem to be just poking fun at things, including - reporting, and the presidency, or elections and the COMELEC. We cannot help it. Truth and objectivity has become so rare, they can hardly be found in major news outlets.

For Linette Lopez and Amanda Macias of Business Insider, let me give you a list of the most dangerous places in the world as of press time (my press time, of course):
1. Most Dangerous Cities 
This list does not even have Caloocan or Pasay in its top 50, dears. So, get on with it and please, if you can, STOP being so damned stupid.
2. 15 Most Dangerous Places
Lists Sana'a, Yemen, Cape Town, South Africa; Grand Canyon, Arizona; Danakil Desert, Ehiopia; Naples, Italy; Maceio, Brazinl; Baghdad, Iraq; Huntington Ravine Headwall – New Hampshire; Southern Tunisia;  Guatemala; Mogadishu – Somalia; Istanbul – Turkey;   Chihuahua – Mexico; Java and Sumatra – Indonesia, and San Pedro Sula – Honduras for various natural and political reasons. Once again, Manila or Pasay were not included. Or even Davao for that matter.

So, ladies, become the ladies that you should be, and go shopping instead.

Setting Up a Small Business in the Philippines

Philippines is a very small country of more than seven thousand islands. It's government is considered one of the most corrupt in Asia and the people just queue and complain...  Everywhere, including the processing of small - as in $500 worth of - business' permits.

There are at least a thousand and three requirements in order to legally set up and operate a $500 worth of small business. That above is an actual checklist in a small municipality for registering a new or renewing a business permit. And you get to this list after obtaining a business name. At least, registering no longer requires having an interview with all-knowing clerks (they will decide how much is your capital in setting up the business, and some other things like your projected income.)

If you happen to register a business name and will not immediately pursue your business permit and Bureau of Internal Revenue within a month (you have to complete all those forms and their agencies' requirements before getting to BIR, no different from a madman's obstacle race), then you become an instant delinquent! But BIR will not give you any idea how to get out of the delinquent stage except to pay, pay, and pay for abstracted violations and monetized penalties.

To the BIR Commissioner, All Mayors, and the Legislative Branch of the Philippines,

Do you know that we, small business owners and taxpayers, often start up small, with about a capital of P2,000 or up to P20,000 only? Buildings or shops and establishments cannot be rented out, borrowed, or which rent was only loaned. (to be continued)...

Dear Mr. Mark Zuckerberg

Mr. Mark Zuckerberg
FaceBook

Dear Mr. Zuckerberg:

I am a struggling freelancer managing small online businesses. Sometime in July, or August, I tried your FaceBook ads, placing a daily budget of $1/day for 10 days. Then, I made another ad, this time a $1/day ad for 15 days, and another $1/day for 15 days...

The following are what FaceBook charged me:

I filed for dispute at Paypal, and then, I was charged this:

I was expecting to be charged a TOTAL of $40 USD and FaceBook charged me a total of US$ 148?
I earn very little from these online businesses. The $148 total you took from me takes about 3 months to accumulate. And you took more than $100 away for things that ONLY FaceBook knows about?

Isn't this a shame?

Signed and with much regret,

The Nasty

More Fun to be Homeless

The recent UN report on the top homeless countries is not only a huge humiliation but a reflection of the Penoy-Senators-Congressmen-Napoles morbidity of the state of this nation. We have the nerve to call this a country? A nation? It's a despicable slum, not the gate, but hell itself.
To pretend like princesses, queens, and royalty

amidst the homelessness, massive plunder of the masses' daily taxes, protection of the rich, widening gap between rich and poor...


calls for a very strategic revolution to STOP the madness. All Filipinos who feel in their minds and in their sanity that this country needs a revamp in the most effective, surest manner, should unite.

Bad Design

Mr. Bill Moggridge discussed good and bad design in this video. And now that I have a fair idea what's bad design, I will tell you one... Smart Money.It's credit card gone masa or bullish. First, it was appealing, considering that banks did not believe you exist with income if you did not have a minimum of Philippine peso 100K held with them (like time deposit). Previously. With Smart Money, all you need was around 120 bucks, P500 for Banco de Oro deposit (as payment - they have long, nasty, winding, a-mazingly tangled lines and if you weren't sure of the line you queued on, then, you better duct tape your mouth before you get to the front line... just to learn you will need to queue to another).

So, now, after filling up the form, you can either get a Smart Money card instantly, or, in my case, buy another for your spouse, or son, or daughter, for additional 120 something bucks, and wait for eternity... Close. Maybe, around 3 months.

The tragedy about the design that befall me is that it was near the end of the month, and end-of-the-month bills are mounting.

So, I had to withdraw money from Smart... Thing is, the brochure and website says you can use your password (placed during signing up process with the customer service rep) to do all, including online and withdrawals, to receive money via the ATM. Otherwise, it was not stated clearly that it should not have been the case.

But you have their smart money hotline to call... And you cannot call with your smart phone if you only have text loads, or less than 30 bucks. You have to load.

Also, you have to load a minimum of 30 bucks in order to activate the smart money feature.

You need to load to call their hotline, yeah, talk about highway robbery through and through.

In my case (this happened July 28, 2013, to be exact, they say they have a recorded conversation, so, this is verifiable), I loaded with P300 card load. To call their hotline. And I was able to connect, but the first thing I asked was if that call was charged because I was using a smart SIM, and the CSR assured me, no, i was not being charged for that call.

But I'll tell you, I called 3 times more (consecutively) to get my money, and the last call, I was cut, because my P300 bucks is consumed!

I called their hotline - in the first place, AFTER I failed to withdraw from their BDO ATM using smart money card. I learned that afternoon that there was a different (remember this) PIN for ATM smart money, and that there is a DEFAULT PIN for all. Imagine this - if I were a hacker, I'd steal all the smart money card of unwitting thifts!

But since I consumed my 3 allowed attempts, my card was BLOCKED!

But don;t worry, the CSR once again assured me. You can send your money to another smart SIM you know of, and they can withdraw it at the nearest smart money center. Seconds after the transfer.

I did just that and the next day, the spouse queued to "claim" the money.

And yes, he was sold ANOTHER smart money card to claim MY money!

The second question I have for them is: what will a family use a lot of smart money cards for?

The only answer I can rationally think of is - the better of which they sell more.

Lousy answer if you want to know the truth.

So, it took three months to wait for that damned DUMB card.

The other tragedy was that - their CSR cannot do anything to alter the situation. But they will not facilitate your request to hasten their process as well. We've just been populated (don;t you like this microsoft word - populated?) by robots and they rule... God bless humanity.