Globe tightens rules on 3rd parties to protect vs ‘nakaw-load’

MANILA, Philippines— Ayala-led Globe Telecom has announced tighter rules for its 3rd-party value-added service  providers (VAS)  to guard against unscrupulous practices.

Such practices result in prepaid load deduction which customers often mistake as nakaw or stolen load.

“Unknown load deductions happen when customers click on an online advertisement link or button of VAS providers,” Globe said in a statement on February 2.

The telco noted that as a rule, customers should get a verification code via SMS on how to opt-in, and then another SMS for successful subscription and cancellation instructions. However, there are instances when partners circumvent the rule, thus, automatically enrolling the customers without consent.

“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 aware that they are signing up for VAS subscription which entails charges,” said Globe general counsel Froilan Castelo.

The stricter rules were spurred in part by the experience of a prepaid cusomer aired on social media, about load deduction from a VAS provider, GotDeals Mobile, Incorporated.

Globe said that GotDeals issued a public apology after a customer complained about alleged load theft on social media, and took full responsibility for the incident.  “We have rectified the issue to ensure that it will not happen again,” GotDeals said.

The telco also encouraged customers to report unwarranted load deductions on VAS services so these incidents can be investigated and properly addressed.

“We will not hesitate to impose sanctions against those vendors or partners who are found guilty. Please reach out to @talk2globe via Twitter, Globe Telecom official Facebook page, and customer hotlines 211 (mobile) and 730-1000 (landline),” Castelo said.

The telco noted that upon receipt of any push text message with an access code, customers can text HELP to the access code number to verify service status, then text STOP to discontinue the service.

Globe also has a prepaid load notification service called Load Watch to help prepaid mobile customers get real time balance and updates on usage of their load. – Rappler.com