My Experience with Passport Direct / Pilipinas Teleserv, Inc. so far
Okay naman siya sa simula. Nag-apply ako for renewal online. Mabilis lang. Pwede kang pumili kelan mo gusto ipapick-up mga requirements at yung current passport, at kung kelan yung personal appearance mo sa DFA (magkaibang araw). Kailangan kasi personal appearance para sa mga nag-aapply para sa bagong machine-readable passport.
Sounds easy and convenient, right? Pick-up from, and delivery, to your home, plus priority lane during DFA personal appearance. Perhaps Php 1300 is a decent price to pay for your time and convenience. The day before the requirements pickup, as well as the day before my scheduled personal appearance, I called up their hotline just to confirm. The call center agents were courteous enough.
Personal appearance day - aba, sobrang convenient. My mom accompanied me and we simply went through the priority lane entrance for Pilipinas Teleserv. We walked through the narrow street towards the DFA building, where a Pilipinas Teleserv representative took my name and asked us to take a seat and wait for our name to be called. So far so good. Sandali lang kami naghintay, mga 15 minutes palang tinawag na ako at kumuha lang sila thumbprints at pina-check ang personal information kung tama kasi yun ang lalabas sa passport. Tama naman. Yun lang, tapos na ang personal appearance. It was really convenient especially after seeing the seemingly madhouse of applicants and fixers outside. Not to mention the unrelenting heat of the sun.
The scheduled delivery date (appointed by the website) was May 2. It was impossible for me to work from home that day so I had it rescheduled to May 3 (Saturday) the week before. The hotline was accommodating enough and changed the delivery date. May 2, I called up the hotline to confirm that my passport would be delivered the next day. Dito nagsimula ang gulo. Sabi ng agent, di pa daw narerelease ng DFA ang passport ko. Syempre nadisappoint ako pero di na ako nagtaka sa gobyerno. Advise ng agent na tumawag nalang ako after 10pm kasi dun lang na-uupdate systems nila, baka magreflect ang updates.
Tumawag ako 10:30pm, sabi ng call center agent wala pa rin, di pa rin daw narerelease ang passport. Tinanong ko kung ma-release ba bukas eh madedeliver yun? Sabi sa akin imposible, the next day na. Naniwala naman ako. Wala namang dahilan para hindi, di ba? Kaya nakatatak sa isip ko, wala na talagang pag-asa na matanggap ko yung passport sa May 3 as scheduled. Malinaw naman usapan namin, di ba?
Kaya ngayon, Sabado, May 3. Nagpa-APE (annual physical exam) nalang ako. Tapos biglang pagkatapos ng APE may nakita akong text at tawag galing sa isang unknown number. Hinanap pala ako nung magdedeliver ng passport sana. Inisip ko, akala ko ba hindi madedeliver ngayon kasi hindi pa narerelease? Ano yun, hindi sila coordinated ng courier? Hindi updated ang records nila? Ano ba talaga?
Pagkauwi tumawag ako sa hotline ng Pilipinas Teleserv para ipa-reschedule ang delivery. Dito ako nainis, kasi siya pa may ganang tarayan ako, eh ako na nga ang medyo na-hassle sa itong mix-up na kagagawan nila.
First of all, I am still the customer. I deserve your respect, lalo na't never naman ako nagtaray o nagsalita na may halong inis sa tono (kahit may karapatan ako dahil sa nangyari). Kinuwento ko ang pagtawag ko twice the day before at yung parehong sinabi sa akin na hindi pa narerelease ng DFA ang passport ko kaya imposibleng madeliver today. Sagot sa akin, naka-out na raw ang passport kasi ngayon nakaschedule for delivery. Aba, sabi pa sa akin (di ko na maalala ang saktong mga salita pero parang): "eh kung hindi sure ang nakausap niyo kagabi na hindi pa narerelease ang passport eh bakit naka-note dito na i-ensure ang delivery today?"
Inisip ko, "aba malay ko, hindi naman sarili ko kausap ko kagabi, at kasalanan ko ba na naniwala ako sa agent niyo?! Malinaw ang usapan namin - hindi raw madedeliver ngayong araw kasi nga hindi pa narerelease. Kung isipin natin, malamang imposible na ngang madeliver di ba kasi di pa nakalabas sa DFA?" Syempre di ko sinabi yun, disente akong tao eh, at di naman ako naghahanap ng away kahit naiirita na ako. Inexplain ko nalang ulit na yun nga ang sinabi sa akin. Di ko na maalala ano pa pagtataray niya pero lang ha, sobrang hindi professional. Pina-reschedule ko nalang sa May 7 (Wednesday) kasi dun ako work from home. Balitaan ko nalang kayo kung dumating nga sa Wednesday. Tinext ko din ang nagtext sa akin about the delivery nung umaga, sinabi ko ring Wednesday nalang imbes na Monday, sumagot naman. Sana nga lang maalala. Naninigurado lang ako, pero dapat Wednesday na rin naka-reflect sa records ng Pilipinas Teleserv.
Sayang. Ok na sana eh. Ok talaga simula hanggang gitna. Biglang sumablay sa dulo. Nakakainis lang ang tarayan ka na parang kasalanan mo pa at sobrang accusatory ang tono (ako naman daw nagschedule). Tsaka passport ko yan - importante yan. Hawak nila ang luma at bagong passport ko eh.
My only regret was not being able to get the names of the agents I spoke with. I guess in the heat of things it's not something I would exactly remember.
Thank God passports are renewed only every 5 years. And next time, I do know better.
To all who plan to avail of Passport Direct's/Pilipinas Teleserv's services, may you learn from my lesson, too.
[Update - 03/05/2008] I called up the hotline to verify the re-scheduled delivery of my passport on Wednesday, and guess what, the "taray queen" didn't even note it in their records! May 3 pa rin daw nakalagay na delivery. If I didn't call to check, I would have probably waited and waited for nothing. This time, I noted the name of the agent - Jamie - who said she'll ensure the delivery on Wednesday.
Sounds easy and convenient, right? Pick-up from, and delivery, to your home, plus priority lane during DFA personal appearance. Perhaps Php 1300 is a decent price to pay for your time and convenience. The day before the requirements pickup, as well as the day before my scheduled personal appearance, I called up their hotline just to confirm. The call center agents were courteous enough.
Personal appearance day - aba, sobrang convenient. My mom accompanied me and we simply went through the priority lane entrance for Pilipinas Teleserv. We walked through the narrow street towards the DFA building, where a Pilipinas Teleserv representative took my name and asked us to take a seat and wait for our name to be called. So far so good. Sandali lang kami naghintay, mga 15 minutes palang tinawag na ako at kumuha lang sila thumbprints at pina-check ang personal information kung tama kasi yun ang lalabas sa passport. Tama naman. Yun lang, tapos na ang personal appearance. It was really convenient especially after seeing the seemingly madhouse of applicants and fixers outside. Not to mention the unrelenting heat of the sun.
The scheduled delivery date (appointed by the website) was May 2. It was impossible for me to work from home that day so I had it rescheduled to May 3 (Saturday) the week before. The hotline was accommodating enough and changed the delivery date. May 2, I called up the hotline to confirm that my passport would be delivered the next day. Dito nagsimula ang gulo. Sabi ng agent, di pa daw narerelease ng DFA ang passport ko. Syempre nadisappoint ako pero di na ako nagtaka sa gobyerno. Advise ng agent na tumawag nalang ako after 10pm kasi dun lang na-uupdate systems nila, baka magreflect ang updates.
Tumawag ako 10:30pm, sabi ng call center agent wala pa rin, di pa rin daw narerelease ang passport. Tinanong ko kung ma-release ba bukas eh madedeliver yun? Sabi sa akin imposible, the next day na. Naniwala naman ako. Wala namang dahilan para hindi, di ba? Kaya nakatatak sa isip ko, wala na talagang pag-asa na matanggap ko yung passport sa May 3 as scheduled. Malinaw naman usapan namin, di ba?
Kaya ngayon, Sabado, May 3. Nagpa-APE (annual physical exam) nalang ako. Tapos biglang pagkatapos ng APE may nakita akong text at tawag galing sa isang unknown number. Hinanap pala ako nung magdedeliver ng passport sana. Inisip ko, akala ko ba hindi madedeliver ngayon kasi hindi pa narerelease? Ano yun, hindi sila coordinated ng courier? Hindi updated ang records nila? Ano ba talaga?
Pagkauwi tumawag ako sa hotline ng Pilipinas Teleserv para ipa-reschedule ang delivery. Dito ako nainis, kasi siya pa may ganang tarayan ako, eh ako na nga ang medyo na-hassle sa itong mix-up na kagagawan nila.
First of all, I am still the customer. I deserve your respect, lalo na't never naman ako nagtaray o nagsalita na may halong inis sa tono (kahit may karapatan ako dahil sa nangyari). Kinuwento ko ang pagtawag ko twice the day before at yung parehong sinabi sa akin na hindi pa narerelease ng DFA ang passport ko kaya imposibleng madeliver today. Sagot sa akin, naka-out na raw ang passport kasi ngayon nakaschedule for delivery. Aba, sabi pa sa akin (di ko na maalala ang saktong mga salita pero parang): "eh kung hindi sure ang nakausap niyo kagabi na hindi pa narerelease ang passport eh bakit naka-note dito na i-ensure ang delivery today?"
Inisip ko, "aba malay ko, hindi naman sarili ko kausap ko kagabi, at kasalanan ko ba na naniwala ako sa agent niyo?! Malinaw ang usapan namin - hindi raw madedeliver ngayong araw kasi nga hindi pa narerelease. Kung isipin natin, malamang imposible na ngang madeliver di ba kasi di pa nakalabas sa DFA?" Syempre di ko sinabi yun, disente akong tao eh, at di naman ako naghahanap ng away kahit naiirita na ako. Inexplain ko nalang ulit na yun nga ang sinabi sa akin. Di ko na maalala ano pa pagtataray niya pero lang ha, sobrang hindi professional. Pina-reschedule ko nalang sa May 7 (Wednesday) kasi dun ako work from home. Balitaan ko nalang kayo kung dumating nga sa Wednesday. Tinext ko din ang nagtext sa akin about the delivery nung umaga, sinabi ko ring Wednesday nalang imbes na Monday, sumagot naman. Sana nga lang maalala. Naninigurado lang ako, pero dapat Wednesday na rin naka-reflect sa records ng Pilipinas Teleserv.
Sayang. Ok na sana eh. Ok talaga simula hanggang gitna. Biglang sumablay sa dulo. Nakakainis lang ang tarayan ka na parang kasalanan mo pa at sobrang accusatory ang tono (ako naman daw nagschedule). Tsaka passport ko yan - importante yan. Hawak nila ang luma at bagong passport ko eh.
My only regret was not being able to get the names of the agents I spoke with. I guess in the heat of things it's not something I would exactly remember.
Thank God passports are renewed only every 5 years. And next time, I do know better.
To all who plan to avail of Passport Direct's/Pilipinas Teleserv's services, may you learn from my lesson, too.
[Update - 03/05/2008] I called up the hotline to verify the re-scheduled delivery of my passport on Wednesday, and guess what, the "taray queen" didn't even note it in their records! May 3 pa rin daw nakalagay na delivery. If I didn't call to check, I would have probably waited and waited for nothing. This time, I noted the name of the agent - Jamie - who said she'll ensure the delivery on Wednesday.