Pardon Me BPI Master Card

It was good thing we have blogging nowadays because we have venue to express ourselves rather than just pout in a corner or burn energies as we fume with madness because no one wants to hear our valid complaints.

I got a very bad experience this morning regarding my e-credit card with BPI (Bank of the Phil. Island) Master Card. This e-credit is separate from my regular credit card because I must admit I still don't trust the web for my credit card number. The card has expired in Dec. 2005 and 'til now BPI-MC hasn't replaced it yet despite my prior notice on Dec.7 that I will need it in January. I was given a reference number then to follow-up for the availability of the card because there seemed to be a "production shortage" according to the lady customer service rep.

I called its 89-100 hotline this morning to inquire on the card, hoping at least that I could get a new number and use it today to pay for my domain name renewal. But, a customer rep. told me there's still no available card and number yet and I can't use this one because it's expired and so she gave me another reference number so I could follow-up again.

In short, I couldn't use it when I needed it most. While, conveniently, BPI-MC has charged me already this year's membership fee in advance, not to mention I just paid for this month and I couldn't afford to miss a day and deal with the penalty and other charges. I started to get a bit tensed and asked the lady where I could raise my complaint because I felt it was valid - I have been a responsible paying customer for years and so I expect the same promptness and professionalism from BPI-MC.

I was given a telephone # of the officer in charge of credit card production, a certain Tess Copo. I was passed from one department to another and when it came to her desk she was nowhere. I tried two more times but busy, busy, busy. I gave up since I still got work to do.

I felt so helpless and left with two choices: make a persistent followup calls or just wait 'til it's available. It is so saddening that customers/consumers, especially in the Philippines, always end up helpless or left with unfavorable choices. I wonder how we enforce Consumer Rights in this country and how companies respond.