Smart Bro Postpaid Internet Account Change Advance Fee Refund Fail

Be warned before you make changes to your account if you are subscribed to Smart Bro Internet service!

Okay, enough with the dramatic intro. But yet, do be warned in case you are planning to update your account information for a Smart Bro Postpaid Internet service. You don’t want to go through the same hassle as I did and still going through right now.

What I wanted was to simply change the account name. That is different from changing it online. The web based data is only for viewing your statement through the Internet and doesn’t affect the actual account on their database per se.

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The actual process of changing the account name was completed fast. But the problem follows after the task was done. Switching account holder names would mean updating the account number as well. The old account will be cancelled and a new one will be assigned. It sounded simple. But…here comes to revelation, there will be an advance deposit which will be collected for the process! During the previous account, there was an advanced fee equivalent to a whole month’s bill as well.

But what happens to the advance fee from the former account that was cancelled? Supposedly, it will be carried over to the new account. But it didn’t. It was my fault in a sense because I requested for a refund instead. This was easily processed too. But there was a waiting period for the money to be approved and released. It was wwaayy too long.

The whole dilemma started November of 2012. What appeared fast, i.e. switching account name and then requesting for refund apparently became rreeaallyy slow now since the money is nowhere to be found. Problem is; I already lost the letter certifying that I have a pending refund request to be paid yet.

I attempted to email Smart through their web portal contact info. A representative did reply, verified my account, confirmed that my request for refund was processed, and claimed that the money was credited to the new account. No it wasn’t. The agent promised to follow up the case. As you would guess, there is still no resolution to this problem to this day.

It had been over 5 months and counting for a very simple request. I never thought it would this complicated to simply change the account name. This is isn’t about the money anymore but the company’s failure to respond to a seemingly very simple request. So if you’re planning to do the same, be wary else you will go through the same issue as I did!