I bought our pair of Globe Kababayan OFW SIM pack so I could save more than my previous monthly maintaining balance of Php200.00. With my normal Globe SIM card, I should maintain a balance of Php100.00 just so the roaming would remain active and I could always receive my wife’s text messages. However, my credit load would always expire after 15 days so each half of the month, my credit with be lost in oblivion so my wife would have to load another Php100.00 to my number just so the roaming services would remain active. Failing to do so would mean disconnection within 48 hours and it would take another eternity of follow-ups with Globe customer service before the line would be restored.
When I went to the Philippines last January, my wife and I were obliged to buy the Globe Kababayan OFW SIM Pack because according to Globe, there is no maintaining balance for roaming. Here’s what Globe has to say in their website:
OFW SIM Pack
Hatid ng Globe Kababayan ang pinakabago nitong offering for OFWs and their families – the OFW SIM Pack! Ang OFW SIM Pack ay isang discounted pre-packed multi-SIM bundle for the OFW Family. Laman nito ang isang (1) OFW SIM na may zero maintaining balance for roaming at isang (1) OFW Family SIM para sa mga loved ones na naririto sa Pilipinas.Kasama pa nito and One Ayala Card Coupon na nagbibigay ng special offers from BPI, One Ayala and Globe.PhP120 lang ito per pack!
Before I left for China, I load an initial credit of Php100.00 and activated the roaming service as instructed. There hasn’t been any problem when I arrived in China, however a time came that I had to use my credit to send text messages to my wife so I have used all Php100.00 credits in four messages because it a single text message would you Php25.00 while in roaming. A few hours later, I received a text notification from Globe that I have to load at least the minimum credit to my number for the roaming service to remain active. Surprised, I informed my wife to call Globe customer service to check why I would be required a maintaining balance when I am using the Globe Kababayan OFW SIM pack. Not surprisingly, the customer service representative my wife had talked with said “wait nalang po ng 24 hours.” But you know what “24 hours” really mean right? It took another eternity for the line to be re-activated so I asked my wife to load the minimum amount to my number.
It happened again. My balance was used, my line deactivated, my wife called the customer service and the agent said “wait nalang po ng 24 hours.”
I checked my old SIM – the regular SIM card – and it’s still active despite the lost of balance for a few days. Wow!
If my wife and most of our relatives in the Philippines are not using Globe SIMs, I would have switched to SMART because according to a fellow OFW in Hangzhou, his SMART SIM remains active even without any load. He has only loaded the initial amount and when it was consumed, he never loaded any amount again but the roaming remains active.
What would Globe want to say now, huh? Between your legs? Whoever is the endorses of this SIM pack, you better hide between your legs as well because your credibility has already been stained.
…
