Sun Cellular's 24/7 - Sulit! Kahit ...

After three days attempting to avail of Sun Cellular's 24/7 Call and Text Unlimited CTU) Service, my wife and I were finally able to use it last night.

And amidst all the confusion, congestion and weak signals, I can still describe the CTU service in one word: "Sulit" (in English, "Worth it" - but that's two words, and has less "dating").

Here are some ups and downs and some burns we've experienced basking in Sun Cellular's 24/7 Call and Text Unlimited (CTU) Promo...

• I bought a Sun SIM and had to familiarize myself with it by reading the manual. That's a big thing from an engineer like me, to read a manual. But, Sun is different from Globe and Smart and I had to learn quickly so I could use CTU immediately.
  
• I had a couple of questions. I tried to contact their Hotline (200) but it took too long for a human to answer (more than 5 minutes) so I just hang up.
  
• First problem I encountered: I didn't have any friends on Sun! hahaha!!!!!
  
• Next, I wasn't sure whether CTU was automatically loaded already or whether I should convert some of my load to CTU. Turns out they're still giving the 15 day promo to current buyers of new Sun SIMs. This is after the Oct 15 end of promo.
  
• Yesterday, Maya was in Cagayan De Oro. I called her from our Mandaluyong apartment building, talked for a minute, then checked if my load was reduced. Ayos, I'm on unlimited!
  
• We were on the phone exchanging stories for so long, my phone and ears were getting hot.
  
• And it's true, the call gets cut after 15 minutes. Then you'll have to make the call again. Okay lang if you have the patience. And I do, basta't libre.
  
• I had to make the calls at the laundry area of our apartment unit. The signal is better there. But because our calls were taking some time, I stepped inside to get a chair. Three strides into our house, the signal got weaker and the call got cut! Ha!
  
• I called her back and asked her to try calling me to see if she's on unlimited. This is where the biggest problem came up....
  
• She is able to send and receive text. She is able to receive calls. BUT, she could NOT make outgoing calls despite the full signal bar. She couldn't even call Sun's Hotline. The response is "Check operator services".
  
• I made a report to Sun today. A certain Mel entertained my call. (Oh, did I tell you it took four minutes before I got a human to answer?) Mel said, maybe it's just because of network congestion.
  
• I told Mel I don't think that's the problem. Last night, when I was making calls, I had to be patient, sometimes dialling more than 30 or 40 times before being able to connect. I would get a busy tone or "Please try your call later." But I never got the "Check operator services" notice.
  
• Mel said she has filed a report of our situation and that their technical people will look into it. Response time: 24-hours! hrmss... they're getting too used to 24 hours. Sobra na 'yan. :-p
  
• I told Mel I'd like to be contacted when they have a reply already. She said she'd get my contact numbers then put me on hold. Then I was on hold for another 3 minutes. I hung up.

I told Maya that if she still can't make calls by tomorrow, just change the SIM at a Sun shop.

Despite all these troubles, the service is still SULIT. Who can beat these unlimited calls? uh.... unlimited(?) ... Who can beat these FREE calls?

Sabi nga nila, "my favorite price is 'Free!' ".

- Edwin

Read: I'm so Cheapo It Hurts, other Sun Cellular articles, Technobiography in June