Last 16 Dec 2011, I emailed the Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) with regards to several inconveniences I had personally experienced being a first-time ePass System user. Let me share with you the texts of my email to DTI:
Hi there! I am writing to you as an ePass Customer. I had recently bought an ePass tag kit, thinking that it will be more of a convenience to me, especially that the Skyway started charging the exits at Villamor Air Base / NAIA Terminal 3 going to Makati — which is my usual route going home from work. Appreciate if you can respond to this items the soonest possible time:
~ The day after I purchased my ePass tag kit at Shell Magallanes, I tried calling the Customer Hotline 776.7676 to inquire if my account has been activated already, but to no avail! It keeps on ringing and ringing. Thus, I opted to send the customer service email found at your website, and up to this very date, nor an acknowledgement receipt of my message was received from them. Very bad experience for a first time (and excited) ePass customer/user.
~ Why are there NO dedicated ePass lane(s) at the exits towards Makati? The ePass lanes indicate CASH/EPASS, whereas there are three (03) lanes in that area.
~ Most of the time when I pass by this area, my ePass tag kit is indeed read by your scanners at the toll booth, however, the barrier will simply NOT go up. The most recent one was last night, the toll booth teller even told me, "Sir, wala pong load ang ePass ninyo!" — I responded to her that it is rather IMPOSSIBLE, as I had topped up earlier yesterday with PHP500 worth of ePass load (and there’s something like PHP1,000++ of ePass load left prior to that reloading). On the very first week when I started using my ePass tag, there was even a time I was asked to pay PHP35 at the Skyway-NAIA Exit since your sensors were unable to read my tag kit. To my surprise, after paying the toll and passing through the barrier, the ePass tag kit sounded a "beep" — meaning I was charged, AGAIN! I did not complained, it’s just PHP35 anyway …
I do not experience the same inconvenience I encounter most of the time at these newly opened exits and any other Skyway exits, more particular at the Merville Exit.
I will wait for your prompt response and action on this matter. If there are technical difficulties at the newly opened exits along the Skyway-NAIA, you better check it out the soonest. Based on your website, using the ePass tag kits will lessen the time you spend at the Skyway exits, but what is happening is the exact opposite — it takes a minute or two before I can finally get through that exit!
My message was sent to [email protected] copy-furnished [email protected].
The only response I got from Skyway O&M was through this:
I have already coordinated the matter with the systems provider. They are now working on the software change to correct the problem.
"Sent via BlackBerry from Smart" {[email protected]} – I assume that this is from Mr. Ed Nepomuceno.
Then, just minutes ago, I received an email message from DTI and they had attached to it the response of Skyway O&M regarding my concerns:
Mr. Ramon Borromeo, what I did not liked about your response to DTI was this:
We are disappointed that Mr. Reyes does not take the time to inform government officials like your good self that complaints he writes about had eventually been addressed by us considering almost all of them were acted upon by us within twenty four (24) hours or even less.
Mr. Borromeo, sorry if my act of sending an email to DTI offended you. But what else do I have to do? If your office was kind enough to advise me of the concrete actions you will take (within 24 hours or less after you had read my complaints), then what is it for me to write the DTI Secretary an email for? Composing an email to a Cabinet Secretary is always my last resort if my issues fall on deaf ears. Please tell your personnel to better shape up, most-especially now that I heard MVP bought stake at the Skyway Corporation.