A Terrible Service Experience from GLO (Inhuman Customer Support Agents)


I should have written this message a long time ago but I was busy. Certain Glo customer support agents did something terrible to me and I decided to make it public.

OCTOBER 10, 2015
In Lagos, I was traveling from my house to another part of Lagos when a professional pickpocket stole my phone while I was in a bus. The phone contained a Glo (SIM 1) and an Etisalat (SIM 2). I called the phone with another number, but the thief refused to pick it.

When I got to my destination, I borrowed a phone from an acquaintance who happened to have Etisalat and Glo lines in his phone. I called both Etisalat and Glo customer agents and each one of them asked me to call back with these details:

The year I bought their line
The amount I loaded last
3 of my most called numbers
Or the package in the line.


I called back and provided the details and Etisalat blocked my Etisalat line. I was happy because the credit in it was protected and the thief wouldn’t be able to do anything funny with the line.

Unfortunately, Glo refused to block my Glo line. They told me the request to block the line was being processed. It was a Saturday afternoon, so the nearest Glo office might have closed for the day. I called them with borrowed Glo lines repeatedly throughout the day, but they refused to block the line.

I told them the logic was simple: Block the line now. On Monday, I’d go to a Glo office with all the required documents and have the number retrieved.” I also told them the danger of having my most important line in wrong hands.

I let them know that with the number:
The thieves could commit impersonation, identity theft, false claims and other kind of scams. They could say I’d an accident or got robbed or kidnapped and my friends and families must send money or credits to save me. Any of my people who saw the line would think it was me. They could commit any crimes with that number. Unthinkable things could be done when your prime number goes into wrong hands.

Yet Glo people kept deceiving me that they’d block it. After repeated calls on Sunday (October 11) they confessed they wouldn’t block it. I was frustrated. I told them that Etisalat blocked my line on a genuine request, but I was told: “This is Glo.”

What is the meaning of that? “This is Glo.” Does that mean they must do irrational things because they’re Glo? I begged them, but they refused. I reasoned with them to put themselves in my shoes: If they lost their phone on a weekend and their service provider failed to block the line, how would they feel?

The scoundrel that stole my phone refused to switch off the Glo line for roughly 2 days. He was receiving calls from my friends and family and acquaintances, telling them all sorts of rubbish, until I was able to retrieve the line.

I was highly disappointed in Glo. This is the line I used to open my savings, current and domiciliary accounts at GTBank and Ecobank. This is the line I use for SMS and Internet banking. This is the line I use for all my forums, online and online services accounts. This is the line I’ve been using for at least 11 years.

It was as if I was naked. I couldn’t sleep from Saturday until Monday morning, and the thief kept the line open, having used all the credits in it. It was as if I was naked. The line was more important to me than even a car. I called Glo countless times, but they refused to block the line.

If a serious crime was committed with that line, I’d have started a lawsuit against Glo.

If it’s not for the fact that I’ve been using the line for about 11 years and my people and friends home and abroad (including various services) have known me with the line, I’d never use it again. I’d never use Glo for voice calls again, except for the Internet browsing.

I’ve another Glo line which I use solely for Internet browsing, and I’ve noticed that whenever there’s an Internet problem, no matter how many times you call 444 or 121, the problem would never be rectified until Monday. So if you’re using only Glo for the Internet and there’s a problem on late Friday or Saturday or Sunday, you need to forget about any solution until Monday. They provided 24/7 Internet services, but it seems there are no personnel that can attend to Internet problems on weekends, thereby holding customers to ransom when problems happen on weekends.

This is the reason why I bought an Etisalat modem so that I can simply use it as soon as Glo has Internet problems.

I went to the nearest Glo office on Monday morning and I retrieved the line. I explained my ordeal to the lady that attended to me, but she said nothing. I was only a dog to her.

On monthly basis, I loaded at least N2000 worth of credit on Glo for voice calls and N5000 for their Internet services (N7000 per month: N84000 per annum, minimum). I was faithful to Glo for many years, even encouraging others to use their services. But what I could get in return was what happened on October 10, 2015.

Despite years of loyalty and consistent loading of credits, I got nothing in return except to be cajoled into loading more credits to win a car – something which chances are very slim.

We’re treated as assholes, yet their salaries are paid from our pockets. They waste lots of money on the so-called ambassadors who really add no value to their company. They treat them like kings and queens – and I won’t be surprised if they use Glo services free. Those who add value to their company in little and humble ways (buy buying credits often and often) are disregarded, downgraded and ignored when they need simple assistance like “Please block my line now, I’ll go to your office to retrieve it later.”

I and other millions of faithful customers use Glo and load credits regularly, helping them to rake in huge amounts of profits per month. Yet they treat us with disdain, like dogs. Most customer support agents, especially female, are terrible. I don’t have anything against women, for they’re our mothers, sisters, wives, nieces, daughters, friends, aunts, and cousins. I was just revealing my experiences with customer support people.

Clearly, some customer support agents are suffering from mental disorders (like ending calls abruptly while conversation is going on, though I need to also confess that Airtel customer support agents are extremely good at ending calls abruptly when serious conversations are going on, but they’d deny that vehemently). They’re hired based on ability to speak fluent English and because of degrees, but their brains aren’t tested to see that they’re mentally OK or they’ve sound minds. They aren’t tested to ensure whether they’re competent enough to know what they’re doing.

This is not the Glo I used to know 9 year ago. 9 years ago, someone lost his phone and called Glo customer care with another line. After he answered all security questions satisfactorily, the line was blocked. He then went to their office the next day and retrieved the line. I witnessed that first-hand.

A long time ago, I was glowing with pride. I was ruling my world. But now, I’ve been shown unlimited apathy, thick skin and disregard. I wonder how many customers suffer like this in silence.

I’m not using this as a means to elevate one service provider above the other, since other networks also have their antics. but I was highly disappointed in Glo. I still use Glo Internet services because they give generous data, plus their Internet service is fast and somewhat stable, but on the line in question, I won’t load more than N100 per month again… just to keep the line active because it’s connected to many things that have to do with my life. I load generous amounts of money on another network now.

If Glo management read this, they should imagine how many customers they fall into disfavor with, as a result of weird antics showcased by their customer support agents.