Dear Editor,
My business, operating under the name Reno and Sons Super store at Lot 1, Public Road, Suddie, Essequibo Coast is the largest within the neighbourhood there.
Since October, 14, 2005, I was requested by GT&T to pay $13,000.00 which I did, receipt No. 391757 to benefit from the service after being given a number 774-4038 on an official document by the company.
From then on to now after more than a year the service is still to be provided with no explanation for the protracted delay.
No business entity can be economically viable without customers and the neglect being shown to me leaves much to be desired.
The company needs to do much better to maintain its reputation not by words but action.
Yours faithfully,
Raywattie Sookraj
Editor’s note
We sent a copy of this letter to Mr Oscar Clarke, Assistant Public Relations Officer at GT&T and received the following response:
“Thank you for giving us the opportunity to respond to the letter written by Ms Raywattie Sookraj on payment for telephone service for Reno & Sons Super-store, which to date has not been provided.
Please be assured that the Company does have a policy in which money for payment for service is collected only when facilities for that service to the customer are identified. Service after payment is a reasonable expectation and we must apologise for the disappointment experienced.
A background to the problem is necessary. Customers in the Essequibo have been served over the years by the Fixed Wireless System (FWA) which because of the wide radius of its coverage had helped to faster deploy service to customers.
However, shortly after selling service to Ms Sookraj and some others in 2005, we learnt from the suppliers that the FWA facilities were no longer being manufactured. It means that spares would not be available and therefore there could be no guarantee of effective maintenance. The problem would inevitably increase with every new service turned up. recognised its obligations to customers and made the decision to utilise the equipment in hand to carry out maintenance of existing facilities and placed the installation of new services on hold.
Notwithstanding this situation, our engineers immediately embarked on a rigorous search for a replacement solution which we felt would have been in place before the end of 2006. Unfortunately, this did not happen. We are advised, however, that they are on the brink of identifying a wireless solution which could provide both voice and data to customers along the Essequibo Coast and Islands before the end of 2007.
Meanwhile, our technicians have been asked to examine the possibility of having persons who have paid being provided with service from any existing FWA facilities nearby. Should any applicant for service demand it, GT&T is quite willing to refund any installation fees and service deposits which were paid, pending the implementation of the new technology.”
