Dear Editor,
In a letter under the caption “Phone companies should give incentives to loyal customers” (07.02.28) K. Persaud surmised that satisfied customers of the phone companies would spread good news about those companies.
Without any hesitation I want to believe that many persons would agree that Digicel has injected a breath of fresh air to the cellular phone market and customers may in fact want to spread glad tidings about that company.
Indeed, in preparation for its launch, Digicel effectively won the hearts of a large section of the public with its slogan “Expect More. Get More.” For me I can say that initially, and I want to emphasize that initially, I did get more from the company. They offered me a wider range of cheaper handsets to select from and the cost per call was also cheaper. Most of all they definitely improved on the quality of the transmission.
All of these are commendable, but I rather suspect that there is an ugly side of Digicel that we are yet to see. I want to believe that we will witness numerous Human Resources Management problems at that company. My assessment of a hidden ugliness of the company is based on an experience, which I outline below.
On 17-02-2007 I purchased a handset from the company. It worked well for that day only so I returned it on the next working day which was 19-02-2007. I was initially told that it would be repaired and returned to me on 22-02-2007 and then on 26-02-2007.
On 26-02-2007 when the company failed to keep its end of the bargain, I requested another hand set and when that request was not satisfied, I requested a cash refund. I was quite nicely told that it is against company policy to make cash refunds.
Naturally, I became upset and dissatisfied and requested an audience with the General Manager or some other person in authority for an explanation of the ‘No Refund Policy.’ To date I have been unsuccessful and I get the distinct impression that it is their policy also, not to interface with dissatisfied customers.
It is quite baffling as to why the GM and his team have refused to meet with me. They have even refused to respond to my written correspondence and I deem that to be arrogant, disrespectful and unmannerly.
However, I wish to let them know that hiding will do them no good. After all, Adam tried to hide from God. Nebuchadnezzar tried to hide from the people. Saddam Hussein tried to hide from the Americans, and for many years Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling of Enron tried to hide their sinful business dealings. So! I don’t know why Digicel’s top brass think they can hide from me. They told me to expect more and I did get more for a short while. Right now I am getting nothing, because they have their phone and my money and that is very, very unfair indeed.
Yours faithfully,
Francis Carryl
Editor’s note
We sent a copy of this letter to Mr Alex Graham, the Public Relations Officer for Digicel for his comments and received the following response from Mr Sherif El Fayoumi, the Sales Director for Digicel Guyana:
“Thank you for the opportunity to reply to Mr. Carryl’s letter.
We are very sorry that Mr. Carryl had the particular experiences which he detailed in his letter.
Digicel prides itself in providing the best possible Customer Care 24 hours a day every day. As such we expect that all of our customers will get solutions to problems experienced with any product or service we provide.
All Digicel branded stores and outlets are operated by independent contractors. As a result, Mr. Carryl’s request to speak with the General Manager could have been construed as a request to speak with the General Manager of the Store and not the General Manager of Digicel itself. Nevertheless we take full responsibility for what our customers experience.
We sincerely apologize for the treatment and the inconvenience experienced by Mr. Carryl and we are ready to meet with him and to resolve the difficulties with his handset. Please ask Mr. Carryl to call 223-6531 and ask for Sherif El Fayoumi.
All of our customers can call our Customer Care team at telephone number 100 anytime of day or night and receive support for any problems they encounter.”