Dear Editor,
The new CEO of GT&T, Mr Yog Mahadeo, faces an uphill task in providing an acceptable level of service to landline telephone subscribers. I wish the government could immediately find a way to break the landline monopoly GT&T has on the telephone business in this country. Their mobile service was atrocious, to say the least, prior to the advent of Digicel. Today, there is competition galore to provide the best mobile service in the country. Thanks to Digicel and the versatile Blackberry, life has been made much easier.
But while there is massive improvement on the one hand, there is a persistence of poor service on the other hand. GT&T needs competition in the landline sector so that its service can be improved.
My home telephone went dead last weekend and I had to wait until last Monday morning to report the fault. The fault reporting department does not work on weekends and holidays, so you are on your own until the next working day.
I nevertheless tried calling the 3-digit GT&T fault reporting department number, using my Digicel number, but GT&T would not accept the call. This is simple rivalry! You can’t call that number using a Digicel phone or number.
On Monday, after two sessions lasting approximately 45 minutes each, using my office landline, I was finally successful in reaching someone at the GT&T fault reporting end. Probably, the guy who answered was at fault in picking up the phone or it was a fortunate coincidence for me that I was able to make contact with him at GT&T’s 097 number which seems out of order for most of the time. I was given reference number 1190750 and was told that the technicians will call or visit “within three working days.”
In calling that 097 number, you are continuously reminded by a recording that “Your call is important to us,” and that you should continue to hold the line since all the operators are busy. How much more foolish can a big corporate citizen like GT&T get?
They have you waiting for close to 90 minutes “because your call is important to us” and still cannot address your problem?
Wednesday, day number three, and after a further two days of trying the follow-up fault reporting number, 0907, a female answered, explained to me that the technicians had been informed of the problem with my phone and casually “apologized for the inconvenience,” the same way City Hall has done whilst the garbage piles mount and an influenza (dengue fever?) epidemic grips city folk. She did not say for sure when the technicians will visit although I was previously told “within 3 working days.” At the end of the third working day, the technicians remain invisible.
This nonsense about “three working days” must stop. People and businesses are being inconvenienced all because some companies elect not to have key personnel work during weekends and holidays. Imagine your telephone is down on a Friday afternoon, the following Monday is a holiday, you report your problem to GT&T on Tuesday (if you are fortunate to connect with someone at 097), the technicians are informed and you have to wait for another “three working days” to have your service restored –that is if you are lucky.
Telephone and internet services are no longer luxuries but rather basic necessities.
Mankind can no longer survive without this form of communication (probably with the exception of some working at GT&T). As a businessman, I also work from home in the evenings and this recent experience with GT&T has severely inconvenienced me.
The government must break GT&T landline monopoly. It will be for the betterment of all Guyanese.
While I wish Yog Mahadeo well, I can’t stand another City Hall.
Yours faithfully,
Mahadeo Panchu
