Dear Editor,
I have been a DSL customer with GT&T Emagine Broad Band since August 23, 2010. At the very inception I paid $5000 per month and received excellent service. A few months ago I observed the service GT&T is offering is of very poor quality and has become worse than the old ‘dial up’ system I used to use from Solutions 2000. I note with a great deal of interest that their service gets slower and slower every day, thus making it difficult to get an internet connection, and even when connected I cannot send an email or search the internet; all I will see is ‘cannot display the web page.’
When the connection comes on it lasts for about half an hour, then it’s gone while I am typing an email or reading the papers, etc. When I dial the 0488 emergency number I am greeted by voicemail on most occasions. I was off the internet for about a week and when I eventually got through to their 0488 hotline after about 50 calls, I was told by a woman that nothing is wrong with my internet service from what she could see there. I told her I had been off the internet for a week and would I get back my money or extra days. She did confirm that they had lots of internet failure reports but could not say if I would get a refund or the days lost.
I even paid a technician to check out my system who told me GT&T had a phone line connection problem from what he was seeing. He advised me to upgrade from the $5000 per month to the higher speed of $9,980, so I went to GT&T office at BV and upgraded my internet service speed. I was told it would be on in 24 hours. From my observation it came on but I discovered that I received the same speed I used to get for $5000. I thought this upgrade would have been better but it gets worse daily. It’s on, then off suddenly. I haven’t received one month’s proper service thus far.
If GT&T is charging customers for a service, why is it they cannot deliver a proper service? Why is the speed I normally get for $5000 no different from the speed of the upgraded service for which I pay $9,980? Why is their 0488 hotline for DSL just a voicemail?
Why are customers not given a refund for the days lost for their internet service?
Why are customers not given a phone call or email to inform them of a break in service?
Why is there a great noise on the phone line when the internet is on and I make a call?
It’s very unethical for GT&T to obtain customers’ hard-earned money for a service they cannot deliver. In many countries I have travelled to such a phone company would have been sued and taken to court for millions by customers. Their slogan: “GT&T getting better all the time” is ridiculous! In this day and age of advanced technology Guyana is still behind time, and after 45 years of independence we still depend on one phone company to supply this entire nation with phone lines. It’s about time Digicel offered a phone-line service and a cheaper and more reliable internet service so that GT&T will rise out of their slumber.
I visited GT&T’s BV office two weeks ago at 2pm and only one cashier was working with one other staff member in the inquiry section. About 8 booths were vacant and many customers had to go away. If they cannot staff a simple office then it’s not possible for them to offer reliable internet service to the Guyanese public. It’s about time GT&T‘s CEO got serious. I still wonder if I will ever be compensated by GT&T for their lack of internet service.
Yours faithfully,
Rev Gideon Cecil
