Dear Editor,
Frustration with the attitude of the GTT technicians and their supervisor in the way they handled my complaints caused me to write this letter.
On Monday 09-04-18, a truck came into contact with GTT cables damaging two and leaving six hanging lower than usual (mine was one hanging).
On the said day, I tried contacting the local office here but got a fax tone. Therefore, I made a report to the Customer Support Call Centre (CSCC). The representative took my name, address and contact number, she apologized and assured me a report will be dispatched immediately.
Several calls were made by neighbours and myself, each time I was required to give the same information and got the same response. None of the representatives was able to tell me when the technicians would be able to fix the problem.
However, while I was not at home on Friday the technicians came and replaced the damaged cables only. When my neighbour asked about the hanging ones; she was told that they did not receive any report to fix those and they will be fixed the next time. Also, if we cannot provide the information on who damaged the cables in the future, GTT is putting systems in place so that the consumer will have to pay for the replacement.
On my return home, I made a call to the CSCC and was referred to the security section but to no avail. On Saturday, a truck came into contact with my cable and damaged it. This could have been avoided had the technicians fixed them on Friday. From Saturday I have been asking my neighbour and family members for calls to CSCC which is so embarrassing, and I am unable to get a satisfactory response.
I asked to speak to the Supervisor but was told that he will return a call to me. After four hours he called, to my dismay he was unable to answer my question. When the line will be replaced? He just apologized for the inconvenience caused and said he received complaints about the technicians and that Bartica has a problem and there is a 10-day waiting period.
The following week, I spoke to another supervisor who told me that the Public Utilities Commission gave them a 20-day waiting period. Some residents are without service for months, my sister made several reports, she even visited the Georgetown office and her phone is not working over three months. My cousin said when the technicians visited her neighbour, she insisted that they fix her line which was not working since last year.
It is my opinion that GTT has no duty of care for its customers but its profits. This is the only company that has a system in place for automatic disconnection for failing to pay bills on the due date. Even though I don’t have internet service since the incident, I was told I have to pay the full amount and wait for a rebate, if not I will be disconnected.
GTT bills are paid at the banks, Post Office and Bill Express but customers can only get a directory at the GTT tower station which is always closed.
I hope that this letter gets the attention of those in charge and something is done to arrest this problem that has been plaguing the residents of Bartica over the years.
Yours faithfully
Shirley Douglas