Dear Editor,
About three weeks ago I discovered my phone had a problem. I was receiving calls but was unable to make a call, whenever I dialed my phone it had a constant noisy sound and the receiver phone was not receiving my call. I called GTT and took a long time to get through because it always to go to voice mail.
I am wondering in this day and age in an emergency why it goes to voice mail that’s a long tedious process. I spoke to a representative and she told me they will come to check on my phone in 7 to 10 working days. I asked her why so long and she said that’s their procedure and hung up.
I came from church about 1 pm, on the Sunday afternoon, seven days after I had reported the issue, and my daughter told me that a man was calling at the gate. It was a GTT technician. He came and checked my phone and told me my phone had a problem and he has to change it. I note with interest that he gave me a bill for the phone, which cost $4,600 and comes with a six month warranty. He told me that it will be on my bill when I go to pay. I told him that I don’t think it’s a phone problem but a line problem. I discovered I had the same problem after he left. They used to give a replaceable phone for free. I now ask. Why this charge of $4,600 and how many poor people like pensioners can afford this cost? Why they couldn’t charge $1,000 to replace a phone?
A few days later, I encountered another problem I noticed my internet, that is DSL, had a problem. It works for five to ten minutes and then cuts off. I called the 0488 number that also went to voice mail. I eventually got on to a representative, who told me to unplug my modem for 30 minutes while she would look at my account. I followed her instructions and it worked.
It lasted for a week and then I noticed I had the same problem again. I called the 0488 number and they took me again on the same merry-go-around. For five days now it is the same problem. I spoke to a woman and told her that I had applied for the Blaze since February this year, but never got it. She said it’s too long and that I was supposed to get it after 40-60 working days and I will get it soon. The internet worked after she walked me through some steps. Sad to say, I encountered the same on and off internet problem.
My wife is doing a research paper and my children are doing SBAs and this is a real problem because of deadlines. I spoke to another representative who said that a technician will come to fix my problem in 7-10 working days. I asked her why so long? And she hung up.
These people are unprofessional and I now wish to ask Mr. Justin Nedd, CEO of GTT, these questions:
Will I be compensated for failed internet service I paid for in July, 2018?
Why do calls to GTT always go to voice mail?
Do I have to send GTT a lawyer’s letter for compensation for all my lost time and lost days for the internet service I have paid for?
Why is GTT taking 7-10 working days and months to fix basic problems?
Why can I not get Blaze, which I applied for since February 17, 2018?
Why all these long delays and lame excuses to fix an internet and phone problem, when I live just a five minutes’ drive from the GTT Beterverwagting office?
In my opinion, the government must break this GTT monopoly. They are very incompetent and are very quick to give dead apologies in very nice, flowery, sophisticated Queen’s English. In this day and age of technology, we have the slowest internet service in the entire Caribbean. I am calling on the GTT CEO and the Hon. Cathy Hughes to address these issues which I have raised here.
How do I pay for internet service for 31 days when I can barely get 10 days in a month? May God help us.
Yours faithfully,
Rev. Gideon Cecil