Dec. 18, 2013
Dear Sirs,
I am a subscriber to Karib Cable for Internet and additional services for which I pay very dutifully each month. However, I wish to inform you that I am not receiving the services for which I believe I am paying a premium, and I will explain. You see Karib Cable I live in the United Kingdom for most of the year and I subscribe to Internet services there also. So I understand “service”. In fact, the cost of Internet service in the UK is more economical and much more efficient — and I do understand that my service provider there is at an advantage.
Be that as it may, I pay a premium for Internet services here in SVG and there is absolutely no justifiably reason why I should not be able to lie in my bed after a very tiring day and have Internet service to connect with my friends. My bedroom is a mere few feet from the router, so I fail to understand why Internet service is not available throughout my property.
My second complaint has to do with your lack of service outside of your regular office hours. I called your after hours telephone number that you have listed in the telephone directory and was dutifully connected with an answer phone asking me to leave a message. That is totally unacceptable.
Karib Cable, I wish to remind you that at any time I should fail to live up to my end of our contract by not paying you, you will undoubtedly disconnect my service forthwith and that would be quite understandable. Therefore you need to be fulfilling your part of the contract with me by providing the service that I am dutifully paying for every month.
As you are not reachable by any other means — and I know that you will get this communication — I expect that this problem will be resolved in a timely fashion, hopefully by tomorrow.
I remain,
Sincerely your,
Marlon Mills
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Marlon, the water authority some time ago cut off my service at a place I was renting, in FULL BREACH OF CONTRACT.
In illegally and improperly interrupting my service, due to their own poor communications and records, they were inadvertently seriously hurting a very aged Senior Citizen who also lived in a bungalow on the same compound.
I made numerous communications with them, called, wrote, and finally visited after they seemed UTTERLY TONE DEAF.
When I visited the spanking brand new Headquarters building OFFICE in Kingstown, the reception cum secretary called in the info to the big man. Apparently the man was then highly POLITICALLY AMBITIOUS. The Secretary came back to tell me that “the manager” wanted to see me. I left the wutliss office promptly.
All I wanted was for these guys to RECONNECT MY SERVICE, as their were admittedly WRONG in cutting off. I was in good financial standing with them. But, the guy WANTED TO TALK.
I had been “talking” to and with them for “ever-werry”. I had telephoned them several times. I had written to them. They themselves had assured me that they had absolutely NO CAUSE in disconnecting my water supplies. They had done so INCORRECTLY.
I finally had to take the time and boder out of my hectic, crucial schedule TO GO THEIR HEAD OFFICE to finally warn them of this GROSS INJUSTICE.
And, this politically ambitious ‘Manager’ WANTED TO SPEAK TO ME, of course with an eye to politics.
JUST RE-CONNECT MY DAMNABLE WATER SERVICE.
Otherwise:
I HAVE NOTHING TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT.
That’s the disgusting, nauseating level and ‘quality’ of service we actually do have in this place. And, remember, this was a “Government corporation”. That’s SERVICE for you.
I didn’t give them a second look, from after that day. They did, after yet another long waiting period, finally restore my supply without any other word from me. I must guess that my patience and long-suffering won over their tardiness, incompetence and shear ‘power’ mean-ness.
I look forward to full reparations from that guy. And, appropriate apologies.
The telephone guys, whom I had promoting and praise to the sky in SVG and throughout the Eastern Caribbean, garnering THOUSAND OF DOLLARS WORTH OF FREE unsolicited PUBLICITY AND GOOD-WILL, offered a program where you could give them SIX OVERSEAS TELEPHONE NUMBERS which they would OK that you can call FREELY.
I duly signed up my three land-line “home-phones” then. I began the service nicely and initially had NO PROBLEM.
That was AT FIRST.
Soon enough, a little time later, it seemed that they forgot all about that promotional system.
For, I much later on receive some inflated bills for EXHORBITANTLY HIGH ‘PHONE BILLS, which they claimed that I had NOT PAID.
They had foolishly charged the OVERSEAS PHONE CALLS ON THE 3 EXEMPTED TELEPHONE ADDRESSES.
They sent me REPEATED DIRE WARNINGS THAT I WAS IN DEFAULT, and they would use legal means, etc., to RECOVER THE SUPPOSEDLY “OWED” AMOUNT.
I WAS TOO UTTERLY DISGUSTED TO EVEN BOTHER WITH THEM.
They finally made an intelligent approach, and I gently reminded them to check their own records. THEY SOON ACKNOWLEDGED with not a little embarrassment THAT THEY WERE AT FAULT, AND THAT I DID NOT OWE THEM ANYTHING. My service on this particular phone was soon properly re-established.
That’s service for you. After just a few years earlier giving them FREE PUBLICITY all gratis. But, then again, WHAT BETTER CAN WE EXPECT seeing, as my landlord counseled me, we were in the Third World, a poor country, and so the big and powerful, and the corrupted politicians [or what passes for ‘government’] DO WHATEVER THE HELL THEY WANT — and we ordinary work-ah-day SVG citizens would better hustle out of the way BEFORE THEY WALK ON US !
THESE guys, our own LOCAL guys, are invariably AS BAD – – – or EVEN WORSE [‘wusser’?] THAN THE OFT-DEMONIZED “COLONIALIST” massas.
Yep, we BLACK massas, are often incomprehensively MORE EVIL, WICKED AND OPPRESSIVE then the political/ideological greedy power-hungry activists tell us the much-hated (and misrepresented) COLONIALISTS used to be.
My apologies, Peter, but these untoward incidences occurred prior to the incumbent [2001 – present] Ralph Gonsalves ULP administration, during the late 1990s.
I regret my lack of clarity and deficient details in an effort to generalize the problem. The agencies concerned were the then CABLE AND WIRELESS COMPANY and the then CWSA. Bureaucrats, of the bumptious variety, and political opportunists do exist even in the pre-despotic regimes – – – with attendant excruciatingly unconscionable callousness.. Expect the doctrinaire Leninists to be astronomically worst.
Now this is one of the times that I will disagree with Steve Huggins.
Steve there is only one massa in SVG, all the others are slaves or collaborators. They follow directions or do what they believe the massa would want them to do. These are all people who have answered the ULP call ‘OWN THE JOBS’. So to keep owning the jobs they have to be political, have to do the will of the massa, have to throw themselves flat at his feet in worship and confirm their undying obedience to him.
If you held a ULP party card and had a sticker somewhere on your property ‘I AM LABOUR’ you would never have had anything turned off.
Very windy here Steve and dreadful freezing cold rain. Only 60 miles from Gonsalves luxury holiday in the Oxfordshire mansion.
Hope you are somewhere nice and warm.
Peter Binose, Self Appointed Keeper of the Whistle, and Still Blowing Hard.
My apologies, Peter. These untoward incidents occurred before the coming to office of PM Gonsalves and his ULP regime, i.e., prior to 2001.
These took place during the latter half of the 1990s. It just goes to show the callous, unconscionable, bumptious attitudes that all too often holds sway in some quarters with these bureaucratic buffoons, even without the all-out despotic LENINIST regimes.
Is it a case of jumping out of the pot, onto the actual fire ?
I have no doubt or qualms that the ‘SCIENTITIC SOCIALIST’ “socialist orientationists” junta in the subverted and overthrown LABOUR PARTY misleadership would be even more dictatorial and high-handed.
But, it is fair and accurate to record here that these excesses and abuses of office took place during the James Mitchell NDP administration, with the then CABLE AND WIRELESS COMPANY and the then CWSA. I should have been more detailed and exercised a bit more clarity. Attempting to generalize the problem in response to Marlon;s journalistic piece may have inadvertently given the wrong impression of “who to blame” IN THE SPECIFIC INSTANCE.
Expect the doctrinaire Leninists to do astronomically worst.
I have inadvertently given you and others the wrong impression in my previous response to Marlon’s journalistic piece.
I solemnly resolve to become clearer and less ambiguous in future.
God bless SVG, especially at this grievous time. This storm, too, as in 2011, has directly affected close family.
My apologies, Peter. These untoward incidents occurred before the coming to office of PM Gonsalves and his ULP regime, i.e., prior to 2001.
These took place during the latter half of the 1990s. It just goes to show the callous, unconscionable, bumptious attitudes that all too often holds sway in some quarters with these bureaucratic buffoons, even without the all-out despotic LENINIST regimes.
Is it a case of jumping out of the pot, onto the actual fire ?
I have no doubt or qualms that the ‘SCIENTITIC SOCIALIST’ “socialist orientationists” junta in the subverted and overthrown LABOUR PARTY misleadership would be even more dictatorial and high-handed.
But, it is fair and accurate to record here that these excesses and abuses of office took place during the James Mitchell NDP administration, with the then CABLE AND WIRELESS COMPANY and the then CWSA. I should have been more detailed and exercised a bit more clarity. Attempting to generalize the problem in response to Marlon;s journalistic piece may have inadvertently given the wrong impression of “who to blame” IN THE SPECIFIC INSTANCE.
Expect the doctrinaire Leninists to do astronomically worst.
I have inadvertently given you and others the wrong impression in my previous response to Marlon’s journalistic piece.
I solemnly resolve to become clearer and less ambiguous in future.
God bless SVG, especially at this grievous time. This storm, too, as in 2011, has directly affected close family.