I AM writing to voice my continuing disgust and dissatisfaction at the services meted out to hardworking, taxpaying Guyanese citizens by the utility companies in Guyana.
Of recent, I have experienced several instances where, had I not been a level-headed (and I dare say, intelligent) person, I would have undoubtedly lost my temper and landed myself in an embarrassing situation.I shall begin by telling the tale of my ‘run-in’ with the telephone company; my telephone bill was paid a few weeks ago (without receiving a bill for the last few months), and to my utter dismay, I attempted to use my landline, and as fate would have it, my phone line was cut for non-payment of bills. This meant that I had to take time off from work, visit the utility company, pay a reconnection fee, even though I’d paid my bill a few days prior, and be subjected to mistreatment from the CSR for lodging a complaint.
During the same week, the water company visited my area and proceeded to disconnect my service while no one was at home. What is unjust is that they later learned that they had disconnected service to the wrong address.
I once again made the arduous trip to the utility company; was interrogated for close to an hour; displayed every document in my possession, save for by birth certificate, and still had to pay a reconnection fee.
More recently, a family member called in to the ‘light company’ to lodge a complaint regarding a faulty meter. My relative resides in Mahaica and therefore contacted the office in Victoria, only to be told that they needed to make the trip down to the Head Office, in Georgetown, to make the complaint in person. What a waste of energy and resources!
These are just a few recent experiences, and I have no doubt that members of the public have experienced worse than this in the past. It therefore begs the question: if we live in a modern society, in a technological age, why are the utility companies so inept when it comes to delivery of service, customer service relations, and the overall management of the utility companies?
I dare say I am an honest, hardworking taxpayer, and one of many Guyanese who are totally disgusted with the lack of professionalism and disgruntled by the inability of the various Managers/CEOs, etc, to get it right and to serve the Guyanese public in an efficient manner. After all, aren’t we required to pay for these services?
Written By C. SINGH