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’We are not paying you to pass
the buck’
23/02/2009 NST By W. L. J., Vista Angkasa, Kuala Lumpur
ON Dec 3, 2008, the telephone cables at three residential blocks of Vista
Angkasa were cut and stolen from their respective cable rooms in the middle
of the night.
Because of this unfortunate incident, the telephone lines of the affected
buildings went dead. Residents of the affected buildings could neither use
the phones nor connect to the Internet. After lodging a report with the
TMNet Customer Service, we were told that the phone lines would be replaced
within three weeks.
By Jan 1, the phone lines were still not replaced.
A call was made to the TMNet Customer Service. This time, we were told that
TMNet was in the midst of discussion between DBKL and the new management of
Vista Angkasa on who should pay for the new cables. Wewere informed that
this issuewould be resolved by the end of January.
The blame game was very well played. The new management of Vista Angkasa
stated that the Kuala Lumpur City Hall had the responsibility of footing the
bill since the incident happened before they took over on Jan 1. “Where
arewe going to get the profit ifwe replace your cables?“one of the managers
retorted.
TMNet stated that the cable theft happened in the premises of Vista Angkasa,
a residential area, and so it should be the responsibility of the Vista
Angkasa management. As for City Hall, nothing has been heard from them since
the theft occured.
It has now been two-and-a-half months since this unfortunate incident, and
this issue is still unresolved.
Since TMNet is the sole service provider for land lines, we have no choice
but to continue paying for the phone rentals and subscription to Streamyx
and other services provided by TMNet. Why should we continue to pay when the
telecommunication service has been disrupted for almost three months? When
we requested to cancel our phone line subscription, TMNet personnel offered
a rebate on our telephone bills since December 2008 with the condition that
we continued paying until the cables have been replaced, and
telecommunication services restored. How can TMNet offer such a ridiculous
suggestion when its service to its customers are affected? They even had the
nerve to suggest that we started using their latest technology of wireless
telephone service if we wanted to continue enjoying undisrupted
telecommunication services.
Although most of us have handphones these days, there are still some of us
who rely on land lines to keep in touch with our friends and families.
So, TMNet, City Hall, and Vista Angkasa management, whoever is responsible,
please remember that we, the residents of Vista Angkasa are your clients. We
are paying tax to City Hall, maintenance fees to the Vista Angkasa
management and telephone charges to TMNet. Please do not take us for fools
or play the blame game as long as you can. Please, just replace the cables
and let us get on with our lives. |
