Vaneisa: Tussling with TSTT and RMS—“what an example of indifference to customers”


In my mailbox last Wednesday was yet another bill from bmobile, the brand name of the Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago Ltd—the company we know as TSTT and further back as Telco.

The sight of the bill aroused the same kind of disgust I felt when I’d read about the behaviour of the Housing Development Corporation, and that is why I tell this tale.

Mr Telephone Man…

In July 1985, before I had turned 19, the telephone in our home was registered in my name. That number had remained the same through many comings and goings—and even when it no longer seemed practical to have a landline, I left it connected simply because it made it possible for old friends to ring up out of the blue.

Anyway, reality checked up on me and was quite scathing about maintaining this device, which I never used, and which was costing me a range of unnecessary rental fees.

Chastened, I called TSTT (several times), and was advised that I could cancel the service at any one of their customer service outlets. I visited a few, and each one said they could not do it.

Eventually, I made my way to an outlet in Trincity Mall on 23 August, where the request was logged and I was told that in a month’s time the disconnection would take place.

Image: A satirical take on customer service.
(Copyright Glasbergen.com)

A few months passed, the line remained active and monthly bills came, which I paid online. In November, the phone went dead with a recording that the number was no longer in service, but the bills kept coming.

I called (several times), and when I unexpectedly got a rep to talk to me, she apologised, said the bills would stop coming, and they would reimburse me for the money I had paid from the date the phone was supposed to have been disconnected.

I asked how I would get this cheque, and suggested that they could apply the funds to my cellphone.

She said that was not possible, as it was a pre-paid account. That was months ago, and I have not heard anything from them, but the bills keep coming. The latest being this week.

Seriously?!

It even listed two calls in the past month, for a line that has been dead for nearly six months. The credit I chalked up because I was paying bills that arrived late had been whittled down, so this latest bill showed that the amount from the last bill was $3.47 and I now owe $74.35.

That the printed bills kept coming, showing that I owe TSTT’s bmobile money, is a sign of the gross inefficiency of the organisation. What a waste of paper and postage, what an abuse of technology, what an example of the indifference to customers!

Clearly, no one had adjusted anything, even after the conversation with the representative. No wonder people complain.

It is not just confined to such services. I had written about my experience with Colfire, and how they did not give me any renewal notices for my car insurance for two years—which had been the norm in all my time dealing with them.

The lighter side of customer service.
(Copyright Tooz)

I don’t know what has happened to customer service, especially since 2020 when the Covid pandemic disrupted many systems.

When I bought my home, it had been previously insured by Risk Management Services, so I continued. I made my payments, did the periodic evaluations and updated as recommended.

In February 2021, they sent me a renewal notice, and after much back and forth, the sum insured was increased. The practice had also been that they would forward the notice of the renewal payment and so on to the bank where my mortgage is held. That was another set of inefficiency.

The bank wrote, saying that their records showed that I had not renewed and so on—although I had reminded the people at RMS to do so and they had assured me they would. They did not.

We will be with you shortly…

I think the company recently changed hands, or became a subsidiary of Arthur J Gallagher, described as an American global insurance brokerage and risk management services company.

I remember an e-mail to policyholders saying that everything was still the same in terms of our agreements. Fine.

On April 5, I got an e-mail, a very impersonal one that came from someone at ajg com, which reminded me that my renewal was due in March. It also said the details were attached. There was no attachment so I responded saying so. There has not yet been a response.

However, in my physical mailbox, a printed renewal notice came a couple days ago, which I assume contains the same information that was not sent.

Dealing with frustration…

The details are outdated. The sum insured is for the old figure, which had been increased a couple of years ago.

So here I am, with a renewal notice dated 1 February (so much for TTPost’s efficiency), for my homeowner’s insurance due in March. And no invoice.

What would have happened if my house had burned down in that uncovered period?

Not only does this seem like complete negligence on the part of the insurers, I am scandalised by the indifference, and the obvious flaws in their systems.

I don’t think it is too far a stretch to say this is one of the effects of a corrupt society. No checks and balances, so anything goes.

More from Wired868
Vaneisa: “Far more than a collection of books”—a library is a living space

In a land where public institutions are symbols of frustration, two stand out by dint of their commitment to service Read more

Vaneisa: “A superb specimen of the human race”—to Reggie, with love

(This column was written on the day he died, before I knew.) In January 2021, I wrote a column about Read more

Vaneisa: Searching for a form—how to preserve our heritage

It’s an idea just taking root, and having thrown it out last week, I figure I could try to see Read more

Vaneisa: A Ministry of Festivals can be revolutionary—with Manwarren at the helm!

I don’t actually mean that we should have a ministry of festivals, in the sense of a state-controlled body—that kind Read more

Vaneisa: Steelpan unity, disingenuous Gypsy and a Carnival of identity

Something of an epiphany came to me after the Panorama finals. Steelband arrangers genuinely seem to respect and admire each Read more

Vaneisa: The season of everything—embracing the Carnival spirit

One thing this country is extra­ordinarily gifted at is its creative impulses, and Carnival is the premier showcase for it. Read more

About Vaneisa Baksh

Vaneisa Baksh is a columnist with the Trinidad Express, an editor and a cricket historian. She is the author of a biography of Sir Frank Worrell.

Check Also

Vaneisa: The remarkable Razif—and his masterful food photos

Who said posting about what you had for breakfast is so banal? I did. In …

3 comments

  1. A friend of mine had a TSTT Cable service for almost a year. The service went down because of bad weather by Lady Young Road where the dish / receiver etc was. A month or 2 passes and no service. Finally they tell her that that service is no longer in place and they have upgraded to a new digital service. They said it would replace the old service. She signs up. Then she begins to get 2 bills, one for the new service and one for the service that NO LONGER EXISTS. She tells them several times about it while paying the new bill alone. It continues and despite calls to them and they saying it would be rectified, it’s not. By this time, there no longer were Customer Service Centers as TSTT has closed them down and the different outlets indicated she had to call to stop the billing. She continued to try. Eventually more than 3 years later, she gets a notice from Credit Chex for the over 10k that was owed for a service she was not getting nor existed. This had some serious implications as this could affect your credit rating. Every CSR she spoke to said they would deal with it but everytime she called, she has to restart the conversation since the information was never passed forward for action. The problem was only solved when Amplia came about and took over the service. Even then, it took several months before the bill was finally removed from the system and her name cleared. Ridiculous.

  2. The lack of customer service/indifference to the plight/concerns of customers is horrible in this country. Yet these very companies complain that business is declining and provide myriad number of reasons why their businesses are not achieving profitability. The reasons may have more to do with the shoddy service they are dispensing rather than ‘disruptive’ technology or aggressive competitors etc (market share is being surrendered at an alarming rate especially in telecoms sector, imagine going from the only internet provider in the country to having no brand recognition as it pertains to a service that is in high demand throughout this country). Truly a sad situation.

  3. This is not a question of corruption but of incompetence. Incompetence has become endemic in the society. Any effort to advance something different would be met by the usual who do you think you are attitude. It begins at home, sad to say and the evidence is everywhere in the country.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.