No Happy Customers
Posted on June 22, 2010 - Filed Under Guatemala | 17 Comments
I was SO excited to finally have internet that worked. I didn’t give up my 2 am work hours, though, and now I’m glad for that because I won’t have to readjust to that weird schedule.
We were bopping along, I was working all day and very happy. Then today I heard voices outside, looked out and saw a couple of guys from Veridas out there, doing something on the roof. I asked Irving what was going on and he said they’d called a little earlier and told him that they needed to do an upgrade on our antenna.
A little later, they had to unplug the internet. I was working on some things for a client online and promptly lost some of my work since they didn’t bother mentioning the fact that they were about to unplug. Bygones. Nearly two hours later, we looked up to see this:
Uhhhh, that’s an upgrade? Looks suspiciously like a relay tower to me. I sent photos to an expert and he confirmed that it was indeed a relay tower. Which they drilled holes in our bathroom roof to install. Irving asked the guy about it. “oh no, this is just to make sure you get better signal.” he said. Right.
I was furious that they would come in under a pretense and install something that will make them money at our expense (it may not be much but we have to pay the electric to fuel this sucker and then there are the holes in the roof) . . . I hate being lied to and the fact that we weren’t informed or asked for permission and THEN were lied to . . . that’s not acceptable.
I wrote an email to the owner of the internet company, asking why he didn’t feel the need to say anything about the fact he was planning to put this up. Then we discovered something else . . . the internet speed had dropped again! It was back to the crappy way it ran before they did the last tune up.
Irving called the tech who was useless, then the owner who said he’d send some guys over. The whole crew showed up and proceeded to tell us that this was “normal” speed. Irving remarked that this was the speed it had been before they fixed it so how could it be normal?
“Well, there’s a lot of people using it right now.”
“We used it for nearly a month and never had this issue until you stuck the tower on there.”
“Well, that’s because we put the wrong equipment when we fixed it . . . that was a more sophisticated equipment. We had to remove it and give you a more economical piece.”
Right. Apparently in this case, it’s a matter of “holy schmoly, we made a customer happy?! Quick, get your butts over there and fix that pronto!!”
Most of this could have been avoided if permission had been asked and the truth been told.
Comments
17 Responses to “No Happy Customers”
Talk to Me, People!
Call him back and ask him to fix that hole on the roof! Don’t you just love Third World’s customer service? Haha. Reading this now, awesome customer service is one of the things I take for granted in Australia…I should remember how it was in my own country before complaining next time!
LOL! You’re funny, Gloria. Wanna call for me? I hate phones and my hearing is so gone that I can barely hear on the phone anymore. Besides, if we had to pay upfront . . . we still have several months to put up with this crap.
When they next send you the monthly bill for your internet, send them back an invoice for RENT of the Roof space they are now using for THEIR equipment, and also an invoice for the POWER that it is using!
Then, send a further invoice for the time lost on clients work (after all, you did loose work when they disconnected you), and a statement of claim for further productivity losses due to the decline in internet speed as a result of them putting in this relay tower, oh I mean (alleged) upgrade!
Good luck!
That’s the problem, Bernie, this is a non-contract service, so we had to pay ahead . . . and I’m not interested in renewing with them now!
Yea… if you could get a lawyer to write up what Bernie mentions, but rather than billing them, take the high road and offer an exchange.. you are more than willing to allow the relay tower to help out their other customers, but you need fair compensation and repairs to damages done your property. The internet is your job. See if you can get back the advanced equipment that made your net speed better. Maybe get in writing that further trespasses without permission will be billed. Good luck!
Irving attempted to negotiate a deal, but they aren’t admitting it’s a relay tower! Two of the workers have said repeatedly that it is only for our use, despite the fact it’s pretty obviously not. Especially since our internet was doing just fine. There was no good reason to change it.
Wow! And I thought I had seen everything! I like the idea of charging rent for the relay tower. Can you unplug it? Does that affect your internet?
But it does look like a great place to dry clothes.
For all those folks in town that boast that Veridas is a great no-contract internet company . . . think again. I was really hoping that your internet troubles had come to an end. So sorry!
I can unplug it, but our internet is connected through it. Our internet is actually working fine today, thank heavens, but I’m still pissed off about the lies. You’re right though, those lines could be ideal for hanging clothes on.
So plug it in ONLY when you use it. Otherwise cut its power… if they complain say that you need to save costs on YOUR electricity. ;D
I like the way you think, Connie!
You want to make sure that tower has a good ground wire on it or what looks a lot like a lighting rod could be one. Bathrooms and lighting are not good together.
Yay Connie! Great idea!
I would think that they would need permission from someone other than the owner of the house to put up any kind of relay tower. Maybe you could contact try contacting the SIT (Superintendencia de Telecomunicaciones) http://www.sit.gob.gt
or even the municipalidad, to see if these guys should have some sort of legal permission from authorities to set this up. If they do, you can bet the government people will be all over them, just because that´ll mean more money for them. If they wanna play rough, they should be prepared to face the consequences.
You know, Norm, I was just out there, gathering in clothes and listening to the thunder and thinking the exact same thing. :S I don’t know what we can do about it apart from taking it down, though . . . in which case the contract states we have to pay nearly Q2,000.
Irving was looking over the contract and we aren’t allowed to unplug the thing. However, I can’t be held responsible if the power goes out most nights. Thanks for the info, Cristina, I’ll be checking into it.
Yeah Christina, if there was no Planning Approval for it, then it may have to come down… And in any case, unless you are on the internet (which I suspect is NOT that often when trying to run an internet based business) I would be turning it off! And when you sign up with another company, I would be removing it anyway!!
As I said before, good luck, as I suspect the battle is only just begining…
So, if you HAVE to keep power running to it, AND your not ALLOWED to pull it down without having to pay a fee, then exactly how is it not a piece of THEIR infrastructure (Relay Tower) then? And why did they not ask permission to istall it on your property?
I would most certainly be contacting the local authorities (Council equivilant here) and asking if the company had Planning Approval to install a tower, and if so, why did they (Council) not notify you as the land holder and a key stakeholder?
Also, we have a ‘Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman’ where if you are having issues with Comms (Internet, Landlines and Mobiles) then you can take your providor to task. It is a Government Body, that has a fair amount of ‘clout’ when it comes to these sorts of things!
Hmmm… the mind boggles as to what may happen if the local press was to get involved? And how on EARTH can you expect the boys to stop (accidently of course) unplugging the power that just HAPPENS to go to it…
This being Guatemala, I’m not sure how it all works, but I am definitely pushing it. Irving was telling me that another internet provider that installed a relay tower below us on someone’s property is paying Q10,000 a year (about $1,200) as rent, so there are definitely precedents here.
I go to bed early and have no idea what happens with the power after that . . . I only notice when I wake up at 2 to work.