A TALE OF TWO TELEPHONE COMPANIES

Once upon a time there was a telephone company which enjoyed a total monopoly in a little country off the coast of South America known as Guyana.

True to the old saying of waiting to build a roof over its head when it starts to rain - this little company became blue with envy when the champion of the earth and knight in shining armor Bharrat Jagdeo chopped off a few of its monopolistic tentacles and introduced a cupid company on Valentine’s day.

As they say the rest is history.

Fast forward to present day – the Guardian recently had the unfortunate privilege of visiting the customer service department of GT&T (Great Thieves & Telling Skunt) on Brickdam.

To begin with this company has been around for decades but still cannot offer parking to its loyal customers who have to fight it out for a spot on the opposite side of the road.

Here one has to navigate a sharp drop from the road unto a narrow parapet where applying too much liberty in fitting into a tight squeeze so as to contribute as minimal as possible to the inconvenience posed to normal traffic along the narrow stretch of roadway may see the good intentioned GT&T customer ending up in the drain.

So after a few ‘mudda rass’ from drivers I was holding up while trying to park, the Guardian secured his necessaries and walked into the compound and past the security hut like he was a regular.

 I remembered which one of the tinted glad door to open despite their being NO sign to alert unfamiliar customers and I even allowed an elderly gentleman ahead of me.

Once inside, I was familiarly greeted with a line of persons waiting to see a customer service attendant and of course the line to the cashier’s booth.

A feeling of complete revulsion started to erupt inside and there and then I felt and urge to physically strangle the so called Marketing Manager Wystan Roberston - who apparently prances around all day wasting the company’s resources on every little jump up session and this shitty atmosphere and service is what awaits customers who are financing his fiestas.

In fact, the GT&T customer service area immediately gives one the feeling of a run down and hopeless Government office in the 80’s.

To begin with one cannot help but observe that out of the 18 to 20 employees on display 98% are of one race.

Whatever happened to those GT&T fliers projecting unity and people of all races or are they just for marketing purposes Wystan?

Even if this is not an accurate depiction of the ethnic ratio of staff overall in GT&T (but I’d rather believe I am correct) having so many - um staff - is definitely not the right signal to your broad base of customers.

I know a staff could be fired for wearing anything red but why do the staff have to dress so darn pale?

Any reasonable marketing personnel will tell you that a few staff dressed in blue in an office that is painted blue is equivalent to an extended funeral service at Sandy’s.

Even the staffs that were not in blue were displaying some pale color and lacking vibrancy.

The callousness of those who manage this company is obvious as it has apparently filtered down to their junior managers and departmental staff.

The purchase of a can of CRC to stop the squeaking of the internal door used by staff to access the office apparently is too difficult a task.

Apart from the paint on the walls chipping in a few areas it is obvious that the room was not cleaned prior to the birth of baby Joe Singh.

The ceiling is a painter’s nightmare with water marks and fungus featuring prominently and a few of the squares missing or about to fall off.

Some disjointed and plain ugly wooden cupboards were placed at the rear of the office with absolutely no care for aesthetics as is a framed photo and a few other images laid against a dark glass screen which was apparently once used as a cashier’s booth to the western side of the office. The bottle sitting on the ledge with an id badge hanging from it did not help.

A printer cord wrapped up and thrown in the corner nearby along with some other junk was also noticeable to the prying eye as was the Samsung flat screen TV where the dangling power cable was met half way with an electrical strip.

The lighted display of the Mazda RX cars recently on promotion was also clumsily rested on the cashiers booth counter next to the eastern wall and the cable dangled into a socket below with absolutely no regard for orderliness.

The tinted glass casement of the two cashier’s booth is akin to a GPL pole where persons have been posting fliers for a few decades.

A few business cards here and there, a taxi service poster, a sign indicating that GT&T will not accept American Express cards taped up more than a box from overseas, areas where fliers were previously posted and the tape or the paste still remained, signs peeling off indicating the local bank cards GT&T accepts were all one big mess.

All in this entire bit accurately represents the image this company is projecting.

IMAGINE – GT&T is projecting itself as a 21^st century technologically advanced company, it laid a 20 something million US fibre optic cable, gave away how many expensive cars recently and still can’t seem to afford to replace the outdated systems its personnel are using in the customer service department.

Of all the computer systems, the Guardian observed about three flat-screen monitors. Even the Government ministries have apparently moved ahead of them in this regard.

If you think that is shameful, IMAGINE this rich, rich company where Wystan Robertson can find millions upon millions to squander away cannot provide even the most basic chairs to its customers waiting in the line. No one is spared, young or old!

It is only when you have reached the end of the line in the Customer Service section after one hour ( maybe less maybe more) that are you afforded a seat next to one of the solemn looking customer representatives on an ugly metal chair which even those bottom house Chinese shops would refuse in their restaurants.

After visiting GT&T’s customer ‘salt fish market’ centre, the Guardian went across to the customer service office of Digicel in Kingston.

While getting a parking spot could be a jostle at least they have not closed off the reserve bordering their building to customers.

After entering the building at the door which indicated ‘open’ I stated my business and the security was pleasant enough to usher me into the next room.

My stomach churned when I entered that environment that I immediately requested permission to take a photo of the office area - a request the representative gracefully allowed.

In conclusion this post should not be seen as a personal attack on GT&T as it is based on facts which cannot be denied.

The solution to the problem is to immediately fire the short sighted or blind Marketing Manager and those who share similar responsibilities. Rather than invest in multi-million dollar cars, invest in improving your customer care and appearance and try to make your customers feel comfortable and welcomed.

Is that too hard to ask?

Remember charity begins at home!

But let me add one more nail in the coffin of GT&T. While the Guardian was about to exit his vehicle to enter Digicel, who did he observe cheerily leaving the building?

No other than a popular DJ who has been featuring prominently for everything GT&T since he was born and was on its mash day truck DEEEJAYING!

Don't believe me? Well there is his Toyota Avensis parked opposite the Digicel building in Kingston.

A cyant stop laaaughinggg….