The following was sent to Lorraine Lyle, chief executive officer of Bermuda Telephone Company and copied to The Royal Gazette.

February 6, 2002

Dear Mrs. Lyle,

I am writing this letter to you in utter anger and frustration. I often wonder if you know exactly how incompetent Bermuda Telephone Company actually is.

In November of 2001, my company acquired a new office, I called the commercial sales department to request the installation of a fax line and was given January 4 as the installation date. On January 4 I called to find out what time to expect the technician. The sales person remembered the request but could not find the installation order. After waiting ten minutes on hold she finally said that she would call me back and of course never did. I had no option but to call the department head, who promised action.

Since then I have spoken to three different people in this regard and was given February 4 as the new date. The technician came and went and we still have no fax line. I received a call today to say that he would show today at 3 p. m. I am so glad that I did not hold my breath as he did not show up.

Secondly and much more disturbingly is my personal line. On September 5 I called the 611 number to report my phone out of order.

One month later I called to find out what was going on and to my disgust was told that I had not reported the line out. However I was told that they would send somebody out. I heard nothing for a month so I called back and was assured that the line had been fixed.

‘How could that be', I said as I would have to let the technician in, ‘Oh, we repaired it from the outside' was the explanation. So I went over to the house to find the phone still out of order. So I called back. Still nothing happened. So in January I called the customer service number to see if they could help me and also to dispute all the bills that I have been receiving as I do not feel that I should have to pay for a service that I have not had. The phone has been out for five months and I am expected to pay $100.10 after a credit of $12.90. I have no idea how they arrived at $12.90.

One simple test to check if the phone is working is to visit the property with a technician or check how many calls have been made since September 5. If you find, as you will, that the answer is none then maybe the phone actually is out of order.

However, I am now receiving letters threatening legal action if I do not pay for the service that I have not had. So my response to that is BRING IT ON!!! Many people have told me that they too have reported an out of order phone, only to be told later that they have not. You can only get away with this scam for so long before people get wise. I think that time is here.

As a businessman in the service industry I might suggest that you are very lucky being a monopoly because if I ran my company the way you run yours I would be out of business in no time flat.

PETER JOVETIC

St. George's