The following was sent to Jeremy Elams, general manager of Bermuda Cablevision and copied to The Royal Gazette:

December 14, 2001

Dear Sir,

Mr. Elmas:

Oh no! Oh no! Not another bill from Cablevision, giving us a 'friendly reminder' that our account is due "immediately"! (We're not sure of the significance of it all, but when our dog singled out your bill this morning and chewed it up, we began to wonder!)

On a more serious note, since when does a consumer pay for a product they do not have? Well, let me tell you: When personal promises of many months ago fall though! When service appointments over a period of three months or more don't materialise! When faxes to you personally come to naught! And we (foolishly) thought paying $150 up front would "get things moving"!

But, hey, move they did ... the bills, that is! Oh yes, we get bills ... billing just about everything under the sun that you sell - ordered or not! (What is it about your billing department that doesn't have it suffering the malaise of the rest of your departments?! No delinquency there ... those bills are received like clockwork!)

So guess what? Come this past month, we decided we didn't need Cablevision (after all, we hadn't had it for half a year!) and so resolved to cancel what we didn't have! Yes, that's right! That last fax sent to you, personally, in November explained we no longer wished to have what we couldn't see!! We also asked for a rebate, but didn't hear from you, and we don't suppose we ever will.

WAITING FOR A NEW CABLE SERVICE

Southampton

P.s. Meantime, when the Minister has finished her e-commerce 'survey', she might have time to address the Cablevision debacle!