Cable and Wireless have been slammed for palming off customers to useless overseas help-lines while bragging that the company is nearly all Bermudian.

Phone and Internet users have been left frustrated after being put through to helpdesks in the Caribbean and the USA but Cable and Wireless says it is a question of economics.

One website owner told The Royal Gazette: "They claim to employ 90 percent Bermudians but for at least a year and half they have put complaints to some island in the Caribbean.

"I can't understand a word anyone says.

"If something is going slow or you can't get connected they are totally unhelpful, they don't have a clue."

He said when Internet problems surfaced this week he rang Cable and Wireless and got put through to someone with an American accent although he wasn't sure where he was located.

The caller said the help-desk had never heard of TBI which was having problems on Monday.

"I said 'You are on the Bermuda desk and you have never heard of TBI?' They said I couldn't speak to anyone after five o'clock.

"It's really bad. They are using cheap labour down south or in the States. They do adverts saying we employ Bermudians.

"The thrust of whole marketing campaign is we employ 90 percent Bermudians. There was a big advert at the airport saying this."

His concerns were echoed by a phone user who tried to call a number in South America on a weekend recently but got cut off three times before being answered by someone in Jamaica who said they could not help.

The frustrated caller was then put through to someone in the US who told her to call back on Monday morning.

Yesterday Cable and Wireless spokeswoman Charmaine Burgess admitted the company had no operators based in Bermuda.

"Cable and Wireless is a global company with a local presence.

"Problems are dealt with differently depending on the nature of the problem and the time of day they arise.

"We have local service support based in Devonshire between the business hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. in addition to our 24x7 Network Management Centre staff, all of which are Bermudian.

"It must also be recognised that as an international company, we also provide many services for our partners around the globe and specifically for the Caribbean."

She said the majority of people who call for support were happy with the service.

And the company denied people can't get complaints dealt with outside office hours.

Ms Burgess said: "Complaints are handled outside of office hours by our staff here in Bermuda or at one of our competent partner helpdesk facilities.

"The complexity of the problem will determine if the call is managed offshore, can be left till morning, or placed immediately with the overnight Bermuda based staff."

Asked why the company boasted of its Bermudian employee base and then hired overseas operators Ms Burgess said: "Ninety-five percent, the vast majority of our staff based in Bermuda are Bermudian.

"We do however have pockets of expertise that still require foreign workers in particular finance and pricing.

"Operator service is yet another demonstration of our ability to leverage our global strength to provide the people of Bermuda with solutions that are not always available here.

"As a result of the highly competitive telecommunications market in Bermuda effective cost management is critical success factor for our business.

"There are certain functions such as helpdesk, call centre and operator services which make no economic sense to operate in Bermuda.

"Instead, Cable & Wireless continues to provide these services through the use of our existing resources in Bermuda and those of other Cable and Wireless Businesses around the world to ensure that the needs of our customers are protected.

"In respect to the recent changes at the Bermuda Telephone Company Ltd., we were invited to take over International Operator Service for Cable & Wireless customers.

"Clearly the Bermuda Telephone Company is looking to achieve operational efficiencies themselves and as such we are pleased to be able to facilitate the service for Cable & Wireless customers."