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Getting connected, and staying that way
February 19th, phone line is still down after official visit from TCC staff (noted in previous post.) Fast forward to April 17th and guess what's happened.
- After eight more problem reports
- Phone line is still not recabled/connected.
- The phone service is disconnected by TCC for non-payment of bills?
- TCC is running massive advertising campaign to resign/sign on new customers.
- Even if our neighbour pays for the phone line to be reconnected, the cables are still laying on the grass, so they'd have to pay and then continue to wait for the line to get fixed (ooops, this has happened to us so there's nothing surprising here.)
I need to get in touch with the neighbour and I'd forgotten 'Amelia's mobile number so I just call their landline to find out that the number has been disconnected. Wow?? I find her later in the week to be told that she doesn't know what's happened because it still is not on yet, so she's surprised that it got disconnected without having been connected anyway.
Visit bTonga
That's one of the things about a monopoly service (duopoly?) You're pretty much screwed if they don't provide your service, and you sometimes have to pay 'up-front' so they can screw around with their money messing up other services.
If you get a phone line from TCC, it is sometimes required that you keep paying for the service whether it works or not, just so when they decide to make it work that you can have a working service too. In this case, 'Amelia is apparently required by TCC to keep paying her rental agreement, as well as any phone calls that may have been made through her line (note that the phone line men can make calls out through your line and that should not be charged against you, but we've seen it happen) even though you physically cannot have made that call.
Not that TCC even cares (it has been a while to show whether you care) but they could probably save a good deal of promotional costs by just getting people's existing phone service to work. In 'Amelia's case her elder brother and sister are both overseas and regularly 'check-in' with weekly (or more) phone calls. Now, we know that international calls are more profitable for TCC and Tonfon, so it is in their own advantage to make sure that destination international incoming calls get through.
There is little profit/money in local to local calls, but serious money on incoming international calls. Two/Three incoming international calls a week probably doesn't mean much to TCC but it should.
With the phone line almost-permanently down 'Amelia and Company are forced to use other communications media, such as "e-mail" from work. So, instead of a nice revenue stream flowing from just keeping a copper cable connected to the house, TCC essentially forgoes this revenue.
Not a way to run a business, but they are making too much money so they can't be wrong?
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