I would like to bring to the notice of the general public and to the bsnl authorities, the pitiable condition of the landline phones in my village, uccassaim, bardez.
First off, the cables are laid in open drains, on poles and in shallow holes dug in the ground with open wires. During the monsoons, the situation is abominable…all we get is static and cross connections.
Complaints are lodged and the bsnl personnel take their own sweet time to tackle issues. Try to remind them, and a voice message tells you that your complaint is pending. For over two months now, i have been facing problems with my landline, no. Xxxxxxx. A complaint was lodged. After more than a month, it was attended to…carbon was cleaned off the open wires, i was told that the splitter was faulty and the phone “worked”…just for a couple of hours…and then we were back to square one…static, cross-connections, phone ringing but only static. Try to lodge a complaint, but i am reminded that a complaint is already lodged.
I am not the only one facing this problem, there are many people in the village who are sick and tired of lodging complaints which seem to have no solution. To try and find a solution, a small delegation from the village went to the divisional managers office in mapusa and made him aware of the problem. His take was that the local bsnl man would look into the matter, but he himself could not get through to his own person. He assured us that things would be rectified…but nothing has happened.
I made a call to the bsnl office in panjim, giving my details…the problem still remains unsolved.
So here is my issue…i do not get a mobile signal in my house or else i would have dumped bsnl long back for their lackadaisical attitude and rotten service. Tried asking another service provider to check if we could use their wireless services, but that too does not work – no/weak signal. So, like it or lump it, we have to depend on bsnl…at least the internet works, albeit at its own pace though it is a broadband connection. But i choose not to lump it and am quite happy to bell the cat.
Just because you have a monopoly, does it mean you can do as you please? The fact that bsnl is not recruiting new people, that they do not have their own staff to handle complaints but use contract labour, that most of them are near retirement age, that being a government agency it takes time for them to get spares, that private players are digging up their cables, etc., does not hold water as far as the consumer is concerned. What we need is accountability, the ability to accept that they are wrong and the determination to take steps to rectify mistakes/errors. What we need is competition in the wired connection area to give bsnl a run for their money…or else they think they rule the roost and we have to take whatever they dole out.
At home, i am incommunicado as far as the outside world is concerned…the only saving grace being the internet and wi-fi which helps me stay online with social media…if i do get a mobile signal in the house and a call…i have to run to a suitable location outside the house to take the call…making a call also entails the same exercise. Oh, i get it, i get it…bsnl is not providing services just to keep me fit…ha ha ha.
Would request bsnl to have open forums where people can come and meet them and get their problems and issues resolved…let us not sweep issues under the carpet, make excuses or feign ignorance…let us see how we can work together to sort issues out…let us not be arguing, shouting and retaliating in anger, rather let us try and see how things can be made easier for all. I have nothing personal against the bsnl staff involved, all i want is to get proper services and to get my money’s worth…is that too much to expect? Or am i just paying for the salaries of the bsnl staff and not getting anything in return? Do the local staff expect me to give them ‘bakshish’ or a little ‘tea money’? Sorry guys, no can do. Just do your job…you are paid for it…
I am pretty sure that mine is not an isolated case and that there are umpteen such cases all over goa…bsnl, what is your response? Or are you so comfortable that what we say does not matter?
Bharat Sanchar Nigam [BSNL] customer support has been notified about the posted complaint.