Dear Claudienne,

For the past five months or so Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) has been overbilling me, and has been asking me to pay amounts that I do not owe. They have even admitted to being culpable in the matter (see letter below).

Nonetheless they have now said that I must pay the amount that they said they owe me.

Based on the following letter that I received from JPS I will not pay the late fee and the outstanding amount from the previous bill. I have asked them for my rebate and even visited the local office to no avail. I am most disappointed with JPS in its response time, and the lack of care for its customers. Shame on you, JPS.

I received an email from the JPS that stated the following:

“Thank you for your email dated July 23, 2013 regarding your account. We apologise for the delay in our response to you and for any inconvenience that may have been caused.

“We wish to advise that the necessary adjustment has been made to your billing in light of the investigation that was conducted into the meter reading that was used to bill your account for June 2013. The adjustment is the credit sum of Two Thousand and Ninety-Five Dollars, Sixty-One Cents ($-2,095.61). This amount will be applied to the bill for August and the details of the adjustment will be provided in an official letter to be sent to you shortly.

“We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience that may have been caused as a result of this matter and we thank you for the opportunity to serve you as we continue to improve our service to you.”

After I received the above correspondence from JPS they sent me another letter that read as follows

“Thank you for your email dated September 23, 2013 regarding your account. We apologise for the delay in our response to you and for any inconvenience that may have been caused.

“Further review into the adjustment that was made to your account in August 2013 for the credit sum of Two Thousand and Ninety-Five Dollars, Sixty-One Cents ($-2,095.61) indicate that same is unable to be charged to your account as the readings used to bill same for June and July 2013 are in keeping with the regular billing of your account.

“Our Billing Department has accepted the readings for the aforementioned months as accurate and is satisfied with the original billing of the account.

We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience that this may cause and wish to advise that the Late Payment Fee of Two Hundred and Ninety-One Dollars, Twenty-Five Cents ($291.25) that was charged to your account for August 2013 has been removed in good customer relations.

“Your current balance is Two Thousand and Forty-Eight Dollars, Forty-Seven Cents ($2,048.47). We encourage that this sum be settled promptly to prevent any disruption in your supply.”

I will appreciate your help in resolving this matter.

CJ

Dear CJ

We contacted the JPS and note that they have now corrected your bill. The JPS sent Tell Claudienne a copy of the letter of apology that they sent you. The letter stated:

“We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience that has been caused by the inconsistency of the information provided.

We reviewed your account and found that even though your account was adjusted to reflect the rebate amount of Two Thousand and Ninety-Five Dollars, Sixty-One Cents ($-2,095.61), this was not reflected on your account.

“We are pleased to advise that the issue has been resolved, and your November bill (which will become due in December) will reflect the amount rebated to your account. We have also reversed the late payment fees accrued on the account.

“Once again we apologise for the inconvenience caused.”

Good luck.

Dear Claudienne

I am having a problem with my landline from Lime. From July 2013 I am having intermittent problems with my landline home phone in that it would frequently disconnect while in use. There was also this clicking sound on the line and sometimes for hours the line would be dead, rendering it useless.

I made several calls to Lime and nothing has been done. At one point one of

their technicians told me that a piece of equipment that Lime had installed was the cause of the problem, so he could not do anything about it.

Since October 19, 2013, the line has gone totally dead and I have communicated with them by phone, e-mails and via their Facebook page. I even visited their office but they have done nothing. All I hear each time I call is that the problem has

been escalated.

Please note that I still receive a bill every month. I have asked them to suspend the service until the problem is solved because the latest I am hearing is that it is a platform problem and they have no idea when it will be fixed.

They have refused to suspend the service and told me that I have to continuen paying the bills until the problem is solved.

Could you kindly contact LIME on my behalf?

Thank you

SM

Dear SM

Tell Claudienne communicated with LIME. They have advised us that your problem has been resolved satisfactorily. Your line is now working properly and the company said that they have told you that in accordance with their customer satisfaction standards, you will not be required to pay for service not rendered.

Good luck.

Have a problem with a store, utility, a company: telephone 936-9436 or write to: Tell Claudienne c/o Sunday Finance, Jamaica Observer, 40-42 1/2 Beechwood Avenue, Kingston 5; or e-mail: edwardsc@jamaicaobserver.com. Please include a contact phone number.