Dear Claudienne,

In January 2016, most of the post boxes at the Yallahs Post Office in St Thomas were broken into. After many months of complaining to the postmistress, I managed to get a cell number for the local representative. She apologised for the inconvenience and said she would call me back. When she called, she told me that they were waiting for the materials for the job to come from abroad, and therefore requested my patience.

The next time I spoke to her she said that the materials had indeed arrived in the island, but the post office did not have a contractor to do the work.

Nothing happened for several weeks. I called the office of the Postmaster General and spoke to his secretary, who said she would make inquiries. A few days later I got a call from the Yallahs Post Office. When I went to the post office I was given a key for an unbroken box for my use.

However, the other people whose boxes were broken into are still being inconvenienced, as they have to visit the post office during opening hours to get their mail even though they have paid for the post box service.

We would appreciate your help in finding out when the boxes will be repaired.

HF

Dear HF,

Tell Claudienne has been following up this matter. The Postmaster’s secretary told us that the Postmaster visited the Yallahs Post Office on June 8. We have been told that 100 locks have been delivered to the Post Office and that replacement of the locks will begin on June 15.

You have suggested that the management should install a gate to secure the area where the post boxes are located. You said that the people who use the post box service have agreed to pay for keys for such a gate. We were told that your suggestion will be discussed at their next management meeting, and we will follow up this matter.

In the meantime, we wish you all the best.

FLOW Samsung leave bad taste in the mouth

Dear Claudienne,

On May 7, 2016, my husband purchased a Samsung S6 cellular phone as a gift for me.

On a few occasions I noticed that when I attempted to make calls, the telephone would “pop up” a message saying “SIM card required, not on network”. On those occasions I would just open the SIM section, slide it back, and all would be well. I actually thought nothing of it and believed it was no big deal.

In November 2016, the message popped up again. However, when I tried my previously described method, the message remained the same. I could neither make calls, receive calls, nor access my e-mail messages.

Distraught, I proceeded to the FLOW store in Portmore and was attended to by a young lady who took the cellular phone to carry out some tests. I thought the problem would be a simple one, but on her return she said that based on her testing, the phone was unable to read any SIM card. She therefore could offer me no assistance.

She said that the phone was probably faulty and suggested that I immediately return it to the vendor. Since the phone was a gift from my husband, I did not know where he had purchased it.

When I got home, my husband informed me that he had purchased it at the FLOW Tropical Plaza Branch and that it had a one-year warranty. Unfortunately, however, he could not locate the receipt.

That evening I called FLOW customer care and told the representative that although we were unable to locate the receipt, we had the electronic banking transactional proof of the purchase as my husband had used his credit card to buy the phone.

She indicated that it would not be a problem as the serial numbers of the cell phones are registered by FLOW, and they would be able to see the transaction and telephone serial number in their system.

On the assurance of the representative, I proceeded to the FLOW branch at Tropical Plaza, where the representative checked the phone and advised me that it could not be repaired unless I presented the receipt. Based on the advice I had been given by the customer care representative, I pointed out that the record in their system of the phone’s serial number should be FLOW’s internal proof of purchase. The rep said that only the manager could do the search.

The manager was not there at the time, so I left my name and phone number. The representative promised to relay the complaint to the manager for investigation. However, the manager never called. I called the store and was told that when the manager checked the system, neither the serial number nor the purchase could be found. The manager said that the phone would not be accepted for repairs without the receipt.

I again called FLOW and was instructed to tell my husband, who had purchased the phone, to go to the FLOW store and present his ID. I was told that the ID information my husband had given when making the purchase could be used to verify the transaction. My husband went to the store, presented his ID, but was told that they could not accept the phone for repairs without a receipt.

I really feel cheated.

I have used the phone that my husband purchased for $70,000 for a little over five months, but FLOW refuses to repair it because the receipt cannot be found. I believe that the phone was faulty from the beginning. And why can the FLOW Tropical Plaza branch find neither the phone’s serial number nor proof of its purchase in their system? Strange!

It really leaves a bad taste in my mouth. My husband and I are hard-working Jamaicans, and every dollar counts. So now I am left with an expensive but useless piece of equipment. I am a very unhappy FLOW customer.

Are you able to help me with my case? I really hope so.

KWH

Dear KWH,

Tell Claudienne outlined your concerns and frustrations to FLOW, and we note that the matter has been settled amicably. The response we received from FLOW to your problem stated the following:

“ Thank you for giving us an opportunity to respond to this concern.

We would like to firstly apologise to Mrs KWH for her experience. We appreciate our customers and welcome every opportunity to serve them.

Further to discussions with Mrs. KWH, we were able to verify the purchase, and have replaced the device.

Thank you again for giving us an opportunity to resolve this issue.”

We wish you all the best.

Have a problem with a store, utility or 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.