Kabelvision's disservice

I am writing to you rather than to Kabelvision out of frustration with their lack of service and concern for subscribers.

On Dec. 5, the transmission of cable television in the Kebayoran Baru area of South Jakarta was interrupted a number of times, especially during the afternoon peak period (4 p.m. to 8 p.m.).

When I rang the customer service (577-7750) to find out why the service was not operating, I was kept on hold for 10 minutes, listening to mindless taped music whose objective appears to be to increase one's irritation rather than sooth it.

Finally a male operator came on line and asked if he could help me. When I told him that the service in my area wasn't operating and asked what the problem was, without even answering me, he put me back on hold with that dreaded music.

Such behavior belies the greeting in this month's program guide that "your valuable comments and suggestions are most welcome".

Well, I will give Kablevision a few specific suggestions from my experience. 1. Open a toll-free customer service number so that subscribers wouldn't have salt rubbed into their wounds by having to pay for the telephone costs of waiting for a nonservice. 2. Train operators to identify themselves when answering the phone so they can be made accountable. 3. Be proactive and telephone subscribers in areas where there are interruptions to the service and explain the problem to them. 4. Offer a rebate of about 5 percent for each day service is "out" for more than two hours, especially during peak viewing time.

You can rest assured I will not succumb to Kabelvision's entreaties to pay extra for movie channels, Internet access and other services, when they can't get the basic right.

TIM BLAXLAND

Jakarta