New telephone line

New telephone line

We thought that an extra telephone line would be a good idea,
especially as PT Telkom was offering a special low price for new
lines in our area. Our new line was operational on Jan. 29, 1997
but when we went to pay the bill we were told that we had not
paid for two months (November and December 1996). The matter was
eventually solved, but only after a lot of hassles. We had to pay
the bill first and later received a refund. Although Bapak Deddy,
Ibu Vera and Teti were very helpful, they were unable to solve
our problems relating to the payment of bills and fixing the
line.

Since Jan. 29, our new telephone has only been working for
about 10 days. The rest of the time it has been out of order. We
have called Telkom everyday but the answer is always the same.
"It has been reported to our technician," they assure us. The
first report (Number 058) to Telkom's complaint service went
missing. They said the line had already been fixed, but the phone
was still out of order.

We tried to pay our bill again on March 10, at BDN Manggala
Wanabakti but yet again they told us we had not paid last month's
bill and that payments were not accepted at BDN. Of course, last
month's bill had already been paid.

Although I had to pay last month's bill in Slipi, Telkom said
the matter would be settled and the bill would be transferred to
BDN Manggala Wanabakti the following month, but obviously this
was not the case.

To formalize our complaint, we went to PT Telkom's
service point in Palmerah on March 8, and obtained a letter
formally assuring us they would send a technician to our home on
March 10. But nobody ever arrived. We contacted Telkom again on
March 11 because our telephone was still not working, but again
they said it was in the hands of the technician.

Why should we continue to pay the bill when the phone has not
worked for such a long time? Is it reasonable to expect a new
line to work properly on a regular basis? Do we have to be
referred to various offices to pay our bill even though we have
already paid?

I strongly urge PT Telkom to help us either fix our new line
or refund our money.

S & J WATSON

Jakarta