Telephone consumers among most critical

JAKARTA (JP): The classic complaints about telephone services keep cropping up because telephone users are among the most critical of consumers, a consumer advocate said.

Zoemrotin K. Soesilo of the Indonesian Consumers' Foundation (YLKI), compared complaints her office had received in its survey last year at a seminar on telephone service yesterday.

She said people still report problems with new phone lines and slow repairs, and complaints about bills are on the rise with her office receiving 11 cases in one month.

"(State-run telephone firm) PT Telkom can only try to improve its services although critical consumers keep increasing their demands," she said. The seminar was at the West Jakarta office of PT Telkom on Jl. S. Parman.

One of the problems PT Telkom should fix is making local phone call charges clear to consumers, as well as charges on distance calls, she said.

YLKI's content analysis of media reports in February last year found 637 readers writing on consumer complaints. Transportation complaints ranked first with 141 entries while telecommunications ranked second with 133.

Seventy-eight dealt with new phone lines and slow repairs, 45 were PT Telkom's responses and 10 were compliments to the company about its services.

Meanwhile the deputy head of Region II of the PT Telkom oversees Jakarta, Jimmy R. Villanueva, promised thousands of clients would see improved connections this year.

"We are doing major repairs in many areas," Jimmy said, for example flood prone areas in Jelambar, West Jakarta. (anr)