OUR hits at C&W's tardiness THE OFFICE of Utilities Regulation (OUR) has accused telecoms giant, Cable and Wireless Jamaica Ltd. (C&WJ) of not facilitating the utilities watchdog in speedily resolving customers complaints against the company. "This is demonstrated in the relatively slow pace at which many cases are eventually brought to closure, particularly over the last 18 months or so," the OUR said in its Consultative Document, dated June 2001. The document which addresses the Quality of Service Standards for C&WJ, noted that the OUR service standards require that complainants be informed of the result of the OUR's investigation within 40 business days of their submission. However, it noted that C&WJ often failed to respond on time to allow the OUR to resolve the complaints within the time frame. In some instances, it said, the telecoms giant had gone ahead and pursued specific cases with individual customers completely independent of the OUR, though those cases had been submitted to the utilities watchdog after customers had expressed dissatisfaction with the companies initial handling of their complaints. "This essentially confounds the OUR's case handling process, and actually worsens C&WJ's comparative status as one of several utilities monitored by OUR case handling systems," the document said. At the end of the first three reporting periods of 2000/2001, among all three utilities, C&WJ held the highest number of outstanding cases for which the OUR was awaiting a response. At the end of June 2000 C&WJ was responsible for eight of such cases out of 18. At the end of September 2000, 11 out of 25, and at the end of December 2000, 10 out of 20.
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