Early last week, I submitted a letter to the editor concerning the very poor and/or lack of service from Northwestel’s Navigonet system. As a result, the Yukon News decided to do a story about my dilemma, which appeared on page three of last Friday’s paper.
The article was factual and based on the information I presented. I applaud Josh Kerr for stating the information as I described it to him. The truth can be very interesting.
The last sentence of that article stated: “As this article went to press, Northwestel said that they had finally fixed the problem.”
Well, what a load of crap.
Northwestel has become so incredibly nonchalant about its pathetic service that it doesn’t even bother trying to come across with some credibility.
First of all, let’s consider their statement that the problem has been fixed. It’s pretty difficult to correct a problem that never existed. And that is what I was told by Gordon Crowe, a senior technician, and Rajiv Tulsiani, product manager, internet services.
Crowe told me that they were not having a problem that he was aware of. Tulsiani told me that I was at the “fringe” of the service and that, combined with the foliage that might be interfering, was the cause. In other words, it was my location and possibly some trees (neither of which has ever caused me any problems such as those I am experiencing now) that are the culprits here, and not their service. He suggested I try Bell Canada to see if they had something I could use.
So, for Northwestel to tell the Yukon News that the problem had been corrected É Well, you see my confusion. If I didn’t move closer inside the “fringe,” which I didn’t à the house is in the same place it always has been à then how could the problem have been corrected? Could it have been them? After either ignoring me, or telling me specifically that they did not have a problem? Could it have been them after all? You think they may have lied to me? I’m shocked. Absolutely shocked.
In addition to that, the problem, whatever it was, has not been corrected. I am still experiencing great difficulty with my internet service. The service has experienced as of late some brief periods of lucidity from time to time, but overall it is the same old crappy service I have been dealing with for over a month now.
Do you think it might have been prudent for Northwestel to have checked with me to see if the service had in fact improved before informing the Yukon News that it had? I did get a message from Tulsiani asking if I had been successful getting something from Bell Canada. That was thoughtful. But since all he had done was refer me to Bell after telling me I was in the wrong spot, I didn’t see the need to respond.
I dunno. Something stinks of decaying phone lines to me. Do you think Northwestel is blowing smoke? Do you think because they have a monopoly on these kinds of services up here that they just tell people whatever they think they want to hear? Our Northwestel? Could it really be that mean-spirited and greedy and apathetic? You think?
One of these days, my friends, this outfit is going to get some real competition, and they are going to fall like a giant sack of fertilizer into the dark abyss of bankruptcy. I sure hope I’m around to participate in and witness their demise. Right now, I’d pay twice as much to get a decent level of service and support. I’d jump at the opportunity. But then, a monopoly is a sweet thing. They might as well enjoy it while they can.
The problem, or the non-problem, depending on who you talk to at Northwestel, isn’t fixed. It still exists, and I’m still dealing with it. In fact, at this writing, it is as bad as it has been since all this started. I’m still unable to open websites except very slowly, and sometimes not at all. I’m still unable to send any kind of attachment with an email, and half of my emails don’t go the first time. And they will continue to bill me for the “service.” What a sad way to run a business. But hey, what do I know? If Northwestel says it’s fixed, it must be fixed. Right?
I just wish that someone from Northwestel, who is in a position of authority and can speak with some credibility, would contact me and just tell me the truth about what is going on. Doesn’t seem like a lot to ask. If they want to shut the service down or move people in another direction toward a service that will ensure higher profits for them, why not just say so?
I don’t understand why a company that makes the obscene amount of money that it does needs to behave this way.
Rem Ricks
Whitehorse