The Shadow Minister of Science and Technology, Mr. Julian Robinson, M.P., is calling on both the portfolio Minister, Prime Minister Andrew Holness and the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) to intervene and ensure that the basic standard of cell phone service is maintained across networks.

Mr. Robinson said he has been receiving increasing complaints from cell phone customers that there is a breakdown in service delivery; and that customer care has disappeared.  The Shadow Minister said he has received reports from across the spectrum that it is difficult to resolve complaints with cell phone providers because of the slow automated system now in use by the companies.

The litany of complaints surrounds the general poor quality of service, service disruptions, dropped calls, disappearing credits, and bill charges.

He said the self-care options available to customers is not user friendly and does not readily give an option to speak with a customer service representative which increase the level of frustration and anxiety for consumers.

Mr. Robinson said it is time for the intervention of the OUR to leverage its authority and ensure that consumers are not exploited by cell phone providers.  He said the OUR must insist that the cell phone service providers remedy the situation and return real value to their customer base.

“Cell phone service has deteriorated to the point of customer frustration and I am very concerned that some of these complaints are long-standing and there is no obvious evidence that there any move to fixing them,” said the Shadow Minister.

The Shadow Minister is also urging customers with grievances to seek the intervention of the Consumers Affairs Commission (CAC) to address of these consumers-related grievances.  In the past, the CAC intervened on behalf of consumers on many of these issues, after receiving many complaints against the cell phone providers.

Mr. Robinson said Prime Minister Holness must intervene and provide the required leadership in directing the relevant government agencies to seek redress for the consumers.