Thursday, March 28, 2024

MAVIS BECKLES: High-tech – but kaput

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I AM HAPPY tuh finally see smiles on the faces o’ some o’ the people in St Joseph after months and months of not having running water in their homes.

One lady said dat she was still grateful tuh have water running from the taps, even though the pressure was low but all in all the residents in St Joseph and some other areas are happy dat duh could see water actually coming outta their taps.

Some o’ dem even remembering last year all around this time so when duh didn’t see a drop o’ water coming outta dem pipes; all the way in tuh the Christmas season, the very Christmas day and long after dat. I am real glad dat duh getting li’l relief and I hope dat, as some o’ dem saying, it will continue and not be like last year all ovah again.

But talking ’bout services being disrupted, last week I had a situation wid another service and while I was expressing my frustration, a friend o’ mine allow me tuh know dat I have something tuh write ’bout this week. The truth is, after I get back the service, it really didn’t matter too much but I think she right. I think I should say something bout it ’cause lemmuh tell ya, it had me seriously offset fuh almost the whole weekend.

I ain’t even know how tuh put this ’cause I ain’t suh technical anyway. I had a modem dat I couldn’t get tuh work properly at all and one o’ my sons-in-law came over tuh look at it but even though he used tuh work in this area and still does, he inform me dat I gine have tuh eventually go ovah tuh fibre . . . whatevah dat meant and fuh whatevah reason. Anyway, I went in tuh the LIME office and carry back the modem and after talking tuh a very nice salesman, he persuaded me to do the change. Well, I agree.

Now the technician come and he did all the changing ovah and stuff, and evahthing was working fine until last weekend when the whole system went down – the TV, the computer and the phone. As if dat wasn’t bad enough, my cellphone went bumm, so I was like a fish outta water; I did not know what tuh do, who tuh call nor where tuh turn. Anyway, I borrowed a phone and call the 800 numbers tuh see if I could get some kinda assistance. First of all, I had tuh go through a whole lot o’ voicemail directions and numbers before I could hear a real human.

Finally, a living person asked me a bucket o’ questions and this take up at least a good ten or so minutes. Then she tell me that she will have tuh speak tuh her supervisor and tuh hold on. I did! She was gone fuh a good li’l while and next thing I hear was a big clonk and she was gone, cut off.

I called back and talk tuh another person and after giving her the same explanation and information, she tell me tuh hold on too but I get cut off again. Sweating and frustrated but determine tuh find some kinda help, I called back and went through the same thing all ovah again. At this point I had now gone through three different operators wid three totally different names and accents.

Look, I was so upset dat I call my son-in-law again and he tell me dat the system like it down because he got a couple o’ friends who systems was down fuh almost the whole weekend. At dat time all I was saying ovah and ovah was dat I cahn wait fuh Monday tuh come, tuh go up there in Government Hill and tell dem come and tek out duh system. I was blue vex but he tell me dat it ain’t nuh sense because fibre is the way it going now.

Well, it back up now but tell me something: why it is dat when I have a problem here in Barbados wid my phone and internet system, I have tuh travel all ovah the Caribbean fuh help and assistance and talk tuh people who ain’t know diddly squat ’bout wha’ I talking ’bout?

I ain’t know, hear? All this lot o’ technology and still things ain’t working.

• Mavis Beckles was born and raised in The Orleans. She has an opinion on everything.

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