THIS is with reference to the dismal state of affairs of the PTCL's technical support and customer service networks. The PTCL serves as Pakistan's premier telephony service, providing telephone connections and services throughout the country.

Catering to such a large base, it is expected that keeping the customer happy would be of primary concern. However, with the quality of service that the company is providing, that hardly seems to be the case.

A call on either 1217(telephone directory) or 1218 (PTCL helpline), welcomes you through a voice message asking you to pick a language, and other subsequent menu options.

After that you are informed that “Your call would be recorded for quality assurance,” and then you are put on hold. This hold lasts for up to six to seven minutes where the customer is forced to listen to pre-recorded messages over and over again. And if you are not tired of the relentless waiting, you are transferred, finally, to a customer sales representative. These representatives half of the times are able to correctly guide you in your query, the other half of the time they politely inform you that they do not have the relevant number that you inquired or that they are unable to assist you in your query.

If the calls are recorded for the purpose of quality assurance, then why aren't PTCL officials taking notice of this issue at hand, and ensuring prompt and reliable service.

Furthermore, if the volume of calls to such numbers is high, then steps should be taken to contain the problem rather than aggravate the customers who are paying for the service and not getting the desired outcomes.

If telephone assistance is anything to gauge the deploring situation of the PTCL's customer service, then the telephone exchange centres are far from any respite. Almost all PTCL centres of Lahore are characteristic of minimal customer care structure or mechanism. Line men are not available during anytime of the day and if by coincidence you are lucky enough to find one, their 'prompt' services require a guest appearance from the Quaid himself.

There is no mechanism for registering a complaint at these exchanges; rather you are forwarded to particular individuals, only to find them not on their seats, or to be again forwarded to other individuals. Most documentation requires the signatures of area managers or regional engineers who are in their office for limited random hours of the working day, thus delaying any process that the customer intends to complete.

In this day and age, where quick, prompt and reliable service is the need of the hour, the PTCL is lagging behind, particularly in the presence of stiff completion from mobile service networks.

The PTCL needs to reconsider its customer service structure and revamp it in a manner which ensures fast and effective assistance to the customer.

MOMNA EZAD

Lahore