Problem: St Augustine resident Dalton Dorman said he sent an e-mail “to Digicel about the removal and disbanding of his telephone number.” Dalton said: “Although they have sent an acknowledgement saying I can expect an investigation in 24 hours, no solution has been forthcoming.” Dalton, in an e-mail to Digicel, wrote: “After contacting your company today about my inability to access a SIM card sold to me in 2012 I was informed that it was taken off the system recently. Please note I have an assigned contract with a contact number.
“I had built up credit because of lack of use, although I know a top-up was necessary every 180 days to keep the card live. I tried to keep up. “Here is the problem: This card is embedded in a security system in my motor vehicle. Therefore, I do not have a handset and am only able to do a direct top wherever I can find a location. “So imagine my distress and inconvenience when I found the card suddenly disabled. At least your company could have given some warning or indication.
Now I am informed that the number cannot be retrieved and I must replace the SIM with another. “This will cost me, in addition to the credit lost and the cost of a new SIM, a sum of $280 to reinstall the new card at the service provider’s place.”
Solution: When Digicel was contacted, the Guardian Angel was told a new SIM card must be topped up within 30 days of purchase, while a SIM card will expire once it is not topped up in 210 days. Digicel explained that sending credit (using the Credit U service) to a SIM card will not extend its life and when it expires, the number is recycled and reassigned to someone else.
Dalton was advised to go in to Digicel’s head office on Maraval Road, Port-of-Spain, with ID and proof that the number was his in order for it to be returned to him, as the number was still available when the Guardian Angel called Digicel. In order to extend the life of a SIM card used in such a security system, customers can either visit a dealer store so the credit can be sent directly to the phone or remove the SIM card from the security system and insert it in a phone to add credit.
Problem: Denise Gayah said she shopped at Xtra Foods in Grand Bazaar recently and was given an entry form to fill out for Grand Bazaar’s annual Christmas promotion. Gayah said: “I read the details on the form and proceeded to complete the entry. “On the said form, a clause stated ‘Valid only with official store stamp.’ I went to the front desk...(and) asked the young lady politely for a stamp on the entry form to complete and drop off and showed her the clause.
“She said: ‘The form does not have to be stamped and the judges will accept it as long as Xtra Foods is quoted on the form and because there are so many people purchasing goods at the supermarket, the form does not need to be stamped.’” Gayah is concerned about whether her entry form was invalid as a result and asks that “all forms be validated with a stamp as per official rules stated for the promotion.”
Solution: Xtra Foods said as long as the entry form has the invoice number and the name of the store the entry is valid. However, Grand Bazaar’s general manager Edward Ayin said entry forms were submitted without the stamp in the first week of the competition and were accepted but, in fact, all forms must be stamped. Ayin said in cases where the entry form was not stamped, customers can attach their bill to the entry.