A good cause

Maria Conceicao has been in the news for quite some time and the sacrifices she makes to alleviate the suffering of the Bangladeshi children is commendable (“Dark days in Dhaka turn bright in Dubai”, Gulf News, September 13). She has proved beyond doubt that religion and nationality has no place when catering to the needs of the unfortunate. She has achieved a double success by [bringing] the children to Dubai for better education and a better life and at the same time securing jobs for the parents of these children. Maria, you have shown us what can be achieved if we only devote our “free time” towards a good cause.

From Mr Melwyn Rodrigues, Abu Dhabi

Breaking the cycle

Have people ever wondered why there is so much poverty in Bangladesh? Without the right education, relevant skills and employment, young people are hopeless as their country deliberately chooses to leave them behind to wallow in socially inflicted misery and poverty. Breaking the cycle of poverty, some people talk about it but Maria Conceicao is actually pursuing it. Like they say the road to success is lined with many tempting parking spaces, but she leaves them for others and keeps driving. What could stop her — the lack of funds, lack of support, the bureaucracy and resistance from people. I admire how she deals with the root causes and not just the symptoms. First, she gave them the very basic things in life like water, food and sanitation along with medical and birth certificates. Now, she’s giving them a chance to get better education and employment.

From A Reader, UAE (Name withheld by request)

Social responsibility

The recent Arabia CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) awards was an excellent start to reach the ‘environmentally- friendly firm’ goal (“Businesses must cut negative footprints”, Gulf News, September 12). In this hour of need, where floods have unfortunately become unstoppable, scarcity has reached its peak and firms have abused natural resources, it’s integral and important to implement strict ‘green’ laws and regulations. Uncertain climatic conditions and other natural disasters have made humans think once again about whether we are brutally taking the natural resources granted? It was once only a theory in those large environmental and geography textbooks, but now we are witnessing it in our daily lives. I think every business, be it small or big, needs to think about their corporate social responsibility or at least how they are impacting or tampering with the local environment.

From Ms Anureet Kaur, Toronto, Canada

Notorious criminals

Another September 11 has gone by with the world left mourning (“US should allow impartial 9/11 probe”, Gulf News, September 14). Terrorism put on its most cruel face with the attack on the World Trade Centre in New York. It was unexpected. That is when the world realised that the strength of terror hides in the world itself. Long years of iron-handed war against terrorism rescued the world from total disaster and the war still continues. A minority of terrorists try to demolish peace and progress. These evil-hearted criminals misuse religion and the name of God for their malpractices. Terrorists are not religious people. They are notorious criminals. The world must wipe out the terrorists from the face of the earth.

From Mr Renadev Mattatholi, Dubai

The less fortunate

Hats off to Maria for her project to educate the slum children of Bangladesh. God bless her. We need people like her to make this world a better place for the less fortunate people to live.

From Mr Shahid Alam, Ontario, Canada

The real facts

Linda S. Heard has done some great research for the recent column. I have personally done so much research, in every possible way, to find out the real facts. There are so many things that turn up when it comes to the truth behind 9/11. There is a huge media blackout when facts like these are put forth. The 9/11 commission report never spoke about WTC 7. How were there explosions in the base of these towers? Dr Steven Jones found evidence of termite in the debris of the World Trade Centre. Why were these things never questioned? I wish the world was a true and transparent place. When one would learn of the truth, it would completely change the way the person thinks!

From A Reader, Abu Dhabi

Causing inconvenience

I would like to thank Mr Berly T. for a recent community report on the need for bus shelters in Deira, Dubai. It is very true that commuters are seen waiting for the bus in the scorching heat. I regularly commute to work taking this road and I see a lot of commuters waiting for the bus. I can understand the plight they face as the heat is just unbearable. If you pass by the Al Shindagha Tunnel, the roads are very small and there are more chances of accidents. With buses and taxis occupying a lot of space on the designated roads, it becomes very difficult for other motorists to drive down. The authorities have to set up more space so that buses have ample space to stop rather than block [the way].

From Mr Mathew Litty, Dubai

Your Complaint

Customer has connection issues

I have had a persistent internet connection problem for about two years. After complaining numerous times on the phone and in person, etisalat still cannot resolve my very slow download speed and intermittent service. Sometimes I am without internet for four to five days at a time.

When I complained to etisalat I was told I needed to upgrade my line to 2MB. However, I got the upgrade more than two years ago and there was no difference in speed.

I was then told I would have to upgrade my connection to 4MB, but again there was no noticeable difference. After visiting an etisalat office I was told I needed to downgrade to a 2MB line as the area I live in does not support a 4MB line. After doing this, and again seeing no difference, I contacted etisalat customer service to lodge a complaint. I was given a complaint number and told that an engineer would need to visit my villa to resolve the problem.

During the engineer's visit, he checked the download speed, which was 60kbps, and told me it was a problem with etisalat's exchange not being able to cope with the broadband width and high usage in the area. After calling etisalat three days later I was told the case was closed and there was no problem.

Weeks went by with intermittent service and multiple calls to the etisalat internet team only to be told a different story every time. Yet again I have had the etisalat engineer to my villa and again the speeds were in the region of 55kbps and he gave me the same reply that it's a problem with etisalat's exchange. This complaint has been going on for a long time.

On June 6, 2009, I was told that the problem had been identified and would be fixed in two days. I called etisalat to get an update only to be told I would need to downgrade my line to 512MB. On June 14 and 16, I had no internet and called 101 and lodged a complaint. On June 20, I called 101 to ask about my complaint and was told it had been settled. I then spoke with a supervisor who promised to look into the complaint and call me back. I met with one of the representatives a second time and was told I needed to downgrade to 1MB. On June 22, I met a new representative who was very helpful and assured me my issue would be sorted out. My internet connection was then changed to a 3G connection with 500GB download. Once installed, the signal was no good and yet again I could not get the internet. I had no internet from June 22 to July 6. Again I spoke with the representative who arranged to change my router said the issue would be resolved.

On December 8 and 9, I had no internet and called to lodge another complaint. On December 14, I called 101 and was put on hold for 35 minutes before being cut off and the line remained busy. Again on January 2, 2010 I had no internet and went to etisalat's main office on Shaikh Zayed Road. I spoke with a representative who recommended I change my internet to WiMAX and I filled out the application there and then. I was told a technician would visit my villa in two days. By January 5, I had received no visit or contact from etisalat. The internet worked very slow. Sometimes there was no internet for hours at a time.

On April 25, again I had no internet at all and called 101 and was told it was an issue with the router and that I needed to take it to etisalat to get a replacement. When I arrived at the main office I spoke with a representative who told me they could not replace it. Then I spoke with another representative who tried to fix the router and who then told me it was a problem with the SIM card. He then told me that it would get sorted and I would have internet; he also said he would call me the next day. On May 4, I met with a representative to ask why I had not received a call to follow up on my case. I was told they did try to call and there was no reply, which is very strange as I had given them my company's contact number and it is on 24/7. I then met with another representative who was helpful. I asked him about my last complaint and he said no action had been taken. He replaced my SIM card and I was given a dongle router. When I got home I tried the router, but it too worked intermittently. On July 4, after numerous calls, still nothing had been done. When I asked how I was supposed to work on my office email from home, etisalat suggested I buy a BlackBerry device.

When will I be able to get an acceptable connection speed in Al Barsha? When will I receive a full refund of all the rental cost above a 512MB line, which has been paid by me over the past two years and also for all the downtime to date?
From Mr Spencer Vanderpal
Dubai

Editor's note: The complaint was sent to etisalat for comments. However, despite repeated reminders, its management failed to respond. 

If you would like to raise similar consumer issues, let us know at: readers@gulfnews.com