Letters: November 6, 2009

I help save the planet
I don’t pay Salik charges. I don’t have any traffic fines or parking tickets. I don’t waste my time looking for parking spaces nor do I spend money on fuel. I don’t cause accidents. I don’t contribute to traffic congestion. Instead, I use public transport. I park my car near my home and utilise the time spent on the bus ride to read books. I talk to family and friends and I belong to the community. Maybe I help save our planet, too.
From Mr Vijay Godyeal
Dubai
SMS comment

Conscious choices
Please, the bullying has to end! After spending the most beautiful day snorkeling and swimming in Fujairah, we, a group of four adults and three children, could have become a statistic.
On our way home to Dubai, a driver dramatically tailgated us, flashed his lights, and when our driver was able to secure space in the heavily occupied right lane, this bully intentionally swerved in the direction of our car while he was passing by.
There was absolutely no reason for such aggression, for we were travelling at a good speed, with the flow of traffic, waiting for our turn to get back into the right lane. Of course, our driver could have cut in front of someone, or bullied the driver in front of us, or stepped on the brake to teach the bully behind us a lesson, but thanks to the good driver’s education and level headedness, our driver followed safe traffic rules and avoided unnecessary aggression and loss of life or injury. The truly good drivers on the road are those who follow the rules, drive defensively, and manage to control aggressive urges.
I kindly ask drivers to think about their behaviour on the road and consciously make choices that will make our roads a safer place.
From Ms Annette Schonder
Dubai

Silence when needed
This is in response to Mr Mohammad Faisal Imran’s letter requesting telecom
operators to "start a new service for mobile phone users which would allow
us to set our phone in different modes, such as 'in a meeting', 'driving' or 'praying'" ("Can’t take your call", Gulf News, November 2). Mr Mohammad, aren’t you aware that you can set different profiles and activate these, at any given time? Telecom operators would not start a new service for mobile phone users and spend thousands of dirhams, even millions, to implement new technology and employ more people when telephone manufacturers already supply this service as part of mobile phone features.
I suggest you read your mobile phone’s manual and learn how to set
up profiles. If your phone does not have profile settings, I suggest you just put it on silent whenever you need to.
From Mr John P.
Dubai

Spend money to recover
In a recent survey conducted by a business magazine in the US, a poll question asked: 'If you could spend $10,000 (Dh36,731) in any way you want, howwould you spend it?' The results were shocking. Forty-five per cent people said they would pay off their debts, 25 per cent said they would invest, another 25 per cent said they would deposit the money in a bank, while seven per cent chose to spend it.
If Americans don’t spend money, recovering from the global economic
crisis seems unlikely. More companies worldwide are being shut down and
people are losing jobs. Americans, it seems, have no money to spend even
for their basic needs. Who can tell when the global economy will regain
normalcy? I live in a small city that has a lot of industries.
When I look at the empty streets, I see no hope of recovery any time soon.
The recovery will be very sluggish and prolonged. How long will it take, is the real question.
From Mr A. S. Mathew
Ringgold, US

A month of massacres
October proved to be a month of massacres for Pakistan. Bombs were detonated
and gunfire raged almost every day, while hundreds of people lost their
dear ones. Militants penetrated deeper into the urban areas of the country and targeted innocent people.
The attacks — in Peshawar, in Manawan, Lahore, on the Pakistan Army’s headquarters and the Islamic University campus in Islamabad — are proof
that even places which were once considered most secure are no longer safe.
Students have not been spared, either. However, I salute Pakistan — a nation
which has survived despite all odds and in the worst of times.
From Mr M. Ali Sa’adi
Abu Dhabi

READER'S ISSUE RESOLVED

Paying for two
Perhaps etisalat’s Al Shamil broadband division works efficiently now, compared to the past. However, for me, their mobile phone service division is definitely third class. My ordeal began when I subscribed to etisalat’s Al Wasel SIM card, which offered a 100MB data package, at Dh95 per month. I subscribed using the interactive voice response, by calling 125. The amount due was deducted from my credit balance.
As I never received a confirmation, I called etisalat’s 101 helpline number where a customer care representative informed me that the 100MB data package
was active. And then came the big shock — I lost my entire credit by just checking my e-mail accounts and surfing the internet.
At first, I didn’t know what was happening. I called 101 and informed them of this problem.
A representative stated that the system showed two packages as being active,
whereas only one was supposed to be active. In other words, I was on the
100MB data package, but I was being charged as per the basic 'pay as you go'
package.
The representatives kept transferring me to the cancellation department, who
informed me that the basic data package could not be cancelled — it was active by default. Giving up on the customer care service, I e-mailed etisalat about this issue.
I was finally given a case number on May 29 and was asked to check the status after three working days. Since then, I have e-mailed etisalat many times and all I get in response is: "We have sent a reminder of your case to the concerned section to take the appropriate action at the earliest. We apologise for the inconvenience.”
Even though it seemed like a system generated e-mail, I never gave up. After
some more emails, I received a message, perhaps on June 10, stating that the system was not accepting any changes and that the case was now with etisalat’s IT section.
It is almost a month and they have not been able to deactivate the basic data package. This is definitely not world-class service.
From Mr Avinash Keswani
Dubai

Etisalat management responds:
Etisalat regrets the inconvenience caused to the customer. The customer has been refunded Dh100. The etisalat team has called and updated the customer on the same.

Editor’s note: If you have any similar consumer service complaints, let us know at readers@gulfnews.com