Several customers of telecommunications firm, FLOW, are upset at what they describe as unreliable and unsatisfactory customer service from the utility company.

Recent customer complaints have ranged from no service, to little service, to the company's persistence to charge for service not rendered.

One such customer has gone as far as to threaten legal action against the Internet, cable and telephone provider for what he deems as its insistence to "rip me off".

In a letter addressed to The Gleaner, Michael Finch claims FLOW has been billing him for service he has not received.

"On August 19, Hurricane Dean tore down FLOW utility lines. From that time until September 23, I was not receiving any service," read a section of the letter.

However, according to Finch, he has gone ahead and paid his August bill, only to get an additional bill for September, despite not having any service.

Finch said he has made several complaints to the company, but was told there was nothing they could do about it and he would simply have to pay.

Other customers who have called The Gleaner news room with complaints say they have been without service in many instances for weeks and are often unable to reach a customer care representative for assistance.

"I have called their offices on several occasions only to be given instructions over the phone on how to rectify the problem because they don't have a technician on hand to send to my home," said one caller.

In other instances, customers said they were given appointments two or three weeks away before a technician would be available to fix the problem.

Jean McPherson, marketing manager at FLOW, has denied that the multimillion-dollar firm is having problems.

"Our business has grown significantly in recent times and as such we have sought to increase our customer service to com-plement our needs," she said.

Process of expansion

According to McPherson, FLOW is now in the process of expanding its call centre.

"This, however, takes time, as we have to acquire real estate and train agents. We expect our call centre to be up and running in the next 30 days."

McPherson told The Gleaner that FLOW was in the process of crediting the accounts of some 15,000 customers who were without service after Hurricane Dean.

In response to allegations that customers were given appointments in advance, McPherson said: "I am not aware of a customer given three weeks for an appointment. However, it is not uncommon for us to schedule appointments for a time that would suit both the customer and the company," she said.