No Service from Service Providers

First published: 06^th July 2007

I can confirm Tai Kwun-kit's picture (Talkback, 7th July) of poor service from TV and telecom operators in HK. In fact, it is not just poor, the procedures and delays imposed on customers appear to be deliberate obstruction.

Last year I found it impossible to get a useful answer from the iCable "hotline" so, on 5th August, I wrote to iCable to inform them I was cancelling the service, effective from then end of the billing period, 27th August. They responded that, as I must give one months notice, I would have to pay another month. The were unable to provide any explanation what they needed the time for, and refused to produce a copy of the agreement I originally signed which they claimed specified the one month period. I took the view that they were incapable of providing the service after I had returned their equipment, so I returned their equipment on-time and informed my credit card company to refuse further payments to iCable.

Surprisingly, my credit card company said they were unable to revoke the authorisation. I informed them that I was revoking authorisation, and cancelled the card, they later apologised for the misunderstanding.

I am pleased to report that I cancelled iCable on my schedule, without further charge, but the process was intimidating and time-consuming. I suspect that most busy people would simply cough up another month's fee, for no service. We need more accountability from our telecoms and TV service providers, perhaps OFTA and the Consumer Council can comment on the issues?