The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

ATTORNEY Wayne Munroe wants to launch a class-action lawsuit against Cable Bahamas, hoping to force the service provider to provide customers with all they pay for, or supply credits when it can’t do so.

Mr Munroe, in Facebook posts, invited disgruntled customers to join his suit.

He told The Tribune: “I don’t watch a lot of TV because I’m not home a lot but it’s annoying that you go to a channel you want to watch and it’s temporarily off air.

“In my case, I watched five or six channels and the issue came to a head over the weekend where I had an issue where channels were out for almost two weeks and on the weekend, most of them went out. Somebody called Cable Bahamas from my house; a representative said they would see if they could get someone there about three, four days later.

“It struck me that here it is that’s ten percent of the month without a service and they don’t compensate us when they don’t provide the service you contracted for. Bahamas Power & Light is different because when the power out you’re not charged because you’re not consuming electricity.”

Mr Munroe said his action would hopefully force companies like Cable Bahamas to hire the number of staff needed to ensure it does not take days for representatives to respond to concerns.

He said: “If they had to give you credit for the time when they aren’t providing a service, they might keep on more staff. I don’t know whether they’re able to see that two of the 30 channels Munroe is paying for are out so they can work on that even before I call them, but if they cannot do that, why? Is it that the technology doesn’t exist? Maybe the technology costs a bit of money so they can get away without buying it. That’s the thinking behind holding them to the strict contract they have entered into with us.”

Mr Munroe said a number of people have expressed interest in joining a lawsuit.

“URCA should force them,” he said, “by saying if you’re not giving the service pay for, give a credit to customers. Then I don’t care if it takes two weeks to come to my house because then I don’t have to pay them for the two weeks the service isn’t being provided. But it can’t be right that they take three days to come and we have to pay them for the three days. We know that if you’re a day late in paying them, they cut you off, right?”

Mr Munroe said a lawsuit would be a service to the community.

“As a lawyer, I now see there is something wrong cuz I witness it,” he said. “Having witnessed it, I can’t sit back and let it continue because what good will that do? How right would it be that they may put an alert in the system so that when I call them they come deal with my issue so I won’t sue them, but they don’t do the same to all the rest of the people who are paying and not getting the service?”