Links to popular websites
THUMBS DOWN STORIES
Penalized for using 'Jamaica National Live'!
Jamaica National Building Society recently launched it Internet Banking Web-site called 'Jamaica National Live'. The
moment I became aware of it I applied for access. This was a long overdue move by JN as waiting in long lines to do
simple transactions was a waste of time. For those of us that have access to the Internet, this could not have come at a
better time. With so many bill collection agencies charging for the service of paying bills, JN has given us another option
and for that they should be applauded.

How then after all this positive 'vibes' could Jamaica National impose a penalty of $100 on my account for accessing
their e-banking facility. They call it an 'e-banking lien' saying that it will become available to me on April 13, 2078. I am
currently 51 years old and although I love life a lot, it is unlikely that I will live to collect that money. Do not get me
wrong, it is not the amount of money that is the problem, it is the principle. Those of us accessing our account on the on
the Internet means less calls to their Call Center thus allowing them to deploy their staff members more efficiently. Also,
not visiting a branch to pay bills or do transfers etc. will mean less burden on their overburden branch staff.

I call upon the management of the company to reconsider this decision as it is NOT in the best interest of the company.

You can assess their Web-site using the following link.

Jamaica National Live
Too much information required by Bill Express online!
Grace Kennedy’s   www.billexpressonline.com is one of the first Jamaican Websites to offer online payment solutions for
utility bills, cable fees and a multitude of other payment options. However a recent attempt to register online to use the
system has ended in disappointment as currently I am not prepared to hand over any ‘valid’ photo ID to Grace
Kennedy. This requirement was only made known when I received their automatic welcome email after I had signed up.
Had I known before, I would not have signed up and for this they deserve a ‘thumbs down’.

I am very wary of Websites that keep demanding more and more information from users under the guise of protecting
users. Until it becomes mandatory for all Jamaican e-commerce websites to demand a photo ID from all users I will not
be giving up my ID to anyone. I am more concerned with how safe my online data is from hackers when I use their
website than with Grace Kennedy’s feeble attempt to build a database of user’s data that are not necessary for e-
commerce.

The situation is that I have decided not to complete the process and my account is ‘pending’. That is why I prefer
websites like www.Paypal.com  as all requirements for using their website are given upfront. Potential users can review
the requirements before starting the registration process. That is how it should be done.
Cable & Wireless - first world company or a sophisticated Jamaican patty shop!
Cable & Wireless is a big first world company but it has been behaving like a little Jamaican ‘patty shop’. I recently
subscribed to their broadband Internet services and elected to do the installation myself. As far as I was concerned, the
installation process was ‘dummy proof’ but at the end of the exercise I got an authentication error. I decided to call their
technical support to get help in resolving the problem. After a lengthy troubleshooting exercise, the support person
decided that they could not fix the problem and concluded that my case will have to be referred to someone with a
higher level of competence. They advise me that this process could take between one to five working days.
On the fourth day a technician visited my house. After performing various tests he realised that the authentication error
was due to the fact that the person who setup my account had misspelled my first name and so my attempts to login to
the system with the correct spelling of my user name was rejected because my user name could not be ‘authenticated’.

Having identified the problem one would have thought that the technician would have written a report with the
instructions on how to fix the problem. The solution is simple; Cable & Wireless have to delete the user account with the
wrong spelling and setup another account with the correct spelling. It has been three months and this has not been
done. In fact I have had several problems with the Internet account and on each occasion the account was reconfigured
with the incorrect user name.

Am I expected to operate an email account with my name spelt incorrectly? As you know my email address is my
‘username@cwjamaica.com’ .Is this a problem that is difficult to fix?

If I wanted to change my name I would use a deed poll. All these so call technicians have done is to force me to use the
account with the incorrect spelling in order to access the Internet. I am left in a situation where unlike other Cable &
Wireless Internet customers; I am unable to use my email account. For this I think they deserve a ‘thumbs down’.
INC Ltd. - denying customers their full product warranty
I recently purchased an AS870 CR Aurora Shredding Machine from INC Ltd. On delivering the equipment to me the
sales assistant told me that the purchase comes with one month warranty. I said ‘OK’ as I thought that this was the
typical warranty that came with this product. However, on opening the box when I reached home I noticed that the
manufacturer’s warranty for the product was one year. INC Ltd. apparently is not willing to abide by the warranty terms
offered by the manufacturer and is in fact doing a disservice to their customers. I did not ask for a warranty certificate
as this is normally enclosed in the package and now I have nothing to prove that INC Ltd. is even willing to observe the
warranty for even one month.

In fact the receipt printed on their point of sales machine had a note saying ‘No returns after ten (10) days’ thus
creating an obvious conflict with the terms of the warranty offered by the sales assistant.
INC Ltd. has taken this ridiculous position out of greed. This is the reason why they deserve the ‘thumbs down’. A better
position would be for INC Ltd. to:

•        Explain to customers that up to one month they would cover the warranty of the product but after that, the
customer will have to absorb the shipping costs to/from the overseas manufacturer if they wish to utilize the warranty.
This approach would give the customer the opportunity to evaluate whether it is worth the effort to make a claim under
the terms of the warranty.
•        Alternatively, INC Ltd. should source only products for which they are able to comply with the warranty terms.
Companies should be prevented from passing on what could potentially be defective products while hiding behind some
illegal ‘no return’ clause especially in situations where the manufacturer has offered the end user a significant warranty
period. There are people who believe that these same companies often offer to dispose of the defective items and
without the knowledge of the customer, claims the warranty from the original manufacturer.
INC Ltd. actually deserves a ‘double thumbs down’ for this unsatisfactory practice.