Lime faces petition to reduce Blackberry fees
(CNS): With a number of interruptions to service recently a petition has appeared on Facebook posted by BlackBerry customers asking LIME to reduce the Blackberry fees until the service is improved. The petitioners are complaining that the weekly $10 fees are removed from customer accounts without hesitation yet customers face service interruptions, delays in BB messages and internet time outs. LIME told CNS however that it has upgraded its mobile data network twice in the last 3 months in response to growing traffic demands on the network.
“Whilst we were aware of the Facebook petition we recognized that we were faced with some higher than anticipated demands due to the ongoing success of our recent sales campaigns, Blackberry sales in particular,” said Cayman’s LIME general manager CEO Anthony Ritch. “We are continuing to proactively manage all traffic across our network; monitoring on a regular basis and making changes as required through ongoing capital investment. LIME encourages customers to report any reduction in their service quality by contacting our Customer Services on 811.”’
Although only 34 people have signed the online petition over 200 people have joined the Facebook group. Comments left by those who have sign tend to complain most about the delay in sending Blackberry instant messaging – a free service between uses which is fast becoming Cayman’s most popular communication tool. However with more and more LIME customers switching from regular cell phones to Blackberry service the demand is increasing on a daily basis the local telecoms giant is fast becoming a victim of its own success.
Category: Business
Lime just needs to get their network in order. They may have great people, and great this and great that…but if you are on a an archaic platform then you really cant do much. EDGE is rubbish. The networks would be surprised that people would spend more if they had access to things such as streaming video etc etc. Please LIME get your act together and upgrade!
from what i can see u all are talkin garbbage n my ears cuz i have been a LIME customer since i was about 11 years old and up to this day i am styll a LIME customer and i have not any of these issue so i really do not knw wat u guys are tlkin ABOUT ….. there is a seying that sey … u wan blackberry and expect to get everything free well i nah go so … u want it u pay fa it …. UNNA NEED TO STOP DISCRIMANATIN LIME …. CUZ IF IT WAS NT FOR them AFTER IVAN CAYMAN WULD NT HAVE NO TELECOMMUCATION CUZ THE LAST TIME I CHCK THEY WAS THE UP ALL DURING IVAN AND WAS THE FIRST TO BE UP AFTER IVAN …. SO STP CHAT SHYD INNA MI HEAD
Lime service is the worst ever known, C&W took care of their customers a lot better than this bunch do, you call for help to fix internet, email, and land line phones, which we all pay alot of money for, and we have to speak to people in Jamaica, there is no-one in Cayman to help us. I couldnt believe it when this happened this week, customer service really needs some training, cos it really sucks now!!!!! oh and whats the point of going to the shops we dont get any customer service there either,
Its interesting that Mr. Ritch didn’t mention that some of the problems experienced in the recent past was actually due to issues at RIM (research in motion) the Blackberry people. I happen to subscribe to a Blackberry blog that reported problems at RIM and they coinside with the failures that I have had with my service. This is really not due to any fault of LIME. I happen to know that the guys at LIME are on top of most problems and are always upgradeing to make the Customer experience better. Don’t forget that most of the issues that some customers have are due to "operaters error". Some people just don’t know how to use their handsets.
I’m writing a tune. And this looks like a good thread to go for some help.
The working title is New Age Man. Sort of a Country tune.
Feel free to chip in, it has to rhyme in some way, the rest is up to you.
He’s got email, voice mail, call forwarding too
pager, cell phone, blackberry….
none of them ring
the latest technology is just his thing
Chorus
new age man
totally connected
as you can see
all wired up
and it’s hands free
HDTV with video playback
doesn’t miss a thing
don’t try to call him though
cause he can’t hear
got ipod buds stuck in his ear
((need some verses here))
rest of the time
he’s on the internet
gonna marry a girl
he’s never met
Chorus
Pretty rough huh? Thanks.
the amount of money i pay for bbm service, i can buy another bbm phone because LIME keeps on sending these texts about put on more money!!
I find the comments quite interesting. It even appears that some persons are finally even questioning why they have these "upgraded" services. Why are they necessary? Are all of you business owners, on call for your job, etc.?
When competition arrived I found it interesting then to listen to all the cheering. Then heard the complaints about the higher bills which started in a short time. Simply because people lost self control when they thought everything was cheaper. This seems to go on with every new "cheaper" service.
These companies are in business to make a profit. So they bait you with something which looks good and charge you on the back end for what is required to run it. Very little of these services are really necessary, yet the users watch their money drain away and then moan about being broke.
Practise a bit of self control. What does a Blackberry really do for you? Is it a need or a want because friends have them? Would a regular cell phone with text not suffice and cost much less? Access email from a non-mobile location. Stop pi$$ing away your money on things that do not really help you in any way, shape or form.
Also enjoy your future sight problems, which will arrive earlier than usual due to reading tiny screens.
When is the 3G network going to surface?? Dare I ask about 4G. What’s the holdup?
3G will come when everyone else is on 5G! – Check out some of Europe already on 4G!
LIME need to get onboard with this. Blackberries and portable data is now a necessity for businesses, they will pay for the technology to.
Population is too little,corporate sector not demanding it,and the price to end user will be tremendous …EDGE will be here for a few more years unless the boys in red make the first move and LIME follows.
LIME has 3G coverage in parts of Jamaica
More importantly, who is this woman and what is her pin #?
That’s what I’m talkin’ ’bout!
In order to curb this overuse problem,a license needs to be a requirement for all Blackberry users. These licenses should only be issued to those 18 years and above who can prove their need for such a device and an annual fee should be charged.
This should help all employees in the islands, public and private to be able to manage at least a 5% salary reduction and eliminate the large pile of crap that is 10 year olds walking around with Blackberries.
To be fair the service level of most Cayman itility prividers is unacceptable. But nobody compains so the companies continue ripping us off.
LIME service is patchy and intermittent at best. Digicel though is not a great deal better. I had broadband with them and it was appalling, nowhere near as good as Lime.
Let’s not even start on Weststar because their customer service is non existent. When my box broke down it took 8 weeks to get a replacement. 8 weeks without TV is a long time. Of course my monthly bills continued throughout, despite not receiving service.
I have kicked off with all three companies to complain at poor service and after hassling them for a long while eventually got discounts or charges reversed for the poor service.
More people need to complain in person and to the regulator to get something done about the poor service on all sides.
Privatization andopening up Cayman’s telecommunications to other mobile operators would be the key to making cellular phones affordable here in Cayman. I’m not talking out of my ass either, this happened in Barbados around 2003/04 where Cable & Wukkless previously had the monopoly. Other companies moved in and offered more competitive pricings and hey presto, cellies all of a sudden are much more affordable to the average man. Same thing happened in the UK, but long before Barbados caught on. In these places you often don’t have to buy your phones when you are on a contract, you can just upgrade them for free each year you renew your contract. e.g. My Razr was free on a contract and upgradable annually. Here you would have to pay hundreds of dollars for the same (free) phone. Having been to other countries I can tell you Cayman you are being ripped off by the telecommunications companies – big time. While I’m at it the same applies to the appalling internet service here. You are paying through the nose for a substandard service, no matter what plan you are on.
Telecommunications in The Cayman Islands are private & open to any operator and have been since the early 2000’s. At one point there was five providers I think, now there are 4 but only 2 offer mobile. Call costs have dropped dramatically. However, people now use more of the fancy services whether then really need to or not, so their bill is higher.
For example, do you really have a NEED for a Blackberry if you have to utilise a pre-paid service? Think about it. If your financial situation is such that you have to control it by using pre-paid, then are you using that money wisely? BTW, I think that many persons using the various pre-paid services probably spend more than post-paid as they do not keep track of how much they are actually spending. Just top-up when they run out.
I do agree with you about the internet & handset costs but again I feel that it partly comes down to user population.
Had you not noticed the Digicel signs everywhere!! The market is opened up to other players. No one else wants to come to such a small market
I am not surprised by this. I have given up using the browser on my phone. I only use is it if I really have to, and have the time to wait on it to "request & load".
Sometimes I feel like giving up my blackberry all together, I haven’t saved anything by using BBM (which people told me was free, but I knew it really wasn’t, because you need to pay for the internet connection, big advertising con). My phone bill is more now, than when I used to text instead of BBM. I would text over 200 messages a month the charge would be give or take $25.00. So please tell me how I am saving, when I pay $39 for BBM (apparently "free service") that is constantly delaying messages.
You are not paying $39 for BBM only; you are paying $39 for data service. So for $39 you cansurf the internet, recieve emails and use BBM for that one fee. So yes, if you’re using the BBM only for that price, it may be cheaper to text at the rate you said you normally did. But hey, if they offer it and you don’t use it, whose fault is that?
I did state that I have stopped using my browser cause it doesn’t work most of the time now. When I first got it I did use it, thank you very much. So therefore I was getting my use of $39, until recently when everyone else was complaining too. So I do have a right to complain and the only reason that I have not downgraded to the $10 a month plan, is because I am waiting to see what LIME is going to do about it, before I put myself through the trouble of switching back and forth.
I know how it works thanks and so does everyone else.
Thanks guys, LIME really does need to step it up. And with the number of people nowadays that actually have blackberry’s, can you lower the price as well?!
While we are on the subject of petition, SOMEONE needsto see to it that WestStar TV does something about their service. I don’t know if anyone else that has cable TV notices but it’s absolute crap! Im sorry but the reception wasn’t this bad before they went ‘digital’! We might as well get satalite, because it may only go out if it rains but cable is out rain or shine. (don’t quote me on satalite)
I wonder if people realise that when you send a blackberry message that the receiving party’s phone must be "active" for it to go through quickly. Hence it working quickly when you already in a convo.
If they’re inactive, it works like old school email where you must do a send and receive to push the data through. If you think hmm, I havnt received a bbm for awhile, I wonder why, its propbably because: 1 – No one is talking to you, or 2 – Your data has not been pushed through yet.
To do a manual push, all you have to do is: Go to an email inbox, press menu, scroll down to "Reconcile now" and you are good to go! Dont believe me? Do it and watch your send and receive arrows go in the top right hand corner
Although blackberry’s use "push" service, your battery would die QUICKLY if it was always sending and receiving data when it was not necessary. However it does do it probably about every 10 minutes if you’re not using your phone.
Have you ever noticed if you just randomly pick up your phone and send a message, like 4 things happen, you get an email, 2 bbms, and a friend request or something.
I personally do not think it is a matter of LIME but blackberry on a whole
Cmon son, gtfowidthatBS!
As far as web browsing, just download BOLT!
XXXXX
You can argue all you like, the service is a disgrace. People know how to check their emails and retrieve anything new. If I need to refresh I will usually try to click a web link in browser and that usually jump starts any incoming emails etc.
The thing is this HAS NOT been working for the past few weeks. I can go whole days without receiving any messages or emails etc and unable to browse the web.
It is a rip off and rather than trying to fool readers that it is their problem, you and your teams should be doing something to fix the service. It is a problem.
Yes you are correct. A friend of mine didn’t receive her BBMs for a whole day and her phone was working and connected. Sorry but they need to accept the fact that the service is no good. I have a friend in Miami who I speak to frequently on BBM and there is rarely an "X" by her name. So sorry if people want to disagree, the truth hurts. The only problem she may have is when there is an international BB upgrade.
LIME? Lets talk about the quality of service from WestStar shall we?
They are ripping people off anyway…….My daughter has alltalk $40.00 and BB unlimited $39.00 and her bill still reamain @ $293.00 and they can’t explain why 1st they said it was because she had BB Lite, however now she has the BB Unlimited and they bill is the same and look @ your bill and you willsee that they also still charges you for calling landlines, prepaid Lime numbers in addition to the alltalk……..People look at your bills good they are leaving a sour tatse in my mouth for sure.
Look @ Digicel they have $30.00 for postpaid unlimited calling and text … and they’re internet bill $30.00 also and your bill does not go beyond $60.00 a month unless you call Lime numbers.
If she send text messages that will cause her bill to increase, also if she calls non LIME numbers. It is her resposibility to monitor her usage.
I have the same plans on my phone and my bill has dropped significantly, I have seen savings of over $600.
Its not Lime or these Service companies that have gone to the dogs!
The problem is you have elected people who don’t care about you
Why do you keep doing this I don’t understand?..
Cayman Consumers must pressure your government to mandate the service companies telephone or otherwise to lower their utility bills. they must be reasonable and reachable.
Lime has gone to the dogs! Have you tried getting into Lime at Eastern Ave?
You cannot get into the car park untill you have been questioned by a security guard, then you are followed into the lobby to be greeted by the receptionist who is the same security guard, then you wait for an eternity for someone to see you. After all this you have your "meeting" sitting in the lobby with every Tom, Dick and Harry listening in.
Sorry Lime but your customer service is a disgrace!
You make millions! Employ a local or two to answer phones and greet us.
Oh by the way, I STILL have not heard back from my account manager. Maybe I should give Lime a call. Think not!!!! Try it. You will be talking to someone in Jamacia, then an answer machine or two , then put on hold untill you give up and drive to Eastern Ave.
Then guess what………………………………………………………………..
Bobby 07:55
I have experienced the security guard / receptionist scenario, hilarious. Unfortunately it’strue, I waited so long, I ran out of time and had to leave before I was seen. Definitely not good customer service,and as for call’s going through JM ! what can I say?
Would you rather we have every mohab, ,johab and doehab freely walk into a very sensative technical facility???
The days are long gone where a company such as LIME can have a seperate facility just to handle customer services. We can thank compitation for that.
service sucks so $5.00 a week is reasonable