The voter is not as silly as some advertising agencies think. Remember, 52% chose the NABO in the recent election: N-ot valid, A-bstention, B-ranco (nothing), O-ther (less than 1%).In 2019 he will elect extremists.
Abuses by telecoms companies are endless. When there are problems, the regulator, ANACOM, repeats the standard phrase. "It is an individual matter, you can complain in court."
The number of telecoms complaints is enormous. Our docile people still fear the mighty corporations and institutions, as once they feared the dictatorship.
1. ILLEGALITIES: Many who have a TV package pay an extra €5-10/month for an unsolicited paid channel. When people complain, the company says that the subscriber requested it, giving the day and time, saying everything was recorded. The customer asks to hear the recording. The salesperson says that only if he acknowledges that he asked for the extra channel, can recording be heard.
The customer stops payment, saying it's up to the supplier to prove it. The customer can't just deduct €5-10 from his bill and the account goes into default. The customer gets blacklisted and can not change supplier.
ANACOM says that it is individual issue. Court! There is no civilized country in the world where the user has to prove whether or not he ordered a service - whoever sends the invoice should be the one to prove the service was ordered.
2. UNCONSTITUTIONALITIES: The country's Post Office service, unlike in most EU countries, keeps registered letters and packages for only 7-9 days. Portugal has half a million retiree foreigners here, bringing in capital to buy their houses and boosting commerce and services in the places where where they live. "You can not compel a citizen to be home for nine days just to receive a registered letter. It's a human right to travel. CTT says it's not its task to keep a letter. But it should be."
People often spend weeks away with their children or travelling. On return, they are angry to learn that CTT has returned the registered letter to where it came from.
This rule is unconstitutional. You can not compel a citizen not to be away for more than nine days on the off-change a registered letter or package might have to be delivered. It's a human right to travel. CTT says it's not its task to keep a letter. But it should be"
Before privatisation, CTT delivered letters to most houses on a daily basis; now it's only once or twice a week, depending on the volume of delivery for that street. Some must travel to town to pick up their letters and to pay service providers' accounts; often receiving the bill on the day before the final payment day. This causes stress and anxiety.
Who allows this, Minister? Why does ANACOM not change the rules? Is ANACOM there for the sake of citizens or for the sake of foreign cartels?
3. AGENCIES CONTROL NOTHING: Also ERSE controls nothing. The energy operators, mostly foreign owned, systematically estimate customers' usage far higher than the actual usage, ignoring summer-winter variations. The user pays for what he did not use. Months later, if he requests, an adjustment is made. In the meantime, the operator has use of customers' money.
When the customer takes a meter reading, he can phone in the numbers and have no proof that this has been done. Customers then wait months for corrections.
“Borba? Who should have closed the now collapsed road? IMT - the controlling road/ transit agency! The electricity spark in Pedrógão Grande, ERSE should be in control. All under same minister!”
ERSE says, just like ANACOM, that there are rules for reading electricity meters and that the user may go to court if he thinks the meter, or the bill, is incorrect. Should our agencies stick up for millions of users or for the foreign cartels?
Borba? Who should have closed the now collapsed road? IMT - the controlling road/ transit agency! The electricity spark in Pedrógão Grande? ERSE should be in control. Any minister who does not control his areas of responsibility is responsible. Who allows killing on the roads, electrical faults and landslides in Borba?
Mr. Prime Minister, your minister is harming your election chances and the whole political system.
