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Dear Editor, kindly permit me space in your esteemed medium to express my horrible experience at the hands of ECG and its staff last Friday June 14, 2013. I live at Gbawe Top Base, a suburb of Accra. I had returned to my house on Friday, May 14, late to find out that my house was the only one without electric power in my entire neighborhood. I recognized that I had been disconnected at the pole. I am a post-paid client of the ECG. Knowing that I do not owe the ECG, I proceeded to their office at Donkonaa the following morning to find out what has happened to the power in my house. Indeed the gentleman at the front desk did confirm that I did not owe and so proceeded to find out what were the issues. I was put in contact with one gentleman, Ebo Morrison who assured me that he would come to my house to fix the problem. However, he had no ladder on his vehicle to climb to the pole to fix the problem. So I proceeded to my house to wait for this gentleman. Upon reaching my house, I made enquiries and I realized that indeed ECG, through its sub-contractor by name BSC, a Chinese firm, was undertaking an exercise to replace all post-paid meters with pre-pared meters. Further enquiries from my immediate neighbor, who happens to own a shop around and probably could have been in a position to have witnessed what had happened the previous day confirmed my observations. To my surprise, the ECG contractor had indeed attempted to replace my post-paid meter with a pre-paid meter. However, they were unable to complete that assignment with regards to my house, so my post-paid meter was still available in my porch untouched, however, they had disconnected me from the main electrical pole, closed work and gone home, leaving me without power from Friday till now. While waiting for Morrison to show up, I saw some ECG staff parked their truck (with a ladder) two houses from mine, where there is a transformer. I approached these four gentlemen and I tried to explain to them my predicament and the need to use their ladder. Before I could persuade these workers to help, they snobbishly drove off waving me off that they can�t help me. Five minutes later, Morrison pops up, and without a ladder, he could not help me. He observed what the ECG sub-contractor had done and tried to empathize with me. But that was the end, no solutions to my problem. He convinced me to follow him back to their office. On our way we met these same four ECG staff who had earlier refused to help me. Morrison then tells these four guys that indeed since they have the ladder, they should just fix my problem so I can get power. I complained to Morrison that indeed I had met this same group earlier and asked for help and they had refused. I indeed chastised them for their poor human relations and customer unfriendliness. Then I was asked to lead them to my house by Morrison. These gentlemen follow me only up to the very same spot I met them earlier, that is by the transformer, (two houses from my mine) parked their truck for a few minutes and drove off without coming to fix my problem. By this time I was indeed boiling with rage. I called Morrison up again, he promised help and that was it. The front desk gentleman had sent me a text message of a contact to a guy in charge of faults. I called this chap, and that chap was so rude, I never thought for a minute this guy could find himself in the employment of such a sensitive position and organization such as ECG. I called the front desk gentleman to complain, he tells me there was nothing he could do again. Now my problem is, this is a company that is requesting for about 200% increase in tariffs. If their staff and sub-contractors could be so rude, crude and insensitive to their customers, what justification is there for such huge increase in tariffs? What baffles me is the fact that these Chinese contractors even have a field day, to the extent that they determine who to provide light at any given time during their operations to the discomfort of customers. I know I am speaking for the silent majority of people who have had such countless unprofessional conduct with ECG staff throughout the country, as I am told that is the modus operandi of this so called Chinese sub-contractor. I am alarmed that for a customer who has been so inconvenienced, the ECG staff could behave like people in the stone-age. That my family and I have to sleep in the dark for 3 days just because somebody decided that, �well, you can do without electricity for 3 days not because there were technical challenges �beyond their control�.� My family and I could not do our weekend laundry and ironing, food stuffs in the fridge went bad and on top of that slept in the dark. It took the ECG 10 days to reconnect me. Even that, a plug was just hanged around my house without the loading card. ECG had not even taken the trouble to give notices to residents of this impending exercise and that if there were some challenges associated with this project (such as my experience), the proper channel to communicate to. Besides, this obvious lack of customer care training of ECG staff, I am even more appalled at what looks like a village type of distribution of pre-paid meters in residential areas such as Gbawe Top Base. The ECG is just posting new meters on electrical poles instead of homes. I thought this country must progress and that civilization brings about modernity and civility and not archaic and crudity in operations. It�s so pathetic to see meters hanging on poles in the 21st Century. This throws away all forms of beautification. The question I ask is, is that what pertains in other communities such as Dansonman, East Legon, Airport, etc ? Will you see meters just hanging on poles outside one�s residence? Or is it the case that other areas in the country are second rated citizens, who don�t deserve any better treatment. It is the case that public institutions whose mandate is to provide service to customers, provide shoddy work and expect to get paid. This behavior cannot be allowed to pass. Indeed I fully support all forms of actions against any upward review of the tariffs to consumer, when simple task such as fixing new meters can be marred in such unprofessional conduct and behaviour. Consumers cannot be made to pay for the inefficiencies of public institutions such as ECG. It�s a shame that after 50 years of independence public institutions cannot manage simple task such as this, much more manage its own affairs as exemplified by the ECG. Is it any wonder that ECG finds itself where it is today? And who says I am not considering a court action?