Categories: Stories

Bill 15 months late

The Insider which was given a line in August 1997 but had the number changed from 730522, which apparently still appears in the telephone directory despite the numerous reminders, to 734880 within a few months, got a pleasant surprise this month.

It received a bill for $4 854.91, which is quite low by any standards but was too huge for the paper to stomach as our monthly bill had never exceeded $500.

On querying the bill, the paper was told this bill was from October 1997.

Apparently, although the PTC had changed the telephone number without warning The Insider, it said it had not been billing us for any calls.

We had been getting a telephone bill each month though.

The PTC said the bill we have been getting every month which was never above $200 was for the old number 730522.

Makes one wonder how many other people are affected since in 1997 the PTC had a habit of changing telephone numbers. Right now a number of companies have been placing adverts that their lines are out of order.

And if it takes the PTC 15 months to trace a billing fault, how much more is the parastatal owed?

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Charles Rukuni

The Insider is a political and business bulletin about Zimbabwe, edited by Charles Rukuni. Founded in 1990, it was a printed 12-page subscription only newsletter until 2003 when Zimbabwe's hyper-inflation made it impossible to continue printing.

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