Flow: OfReg jumped the gun on pricing dispute
(CNS): Flow said it was “deeply concerned” by the press release last week from OfReg about its official notice to the local branch of the telecom provider informing it of “possible contraventions of licence conditions” under the Utility Regulation and Competition Act. Responding to CNS inquiries, officials from Flow said OfReg was “extremely premature” when it issued the release, which “could mislead the public to incorrectly infer” it “has engaged in some form of pricing misconduct”.
In the release last week OfReg said that Flow had been overcharging Cayman-based businesses for more than three years after implementing an unapproved rate hike, and it had been warned of an impending fine.
But Flow said that it had applied in 2019 to have the requirement to get rate increases approved by OfReg removed and the regulator had recently agreed. Flow said the release should not have been issued as it has 21 days to submit a written response with supporting documents to address the alleged contraventions.
“Flow therefore finds the action to publish a media statement extremely premature on the part of OfReg, and that by doing so the regulator has not afforded Flow the stated time to address the claims stipulated in the document, and that the published headline and article may mislead the public to incorrectly infer that Flow has engaged in some form of pricing misconduct,” officials stated.
Flow said it has been in talks with OfReg regarding this matter prior to the notice and a meeting had been scheduled to present the company’s position and to determine if there had been any procedural missteps on its part in filing the required notices of an intended rate adjustment. Officials also claimed that customers were fully informed of the implemented rate adjustments in 2019 via written notices with their monthly bill statements.
“The last rate adjustment for business customers prior to this was in 2003, over 16 years ago, which given the rising cost of doing business in Cayman and increasing competition in the market, demonstrates Flow’s commitment to offer competitive rates for its services and solutions,” the telecoms provider said. “Flow fully intends to respond to OfReg’s notice as required within the stipulated 21-day period,” officials added.
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Bored
- Afraid
Just get a starlink and get rid of these guys for good.
How can the private sector get these basis things so wrong?
I have said it before and I say it again. The services offered by the private sector has deteriorated while the services provided by the civil service has improved dramatically.
Hopefully the private sector will catch up soon.
Can anyone explain why the happy or not terminals used by the civil service has not been implemented by the private sector ?
Last christmas when I lost internet for over 2 days with no way of contacting Flow to get it fixed (kept talking to Jamaica who said there was nobody available in Cayman!). I finally used the social network and spoke to somebody in charge, who said Flow now charges subscribers a fee to fix the issue during a holiday!!!!
Seriously?!!
I had been a customer of Flow for up to 20 years with mobile, internet & TV service until I terminated their services in 2020 & switched over to C3 and Digicel. I have not regretted that switch because Flow’s customer service & billing headaches is so appalling that it cannot be matched by any other competing service provider. Their piss poor customer service (call centre), awful billing practices & uncompetitive pricing must be a deliberate thing to offload customers as they must have too many customers to deal with and they already make obscene profits to stay afloat.
“Flow’s customer service & billing headaches is so appalling that it cannot be matched by any other competing service provider.”
Digicel: ‘Hold my Beer’
I left Cayman about 15 months ago. Just before I left, I went to their office, made sure all was paid up, (of course there was the deposit before even getting service many years prior). I still kept getting bills for about 6 to 8 months later and all sorts of threats. When asked how much I had used their service since I finalised my bill (never) they finally backed off. I had to describe the person and where he sat in the office when I finalised my bill. As someone posted earlier who now also lives in a real country, I pay less than 10% of the cost for a service that is many times better.
Billed me $2 again this month for the rental of a broadband modem I have never had…
And at least when you’re put through Digicel’s customer service you can actually get a hold of someone who knows how to have a conversation and provide actual ASSISTANCE.
I was waiting for hurricane season to be over to switch to Digicel. Hopefully Digicel will work during as storm as Flow did during Ivan.
Worried to hear that Flow is this bad. I’m with Digicel and they are terrible. customer service is rude and I get hardly any signal in Little Cayman. Plus they’ve hiked up their prices.
Or robbery.
Cayman needs to shape the other side of market accountability with a “Better Business Bureau”, or some other public portal that represents our consumers, their experiences (good and bad), and complaints/compliments, so that rankings can be made and the free market can do its part. CIG, OfReg, and the Chamber of Commerce, seem to default to representing the exploitive side of the equation – the goods and service merchants, not the public consumer.
8:20; Accountability will exist on the Moon before it does in Cayman.
Keep dreaming the dream Bobo.
Smoke and mirrors:
1. They applied for the ability to increase rates without approval from the regulator in 2019, this was approved “recently”. (Irrelevant statement)
2. They have 21 days to respond. Well.. respond then! Meanwhile the regulator can let the public know about the situation.
Flow seems to think that their interests come before the public interest and fortunately for us, that’s not the case.
Question to Flow: Did you implement an u approved rate increase? Yes or no?
According to OfReg notice, Flow went ahead 3 years ago and raised their rates without approval, on misplaced internal assumptions/greed. There should be both fines *AND* customer rebates if that’s the case. No sense in Flow making it worse than it already is by pretending it didn’t happen.
They did, my bill used to be an $80 plan then suddenly it became $120 without my approval. Claiming my old plan no longer existed, I asked them why I was not informed to then choose a plan that I wanted instead of having it decided for me.
Switch to Logic
Not like they are angels either
I switched and so far, much better than Flow.
Flow. The only reason they’re successful is that Digicel are equally terrible.
Quit with the press releases and invest in decent customer service provision.
I was with C&W/Lime/Flow my whole life until a few years ago when I switched to Digicel … and I will never go back. Flow is a complete rip off with incompetency to match. I have had no issues with Digicel and the rates are cheaper !
And at least when you’re put through Digicel’s customer service you can actually get a hold of someone who knows how to have a conversation and provide actual ASSISTANCE.
Flow are billing local mobile customers 3x 5G rates for 2/3G service speeds they rename at the tower as LTE. OfReg should reconcile frequency/data speed to what they are selling going back three or more years and factor into fines. OfReg, as public consumer regulators, do not have the authority to issue backdated agreements, and if they think they do, they should be referred to the FCU.
My Flow sim for 3GB and zero voice minutes is CI$80+ a month.
My Vodaphone UK sim for 21GB and unlimited voice minutes is $10 a month.
Even accounting for their total incompetence at everything they do, their profits here must be absolutely obscene.
like every other business in cayman.
D’oh.
But more important than who messed up OfReg or Flow (what a pair to choose between) is this quote: “But Flow said that it had applied in 2019 to have the requirement to get rate increases approved by OfReg removed and the regulator had recently agreed.”
I hope Government has noted this and asked themselves if NOT regulating utility rate increases is the proper role of a utility regulator.
(I mean, the utility asked, so we just stopped regulating what they charge customers. That’s OfReg’s job, right? To work for the utility not the customer?)
OfReg isn’t worth much for the people…… They are interested in getting money for themselves.
Flow, or whatever they are called this week, should perhaps be more “deeply concerned” by the fact that they only get away with their mobile pricing model, over 1000% more expensive than the UK because Digicel are equally priced, suspiciously so. Anywhere else in the world this blatent anti-competitive price gouging would have been busted a long time ago. What are Offreg doing exactly? Time for CIG to cancel their licenses and offer the spectrum to some legit companies.
They charged me for a residential line for 31 months after installing fibre. They have been doing this to others and a class action suit should be filed against them.
Whether OfReg jumped the gun or not, they have performed a valuable service to the public in revealing exactly what their customers think of their appalling service.
Its refreshing to know I am not alone.
Cable and Wutless had sh*te services before their even more sh*t service began to FLOW.
I completely regret Switching to Flow, billing has been a nightmare, and customer service is completely incompetent. I didn’t know it was possible to get so many things wrong until I switched to FLOW. I’m constantly given different excuses or asked to send in forms I’ve already sent in. They are either grossly incompetent at their job or are doing this in hopes people give up trying to resolve problems. It got to the point where my nerves could not take calling them again and my wife had to take over dealing with their constant mistakes.
“Fourth biggest Financial Center in the World”, and Digicel can’t deliver voice mail notifications, warehouse messages for more than two weeks, and their network thinks I’m in Jamaica. Sigh.
The Jamaica thing is funny. They’ve misconfigured a town somewhere in George Town or SMB, my guess is they copy the settings from Jamaica but forgot to adjust it on one tower.
A few years back I lost service twice, both times for over two weeks. I was promised a rebate on both, yet they just kept charging me, with interest. As much as I spoke to a variety of customer service people, I got no where and finally gave up.
I am just aghast that someone would think switching to FLOW is a sensible idea! I hope you don’t make life mistakes like that again. FLOW is a shite company throughout & they don’t deserve the respect & consideration of Cayman customers.
Normaly they are not even in the starting gates.
Premature or not, Flow should express concern at the many posts from dissatisfied customers.
Rather than try to explain why Ofreg is wrong, they should set out to assure their customers that their dissatisfaction has been noted , and tabled for remedial action.
Flow do not refute overcharging for three years. OfReg can’t backdate their agreement to a rate increase to pave it over cleanly. Lots to explain here, and the public have a right to know.
I agree. Astute leaders at FLOW would be hyper focussed on the feedback provided by their customers in these two articles and address them straight on. Opportunity is knocking and instead they expend energy towards the regulator.
They send surveys out after you visit their offices regarding customer service but what about all the other crap services? On the Brac we really have one alternative and they don’t even have an office.
Here is what I want to say….
After selling a house and transferring/terminating the service with Flow they are still sending me bills. This is despite the fact that any outstanding balance was paid at the time of transfer/termination.
Flow need not bother try to convince anyone about anything as many of us have firsthand experience with their poor service and incompetence.
Every time it rains I have to unplug- wait 10 minutes- and replug! I too am sorry I switched. Also their credit/debit device is hardly working properly?
Did you give them 30 days notice? I have the same issue. Cancelled my subscription, handed back my box and paid any outstanding fees, yet I am still getting an invoice for $30 – 6years later – I just ignore it
Close OfReg down!!!
Keep squeezing their nuts, Mr Gough. They provide a terrible, vastly overpriced service.
If FLOW hasn’t raised Their rates for 16 years and still makes money, it shows how ridiculously inflated their margins are. Absolutely nobody needs to “mislead” the public to incorrectly infer that Flow has engaged in some form of pricing misconduct. We’ve all experienced it at some point in our lives.
Maybe you/businesses are simply making more use of the services. Profit is made in different ways!
Seriously? So if it costs you $10 to make me a meal and I pay you $9 for it but promise to buy 100 meals instead of 50 like last week (when I paid $11 per meal) that means you will be twice as well off this week because you sold me twice as many, right? /Sigh
But I need 75 of those meals to include a drink, I may or may not use all 75 drinks, can I have those 75 drinks since I’m buying 100 meals?
If you’re trying to make a point you just failed.
How can you make more use of limited services!?