PHILIPSBURG–United Telecommunications Services (UTS) on Thursday “categorically condemned” the price-gouging of its prepaid credit vouchers. Some “unauthorised and unregistered” vendors have reportedly hiked up the price by ten per cent and have been lying to customers about the amount of credit on the cards.
UTS said its prepaid credit vouchers, also known as scratch cards, should be sold for the value listed on the face of the card. This means that a US $10 scratch card should cost $10 and no more. The company said it had received reports of unauthorised and unregistered vendors charging up to 10 per cent more than the face value of the cards.
“To compound matters, attempts were also made by these vendors to further mislead customers on the amount of credit that would be received once loaded,” UTS Marketing and Communication Officer Ivy Lambert said in a press release on Thursday. “UTS categorically condemns this practice and will decline to provide credit to establishments that seek to exploit Chippie’s prepaid customers in such a manner. This is a shameful abuse of the post-hurricane situation.
“We heard murmurs of this happening post-Irma with food and other much-needed items and are disappointed that this has now also crossed over to the sales of our prepaid credit. Our wholesale scratch card representative, Chatterbox, has a close working relationship with the various resellers and such abuse tarnishes that business relationship, but also the reputation of Chippie and UTS.”
UTS encourages customers to notify the company if they encounter any instances of such abuse, as it is a business practice that UTS does not condone and the offending parties “will be addressed.”
“If you as a customer are faced with this situation, don’t purchase at that location. Walk away and take your business elsewhere. If you’re unsure of where else credit is available, we’ll happily direct you to a reseller that treats our customers correctly and fairly. Telecommunication is vitally important in getting our lives and island back to normal. Such behaviour takes away from us being ‘The Friendly Island’ that we all know and love. Once again, we categorically condemn this type of business practice,” Lambert added.
Additional information can be obtained by contacting UTS’ Customer Service by email at
infosxm@uts.sx , by phone at 1-721-588-1010 or look for UTS EC on Facebook.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/70070-uts-firmly-condemns-price-gouging-of-its-prepaid-credit
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