To the Editor of the "Nonmu-Cina Dany News"
Sw—~Personal appeals at intervals over the last two years and repeated assurances of attention to complaints have done nothing to improve the low efficiency in service offered to the subscribers. of the "Shanghai Telephone Company whose misfortune it Ig to have to use the Lucerne Exchange, T believe I am airing the views of a large percentage, if not all, of such subscribers in stating that the service is just about as inefficient as it could possibly be.
Apart from iritating delays in obtaining an answer at all it is a gamble whether, having given the number, you wilt be correctly con~ nected, During the last week on nine separate occasions I have been connected incorrectly, and furthermore T have been called to the telephone ive times by people who had asked for a number the same as mine except for the last digit; a 3 was requested and a 2 substituted, The mentality of an operator who will repeat a number correctly three consecutive times, and three ce secutive times within five minutes connect one with a different number is better imagined than described; my house coolie could do better, 'And for a supervisor to inform a subscriber when a complaint is registered that there is nothing wrong with the service, but that the subscriber's voice must' have broken as happened to the writer on Saturday" last—is the reverse of courtesy, and hardly in keeping Wilh what Is expected from a public Tt Would be of interest to learn what percentage of the earnings of the Lucerne Exchange is due wrong connections, If my, perience is any guide T hazard it is fairly high for with an average of 150/170 calls per month at least 40/80 are due to this cause; surely 'a rather" back-handed method of nereasing revenue.
in. the absence of competition regretfully forced to. the conclusion that the attitude of the 'Telephone Company is "if you do not like it you can lump It," or that to save a few dollars they' are deliber~ ately employing an extremely poor type of operator whose mentality is not far removed from my pet Angora, Pro Ur, Shanghai, Oct. 9. "manual central ie' the quality rage speed of answer of ail'calls answered ft and September 1820, answer Was 903
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.