For businesses, delivering quality customer service is a sine qua non for success. As long as the price is affordable
and the quality of customer care as well as the goods and services are consistently pleasing to the consumer, they
will continue to beat a path to that door, or if they are dissatisfied, they will look for other suitable options.
But what happens to the utility consumer whose choice is limited (or non-existent) and who continually
experiences poor customer service? Some consider it a waste of time to complain when they encounter poor
customer service, while many, even though they may protest, often fail to register it in a manner where a
correction can be made. Instead, they succumb to the “me cyan bother” syndrome.
Naturally, the next question from the lips of any disaffected Jamaican utility customer would be: so what is the
Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) doing?
As a regulator, the OUR’s role includes determining the regulatory framework within which the regulated entities
operate as well as setting the utility service rates and standards, including the standard of customer service, for
some of them. In doing so, we must ensure that we take into account the needs of stakeholders including the
Government of Jamaica, utility service providers and the largest group: the consumers.
To honour this role, we embarked on a Mystery Shopping (MS) programme designed to monitor the providers’
service level. Since 2017, we have implemented our MS research to monitor the major utility providers: Digicel,
FLOW, Cable and Wireless Jamaica, the National Water Commission (NWC), and the Jamaica Public Service
Company Ltd (JPS)

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