Does Crime Pay At NBC?

Dear Bob IT’s that time of the year again and having ditched my DStv being fed up with repetition, I am now privileged to have NBC as my sole service provider.

And I get premier football coverage – Villa rules. I can see the market indicators courtesy of FNB, apart from the foreign bourses which mysteriously cut off mid stream most nights.And I can find out who won ‘The Apprentice’ – one day! But I miss those Nigerian films that reflect upon real culture although GD is not a bad substitute and provider of role models for us all.But even better I can now watch Bob appealing to my sense of social responsibility in order to continue to receive service delivery in a sustainable and transparent manner.Well Bob, your licence campaign is up and running; we have the pleasure of those rather interesting shots which seem to focus upon your exposed ankles; but “it is the right thing to do”.And I have been doing the right thing for years despite the administrative difficulties of doing so.What difficulties? Firstly I have repeatedly had to request an invoice as it seems impossible for NBC to provide one as is normal commercial practice.Having managed to extract the document I then, every year, enter into a telephonic war regarding indicated arrears.Fortunately I pay electronically and retain my bank statements and thus, after numerous calls and faxes, receive a corrected demand which I then pay, usually at the end of October.Then I wait, and wait, and wait for a licence; it never comes.Meanwhile back at the NBC ranch there are competitions, extensions, amnesties and more appeals to the socially irresponsible to pay up.The appeal to the “good guys” seems to fail and the next phase is to reward the “bad guys”.It seems that crime does pay.Where are the successful prosecutions? Time passes and no licence appears and by the middle of the following year I begin to follow up; more calls to NBC (previously that outsourced lot), initial denials of payment, we are unable to trace anything, the person who handled this has left, I will come back to you today (that standard institutional lie) and then we have posted it so NamPost must have lost it, and the list goes on.(No wonder Telecom can pay dividends) But finally, once they realise I have all the supporting evidence, am not going to give up, and am more worried about principle than “air time” they fold and admit that the money was put in the wrong account! (Whose?) It all sounded a bit fishy to me.Well Bob, let’s see what happens this year.Are the irresponsible and unpatriotic going to be rewarded again? Am I going to have a smooth ride this year – real service delivery (remember – together we can make a difference?), receive a correct invoice, pay my bill and receive a licence promptly… or? You are challenged.Thank goodness for CTM adverts and that lovely weather lady, Jennifer, who always makes me smile.God bless this Nation! We need Him.Chris Smith csmith@mweb.com.naI can see the market indicators courtesy of FNB, apart from the foreign bourses which mysteriously cut off mid stream most nights.And I can find out who won ‘The Apprentice’ – one day! But I miss those Nigerian films that reflect upon real culture although GD is not a bad substitute and provider of role models for us all.But even better I can now watch Bob appealing to my sense of social responsibility in order to continue to receive service delivery in a sustainable and transparent manner.Well Bob, your licence campaign is up and running; we have the pleasure of those rather interesting shots which seem to focus upon your exposed ankles; but “it is the right thing to do”.And I have been doing the right thing for years despite the administrative difficulties of doing so.What difficulties? Firstly I have repeatedly had to request an invoice as it seems impossible for NBC to provide one as is normal commercial practice.Having managed to extract the document I then, every year, enter into a telephonic war regarding indicated arrears.Fortunately I pay electronically and retain my bank statements and thus, after numerous calls and faxes, receive a corrected demand which I then pay, usually at the end of October.Then I wait, and wait, and wait for a licence; it never comes.Meanwhile back at the NBC ranch there are competitions, extensions, amnesties and more appeals to the socially irresponsible to pay up.The appeal to the “good guys” seems to fail and the next phase is to reward the “bad guys”.It seems that crime does pay.Where are the successful prosecutions? Time passes and no licence appears and by the middle of the following year I begin to follow up; more calls to NBC (previously that outsourced lot), initial denials of payment, we are unable to trace anything, the person who handled this has left, I will come back to you today (that standard institutional lie) and then we have posted it so NamPost must have lost it, and the list goes on.(No wonder Telecom can pay dividends) But finally, once they realise I have all the supporting evidence, am not going to give up, and am more worried about principle than “air time” they fold and admit that the money was put in the wrong account! (Whose?) It all sounded a bit fishy to me.Well Bob, let’s see what happens this year.Are the irresponsible and unpatriotic going to be rewarded again? Am I going to have a smooth ride this year – real service delivery (remember – together we can make a difference?), receive a correct invoice, pay my bill and receive a licence promptly… or? You are challenged.Thank goodness for CTM adverts and that lovely weather lady, Jennifer, who always makes me smile.God bless this Nation! We need Him.Chris Smith csmith@mweb.com.na