Letters, Oct. 18

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/10/2021 (1456 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Customer service declining

I appreciate we are in a pandemic that has affected customer service with supply-chain disruptions and employees working from home. However, in my experience, customer service was declining well before COVID-19 arrived.

We, as customers, are now more willing to accept poor service relating to poor communication, wrong information, late return of messages and no ownership of problems.

I believe some of the reasons for the poor service are as follows: organizations use third-party contractors and employees are hired on a part-time basis or term positions; technology has made it harder to talk to people; and organizations offer the staff incentives for sales with little incentive for good service.

I see organizations advertise and claim they are now “customer focused.” It makes me wonder what they were focused on previously.

Organizations that look after their customers should be rewarded, and the ones that only talk about it should be left behind. As paying customers, it is important we expect good service. If we don’t receive it, we must let the providers know it is not good enough.

Brian Drummond

Winnipeg

 

MPI clients didn’t know

Re: Premier denies controversial Autopac decision done on the sly (Oct. 8)

The Progressive Conservative government has made plans to divert $113 million in excess revenues from MPI clients to MPI licensing expenses. This was reportedly decided at a June Crown corporation meeting of Tory-appointed board members and Minister Jeff Wharton, while $60 million had already been appropriated in March.

While Premier Kelvin Goertzen claims this was made public, why is this news to the opposition and the Free Press in October?

Is this life imitating art? Perhaps, like the Intergalactic Highway plans in The Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe, the notice was posted in some dark cellar. Are there more public notices we have yet to see?

Len Lewkowich

Winnipeg

 

Texas deal unconscionable

Re: Manitoba pays Texas firm $600K to run park pass program (Oct. 8)

It is unconscionable for the province to outsource the online provincial parks pass system to a Texas firm. Surely a local business could be found to do this work when the provincial PC Party frequently claims it is all about supporting local business.

Moreover, I bet few park-pass buyers know that if they sell a vehicle and have MPI shred the licence plate, as I did recently, they will have to shell out for a new park pass for the new plate number on their replacement vehicle if they want a park pass for the remainder of the season. There is no way to log into one’s account and change the plate number.

In my book, that’s called double-dipping. That’s the kind of inflexibility a $600,000 contract to a Texas firm will buy you.

Dan Dyck

Winnipeg

 

Build tiny homes for homeless

Re: Big pitch for tiny homes (Oct. 14)

I strongly agree with building these 20 tiny homes for veterans. I would like to see them available for homeless people, as well, so they can have bathrooms and running water in a safe space and do not need to go on the riverbanks, which is not good for the environment.

Ruth Swan

Winnipeg

 

Polar bear park needed

Re: Time to make skeeters Manitoba’s official insect (Opinion, Oct. 13)

It’s wonderful the polar bear has been recognized as an official emblem of Manitoba. I sincerely hope the provincial government follows with protection efforts for this at-risk species and the habitats it needs to survive.

Polar bears are under intense stress as climate change melts the sea ice they depend upon to hunt. Mining companies have staked claims near areas where mother bears dig their dens. We must protect the lands they depend upon to raise their young and rest during increasingly long summers; otherwise we risk losing this world-class treasure and the tourism opportunities that go along with it.

As executive director of the Manitoba chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, I encourage the Manitoba government to reinvigorate the stalled process to create a large Polar Bear Provincial Park. I also very much hope the provincial government is supportive of the regional First Nations that are commendably working to establish Indigenous protected and conserved areas in polar bear country.

Ron Thiessen

Winnipeg

 

Medical appointment unavailable

Re: Manitoba’s surgery backlog festered over summer (Nov. 14)

I tried to make a follow-up appointment with my specialist for two months from now, as directed by my physician. I was told I had to call back, as the surgical schedule is not available and therefore no appointments could be made, as the physician does not know what the office hours would be past a certain date. What is happening with our health care? How many necessary visits are being missed?

Rossana DeLuca

Winnipeg

 

Helping addicts recover

Re: Dying to get clean (Oct. 15)

I am touched by the work the Rapid Access to Addictions Medicine (RAAM) Clinic and the St. Boniface Street Links organization have done to help adults who are experiencing substance abuse and have made a decision to turn their lives around.

I was saddened to learn that after gaining the courage to undergo treatment at one of the clinics, many of those waiting in line had to be turned away due to the limited hours of operation at the clinic.

The article resonated with me in such a way that I felt compelled to reach out to the Street Links staff and offer my help. Since education is near and dear to my heart, I could personally help with some form of online module development and training.

The St. Boniface Street Links staff and clients could contribute their lived experiences in the form of digital story-telling of their journeys — what compelled them to begin and subsequently modify their experience, how they managed each day then and now, and why they chose a certain path looking back and moving forward.

I believe organizations such as the St. Boniface Street Links provide an essential service. As such, it would be a disservice not to do more to enable them to be there for their clients so those in need, and their families, see everlasting results.

Rita Zuba Prokopetz

Winnipeg

 

Aim headlights lower

It is against the law to drive a vehicle with headlights that are not properly focused. This should mean focused on the road, not in the eyes of oncoming drivers.

It seems many people blame the new LED headlights as the reason so many new cars have glaring headlights that are aimed too high. Not so! I have a new car with LED headlights, and my lights are focused exactly as former lights were. If I pull up to a wall, the focus of my headlights is clearly below what would be in an oncoming driver’s eyes.

I brought this up to the provincial government last year and got the expected non-answer. So the question remains: why have politicians not demanded police enforce the laws we pay them to enforce?

Shane Nestruck

Winnipeg