Use PSC Telephone Complaint Forms or Maybe Go Unheard

Frustrated Virgin Islanders may experience some catharsis by ranting on social media about poor utility service but unless their complaints are filed with regulators at the Public Services Commission, they may go unheard, officials said Tuesday.

The PSC — tasked with ensuring telephone companies, the Water and Power Authority, the Waste Management Authority, and many of the territory’s ferries provide the best possible service at a reasonable rate — relies on aggrieved customers speaking up through official channels, members of the commission said at its meeting Tuesday. Pulling a commissioner aside on the street or relaying service issues on Facebook might call attention to the problem but likely won’t generate the documentation needed to spur change.

Filing a complaint with the PSC or with the utility itself will create a paper trail regulators can track, said Assistant Executive Director Tisean Hendricks. The complaint link is easily found at psc.vi.gov.

The PSC has monitored 70 complaints against Liberty VI’s phone service recently, Hendricks said. Fifty-three complaints — 44 in St. Thomas and St. John, nine in St. Croix — were not yet resolved by Tuesday’s meeting.