A senior citizen from Nova Scotia who was left without phone service for almost a week is urging for quicker restoration during outages. Everett Schofield, residing in Glenmont, N.S., with his wife, Jessie, heavily depends on their landline for communication. On December 24, they discovered their landline was down, likely due to a previous night’s power failure.
Despite being informed by Bell, their service provider, that the phone would be fixed in three days, the Schofields were still without a working phone by December 29. Confusion arose when differing repair dates of December 31 and January 2 were provided by Bell to their daughter and granddaughter. Schofield expressed disappointment, especially during the holiday season when they missed connecting with distant family and friends.
The outage also caused inconvenience as Schofield couldn’t contact their oil delivery company for a refill. Although his wife had a cellphone, poor coverage prevented outgoing calls from their home. Service was finally restored on Tuesday afternoon, coinciding with CBC’s inquiry to Bell regarding the family’s situation.
According to a Bell spokesperson, the outage, caused by power failures during a recent storm, affected multiple customers and disrupted equipment providing dial tone in the region. Bell’s teams worked to swiftly repair the units and restore service.
Stephanie Barnaby, the granddaughter, voiced concerns about her grandparents’ safety in emergencies, given their medical conditions and the lack of phone service. Conflicting information about the outage and restoration process was received by Barnaby and her mother. Bell reportedly responded that the outage wasn’t classified as an emergency due to the number of affected customers.
Schofield, along with others facing landline service issues, emphasized the need for improved service capacity from Bell. He stressed the importance of having skilled personnel for prompt repairs and maintenance to avoid such disruptions in the future.
