Telecare emergency service non-functional for a week

I am writing this letter hoping that the telephone company Go reflect on their practice and avoid their clients passing through the same ordeal.

Two Thursdays ago (July 3) my mother's Telecare set broke down and starting ringing emergency calls one after the other. I went to her house, plucked it off and reported the fault at Telecare.

The Telecare receptionist told me that she could only report the fault by e-mail to Go as they are the people who provide the repair service.

I waited for Go to contact us but by Friday afternoon nothing had happened so I called Telecare again who said they would report it again and flag it up as urgent. Still no reply from Go. On the Saturday I phoned Go.

The people at the call centre told me that as it had to do with a Telecare set it had to be replaced by them not by Go.

I phoned Telecare again and they confirmed that the repair service had been taken away from them and it is now the responsibility of the company Go. I phoned Go again and someone accepted to send a technician.

They came at 8.30 p.m. and changed the set with a used one they had in the van while they were on the round. On Sunday afternoon it broke down again, making unnecessary emergency calls. After two hours someone called me and told me to go and pluck it off as each call, going off every minute, costs my mother 5c.

I immediately started calling Telecare and the same answers to do with e-mails and urgent repairs were given. Nobody sho-wed up at the house.

My mother is an octogenarian, lives on her own, and may find herself in need of urgent help at any moment.

So I contacted Go again. For the umpteenth time, first they tell me I should report to Telecare and then that they are coming.

On Monday it was the same story. On Tuesday I made another four phone calls here and there. At Go I asked to talk to the manager but my request was filtered and after a while the girl from the call centre came up with a proposal: "Are you ready to accept an appointment with the technician for next Thursday, July 10, at 7, 8, 9, 10 or 11 a.m.?" As if this was an honourable compromise! Did we have any other choice? Finally, on Thursday morning, we were given a replacement set.

Unofficial sources have told me that since Telemalta became Go, in order to economise, the people working directly for the Telecare service were absorbed into the main workforce and there is no longer any one directly responsible for repairs. Can Go please confirm?

Who would be liable if something happens to an elderly person in similar circumstances?