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The Service Racket January 30, 2006

It’s been an interesting weekend of revelations. From hearing about my mothers cable vision woes, to airline prices, to even my step-daughters admission into private school (Wait for this one. It needs an entry all to itself).

Is it me, or are you tired of being completely screwed, just for the privilege of living in paradise? Ok, pretty harsh, and don’t get me wrong. I love Bermuda, always have, always will. What I don’t like is when companies take advantage of us Islanders, similar to the protection racket of the 40’s and 50’s Mob era, we now have the service racket.

For instance, I was listening to my mother on Saturday, who was complaining about Cable Vision. Cable Vision are phasing out their analog service and switching completely over to digital. Great, except for the fact that it’s going to cost her $40 to do so. I know in the grand scheme of things, $40 isn’t a lot of money, however lets stop and look here for a second. Cable Vision are forcing their clients to pay for a service which they have made a decision to switch to and they are making it their standard. If she still wants Cable Vision, she has absolutely no choice in the matter. How is this different from extortion?

Another one is the airlines. We’ve heard a lot about Jet Blue running regular trips to Bermuda for greatly reduced prices. What I’m interested in is what they refer to as the “Jet Blue” effect, which is a ripple effect in the prices of airfares. If we suddenly see a dramatic drop in Delta, American, Continental and British Airways, we should all scream bloody murder to the government. This would in fact prove what Bermudians have been complaining about for years, the fact that we are being gouged by the airlines (who also point to the government) needlessly. Living on an Island we have little alternative but to fly if we have or want to go anywhere off Island. We are quite literally at the mercy of the airlines and whatever price they choose to inflict upon us.

Mugsy and the boys may all be dead from an era long ago, but I see that their practices live on to this day.

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