Karlie Brady

Journalist

A Port Douglas business is shouting the message ‘we are open’ after being left in the lurch without a telephone line for a week.

Last Monday the phone lines at Coral Sea Eyecare mysteriously disconnected and Owner Optometrist, Nicole de la Perrelle, said it is severely affecting business.

“We are normally fully booked all the time, but we currently have availability because no one can reach us,” she said.

“We rely on people calling up to make appointments and given the economic climate when people call and it says the number has been disconnected, they assume the business has closed down.

“We service a lot of elderly people and people who live out around the area, they are not just going to walk by and see that we are open.

“I actually had a lady call the Council to see if there was an optometrist in the area anymore,” she said.

Ms de la Perrelle, said she has been left frustrated and confused after multiple phone calls to her telephone providers has provided her with no straight answers or fixes.

From one person telling her that she must have requested the phone line be disconnected to another saying the phone operating system she uses, ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network), is no longer in service and had been switch off, of which she had no warning.

“However, through our IT person, we are aware that other businesses in Port Douglas using the ISDN system still have phones that are working absolutely fine,” Ms de la Perrelle said.

She added she believes an error has been made somewhere and she just wants it fixed.

“I have contacted the Telecommunications Ombudsman and they are looking into it.

“We can’t operate a business like this.

“I think just getting our phone number back is a long process in itself,” she said.

Coral Sea Eyecare is using the mobile number, 0482460312, in the interim.