Now that the tourist season has started, some merchants have been complaining once again that heavy telephone traffic is causing delays in credit card purchases, but several said Friday that things are improving a bit.
In fact, Katrina Commissiong, spokeswoman for the Virgin Islands Telephone Corp., said the company has increased its long distance capacity by about 20 percent, taking the strain off retailers.
Vitelco expanded service in 1999 with the installation of two new switches, one for St. Thomas and one for St. Croix. More immediately, over the past month, it has put in additional 800-lines. Also, she said, Puerto Rico, through which most V.I.-mainland calls are routed, recently expanded service.
The Virgin Islands logs an average of 1 million long distance calls a day, Commissiong said. Of that number, 200,000 are on 800-lines. Those numbers are down a bit in the summer and up in December and January, the peak of long distance traffic.
Jams occur in large part because stores are using toll-free 800 numbers to the mainland to verify credit cards for purchases by tourists.
Ricky Ranani, manager at H. Stern Jewellers in Havensight Mall, said "sometimes it takes about 10 to 15 minutes" to complete a call.
It can be bad "especially around 2 o'clock to 5 o'clock when everyone's trying to shop and get back to the ship," said Janelle Zachman, owner of Going Seanile. "One day we actually lost a sale because we were waiting so long." The customer simply gave up and left the shop.
"It's very annoying. Customers get very insecure" wondering if the purchase will be approved, said Gesine Locker of Erno Laszlo Institute.
Jack Swindell, manager of information systems for Cardow Jewelers, said the store has been experiencing delays "but the (stateside) company we work with has been working with Vitelco," discussing how to reroute calls to less busy lines.
In the last two weeks, he said, things have improved.
Zachman and Ranani also said service has been "a little better" in the last few days, and Locker said it is not as bad as it was last year. However, several St. Thomas residents reported long delays this week in getting their credit card purchases approved at local stores such as Cost-U-Less. Some finally wrote checks rather than wait.
Thursday "was a major test," Commissiong said. With seven cruise ships in port on St. Thomas "there was no problem."
She said, "we believe we're going to be fine for the season."

Carlos "Charlie" Calderon Jr. of #280 Est. Sion Farm, formerly of the Ralph DeChabert Housing Community, died Wednesday, Nov. 22 at Juan F. Luis Hospital.
Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 28 at the Kingshill Cemetery Memorial Chapel. A viewing will be held prior to the service beginning at 9 a.m.
Interment will follow in Kingshill Cemetery.
He is survived by his father, Deacon Carlos Calderon Romero; daughters, Carla, Marie-Elsie, Lisa Monique, and Cherise Calderon; son, Carlos Calderon III; grandchildren, Pedro Gonzalez Jr., Cedric Vanterpool, Tunisha Vanterpool, Khareem Calderon, Carlos D. Calderon Jr., Troy Mason Jr., Kai D'John Burley, Alliana Thomas, Amani Thomas, and Georgiana Shantel Green; sisters, Millie Cepeda and Elsie Ortiz; brother, Carlos O. "Landy" Calderon; and niece, Evalise Calderon.
He is also survived by his nephews, Carlos O. Calderon Jr., Ernst Schuster Jr., Florencio III Ortiz, Orlando Ortiz, and Eusebio Cepeda III; sister-in-law, Nydia Felix; brother-in-law, Francisco Fernandez; special cousins, Anna Osorio, Rafael Rodriguez, Luz Serano, and Fernando Santana; along with many other relatives and numerous friends.
Funeral arrangements are in the care of James Memorial Funeral Home.

The 5k fun run sponsored by the St Thomas Association of Roadrunners is on Sunday Dec.10 at 7:30 a.m. on the National Park Road in Red Hook. Jingle bells will be provided.

The Senate Rules Committee will meet next week to consider the nominations of three Territorial Court judges, including the replacement for St. Croix Judge Alphonso Andrews.
St. Croix Judge Patricia Steele and St. Thomas Judge Brenda Hollar are up for another six-year term each. Gov. Charles Turnbull has picked Assistant Attorney General Darryl Donohue to replace Andrews.
That nomination, however, may face difficulties because of Andrews’ popularity among St. Croix senators, especially Sens. Alicia "Chucky" Hansen and Adelbert Bryan. They strongly criticized Turnbull for not reappointing Andrews for another six-year term. They claimed Andrews was ousted for political reasons, in particular his December decision blocking Beal Aerospace from developing public land on St. Croix to build its world headquarters.
Turnbull supported the Texas-based company’s venture. Beal pulled out of the St. Croix project two weeks after Andrews granted plaintiff Hansen’s request for a permanent injunction against the deal. Turnbull announced in mid-August that he wouldn’t reappoint Andrews.
Donohue is an assistant attorney general in the V.I. Justice Department on St. Croix, where he supervises the criminal-prosecution team.
The Rules Committee will also consider the nomination of Brig. Gen. Cleave McBean to head the V.I. National Guard and become adjutant general of the V.I. Territorial Emergency Management Agency.
Pedro Williams will be considered for a spot on the Housing Finance Authority board.
Rules Committee Chairwoman Anne Golden, who lost her re-election bid, said that over the last two years the committee has heard more than 90 nominations.
She said Wednesday’s meeting will essentially clear all of Turnbull’s nominations pending before the Rules Committee of the 23rd Legislature.
"I want to assure all residents of the Virgin Islands that if additional work comes before this committee before the end of this Legislature, this Rules Committee will make every effort to consider it so nothing is left in limbo," Golden said.
All the nominations will be considered at 10 a.m. Wednesday on St. Thomas by the Rules Committee and if approved, will be forwarded to the full Senate for confirmation.

A marine construction company dredging the Charlotte Amalie Harbor may have come upon two items of historical value. Earlier this week, two anchors, a large one and a smaller one, were hauled onto the Crown Bay Dock for temporary storage.
According to Dale Gregory, director of engineering for the V.I. Port Authority, the anchors were discovered during the dredging work that is being done in the harbor to help accommodate the big new eagle-class cruise ships.
"When the contractors were dredging off of Hassel Island, they found these anchors," Gregory said, adding that he will consult with the Planning and Natural Resources Department to determine where the anchors will be placed permanently.
Ron Sherwood, who has been active on the marine scene for years, said the anchors resemble those used a few hundred years ago.
"I suspect that the large one was used on those big freighters which were routinely in the harbor during the late 1800s and early 1900s," he said.
Sherwood said the anchors are a type that can be taken apart once on board a vessel so they would not shift around while on high seas.
The anchors remain on the northeastern end of the Crown Bay Dock.

The V.I. Port Authority will begin contract negotiations next week with a partnership of two local firms that submitted the winning design proposal to spruce up the Charlotte Amalie waterfront apron.
Yssis Group and Paradigm Design teamed up for the winning entry, which would add benches, historic lighting and landscaping to what is now a bare concrete slab. Port Authority planner Darlan Brin said Friday the improvements will stretch from the Coast Guard dock near the Legislature building all the way to the Ellis Blyden Marine Terminal.
Brin said the initial call for proposals stipulated a maximum cost of $1.2 million.
"We realize the eventual project will cost more than that, but we used that as a guide," he said. "No matter what, we're going to have to do it in phases anyway."
The plan also calls for improved highway safety and pedestrian access along Veterans Drive, Brin said.
The Port Authority will need the cooperation of the V.I. Historic Preservation Commission and the Public Works Department, he said, and will discuss prospective details of the plan with those agencies.
The Yssis/Paradigm partnership was one of three finalists in the design competition; the two runners-up will receive a $5,000 stipend, Brin said.

Mongoose Junction, a paradise of unique shops on St. John, is once again presenting Evening in the Courtyard from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday.
Event organizer and chairman of Mongoose Merchants Advertising Committee, Michael Barry, said, "St. John is poised for growth. We¹re sensitive to the fact that tourism is our number one industry. We¹re fortunate to have the National Park because it does bring visitors. We¹re also blessed with a strong local community that is supportive of our merchants."
Guests can come early and take a stroll through Mongoose Junction to discover new and exciting shops while enjoying the sounds of Carly Powell and Caribbean Vibes. Take in the fashion show in the center courtyard hosted by Bamboula. And then visit shops featuring the artists and artisans who create the merchandise that gives Mongoose Junction its unique flavor. This includes Rudy and Irene Patton, Susan Helmich, George Sawyer and Kabana at R & I Patton, presentations by the artists at Baja El Sol Gallery and a showcase of jewelry designs by Ben Accorso, Barbara Heinrich and Steven Lee at Best of Both Worlds.
Barry said this is the perfect time to hop the ferry and get a head start on holiday shopping. "Come early, stay for dinner and don¹t forget the holiday gift list," he said.
Refreshments will be served throughout the complex.

Repairs to St. Croix’s four fire stations, with one closed since August, are under way, according to Fire Service Director Pedro Encarnacion.
The Cotton Valley station on St. Croix’s east end has been closed since late summer because of deteriorating conditions and a lack of funding. On Wednesday, Encarnacion said a $150,000 bid had been awarded to a contractor to repair the station. He did not say when the work would be completed.
Bids to repair other stations have also been awarded, including:
– A $165,000 contract to repair the Richmond station. Work is expected to begin on Monday and be finished in February.
– A $193,000 contract for the Emile Henderson Sr. Station in Frederiksted. Work is scheduled to begin Dec. 1.
– A $91,000 contract to repair the Charles A. Seales Station in Grove Place. Work is set to begin Monday.
"We are very pleased that the new year will witness the firehouses in the territory in much improved physical condition to satisfy the needs of our hardworking firefighters," Encarnacion said.
A "considerable amount" of new equipment is expected as well, he added. When it arrives, said Encarnacion, "the Fire Service will be in the best operational condition it has been in for some time."
For residents of the east end, repairs to the Cotton Valley station can’t come soon enough. With the station closed, emergencies to the east are answered from the Richmond station west of Christiansted town – a 30-minute response time for some residents.
In addition to problems with the fire stations themselves, staffing and funding have been challenges. At least 18 St. Croix firefighters retired over the past year, and overtime budgeted for fiscal year 2000 was used up by July.
The government will pay for the repairs with $1.5 million in asset recovery funds and another $500,000 from the general fund, Encarnacion said. He added that bids have been advertised for work on fire stations in the St. Thomas-St. John district.

More uncertainty about the 2000 election in the Virgin Islands was stirred up this week, as Sen. George Goodwin filed a complaint against the St. Thomas-St. John district Board of Elections to prevent certification of the Nov. 7 general election.
Goodwin's complaint challenges the board over the methods by which it tabulated absentee ballots Saturday. The total of the absentee ballots put Sen. Lorraine Berry, a fellow Democrat, in the seventh senatorial seat and Goodwin out of the running in eighth place.
In the complaint filed by attorney Desmond Maynard, Goodwin stated that a total of 554 absentee ballots were counted and of that number, 480 were not postmarked. He also said that the board accepted absentee ballots that were contained in unsealed envelopes. "There can be no reasonable assurance that the results of the election reflected the will of the voters," the complaint said.
Goodwin is asking the court to order the election system not to certify the election results. He also wants the court to order that the questionable ballots, about 480, be thrown out and not counted and that any ballots received in unsealed envelopes be discarded as well.
The Territorial Court has not responded to Goodwin's complaint; the case reportedly will be assigned to a judge Friday. Like other local and federal government offices, courts were closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Visiting NCAA women's basketball teams were welcomed to St. Thomas Wednesday evening with a steel pan and mocko jumbie show at a poolside reception and press conference at the Renaissance Grand Beach Resort.
Four highly ranked Division I teams are on island to compete in the first Paradise Jam basketball tournament, Friday and Saturday at the Ivanna Eudora Kean High School gym.
Earlier Wednesday, teams fit in a few practice sessions at the Kean gymnasium, where students and coaches from both Kean and Charlotte Amalie High School participated in a basketball clinic.
"This is a dream come true," said Sinclair Wilkinson, principal at Eudora Kean. "I feel good to know that our students are getting such a great opportunity."
He said that the whole school has been involved in preparing for the event. "One of our students will even be singing the national anthem before the games," he said proudly.
In the first game to start at 6 p.m. on Friday, the women of Texas Tech will take on the lady lions of Penn State. Following that game, SW Missouri State and Louisiana State will go head to head.
"These are counting games," not exhibitions, pointed out Nels Hawkinson, executive director of Basketball Travelers Inc., who organized the tournament.
On Saturday evening, Friday night's winners will play each other followed by a game between Friday's defeated teams.
This tournament is drawing national attention to the Virgin Islands and hundreds of visitors including family and friends of the players. According to Cathy Bongiovi, Media Relations Director for the Penn State team, the teams are traveling with an entourage of coaches, trainers, doctors, media and fan clubs. While on island they will be treated to a tour of St. Thomas and St. John.
Plans for a second tournament to include men's teams in November 2001 are already under way, Hawkinson said. He expects a total of 18 teams to participate in four tournaments spanning nine days in 2001. Hawkinson said there are several teams with players from the Virgin Islands that he hopes will sign on.
"This is going to be good family entertainment," said Wilkinson.
Tickets cost $10 per evening for Virgin Islands residents. They may be purchased in advance at Nisky Center, the Color of Joy in Red Hook, at Bridal and Tuxedo and the Family and Health Center in the Tutu Park Mall, and at Kean. Proceeds from tickets and food and drink sales will go to the school.