The people who are going to be upset about this are the elderly, who either don't have computers or don't trust them enough to put their bank details online.
There are also plenty of younger people out there who don't want to put their bank details online. After all, how many times have we seen on telly or read about scammers? We tell our elderly to be cautious and not to give out their bank details, yet now they will be penalised for doing just that. I know $1.50 sounds like a piddly amount to most of us but to pensioners living on about $400 a week, every little penny counts.
I happened to be in the PostShop last week in the queue behind a woman who was paying her phone bill. I asked her what she thought of the new charge.
"What new charge?"
I pointed it out to her on the top of her account.
"I didn't even see that," she said. "$1.50! For goodness sake, they will be charging us to go to the toilet in our own homes next."
I wonder if Telecom has thought about the fact that the people who will end up paying this fee have no doubt been loyal customers for years and years. They should be rewarded for their loyalty, not punished.
The consequences of this move by Telecom are far reaching. There will be fewer people going into NZ PostShops so therefore less work for staff and we all know where that leads.
Telecom can be frustrating to deal with. Trying to get a real person on the phone is a nightmare.
Recently I had trouble with our phone. We could ring out but the phone wouldn't ring. It would give a little blip then that was it.
I phoned faults and after yelling at a "voice" asking me to "explain in a few words what the problem is" I finally got to speak with a human.
They asked me questions about lines and plugs and did a checklist but nothing worked. "We will send a technician out but if the fault is yours you will have to pay."
"Fine," I said. How can the fault be mine and if it is, how am I meant to find it? I wouldn't have a clue what to check.
Turned out I needed a new filter, which I bought, and away we went.
When I opened this month's Telecom account I was amazed to find I owed more than double what my bill usually is. "Did I forget to pay last month?" I asked myself. "I'm sure I paid it ... at the PostShop. A quick scan of the bill showed I had. Then I saw this: Fault diagnosis charge $139.45. You have got to be kidding. How can I diagnose a fault in equipment I know nothing about?
So, back on the phone I went. I'm not going to keep you on hold, here. Suffice to say that after several calls and callbacks Telecom did reverse the charge.
Good for them for being reasonable. I think they should be even more reasonable and rethink this new charge.
