Fibre screw up: Auckland couple seek compensation for damaged fence after installation hack-job

An Auckland couple is seeking compensation from Chorus after their fence was ruined by a contractor during an error-ridden fibre installation.

Brackets to house the fibre cable were drilled on to the fence unevenly, not parallel to the ground and in an incorrect place agreed upon by neighbours.

More than 60 long screws in total protruded out of the fence towards Jasmine Kunju and her partner's Glendene garden, posing a danger.

READ MORE:
• Broadband wars: We were tricked, internet users complain
• It's official: Aussies are envious of our broadband
• Broadband not good enough to stream Rugby World Cup for thousands

And after a month of back and forth communication and no action, Chorus promised to visit the property after they were contacted by the Herald.

A contractor was originally instructed to install the fibre connection along the white bottom section of the green boundary fence.

However, after it was discovered the contractor had made plenty of mistakes on the day he installed the fibre last month, complaints were raised.

"The first thing we saw was the white pipe sticking out on the green part of the fence, we thought, 'what's this?'," Kunju said.

"Then we saw all of the screws sticking out on our side of the fence and we were quite frustrated ... [Our neighbour] was also upset it wasn't done right."

Randomly drilled holes, brackets installed at different widths and the long screws - which posed a health hazard - were the main focus of the complaint.

The contractor later returned to the property and exchanged the screws for rivets which remain in the fence.

However, the couple believed it was just a quick fix and they demanded the fibre be reinstalled in the agreed-upon position on the fence.

They were also seeking compensation or for Chorus to replace the entire fence, Kunju said.

An email chain commenced for weeks since the fibre was installed on September 14 with little action actually being taken.

The contractor offered to move the pipe and silicone the drilled holes before painting them green in an attempt to cover up the mistake.

But this wasn't good enough, Kunju said, because in the first instance if it was done correctly their fence wouldn't even need repairing.

"That's all the subcontractors offered to do, they said they could patch up the holes with some silicone and paint it.

"We're telling them that's probably not the best because it's going to leave, at a minimum, two or three holes at each part of the installation.

"I just feel like we're being bullied and it's not fair because we're not dealing with two parties - for us it's Chorus we're complaining to.

"They shouldn't be pushing us away to the contractors. I want the public to know so that this does not happen to others."

After the Herald contacted Chorus this morning, a spokesman said they were working to get someone on-site to speak to the homeowners directly.

"We'd like every connection to be perfect but occasionally mistakes are made but if we do make a mistake we will put it right," Nathan Beaumont said.

"If work that has been done is not up to you our standards, it will be sorted.

"It's worth keeping in mind though that we complete a fibre connection every minute as demand for fibre continues to be strong."

Meanwhile, Chorus had a special team designated to repairing fibre installations which weren't up to scratch, Beaumont said.