Thanks Ōtorohanga
Thanks for the kindness KINDNESS isn’t something that makes the headlines very often but my wife and I would like to express our gratitude for the wonderful welcome we received in Ōtorohanga last week. We were celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary by travelling from Wellington to Auckland on the Northern Explorer train. For no particular reason (except to stretch out our travel time) we chose to break our journey in a place of which we had never heard. Two large bags and a roller case made it obvious that we were visitors to Otorohanga. As we stepped down from the train on the Wednesday afternoon, we were greeted by Bill Millar, the appropriately titled Kiwiana Capital Tourist Ambassador, together with the proprietor of the station cafe. Both of them offered us any guidance and support we might need. As soon as we left the station we were greeted warmly by another local resident and, shortly afterwards, were offered safe passage across the road by a member of a local roading crew. During the course of our stay our bed and breakfast hostess drove us to see the glowworms at Waitomo, and even arranged for our luggage to be kept in a local shop (run by a relative) until just before our afternoon departure on the Friday. That same morning, ambassador Bill organised a sneak preview for us at the museum. We visited a number of local cafes for snacks and meals and were always delighted with the fare on offer, as well as the welcome we received. Of course, after our initial greeting, we included the station cafe in our itinerary a couple of times. Congratulations to the King Country and Ōtorohanga in particular for knowing how to make visitors feel welcome, and for the extraordinary kindness shown to us on our travels. May God bless and prosper you. John and Barbara Titlow Wellington
Out of line The Lines Company planned significant power outages for Ōtorohanga on November 6th but failed to notify customers on Blucks Rd to Harpers Ave, from Main North Rd to Sunset Cl, and roads in-between. On Sunday, TLC disconnected power for almost nine hours. TLC failed to do a mail drop to properties affected by its ‘Planned Service Interruption’, and failed to provide any public notice in advance. Failing to meet its Terms of Service, TLC provided no prior warning to customers to enable them to prepare. TLC over-ran planned seven-hour outages by 25%, not adequately allowing for the full extent of the work. Whereas other lines companies may have connected a generator to ensure continuation of service during a long procedure, TLC did not. Nor did TLC implement a backup plan to restore power when failing to meet its target-time. TLC then failed to update its outage information service, instead providing incorrect information. Furthermore, TLC failed to provide ‘customer service’ to customers who enquired about the estimated reconnection time. Forty hours after receiving a written customer enquiry, TLC had not answered (except to acknowledge receipt). And TLC disconnected a call from a customer. TLC’s services withhold outage information that ought to be provided without restriction, while TLC demands permission be given to access the location of personal devices (ignoring Privacy Act requirements). TLC is a monopoly, ignoring its obligations and customers’ rights. Koos Hogendoorn Ōtorohanga
TLC reply: Sometimes we need to carry out planned outages to undertake work on the network safely. Following the move to retailer billing on October 1, 2021, retailers are now responsible for notifying TLC customers of planned outages, and this is now outlined in our Standard Terms. Retailers do this for their customers across New Zealand. Since October last year, we’ve been actively working with retailers to improve the notification service, so our customers are well informed and well in advance of any planned work. If we, or Transpower, have planned work affecting a customer’s connection – the customer’s retailer will let them know either via email, post, via their app, text message or a combination of those. They’ll also include the reason for the outage and estimated time when the power will be restored. All retailers operating on our network must promptly notify affected customers of planned outages. In this instance, our team provided the necessary outage information to affected customers’ retailers well within the 10 days prior notice period required. If customers are finding they are not receiving these notifications from their electricity retailer, they should contact them. Circumstances on the day meant it took longer for our field teams to complete the work in order to be able to restore power to the area. Not completing this work would have meant another outage at a later date. On further investigation, our outage notification system wasn’t updated when it was identified that the work would take longer than expected. We have a review underway to determine why, and how to prevent this from happening in the future. We acknowledge that both the overrun and not updating our notification system have impacted customers, for which we apologise. Regarding the customer’s specific interactions with us, without their details it’s not possible for our team to investigate the situation. Should the customer wish to, we’d encourage them to reach out to our Customer & Community Engagement team by calling 0800 367 328 or emailing info@thelines.co.nz. Craig Hackett – Acting Manager, Network
Rereahu lament ON December 4 2022, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will come to Te Kūiti to deliver the Crown’s apology, and complete a settlement on behalf of the people of New Zealand to Maniapoto iwi for their loss and pain and suffering in the early years of European settlement. It will be a long-awaited day of celebration and rightly so. It will begin an era of restoration of the tribes’ ability to grow wealth and build economic platforms that will enable the people to lift their living standards to the highest levels. Home ownership, the best education, rewarding workplace opportunities, business ventures and better health all come into view. This is a good time in history making for Maniapoto people. I celebrate with them. Oh that we of Rereahu iwi could have shared this same liberty too. Set free to fly from the cage that has bound us these past 160 years. That prevents the natural creative human capacity to think, believe and achieve the same outcomes. What should easily have been a win, win, for all of us together is not to be. Words fail me. Freedom to be as we aspire has such a high price tag on it. Richard Kohinga Te Kūiti
