Telecom text allegation

A Wanganui woman who complained to Telecom about receiving poor cellphone service says the company responded with a text message saying "F*** you".

Wanganui mayor Michael Laws took up the case of a woman, known only as Vanessa, when she called his Radio Live talkback show.

According to a press release from the mayor's office, the woman had complained that her text messages were taking hours to reach family members

She was apparently greeted with a return message simply saying "F*** you customer".

 "Vanessa did complain after receiving the offensive text and tracing it to the Telecom call centre. But that complaint has remained dormant," says Mr Laws.

The woman is a resident of Wanganui and has formally sought Mr Laws’ assistance in getting action and an apology from Telecom.

A statement from Telecom says it has been carrying out "an urgent and detailed investigation into a complaint that a customer received an abusive SMS text, allegedly from a Telecom customer service representative".

The statement says Telecom's fraud team and customer resolutions team are involved in the investigation and Telecom Retail CEO Alan Gourdie has been in direct contact with the customer as well as Michael Laws.

The company says if the message was sent by a Telecom employee it would result in the individual being fired immediately, according to the statement

 "Telecom places a great deal of importance on delivering the highest standards of customer service."

- © Fairfax NZ News