Shoddy workmanship has left some Dunedin residents less than impressed with telecommunications provider Chorus and high-speed internet.
More than 20 residents shared their experience of having fibre installed at their homes, with the majority not happy about the way it was put in.
Most of the complaints related to the quality of the installation of the fibre cables and the damage it had caused to property.
The complaints were a response to a letter sent to the Otago Daily Times on Tuesday by Animation Research Ltd chief executive Ian Taylor, who said a ''Third World approach'' to the installation of fibre could be partly why Dunedin residents did not feature among the heaviest internet users in New Zealand, despite enjoying the highest speeds.
Ryan Hannagan said he had been left with a chunk of concrete missing from a wall at his home after it was chipped off by technicians while installing a fibre cable.
Mr Hannagan was promised the wall would be fixed but more than a year later nothing has happened.
After the installation, Mr Hannagan was left without a landline for the weekend as it had to be disconnected so the fibre cable could be installed.
But it was not just property damage that caused Mr Hannagan's frustration, once the cable was installed, it did not deliver the fast internet speed promised.
''All in all the process was one of the most stressful I have ever been through, and certainly something that I can imagine would put people off getting fibre installed at their own properties.''
Lena Schallenberg said she had holes drilled into her newly renovated lounge so the new cable could be fed in from outside.
When she told the technicians they might be able to take the old internet cable out and follow the same path, they told her there was no other way to do it.
Others complained of underground cables being installed overhead instead, cables not tied down to anything, and lawns dug up and not fixed.
However, not all the feedback received was negative.
A handful of people said they found the process painless and professional.
Bruce Huyler said his experience had been very good with all options discussed and no issues concerning the workmanship.
Chorus communications manager Nathan Beaumont said the company had completed more than 20,000 free fibre connections in Dunedin, the majority done to a very high standard.
When an issue with an installation was identified, Chorus took immediate action, which could include correcting the installation or possibly standing down the technician so they could be retrained and reassessed.
There was strong demand for fibre across the country - a new connection was completed nearly every minute - but that was no excuse for substandard work, he said.
''We set ourselves high standards when doing this work, but clearly it appears there are times when we haven't quite met these high standards.''
All technicians who installed the fibre cables went through an extensive training and assessment regime, and Chorus and its service companies all carried out hundreds of audits each month, Mr Beaumont said.
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Comments
The installers I had were helpful and thorough. I am sorry to hear of some bad experiences, but mine was done exactly as I wanted by technicians who went to some considerable trouble. Of course, before they arrived I had surveyed my options and discussed these with the technicians when they arrived to work out a viable and satisfactory approach.
Maybe customers need to do a little preparatory work.