The owner-operator of Combat Zone Paint Ball in Dunedin has had a tough few months.
In October, over Labour Day weekend, when he was away, his shed on his Green Island property was broken into and 60 of his paint ball guns were stolen.
The guns were fundamental to his business and had to be replaced.
Though he had insurance he still had to pay $15,000 to get new guns.
Now he is battling a communications heavyweight over the installation of fibre which he said "he never wanted and never asked for" and was told "he would not have to pay for."
He now faces a bill of more than $11,000.
The dispute with both Spark and Chorus began when a Spark representative contacted him about the company wanting to get rid of copper lines.
"She said ... we are taking it away so you will not have to pay for it."
Technicians from Chorus came along and started looking at installing a fibre line.
Mr Thornley’s driveway is long and concern was raised by the Chorus technicians about the ability to lay a long enough cable.
He suggested they use the overhead phone lines but Chorus indicated they wanted to lay it underground.
Eventually after other Chorus contractors came to the site, he was sent an email saying his application to install fibre had been accepted.
"But I never applied for it. I did not want it. I was happy with what I had.
"I do have to have a connection for my business."
The quote for the installation was $11,849.60 and he had 90 days to get back to them.
"It was a great Christmas present. An $11,000 bill for something I never asked for."
He had until March to decide whether he would pay it but felt he had been backed into a corner.
Chorus spokesman Steve Pettigrew said Chorus covered the cost of the first 200m of the connection from the road to the property.
But because Mr Thornley’s business premises — where the connection had to go to — was nearly 300m further away, he was liable to pay that cost.
The cost of a trench could be considerable and civil works made up the majority of the cost of the work, Mr Pettigrew said.
Mr Thornley could do the work himself if he wanted, he said.
Chorus did not have a plan to phase out copper lines in the Christie St area and Mr Thornley could have fixed wireless which was workable but not as efficient as fibre.
In a statement provided to the Otago Daily Times, Spark said it was switching off the copper line-based Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), and withdrawing copper-based broadband in Green Island, Port Chalmers and South Dunedin.
It appeared Mr Thornley was incorrectly advised by a team member that as he was part of Spark’s PSTN shutdown, there would be no charge to install fibre, Spark said.
However installations over 200 meters were considered "non-standard" and were charged for.
The order was awaiting acceptance from Mr Thornley, so no charges had yet been incurred.
Spark suggested he switch to wireless broadband if he wished to avoid an installation fee, or look into copper services that other providers may be able to offer.
