Telephone Service

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30498, 21 July 1964, Page 12

Telephone Service

Sir, —There is" one feature of the telephone service that I and, I am sure, many others, find exasperating. A subscriber speaking from a public 'phone booth, requiring a number which is prefixed by three more numbers, has to lose his money before being able to ask the operator for the connexion. It is particularly annoying when there is no reply and you are left minus twopence, still not having had the call, as happened to me on a recent occasion. The operator consoled me with the remark, “That’s how we make our money, lady!” Truly a case of the public being fleeced!—Yours, etc., ANGELA ELLIOTT.

July 15, 1964, [The Chief Postmaster (Mr J. W. Lincoln) said: “Allpublic call-station telephones in Christchurch are designed for automatic working, and the insertion of two pennies is not lost until the called party has answered and button A is pressed. Until the subscribers on manual numbers through 896 are changed over to .fully automatic working at the end of August, the problem of refunding the two pennies for a *no reply’ call will continue. All operators are instructed, however, to inform customers that a refund may be obtained at their nearest Post Office if they would call and explain the circumstances to the officer in charge. Regarding the remark made by the operator to the correspondent: I would appreciate some further information as to the time and date to enable me to take suitable action.”]