TELEPHONE COMPLAINTS

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2992, 1 February 1917, Page 6

TELEPHONE COMPLAINTS

DEPARTMENT EXPLAINS THE DISCONNECTIONS. - .

'As several subscribers out of a total number of 5300 to the Wellington Telephone Exchange have expressed their annoyance at having their telephones disconnected for failure to pay bureau charges, tho following official statement will be of public interest. The regulation governing the payment of bureau fees appears at page 442, paragraph 4, of tho Post and Telegraph Guide, and reads as follows-.— "If payment of the charge for ■ a bureau communication is not made upon demand, the Minister of. Telegraphs may refuse an exobange subscriber any further bureau communication until the outstanding charge has been paid, and if the account is not paid within one month after demand the connection ■with the exchange may be discontinued, without prejudice to any proceedings for tlie recovery of any moneys then due, or otherwise." In many cases the account is rendered six and seven times -without payment being received. It has been stated that the Department has dieconnected subscribers -without notice, but in fact this is not so. When the Department first considers tho question of disconnecting a subscriber, a notice as follows is imprinted on tlie bureau account:—"lf unpaid at the end ot seven days, your telephone connection will be discontinued until payment i 9 made." If at the end of that seven days tlie bureau fees are not paid a memorandum in the followins; terms is sent to tho subscriber:—"Pleaso note that yonr account for bureau communications is considerably overdue, and I x beg to inform you that the regulations of the Department provide that if the nmoiint is not paid before noon on Monday, the instant, your telephone •will be cut off." If the account is not paid on the dato referred to in the foregoing -meiiffii randum, the subscriber in arrears is specially rung up on the telephone and told that the account lias not been paid, nnd, if a settlement is not made -within the day, the subscriber -will be cut off the following morning. It will, therefore, be seeu that subscribers are fully, aware of the consequences of tho nonpayment of bureau accounts. If subcribors neglect to pay their accounts after so many reminders,, the Department cauDot in any way-** held responsible for any inconvenience caused by tho disconnection of the subscriber concerned.