ARE YOU THERE?

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume VI, Issue 265, 25 October 1916, Page 4

ARE YOU THERE?

TELEPHONE SERVICE discussed:

At last night’s meeting of the Hastings Chamber of Commerce an informal discussion arose Concerning the Hastings telephone exchange service, and several members, after graphically describing the great wrath they had felt on occasions when delays had occurred in getting connections, or when they had been cut, off in the middle of a conversation, or had been put to inconvenience in some other way, generously admitted that, on the whole, the attention paid to them by the officers and operators at Hastings was far bi tter than that given to subscribers in most of the other towns in New Zealand, a verdict we ourselves can heaftily endorse. Mr. T. J. Thompson, of Thompson Brothers, butchers, said that probably his firm was the largest user of the ’phone in Hastings, and geneially speaking they had no cause for complaint. There were times, however, when laxities occurred, perhaps owing to the inexperience of a new operator, but he had found that improvements always followed the ringing up of No. o', to whom the lists direct subscribers to make their complaints. The greatest cause for grievance appears to be' the long time it takes to get outside bureau connections. Mr. E. H. Williams stated that he was sometimes kept waiting for a quarter of an hour, and then, when talking, he found that communication had suddenly been cut, and the whole tiring procedure of establishing a connection had to be repeated. Tn this branch of the service it does appear that an improvement could be made. It may be the fault of the system or laxity on the part of the operators, probable it is the former, but whatever is the cause for delay, the public would appreciate an improvement in the bureau service. One speaker last night complained about the “Did you get them ’ query interrupting conversations, but we think that subscribers will agree that this slight interference is preferable to the greater annoyance oi being hitched on to a dead end. Any way exasperation will disappear if subscribers cultivate a feeling oi gratitude to the operators for their sympathetic attention to their calls, and in place of a gruff “Yes, ct you, yes I” say “Yes, thankyou, dear I” Taken altogether the public has very little cause for general complaint regarding the telephone service that is given to them at Hastings, and from our own experience, when anything has happened that has not been to our liking, a simple notification of the fact to the postmaster has either immediately remedied things or brought an explanation to show that the cause of our grievance has been either a rush of work at the exchange or some wire or other trouble that could not be avoided.