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"I was lost in call centre land. The telephone number for my news business, established from start-up last August, had been malfunctioning for months, and no one could find out what was wrong.
For a while, the eminent public law firm, Chen Palmer, received all my calls. Then, it transpired, no one ringing from Parliament could get through to me. The phone apparently just rang and rang and never even went to voicemail.
With my business dependent on constant contact with political goings-on, this was a major business issue. I lodged fault reports for Africa, but no one could replicate the fault, let alone fix it. Then along came Peter Joiner.
I've never clapped eyes on the guy but I'd like to shake his hand for continuing to hunt for my problem in the invisible world of telecommunications networks till he worked it out. And it wasn't a simple answer. Two separate faults, one in the Telecom network and the other on the Telstra side (my number previously with Telstra for another business, now back with Telecom for me).
Today, my phone rings reliably - something we have all come to expect but which had eluded me for about nine months since starting up in business on my own. Peter's tenacity was a textbook case of good customer service, going the extra mile, understanding that you win over loyal customers in their ones and twos as well as in big advertising campaigns, and that these relationships of respect and trust create much deeper loyalty.
It distresses me to think that Peter is caught up in the industrial disputes around how Telecom's Chorus unit subcontracts for telecommunications network maintenance and repair.
I am all the more grateful for his efforts knowing that perhaps this is not a great employment environment to be in right now."
Congratulations to Peter Joiner: a worthy MYOB Awesome Service Award winner.
www.downerconnect.co.nz