KEY POINTS:
Xtra customers have baulked at Telecom's promises of donations to selected charities and an offer of free internet connections, with some demanding more compensation.
Telecom made a $7 million apology after thousands of customers were shut out from their email since an upgrade more than a week ago.
The company said it would give a week's free internet access, costing up to $6 million, and donate $1 million to charity for the problems with its new Yahoo!Xtra Bubble service.
But with its broadband plans priced from between $29.95 per month and $149.95 per month, the range of gain for Xtra customers is the equivalent of less than a Chinese takeaway meal or at best a night for two adults at the movies.
The email service was touted as providing at no extra cost "an exciting range of new services that will change the way you use the internet".
But the Herald has been inundated with emails and calls from Xtra customers who are unimpressed by Telecom's gestures.
Many claim the offer is small in comparison to the time wasted trying to retrieve emails and business lost.
Judith Newell, who runs the Rangimarie Beachstay at Anaura Bay, said the offer was "pitiful and embarrassing".
"A week's free internet connection? I have spent hours and hours of my time on this damned thing and I think it's a bloody insult ... I wish all their customers would take them to the small claims tribunal."
Ms Newell, who was sorting through the more than 900 legitimate and spam-type emails in her Xtra webmail, said the offer to charities was shameful.
"To give that money to charity is shameful. They are trying to avoid their responsibility by hiding behind charities and I don't agree with it at all."
Ivor Jones, 63, who runs a home-based Christchurch commission agency, was another who said he would be seeking more than Telecom's current offer.
"It's hard to quantify what it's actually cost me in dollars but the least they could give me is a month's free connection."
Mr Jones said when he first noticed he was having email problems nearly two weeks ago he eventually got through to a helpdesk "which was probably in Manila or India somewhere".
"The guy was very helpful but unfortunately he didn't speak very good English and after more than an hour we both realised he wasn't aware of the upgrade Telecom had made."
Mark Thomas, who owns Auckland catering and hospitality provider, Serviceworks, would rather have assurances the problem had been fixed than a week's free internet.
His email problems included thousands he had received repeatedly.
TelstraClear spokesman, Mathew Bolland said the upgrade fault had not amounted to many new customers jumping ship.
Mr Bolland said most telecommunication companies experienced difficulties at some stage and TelstraClear would not be "making hay at Telecom's expense".
However, ihug's general manager of marketing, Dave Joyce, said the company had seen a 50 per cent increase in the number of Xtra customers making the switch although he would not reveal the actual figure.
"It's a reasonably significant number and from our perspective the timing of the Xtra Bubble fallout has been perfect for us to be frank."
Telecom had a total broadband and internet revenue of $325 million in the year to June 30 and recorded a net profit of $955 million.
The company initially refused compensation to its customers when problems arose last week but it has since announced four customer-selected charities would receive $1 million.
