Bag-snatch victim tells of `no reply' to 111 call

An Auckland woman robbed as she sat in her car is appalled at the lack of response to her 111 calls for help.

Company director Brenda Banks was waiting in traffic in Preston Rd, Manukau City, on Tuesday when a man opened her passenger door and leaned into the car.

Ms Banks said he snatched her handbag and ran away.

Shaken by the robbery, Ms Banks dialled 111 on her cellphone but hung up when the call was not answered after about 45 seconds.

She tried again and let the number ring for a slightly shorter time before again hanging up.

Telecom said 111 calls were answered last month in an average 1.4 seconds.

The company searched phone records yesterday and found one call from Ms Banks.

A spokeswoman said the record did not show how long Ms Banks waited before hanging up.

She said it could take longer to answer calls at "peak times", but this was rare and might happen when multiple calls were made about the same incident.

On the day Ms Banks phoned, a 111 call made at 5.21pm took 19 seconds to answer.

The next call, at 5.24pm, was answered after 14 seconds.

The call Telecom traced from Ms Banks was timed at 5.22pm

The Government requires Telecom to answer 95 per cent of emergency calls within five seconds, and the company exceeded that target, the spokeswoman said.

She said people should stay on the phone because their call would always be answered.

Ms Banks said the experience left her concerned about the emergency response system.

"When you're sitting on the side of the road waiting, 30 seconds feels like half an hour," she said.

"I panicked and picked up the phone. I needed someone to answer my call and say `it will be okay, we're here, we'll come and help you' but there was nothing.

Ms Banks rang her husband, David, who was in Wellington, and he dialled 111 to report the crime.

She was contacted by Wellington police and told the call would be passed to Auckland police, who then phoned her.

She said the lack of response led to a delay of more than an hour before police arrived, and that time could have been used trying to track the bag snatcher.