I spent almost five hours on hold trying to find out why my Slingshot internet connection was so bad.
When I wrote about that for a newspaper three years ago, it was only the beginning of the company's problems. Hundreds of people wrote with their call centre stories. Then staff working for the company and its subcontracted sales arm Power Marketing Ltd also spoke out.
It was PML's staff who talked about the sales practices punished by a $250,000 fine last week. The judgment against Slingshot also described how unauthorised access to Telecom's computer systems was being used to sell more contracts - another leak from PML.
Slingshot no longer uses PML and has undergone a huge change in practice. The call centre is well-supported, excited about work and in high spirits, chief executive Mark Callander says.
"If people pick up the phone and have a poor experience that's what they will talk to people about."
