Frustration for Auckland man after Orcon bungles account, cuts his internet

Orcon has accepted it made a mistake and has apologised "unreservedly" to the customer after the accounting error. Photo / File

An Auckland man says he's at his wits' end with internet company Orcon after an account error has seen his broadband axed.

Yechao Hu, known as Roman, says the company set up two different accounts for his internet connection.

However, the one he had been direct debiting into was not being checked by Orcon, which instead was monitoring the other account where no money was going into.

Hu said every month he would have to get in contact with its customer service staff to explain the situation. They would then apologise and promise not to do it again.

Only for it to happen again and again.

"More than six times I have sent an email to different departments in the Auckland company from the customer service, the collection team, I tell them the story, that I have a credit and that it's not possible that I owe them money. They say they totally understand and every time they give me a very sincere apology.

"However, last week they blocked my internet connection without any warning."

Then on Sunday, his internet was abruptly axed and he repeatedly tried to get in touch with the company again.

He said he told it he wanted to change internet providers - Vodafone - but was then told he'd have to continue with his contract for another 30 days.

"They say it's company policy but I don't want to stay with them."

Hu said he was frustrated as he used the internet for not only personal but some business use.

An Orcon spokesperson said the company accepted it "made a mistake and apologise unreservedly to Mr Hu".

"Mr Hu's issues were caused due to an issue when we moved him from a legacy billing system to a new one.

"Due to a software error, the migration wasn't completed correctly. Despite multiple contacts from Mr Hu, we failed to correctly identify and resolve the problem.

"This is owing to the unusual and rare nature of the issue."

The company said it would ensure his account balance was refunded and he has no notice period to shift to Vodafone.

"Orcon strives to deliver a positive experience to every customer and in this instance, we have fallen short of our own standards."