Kerre Woodham: Telecom attracts plenty of wrath

What is it about Telecom that incites so much mistrust, resentment and ill-will? I've noticed it on talkback - people are quick to chip in with bad stories about Telecom and its many and varied services - but even techies and smart geeks have chimed in, too. At the NetGuide Web Awards, there was low-level hissing and booing every time Telecom's Internet arm, Xtra, was nominated for an award. You could understand a little light booing, given Xtra customers were off-line for a night or two last week but the reaction from punters seems extreme.

There were all sorts of conspiracy theories, too complicated to explain in detail. The gist seemed to be that Telecom had crippled the system deliberately to show the Government and public what unbundling would do to its system - or something like that. I'm amazed there wasn't a Telecom serviceman lurking in Catholic vestments somewhere in The Da Vinci Code, such is the fear and loathing for the company and the general awe at its malevolent, mystical powers.

As for demands for reimbursement - it amounts to about $3. I know that if you watch the pennies, you'll scrimp your way to wealth, but it's not even the price of a Ponsonby coffee, for God's sake.

I promise you, I'm not in the pay of Telecom and I really like Annette Presley, whose company is in competition with Telecom (she's a very sound woman and a generous contributor to all sorts of good causes, so I wish her well in her business). And I didn't get the hoo-ha over Diana's death either, so what would I know about popular opinion? But really and truly...

As a Telecom customer, I have no complaints. When we moved house, the phone was on the first night we were there. I'm old enough to remember when it took six weeks for one to be installed. I've been babysat by patient Xtra support staff as I tried to make my computer do what it should. I've been rung and told I should be on another phone plan because I was paying too much for toll calls. When I pick up the phone, there's a dial tone. When I log on, I get connected.

Admittedly I don't ask a lot of my computer. It's mainly a flash word processor and a mail box. I don't game on line and I don't download movies and music. So my needs are simple. Maybe if I was more highly evolved and closer to the top of the technological food chain, I would be frothing at the mouth with resentment and fury, too. But I'm pretty much a Luddite, so it does me.

However much chief executive Theresa Gattung is paid, it didn't seem enough last week.

She and George Bush should get together over a beer and compare war stories. Both of them have won their battles but they don't seem able to win the hearts and minds of the people. And that's ultimately what victory requires.