One NZ to retire HFC (cable) network

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#3468545 10-Mar-2026 17:50

Got my letter two weeks ago. Booked the change one week ago. New Deco arrived yesterday. First visit (plan) is booked for next week. Second visit (installation) is booked for a month's time, so we're still a month from actually getting fibre.

Got a letter today telling us our fibre price is going up $5. Not impressed.

SteveC

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#3468552 10-Mar-2026 18:15

Eva888: ....
For others who have not had any communication from One NZ after the initial contact I suggest you call them again and check your status. I spent an hour a few weeks ago helping out an elderly person to get their fibre organised. Was assured that an email would be sent and everything was now in the pipeline. Yesterday the elderly man called to say that he had not heard anything since that last time. I asked him to check his Spam folder, nothing.

I went to his house and called One NZ, was told they could see nothing in their records for a fibre install and told that in 5 minutes someone would call us back. An hour later no one had bothered so I called again and repeated the story, got verified 3 times each time I spoke to the next person and finally was told there was no order made for fibre at that address. Two hours of mucking around in circles. Let’s see if this time the order goes through.

Our 'elderly person' appears to be coping fine (still ongoing)!
It did take a couple of hours and will be more. Some people must struggle without experienced support person. The key things about the call to One NZ were:

They nominated my partner and I to speak on their behalf.
We went through the whole process at their speed (seemed like several times, but that is how it works).
We managed expectations of Chorus contractors (no longer the lovely Downers dudes they are used to). I said they come in three varieties:
- Chorus Charmer - who does everything perfectly.
- Chorus Contractor - who does the basics well (most common).
- Chorus Cowboy - only priority is to get to the next job as fast as possible.

They phoned One NZ and got a CSR who was clear, precise and patient. My partner and I added a few little details (speakerphone) but that went well. Took just over 30 minutes - about eight minutes to place the order which seemed a lot.
We left with the customer expecting an email from Chorus to arrange a time and a courier package from One NZ with the X53 (keeping home phone).
Next day we hear that someone representing Chorus (probably the subbie) phoned to ask if they could come this afternoon. This could have been very unsettling, but they knew what to expect, it was only the timing that changed, and as the X53 had not arrived the HFC would need to be left on for now, so they agreed.
Conversation with my 'Personal Customer Manager' (quote the GM himself, several times) found at jason.paris.one.nz resulted in surprise - 'two step installation' is standard!
Last time a Downers Dude changed their modem, he changed the WiFi on their devices for them. Apparently this is not something Chorus contractors do, so some more discussion with the family member tonight ...

Steve Cosgrove
Thirty years teaching Data Networking & Communication
Mostly at Whitireia Polytechnic, Porirua About ten years before that in general PC support.

Available for contract networking (or other tech stuff) after 30 April 2026.

SteveC

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#3468558 10-Mar-2026 19:16

Aucklandjafa:
Wonder how long it’ll take for them to start decommissioning the network……

In an ideal world Chorus would join with One NZ and ask Downers to take all their copper off the streets in one hit! My Chorus contact said their network was officially decommissioned in our street a few weeks ago. (I was impressed that One NZ sent a Downers Dude around to remove the lead from the street into my and our neighbours homes - thought I'd try to get Chorus to remove an ugly 50-pair (I suspect) cable between our houses! No luck so far.)

Steve Cosgrove
Thirty years teaching Data Networking & Communication
Mostly at Whitireia Polytechnic, Porirua About ten years before that in general PC support.

Available for contract networking (or other tech stuff) after 30 April 2026.

Eva888

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#3468670 11-Mar-2026 10:09

@SteveC I got one CSR that was local and easy to understand but as soon as I was connected to the next person it was verifications again and sounded like a noisy call center in the background while trying to interpret what was being said by the agent who had a thick unintelligible accent and garble speak.

Why aren’t overseas agents required to pass a speech clarity test. Some are fantastic but others speak fast and swallow half of the vowels, we had a few of those.

I am a verified person on one of the accounts I assist but that still doesn’t help as often told they can’t see my name on the account and they want to speak to the account owner first - as if that would make a difference when it could be Joe Hacker 2 verifying me.

Changing the Wifi on their devices was easy, you just need to hold the devices close to the bottom of the X53 and scan and connect with the barcode there. Did all of them in minutes. Steady hands required and the oldie couldn’t manage to focus it and do it himself using the iPad.

SteveC

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#3468685 11-Mar-2026 10:42

Eva888:
@SteveC I got one CSR that was local and easy to understand but as soon as I was connected to the next person it was verifications again and sounded like a noisy call center in the background while trying to interpret what was being said by the agent who had a thick unintelligible accent and garble speak.

Why aren’t overseas agents required to pass a speech clarity test. Some are fantastic but others speak fast and swallow half of the vowels, we had a few of those.

I am a verified person on one of the accounts I assist but that still doesn’t help as often told they can’t see my name on the account and they want to speak to the account owner first - as if that would make a difference when it could be Joe Hacker 2 verifying me.

Changing the Wifi on their devices was easy, you just need to hold the devices close to the bottom of the X53 and scan and connect with the barcode there. Did all of them in minutes. Steady hands required and the oldie couldn’t manage to focus it and do it himself using the iPad.

There is a huge issue here. It is so hard to analyse the situation without feeding red-neck racists. As you say, it is not a country of origin issue, the problems stem from poor quality acoustic environment in the CSR's offices and individuals whose accent means their voice gets lost.
IMHO the current Government has a lot to answer for in their support of the 'Wealthy and Sorted' as Luxon described himself.
Jason Paris has tried all sorts of things to improve the customer experience since he took over running Vodafone NZ, but problems persist. One aspect I find interesting is that despite his repeated encouragement, people I speak to tend to keep on complaining about Call Centres but won't email jason.paris@one.nz to get his office to find someone to sort things. Works a treat for me!
Today I had to get on to One NZ for our elderly whāuna member. At least the CSR know I was nominated, but still insisted on having the customer's personal identification. I had to ring them to get their PIN number - doesn't seem ethical, but worked!

dafman

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#3468714 11-Mar-2026 11:30

Eva888:

Why aren’t overseas agents required to pass a speech clarity test. Some are fantastic but others speak fast and swallow half of the vowels, we had a few of those.

This isn't 1950's NZ anymore, we live in a global community.

I spoke with several overseas agents during my move to fibre. They were great to deal with.

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SteveC

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#3468722 11-Mar-2026 11:48

dafman: This isn't 1950's NZ anymore, we live in a global community.

I spoke with several overseas agents during my move to fibre. They were great to deal with.
I wonder if the problem here is not entirely with the agents?

I am confident that most of us who engage on Geekzone will engage in facts, not the horrible vectoral we see on other social media.
@Eva888 made the point that a noisy call enter added to communication issues and I suggested that poor quality VoIP might be another issue. Accents do come into it, but there are compounding factors.

Steve Cosgrove
Thirty years teaching Data Networking & Communication
Mostly at Whitireia Polytechnic, Porirua About ten years before that in general PC support.

Available for contract networking (or other tech stuff) after 30 April 2026.

Bung

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#3468723 11-Mar-2026 11:49

Isn't it down to the $s a company is prepared to pay? Maybe the top tier english speaking agents are working for other clients.

Rickles

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#3468724 11-Mar-2026 11:51

I wonder how many HFC customers 'gave up' and went to another ISP?

dafman

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#3468842 11-Mar-2026 13:51

SteveC:
dafman: This isn't 1950's NZ anymore, we live in a global community.

I spoke with several overseas agents during my move to fibre. They were great to deal with.

I wonder if the problem here is not entirely with the agents?
I am confident that most of us who engage on Geekzone will engage in facts, not the horrible vectoral we see on other social media.
@Eva888 made the point that a noisy call enter added to communication issues and I suggested that poor quality VoIP might be another issue. Accents do come into it, but there are compounding factors.

Fair point. I did remove the last sentence from my reply a few moments after posting it, but see you replied in the few minutes it was there.

The triggering comment prompting my reply was "Why aren’t overseas agents required to pass a speech clarity test.", although I accept it possible that @Eva888 intention when writing it may have been different to how I perceived it.

dafman

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#3468908 11-Mar-2026 14:09

Rickles:

I wonder how many HFC customers 'gave up' and went to another ISP?

Not me. Customer service from One was exemplary:

I received early and regular comms from One on the need and timing for moving off HFC
The financial incentives to move and stay with One were great - $30 pm discount and $200 credit.
New router and mesh units arrived in a couple of days after ordering.
Call centre staff and comms were very helpful, both pre the move to ensure my ONT was operational before switchover, and on the day of the move to confirm changeover had worked ok.

YMMV, but, simply, I can't fault them on this occasion.

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ajw

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#3468998 11-Mar-2026 16:03

Rickles:

I wonder how many HFC customers 'gave up' and went to another ISP?

I did.

Eva888

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#3469053 11-Mar-2026 18:22

@dafman Nothing to do with ideas being in 1950s, that came across as a bit ageist…but I’m sure it wasn’t meant that way.

Regardless of whether it’s an Asian, Spanish or Indian speaker. I find most accents charming and can easily attune to them since having lived in a number of countries including Asia.

However in a business environment where costs and important instructions are being shared, they need to be understood by the majority. There are many fantastic reps from the Philippines that are incredibly lucid and professional and others that are equally professional, but simply can’t speak well.

Am also very aware that they work for a pittance and try hard, so am patient and respectful towards them. Frustration easily happens after nearly two hours of back and forth.

dafman

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#3469056 11-Mar-2026 18:34

Eva888:

@dafman Nothing to do with ideas being in 1950s, that came across as a bit ageist…but I’m sure it wasn’t meant that way.

Regardless of whether it’s an Asian, Spanish or Indian speaker. I find most accents charming and can easily attune to them since having lived in a number of countries including Asia.

However in a business environment where costs and important instructions are being shared, they need to be understood by the majority. There are many fantastic reps from the Philippines that are incredibly lucid and professional and others that are equally professional, but simply can’t speak well.

Am also very aware that they work for a pittance and try hard, so am patient and respectful towards them. Frustration easily happens after nearly two hours of back and forth

It seems I misinterpreted the intent behind your post. My apologies.

Distorter

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#3469062 11-Mar-2026 18:49

ajw:

Rickles:

I wonder how many HFC customers 'gave up' and went to another ISP?

I did.

They offered a good deal. Did you manage to get better somewhere else?

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