Customers urged to attend TLC roadshows

3 September 2018

The Lines Company (TLC) customers are being urged to attend one of seven roadshows being held to explain the company’s new pricing structure.

TLC announced a fundamentally new way of charging late last month which sees bills no longer driven by historical demand peaks.  Instead, the majority of customers will pay a daily fixed and variable price based on different times of the day. Charges will be cheapest between 11 pm – 7 am and most expensive from 7am-9.30am and 5.30pm-8pm.

The company will take a roadshow around the region this month, starting in Te Kuiti on Monday, September 10.  Over the following 10 days, TLC will have staff based in Mangakino, Ōtorohanga, Piopio, Taumarunui, Ohakune, and Tūrangi.  Customers are free to drop in whenever suits.

Chief executive Sean Horgan said TLC recognised the new way of charging would take time for people to understand. While some bills would go down, the company has already guaranteed no customer will pay more than 20 per than what they paid until the old system over a comparable period.

“This discount will be in place for 12 months and is one of the key things we want to talk about at the roadshows.  There are also some other ways to help people adjust and we’re keen that people take advantage of those.”

Horgan said the response to the new pricing structure so far had been “low-key” but acknowledged the issue was complex.

“A lot of people won’t get their first new bill until mid-October or possibly November and that’s when interest will really ramp up.  So before then, we want to make sure we’ve done everything we can to answer people’s questions.