Farmside Customer Care Policy

Our commitment to you

We will treat you with respect and fairly.
We will engage with you (or your support person when authorised) constructively.
We will provide service information that is accurate and up-to-date. Information provided includes prices, additional fees, limitations to a service, and factors that may affect performance of a service.
We will provide services to the service standard that is advertised.
We will provide accurate invoices and if we make a mistake, we will use all reasonable efforts to correct it as soon as possible.
We will use your information in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020 and the Telecommunications Information Privacy Code 2020 (TIPC).
We make terms and conditions available on our website, which include:

o Relevant rights and obligations for you and Farmside.

o Situations for any loss that is caused by something we don’t reasonably control – and how we will respond in such circumstances.

o Conditions under which your service can be suspended or disconnected.

We may make changes to our terms and conditions, price of service and service specifications or discontinue a service at any time. Where the change will disadvantage you, and it is in our control, we will provide you with a minimum of 30 days’ notice. If the change is outside of our control, we will communicate with you as soon as we can. We will act in good faith when deciding if a change will disadvantage you.

Credit management

When you apply for products or services with Farmside, we may use a credit reference agency who will provide us with a copy of your credit file and help us to verify your identity.
In some cases, we may require further information to assess your application, and this may be reviewed by our credit review team. We will only ask for more information if we must, in order to help us make a decision.
When required, we will inform you of the credit processes and required checks before a product or service can be purchased.
To assist with our credit management, we may monitor your ongoing credit status using a credit reference agency.
We will provide appropriate support if you are having payment difficulties or are in arrears.
We will issue a disclosure statement detailing important information before starting debt collection process.
In cases where we have concerns around your ability to meet your ongoing financial commitments, we may temporarily suspend or permanently disconnect your service.

Contacting Us

We appreciate the opportunity to assist with any questions or problems you have with your Farmside services through our helpful support teams. We have several contact options available.

Call us: 0800 32 76 74 (Follow the prompts for contacting our Sales or Support Teams)

Online – You can provide us feedback on the Farmside website (www.farmside.co.nz/contact-us)

Email – You are able to email our Customer Service team at customerservices@farmsideltd.co.nz or our Sales team at sales@farmsideltd.co.nz

We also recognise our customers’ rights to raise complaints and will treat you fairly and engage in good faith when handling complaints.

Get in touch

We appreciate the opportunity to resolve any problems you have with your Farmside services before you log a complaint.

We have several contact options available:

You can send us a message or call us to speak with one of our friendly team. We are also available to assist you across Facebook via private/direct message.

How to make a complaint

Please let us know about your complaint using one of the following options:

Call us: 0800 32 76 74

You can send us a message via the Farmside Facebook page, or call us to register your complaint at 0800 32 76 74, or via the Contact Us or Support pages on the Farmside Website: www.farmside.co.nz/contact-us

You can also send us a letter of complaint to the postal address below. Please remember to include your account number, full name and a contact number or email address so we can contact you about your complaint.

Attn: Customer Service Manager – Farmside

PO Box 423

Timaru 7910

Online:

You can also submit your complaint online by completing our online form on the website https://farmside.co.nz/contact-us/negative-feedback-2/

We will acknowledge the complaint when it is made, and within 2 working days of receiving it where a complaint is made via our online form. We will endeavour to resolve your issue in the first instance, however, if for any reason, we need to complete an investigation, we will notify you with updates as part of this process.
We will keep you informed of progress and reasons for any delays in handling the complaint if this occurs. We will aim to resolve the complaint within 20 working days, except where the issue relates to broadband performance or where a complaint involves a third party (e.g. one of the fibre companies, like Chorus) – more time may be needed in those cases.
Should a delay occur for any reason, we will keep you in the loop the whole way through and provide an indicative revised timeframe within 10 working days of becoming aware of the reason for the delay.
We will advise you of the outcome of the complaint. You can request for this to be provided in writing.
We will hold any collections activity against a disputed charge/amount while your complaint is being investigated, including collections notices and debt referral to a third party. If you pay for your service in advance, we will not credit or refund you while the complaint is being investigated, but we will credit any charges that we owe to you after the complaint is resolved, within 10 working days or as agreed with you.
We will not charge you for making a complaint. Where we need to retrieve archived information, and we can demonstrate that there will be a significant cost to do so, we may charge a reasonable fee to collect this information. If the outcome of the complaint is upheld in your favour, we will refund this fee to you.
We will keep information relating to your complaint confidential and in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020 and the Telecommunications Information Privacy Code 2020 (TIPC). We will only use the information provided as part of the complaint for the purpose of complaint resolution.

Your obligations:

You will provide Farmside with the details of your complaint, your account number and contact details so we are able to investigate your concern in a timely manner.
If we require further information, you will provide this to us as soon as practicable.
You will treat our staff with courtesy and respect.
You will be fair and reasonable in your request for resolution.
You will protect the privacy of our employees by not sharing their names or contact details in a public forum or to other customers.

We may opt not to investigate a complaint if:

Farmside is not the provider of services you are complaining about.
We have received insufficient information from you to investigate your complaint, and we have attempted, but been unsuccessful in contacting you to obtain more information.
We have been unable to verify your identity or authority to act on the Farmside account.
You have acted in bad faith, been abusive to our staff or if we deem your complaint to be frivolous or vexatious. If this happens, we will inform you of the reasons for our decision not to investigate your complaint and provide you with options for further recourse.

What if you are unhappy with the outcome?

If you are not happy with the outcome of your complaint, you can reach out to the Telecommunications Dispute Resolution Scheme (TDR).

Please note that before contacting the TDR, all complaints must be registered with Farmside first.

About the TDR

The TDR is a free and independent service available to all customers who are dissatisfied with how their complaint has been dealt with. The TDR covers all major telecommunications companies in New Zealand and is available to all Kiwis at no cost. The TDR will try resolve your complaint with Farmside and work with you to reach a mutually acceptable settlement.

For more information about the TDR, visit their website www.tdr.org.nz For more information on this, please visit the TCF website.