Ministry of Justice phone lines were overloaded today after
thousands of people were mistakenly told to contact the
ministry "ASAP".
The ministry sent a text message to 29,300 people in its
collections database telling them they had an outstanding
fine and to call its 0800 4 FINES number as soon as possible.
The text message advised recipients calls to the number from
mobile phones would be charged to the ministry.
One Auckland woman who mistakenly received the text said it
was an unpleasant way to begin her first day back at work.
"I hadn't received any tickets or fines for ages, so I was
really worried that something had been left unpaid and that I
had been racking up late payment fees for several years.
"The ministry website didn't help at all - it takes up to
five days to find out if I owed any fines - so all I could do
was wait on hold to the call centre for 20-odd minutes."
When she finally got through she was told she should not have
received the text message.
Nigel Fyfe, deputy secretary legal and operational services
at the Ministry of Justice, said the text message was a
result of human error.
"Some people who have already paid their finds incorrectly
received the text message.
"We have since sent a follow-up text to all recipients
telling those that have already paid their fines to disregard
the earlier text, and apologising for the mistake."
The ministry could not say how many people were incorrectly
contacted, or how much their subsequent phone calls cost it
in charges.
"We looked at how this mistake was able to happen and have
made changes to prevent it happening again," Mr Fyfe said.
"We again apologise to people who received the message in
error, but urge those with outstanding fines to make contact
with us in the coming days."
- Nicholas Jones of the NZ Herald
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