A Wanganui constituent and Telecom cellphone customer has been texted by Telecom's call centre and told "Fxxk you customer" after complaining that her text messages to family members were taking hours to reach them.

The message used the Anglo-Saxon obscenity rather than the edited version above.

Mayor Michael Laws said that he was becoming increasingly concerned with the level of customer service being provided to Wanganui residents in the wake of further XT network outages affecting cellphones.

"The level of communications and response to customer complaints has been abysmal. The move of the call centres to Manila and other such places has been a source of frustration and irritation for many consumers, myself included."

On his Radio Live talkback show, Mr Laws received a call from Vanessa explaining the above situation. She was a resident of Wanganui and has formally sought his assistance, as mayor, in getting action and an apology from Telecom.

"Vanessa did complain after receiving the offensive text and tracing it to the Telecom call centre. But that complaint has remained dormant. I'm receiving similar treatment after Telecom voided my e-mail account with neither cause nor explanation. New Zealand is now full of such stories and the resultant indifference."