The boss of Vodafone has shut down a woman who criticised the telco for calling New Zealand "Aotearoa".
According to a letter written to Vodafone by Catherine Beuning and obtained by the NZ Herald, the woman blasted the telco company telling it to "Remember that English is the language of the World today NOT Maori [sic]".
"I'd like to point out that we live in New Zealand, NOT Aotearoa, and will remain so until there's a referendum to change that name."
Jason Paris, the chief executive of Vodafone, then responded to her letter with three words.
"Haere rā Catherine," the response said, as reported by the NZ Herald. "Haere rā" in te reo translates to "goodbye".
Last year, a Twitter user criticised the telco company after 'Vodafone NZ' changed its name to 'Vodafone Aotearoa'.
"My country is called NEW ZEALAND. Plus, it's not exactly inclusive to start using Māori when only 15 percent of Kiwis are PART-Māori," the user said.
"I don't want it on my phone. Change it now, or else I'll switch providers."
Vodafone responded at the time by saying there were no plans to change the network name, and other telco companies jumped in to support its cause
"Kei te pēhea koe? Hmmm, better not switch to us," telco firm 2degrees said. "We love celebrating Te Reo Māori too! Nice work @vodafoneNZ."
When another Twitter user asked if New Zealand could "get back to normal" after Māori Language Week had finished, telco giant Spark said te reo is already "a normal part of our country".
