Shiny Lai spent two years building up the courage to apply for her learner driver’s licence. She asked her Kiwi husband to care for their three children and went to AA Westgate to submit her application. “I filled out the form and waited patiently,” Lai recalled. When a customer service representative, who seemed to be Chinese, became available, Lai expected to do an eyesight test and take a photo. Instead, the representative called someone and told her that because she listed Taiwan as her birthplace, she could not process her application.
As a proud Taiwanese, Lai tried to explain that Taiwan is a country. The issue of Taiwan is sensitive; China considers Taiwan a part of it, while Taiwan sees itself as independent. Lai then spoke to another representative, who suggested changing her birthplace to Thailand. Feeling “frustrated and angry,” she left and went to VTNZ, where she passed her test in just half an hour.
In a complaint to AA, Lai wrote that the first staff member had strong political opinions. “It’s scary to think how many Asian or Taiwanese people she has interacted with. This is New Zealand, not China,” she said.
In response, AA admitted mistakes were made. Julian Travaglia, the Head of Centre Network at AA, said, “We apologize to Ms Lai for her experience, which fell short of our high service expectations.” He explained that the employee was confused by the wording of Lai’s passport, which included ‘Republic of China’ and ‘Taiwan,’ and sought clarification from NZTA to avoid mistakes. He confirmed that there are no restrictions on using Taiwan as a birthplace for licensing.
Travaglia stated that AA would provide further training for their staff to avoid future confusion. Lai appreciated the apology and commitment to improve but remained upset about the incident. “My youngest started to cry as he’s never seen mum and dad this stressed,” she said.
