But not this year.

Proprietor Jason Miles said a problem with his phones threatened to send his business to the wall.

For the last three weeks, most customers who have dialed his business number have received a message that “your call could not be connected”.

“Generally, at this time of year the phone would be ringing off the hook,” he said.

“It’s spring, so the mowers are coming out. I might get 40 to 50 calls a day. I’m now down to about one call a day.”

Foot traffic at the store has also dropped away dramatically.

“I reckon we’re running at about 10 per cent of what I’m used to. Where I might usually get 100 people coming through the door per day, I’m down to 10. Maximum.”

Mr Miles said the problem coincided when his premises connecting to the national broadband network (NBN).

“Ever since I’ve had the NBN put on, I’ve had nothing but trouble,” he said.

He fears that prospective new customers are being lost forever, and that existing customers who phone are also assuming that the business has shut down.

“Eight out of 10 people who physically come in are telling me they thought I’d closed down.”

Mr Miles said his efforts to have the problem fixed had been thwarted at every turn.

He suspects the NBN is a factor, but calls to his service provider to seek a solution, had only added to his frustration.

He said his numerous calls to the telecommunications company had resulted in assurances the problem could and would be fixed, but no action.

Instead, he said, he had simply been transferred from one department to another.

“And every time I’d talk to somebody else I’d have to explain in detail the nature of the problem,” he said.

“It’s atrocious. I’ve even asked if the business calls could be diverted to my mobile phone while the problem was being sorted out,” he said.

No luck, there, either.

Dealing with international call centres hadn’t helped, he said.

Mr Miles this week contacted the office of the  Telecommunications Ombudsman whom he said had been “fantastic” in acknowledging the urgency of the situation.

“Still, I’m not all that confident that I can bounce back,” he said.

On Tuesday, Mr Miles said he was in discussions with another service provider.

He was hopeful the phone would be back in business this week. “But I’m not holding my breath,” he said.

A customer alerted the Lakes Mail to Mr Miles’s plight.