Tonight ` I felt really let down and kind of felt cheated. backlash to Kia's competition. What happened next? We're very sorry that we've upset you. Oh my God! Oh my God! Plus... I'm just nervous that I might try to get out of the country one day and I get stopped at Customs. Fair enough ` if you did the crime. Out of nowhere you're being told you're a criminal. It's just outrageous. And a very different type of hotline. The house could've burned down. Woof! So who's going to foot the bill? Vodafone probably doesn't want me reading this email on television. And do you know your consumer rights? Brodie's putting it to the test with questions number two. Welcome to Fair Go. Wow. Huge reaction to last week's story about Shelley and Irene. They went hard out to win a Kia Sorento car in a competition held during the under-20 Football World Cup. They came in first and second and came away with no car. You all cried foul. But that was not the final whistle. No way. We're taking this to extra time. Hannah begins with the highlights so far. Oh, it's a Kia Sorento. It's a seven-seater luxury people mover. Amazing! Here's the car they were in to win. Just the look of it. It's flash. Irene drove 40 K's from Orewa every day for 22 days to put her hand on the car; Shelley was travelling by bus from South Auckland. Not easy. So you started to think you could win this car? Yeah, I felt pretty hopeful. There's only two people left in the race. Like, you know, this is amazing. The final task was to race from Auckland Airport to Mt Eden, then to Britomart, then to North Harbour Stadium in heavy traffic and pouring rain, doing various tasks on the way. Shelley got there first. And then the lady was like, 'Sorry, you didn't win it.' They'd been given an hour to get there. They were just over. The question is ` could it actually have been done? Our runs were completely perfect. We could not have done anything to make it any quicker, and we were both nine minutes late. I felt really let down and kind of felt cheated. And hundreds of you went on both Kia and Fair Go's Facebook pages to vent at Kia. When did you realise something was happening on Facebook? 4 in the morning. Oh, really? Yeah, I checked it at, like, 4 in the morning. I was just going through the comments, and I was like, 'Oh wow. This is actually big.' LAUGHTER So big, in fact, that outside Shelley's house at that very moment the head honcho from Kia was waiting to try and put things right. Bit of a surprise for you here. This is Todd from Kia Motors. How are you? This is Shelley, and this is Irene. Hello. Very nice to meet you. Nice to meet you too. Firstly, I'd like to say we are very very sorry that we've upset you in our competition. I know you came first on the day. It was an outstanding effort. Absolutely unbelievable. And we've come to the conclusion that this is your car. Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! That is your new Kia Sorento. Oh my gosh. I'm sorry. I'm shaking. (LAUGHS GENIALLY) Thank you so much. Shelley, there's your key. Yes, Shelley got the Kia Sorento, the one she thought she'd won on the day. And Irene? We haven't forgotten you, and we don't want you to go away empty-handed either. I'd like you to have a quick look at this car. Unfortunately, we can't have it here for you today. Irene gets the use of this Kia Carnival eight-seater free for a year. (CRIES) Thank you so much. It's going to be amazing. I'm very happy, and I'm happy for Shelley and everybody, so thank you so much. And Shelley's pretty happy for Shelley too. (SCREAMS) That's crazy! I would never ever in my whole life dreamed about driving a car like this. So it's on the blower to tell Mum. Hi, Auntie! Mum, I've got good news. I` I've got the Sorento. Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! I'm, like, freaking out right now. Thank you, Mum, so much for your help, cos I honestly couldn't have done this without you. Oh! I'm` Sorry, I'm still, like, overwhelmed. Oh gosh. You just calm down before you... Love you, Mum. I love you. OK, bye. Bye. Irene, too, was taking it all in. My God! The kids are gonna feel like royalty going to school in this car. What would you like to say about all the support you got? I'd really like to thank all those people that supported us on Facebook and stuff like that. Like, without all those comments and stuff` you know, it really made the difference. Anything else you'd like to say to all the people that were so angry with you guys on Facebook? We really appreciate the feedback that's come through. It's been some good solid criticism, and I think we all learn from criticism. And this is a case where you've listened to your customers. We have listened to our customers. What would you like to say to Shelley and Irene? Excellent result for the two girls. They have deserved it, and today, we fixed that problem. My parents have never had a car like this. I don't think anyone in my family has. You're the first. > Yes, I'm the first. Can we just put the music on? Where's the, um, volume? GROOVY POP MUSIC PLAYS Ready? GIRLS LAUGH EXCITEDLY It's amazing. My dreams are revived. That was cool. (LAUGHS) It is so cool. And how happy were they! I think she said she was 'dream-shattered'. That is awesome, isn't it? Yeah, really nice outcome. And just so you know, Shelley was only driving off-road. She's all properly insured now and, as you can imagine, showing off that car all over the show. And pumping that sound system, and she was smashing it, apparently. But good on Kia for getting the right result ` eventually. Speaking of getting it right, here's Brodie with the next question in our consumer true-false quiz. We're back in Christchurch with question two in our consumer quiz, stopping people in their tracks to test their consumer rights knowledge. We're rolling out a different question each time, and hopefully someone will get them all right, because there's a decent cash prize. All right. Let's go and give someone this. This week's question ` What's the answer? I'm going to go with true. Hmm, some convincing falses there, but it's certainly one that raises a bit of debate. So who's right and who is wrong? Find out later. Not telling you the answer, but I can say they are tax deductible, because I just got my refund. There you go. Mistaken identity. Quite nice if you're taken for a movie star. Not so nice if you're lumped with someone else's criminal convictions. And she says, 'Look, according to this, you've been in a lot of trouble with us. 'You've been drink-driving on the Kapiti Coast and tampering with cars.' And it's pretty common to get a shock from your phone bill, but a shock from the phone line? It didn't set off the alarm. It was sort of an electrical smoke. 1 Welcome back. Ever been mistaken for somebody else? The guy in this story is ` again and again. They don't look the same but same name, same birthday. Sounds funny. It certainly isn't. Here's Brodie. CHAMILLIONAIRE'S "RIDIN' DIRTY" Do you think you're a good driver? I consider myself a good driver, absolutely. I think we should test this, but I thought we could have a wee race. All right. Because racing pretend-racing cars at the local Timezone is the best way to test your driving, right? And why are we testing this young man's driving? I'll tell you soon. In the meantime, meet Liam. He's 19 and is a student at Canterbury University. Doing a BA in human services. That's my major, and I'm doing a minor in sociology. He's studying to be a social worker. Oh, yeah, he works part-time too so he can pay his own way for his studies. And also have a bit of extra money to go out on a Saturday night and just pay for petrol and stuff like that. So at the moment you're thinking 'Oh, yeah, decent chap', eh? Look, he even helps his mum with the dishes. He's lovely. He's always been a great help to me, and for a number of years I was on my own with Liam and a special needs son, who's younger than Liam, and Liam has just been a great help to have. Actually, I'm going one step further than decent chap. I'm going to say he's a top-notch human. So why oh why is he on our show? Well, because he feels like he's been treated like a... # Criminal. # Are you a criminal? No. Do you have any criminal convictions? Absolutely not. But you see, over the past 18 months, he's been getting lumped with someone else's convictions, starting in December 2013 when he went to the AA to book his full licence. The woman at the counter looks at the computer, and she says that I was disqualified from driving and that I needed to get my licence reinstated. And I thought, 'Well, that can't be right, cos I've never been disqualified.' Flabbergasted, he went to the local police station and spoke to a policewoman. And she says, 'Look, according to this, you've been in a lot of trouble with us. 'You've been drink-driving on the Kapiti Coast and tampering with cars.' And there were just so many convictions that I'd never even heard of. How did you feel at that time? > I felt sick. I thought, 'What if I can't prove it wasn't me? Am I gonna get in trouble?' Desperate to get it sorted, he soon discovered why this had happened. They've merged my details with someone else's and put all of his convictions against my name. So it's a guy in the North Island. He has the same first and last names and the same date of birth, different middle name, and that's why the muck-ups are happening. You heard him ` same first name, same last name, same date of birth. Crazy, right? Except our mate Liam has never committed a crime. And I thought it could be easily corrected, but sadly, it's not as simple as that. Turns out, no, it's not, because after he got the driving situ sorted a few months passed, and then he received a letter in the post from Corrections. It told me that I had been sentenced to 60 hours of community work and that I'd have to report to a probation officer within 72 hours of sentencing, and it told me if I don't do that, I'll be taken to court and either given a $1000 fine or sentenced to three months' imprisonment. Frightened again he'd get in trouble, he went to Corrections, who realised they'd got the wrong Liam and corrected it in their system. Phew. So this year he's all, like, settling back into his study, getting a job to make ends meet, and then in May, his boss calls him into his office. He says, 'Look, I've just done your criminal history check, and all of this has come up. 'It says you've been drink-driving; you failed to stop when followed by a police officer.' That all occurred last year when I was living and working in Christchurch. Luckily, his boss believed that there was another Liam in the country with the same birthdate and surname. We haven't told you Liam's last name or actual birthday, because it could compromise the legal position of the other guy. Now, Liam's been back and forth to court and to various agencies to try and get this sorted once and for all, and he's having no luck. I just feel like if I can't get to the bottom of it, it's just gonna continue for the rest of my life, and I'm just nervous that I might try to get out of the country one day and I get stopped at Customs. He's also worried about getting a job after he graduates. I'd like to get some sort of social work role, because that's what human services is. And I don't imagine you could have a track record like the one our mate up north has? Absolutely not. Like, there's no way you can get a social work role with a track record like that ` drink-driving, breaking into cars. You need a clean driving history for all those types of jobs. His mum is worried for her son and gutted it keeps happening. I'd like Liam to receive an apology, and I'd like it sorted and know that it's not going to come back. And you know what? We'd like to see that too, because Liam doesn't deserve this. It's just really annoying. Like, when you spend your whole life trying to be a reasonable, decent, honourable citizen to society, and then out of nowhere you're being told that you're a criminal. It's just outrageous. Actually, it is outrageous, and we want to know who's responsible, why it keeps happening and how we can make it to stop for good. Turns out, the heart of the issue lies with police, so we went to the capital to get to the bottom of it. We are talking about two individuals that have got the same names, ostensibly, with the same date of birth. Simple human error has meant that they were linked and, of course, that led to the situation where somebody with a criminal history's been linked to somebody that hasn't, and ostensibly, we've actually believed that they're one person when they're not. Police have corrected their mistake. Liam no longer has any convictions against his name. We've cleared that up, and we've even gone to the extent of actually putting a notation against both his identity and the identity of the other individual just to try and make sure this doesn't happen again for Liam. Mal says they now have better processes in place in a bid to make sure this doesn't happen again, but in case it does... Can he have your DDI, then? Absolutely, which I'm not gonna give out on camera. < No, don't give it out on camera, but will you give to me to give to Liam? Absolutely. < Perfect. So he can give you a call. You betcha. There'll be a personal apology for Liam, but for all you out there who won't be there at the time ` I'd like to apologise and say, look, I'm really sorry, Liam. This shouldn't have happened for you, and you shouldn't have had to go to the extent that you have for offences that you haven't done. I've told Liam the good news. He is absolutely stoked, finally able get on with being the top-notch human he is without anyone else's convictions. Oh, yeah, and was he a good driver after all that? Yeah, but not as good as me. Ohh! Sorry, pal. Now, Pippa, I know you're thinking it, but, no, I couldn't and wouldn't grow my beard like that guy. I thought you might have had a bit of beard envy, actually. Now, it wasn't just police involved in the mix-ups Liam had to deal with. There was the Transport Agency, the Ministry of Justice, and the Corrections Department. They've all told us they are sorry Liam's had to go through this, and top brass from all three outfits will be writing to him personally this week to apologise. Nice one. So if something like this is happening to you, go to your local police station with your birth certificate and photo ID, like your driver's licence. Ask them to put a note against both names on the police system. Phone charges. This one was so intense it actually exploded. What are we talking about? And why is it no one's responsibility. Fairly scary to have fire in your house. Vodafone. Chorus. No one seemed to be accepting liability. CRACKLING 1 Welcome back. Think you know the answer to our true-false consumer quiz question? Here it comes. So, we're back in the Garden City on the hunt for savvy consumers. Remember, this week's question is ` I've gone on her recommendation on this one. Lucky the people of Christchurch are a helpful bunch, because that's correct ` you are not obliged to pay a school donation. And while some schools might make you feel like you have to, don't feel pressured, because you don't have to. Righty-oh. Next week ` how well do you know your car insurance? Oh, there's some talented people down in Christchurch; some of them are well on their way to winning our $10 grand prize. I think next time we should set sort of a task and a time limit for` No, no, Gordon, let's not go there. Now, look, talk about nasty surprises down the phone line. This one was so nasty it actually caught fire. It's a weird one, this. It's about a mystery power surge and an email Vodafone must surely wish was never sent. Vodafone probably doesn't want me reading this email. They certainly wouldn't want me reading it on national television. READS: 'Don't make this your first offer. Offer one to two months' free line rental first. 'If they accept, that will save us some money.' It's a list of options that Vodafone provides its call centre staff to help them resolve customer complaints. More on that shortly, though. First, you need to meet the people who received it by accident. That's Dave over there in his office. Gidday, Dave. Gidday, Garth! And Anne here in the kitchen. Hi. Picture Dave sitting at the computer, Anne making dinner, when their noses are assaulted. Smelt this electrical smell. I said it was in the hall as well. So I then opened the cupboard under the stairs. Lo and behold, woof! All this smoke came out. But it didn't set off the alarm. It was sort of an electrical smoke. They call 111 on a mobile, and help is there in minutes. They came in ` two big burly firemen and a fire lady, both with tanks on their backs. Those firefighters disconnect devices check the house and find no fire has taken hold. That still leaves Anne rattled ` could it have been much worse? I mean, the fact that we'd come back from a trip overseas the night before... That could have happened while we were away, and the house could have burnt down. You sort of double-take on it and think, 'My God. How's this occurred? Dave contacts the alarm company. They looked at the security panel, and they said, 'You've had a surge of power.' But get this ` not the power line; the phone line, the one that goes into that brown box up there. Who knew that a phone line could carry that much kick? Well, this one did, and it did nearly $1000 worth of damage and fried this alarm. Well, that's what the alarm company told them. Their advice? Call Vodafone. That's who Dave and Anne rent the phone line from. But Vodafone says take it up with Chorus, which manages the line. Chorus sends out a tech a few days after the fire. There was no short-circuiting of the phone wiring within the house. Chorus says it has since investigated thoroughly and that since no one else was affected, the fault might be with the alarm panel or the power network but maintains its phone network could not have caused the surge. OK, but look ` two scorch marks inside the cover. Dave says this happened once before 10 years ago. He and Anne really want some answers. Fairly scary to have fire in your house. Vodafone, Chorus. No one seemed to be accepting liability. So we asked some independent experts to see if they could shed some light. Ramesh and Tim are bright sparks from Victoria University just down the road. Ramesh lectures in power systems engineering, and Tim is the tech, so that's 'how' and 'why' covered. They are intrigued by this mystery. Was it a lightning strike? No. (LAUGHS) It doesn't look like it's a lightning strike. Cyber warfare? (LAUGHS) Oh, yes (!) Right. What about the speculation by Chorus? Any chance the problem actually originated in the alarm panel? Very little, if not nothing. Yeah, it is technically impossible. OK, so it was nothing that Anne and Dave could have done? No, technically not. Ramesh and Tim still aren't sure what caused the surge, but they're convinced it came from outside the premises. Remember, all of the damage was to phone connections. Dave pays Vodafone for goods and services. If those goods, namely the phone line, prove to be faulty, he thinks he's covered by the Consumer Guarantees Act, meaning Vodafone can't just fob him off to Chorus, to his insurer, or anyone else. Vodafone replied with this from its terms and conditions. Deep breath. READS: 'Vodafone will not be liable for any delay or failure of the services 'or for any loss or damage from such delay or failure to the extent that it was caused in whole or in part 'by any act of god, war, terrorism, civil disobedience, riots, strike, industrial stoppage or unrest, 'fire, volcanic eruption, earthquake, shortage of suitable labour materials equipment 'or energy or any other event beyond our control.' Which basically exempts them from everything that ever happens in the world. But he knows this issue is deadlocked, because Vodafone has sent another little surprise down the phone line. This time from the Philippines call centre, where one of the worker accidentally emailed them with the secret negotiating instructions for their case. It would be a shame if we didn't share it with you right now. Because Dave and Anne had been such loyal customers, the advice was ` 'Look at meeting them halfway, but don't make that your first offer. 'Try one to two months' line rental first. If they accept, that will save us some money. 'If they don't, at least you'll have some room to bargain with them 'without costing the business too much. If they threaten to leave Vodafone, 'we could look at covering repair costs up to 50% with receipts.' I was surprised. I knew it was a mistake. I thought they shouldn't have sent this through to us. We weren't supposed to see this. Vodafone admits some of the communication with Dave and Anne was 'unsatisfactory' and that this is not the way it prefers to handle disputes of this nature with its customers. It's holding on to that policy of no compensation where it sees events are beyond its control. However, it made a gesture of goodwill, which Dave and Anne chose not to accept. If it was somebody else's fault, why should the insurance companies be paying up for these things, when these huge telcos just flick it off and say, 'No, not our fault. Claim your insurance, and we'll give you a month's free rental.' And they still want to know what caused the surge and whether it might happen again. And Dave reckons he has called Vodafone 16 times trying to sort this out. I feel your pain, Dave, believe me. Vodafone says he should have been paired with someone from its dedicated complaints team. If you have a complex case, Vodafone says you should expect the same service, and they suggest you send in your complaint in writing. There's details on our website and Facebook page. And if you telco dispute's really stuck, you should just take it up with the TDR ` the Telecommunication Dispute Resolution Service. Details are on screen now and in the info section of our website. That is almost the show, but before we go, time to start sending us your picks for the best and worst ads of 2015. Here's a quick recap of last year's best and worst ad voted by you. # Sexy, and I know it. ELECTRONICA MUSIC # Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, yeah! # NZers have trusted Cigna to protect their loved ones for over 90 years. And as funeral insurance specialists... Look, honestly, I reckon I like those Cigna ads. I think` They always get a tough time every year, but they do a nice job. I think it's the topic, maybe not the company. It is a tough product to advertise. So get thinking ` what ad makes you laugh or scream at the TV. We have a special email address for this ` As always we'll announce the winners ` and losers ` on our final show of the year in November. So, that is the show, but we will be on Facebook for the next half-hour to answer your questions. Our programme is all about your problems, your thoughts, so please do contact us. Yes. We're on Facebook. Email us ` Write to us ` And next week ` We're all about fairness, and you guys don't like paying more than it's fair. But there's a lot of charges and fees out there these days. And it feels like we're being pinged for these fees all over the place. Fees, fees, fees! We think a lot of them are dumb, and we want to find the dumbest. That's next week. Goodnight.