Tonight ` Why are there tens of thousands of dollars gone? Speak to me, Mr Travers. Why have you taken that money? The well-paid handyman and the customers left behind. I think they are absolute lowlifes, scumbags, awful people. Is it the same Mr Travers who featured in Fair Go's most famous moment 22 years ago? Go away or I'll... And even his workers aren't happy. Get the <BLEEP> out of my house! Get the <BLEEP> out of my house! You <BLEEP> get out. And the student and the unfair bus fare. So when did you turn 18? In March. In March? Yeah. So you've been paying double fare, effectively? Copyright Able 2015 Welcome to Fair Go. Tonight, a warning ` be extremely careful if you're dealing with the man in this story, and if you have elderly relatives, in South Auckland especially, check if they have anything to do with him. His name is Edward Travers. He's very well known to Fair Go. We think what he has done is disgusting. Go, go, go, go, go. I'm trying to speak to Edward Travers, an astonishingly well-paid handyman. Mr Travers, I'd like to speak to you about... Mr Travers, I'd like to speak to you about the money you've taken from... Why are there tens of thousands of dollars gone from...? Speak to me, Mr Travers, why have you taken her money? Fair Go has history with Mr Travers, as you'll see. Edward Travers and his two mates have taken tens of thousands ` we know at least 80,000, might be more ` from a 97-year-old with Alzheimer's, and as far as we can see, they have done very very little for that money. This is that 97-year-old ` 97 in December, actually. We're not naming her at her family's request. As you might get a sense, she is fiercely independent, and insists on staying in her own house. She's upright; she's bright; she's alert; she's chatty; she's knowledgeable. What about her memory? Her memory is not good, and this is getting her into trouble with these people coming around. 'These people' means Edward Travers and his workers. I think they are absolute lowlifes, scumbags, awful people. I'm just` I didn't think people like that existed. Travers is doing odd jobs ` very odd jobs ` like painting the driveway, and for bizarre money. Now, it's not entirely clear from the invoices, but it looks like she paid $6500 to have this painted plus a bit of other work, then it was done again ` another 6500. 13,000 to have a driveway painted ` $13,000! It didn't need doing! It's a drive! She doesn't own a car, even. Viv is her neighbour, friend and helper. Oh, Words` Words don't describe it as far as I'm concerned. The family didn't know money was pouring out till early this year. He's taken basically most of Aunt's savings, if not all of her savings. And you've tried to stop him doing this, haven't you? We've tried to stop him doing it, but it has made no difference. He continues to come here and do work. Eventually, they contacted Fair Go. and for us the name Edward Travers rang out like Big Ben. Here he is 1993, painting a house with his partner, Pepe. We got a tipoff after a story about his high bills and shoddy work for elderly women. When we confronted him, this happened. Well, it's none of your <BLEEP> business, is it? It's the most famous Fair Go footage ever. Go away, or I'll ram that` Look... I'll tell you what. Go away or I'll... (GRUNTS) Yeah, I've asked you to leave the property. I'm leaving! OK. You leave as well! (GRUNTS) Look. I'll <BLEEP> cream you with that. Go away. Go away. Go away. Go away. Go. Go away! Go on! <BLEEP> off. I'm leaving. Don't hurt him. Don't. Go away, hey, you with the camera! Hey, you! I'll take your <BLEEP> head off. Go on. Do it. Do it. Go on. Go on. <BLEEP> off. < <BLEEP> off. This was the last we saw of Edward Travers, but it's clear he's back. So these guys are still going, aren't they? Still going there. Still going. The family got copies of cheques from the ANZ, 22 of them, from Christmas 2013 to August this year. Most, but not all, cashed by Travers. They total $79,000, and that's only what they know about. She really was somewhat confused... Long-time friend and colleague Denis Drumm visited when alerted by the family. ...and felt she was paying for work correctly done. He contacted the ANZ. It says staff did the required security checks, and there was little to suggest anything unusual. Controls are now on the account. Denis is supervising it, and he's moved money out. He also went to Police. I managed to convince them that there was a lot more to this in terms of the age of the person, her mental capacity, and virtually no work being done for the payment. Hi. Is Edward here? Travers is a hard bloke to contact. We called and got no answer, so went to his address. Hi. Is Edward Travers here by any chance? Pepe. Hi, Pepe. Gordon Harcourt from TVNZ, Fair Go. Pardon? Gordon Harcourt from TVNZ Fair Go. Hoping to speak to Edward about all the money he's been getting from... Who's that? Over in... Edward living here? No. Edward Travers? Who's Pepe you're talking about? You're Pepe. No. Can you, like, put your video off? You certainly look like Pepe. No. I'd like to speak to Edward about all the money he's been getting from.... Travers does live here, and we are in very little doubt that is Pepe. We've been asked to leave; we will do so. We'll wait for Edward to turn up. That looks a great deal to me like Pepe Travers, who starred in that 1993 clip. As far as we know, she is not involved in the work we're reporting on, but Eddie has been busy. I think he's a scumbag ` always has been and always will be. This is Mabel Smith ` Merv's mother-in-law. She was 92, and she died in July last year. She had some dementia. The family says she paid Eddie Travers as much as 10,000 for various work, like painting. The work was terrible; it was atrocious. You know, we didn't know it was going on until we happened to go one day and find it. Just a rotter. My mother was the kindest person about, and it's terrible that she was treated that way. Sorry. The MacDonalds also contacted police, and while no charges were laid, they say Travers was given a robust warning by a policeman. As for the 79,000 paid out by the elderly lady, we know police have interviewed another family member, but we don't know if charges will be laid. If you're wondering why her bank didn't do more, the ANZ points out that it wasn't told till earlier this year that there is a power of attorney in place for that lady. Controls are now on the account. We've got a lot more to come on this story. I track down the bloke who actually painted that driveway,... and things get very feisty indeed at the Travers' house. Get the <BLEEP> out of our house! Eddie, you owe me big time, Eddie! Get the <BLEEP> out! You're going down. Plus, we're at number two in the countdown to the dumbest fee. And she just wants to get to school, but at what cost? We're still at high school. We're still struggling to pay the fare each week, and, yeah, they've just increased it to adults for us. I like the fact that she's aware of these issues and she's got the confidence to approach you. . Welcome back. Edward Travers is the man we've been trying to talk to. As you've already seen, he's taken tens of thousands from a very elderly lady for work we think is highly dubious. And we've seen him before on Fair Go before. Handyman Edward Travers starred on Fair Go in 1993. He's back. Speak to me, Travers. Why have you taken that money? This 96-year-old with Alzheimer's has paid at least $80,000 for work like painting the driveway. I think they are absolute lowlifes, scumbags, awful people. The family has cheque copies from the bank ` most cashed by Travers, but two were cashed by a Trevor Desmond Taki. And we tracked Trevor Taki down. Hi. Hey, Trevor. Unlike Travers, he was very happy to talk about the work he did at various places. What sort of people? They` They` Elderly people, they were all elderly ones I worked for. Travers was his mate ` certainly is not any more. He's treated me like shit. Yes, he cashed cheques, but he says he didn't get the money. He's just used me, with all my kindness, but stupid me just kept going and going. Trevor says he got an old car, but almost no wages from Travers. He's a greedy, greedy old man, selfish greedy old man. We visited one address where Trevor worked. No answer there. The owner later told me she kicked Travers off the job and paid Trevor directly. And we went to Eddie Travers' place. It seemed to me Trevor wanted to make amends. Well, I loved doing all that work there, but... the payments that... the payments that he were charging them is just not right. Trevor painted the drive the second time. Do you know how much he charged to paint the driveway? No. 6500 to paint a driveway. For the driveway? Yeah. No, that's not right. Well, that's what the invoice says. He told me it was only 1200. It was only worth about 300. 300. 300 at the most. Trevor wanted his wages and some of his stuff from Travers. Where's Eddie? So he went in to say hello. Eddie! This is for you. He also had a letter I'd written to Travers. Dear, Mr Travers. A story will screen on TVNZ Fair Go next week... ...about the tens of thousands he has taken for work, which we believe is dubious` Is a rip-off, I think that's called. So we know that Edward Travers is inside the house at the moment, but he obviously doesn't want to speak to us. Pepe told me to leave. You have to leave, leave, leave. No, I'm on the footpath, actually. I don't have to leave, Pepe. I'd like to speak to Edward about all the money he's taken. And Trevor wanted to speak about money he didn't get. You never gave me anything. But he was told he did get a car he didn't pay for. He's then told to, well, 'jolly well, go away' might be one way to put it. Get the <BLEEP> out of our house. Eddie, you <BLEEP> owe me big time, Eddie! Get the <BLEEP> out! You're going down! You're <BLEEP>! So, that didn't go too well. He's in there. He's in there? Yep, he's in there ` him and his wife. That didn't go very well by the sounds? No, he won't give me anything. So Trevor went back for some stuff of his out the back. Eddie, I'm grabbing my barbecue out of the shed. And then things kicked off a wee bit. Just hurting innocent old people! Go and get your thing, and get the <BLEEP> off my property right now! I'm a very honest person! We really` We don't know what's going on back there, but there's clearly a big shouting match ` Sounds like Trevor's trying to get his barbecue back, but it sounds like it's pretty chaotic. And there he was with barbecue in tow. What you got a water blaster there too? Yep. But Trevor's triumph looked like being short lived. By now, police had arrived, and things weren't looking good. All right, so for anyone to go on there and get stuff, OK, they've got to prove to me they've got a right to the property. OK, what we'll do is if you promise that you'll leave it here for two minutes, I'll go and have a word to him and see if I can get it back for you, OK? Police negotiated the release of the barbecue. So he can take his barbecue now? > Yes, he can. Oh, that's brilliant. > I'm feeling better now. (LAUGHS) And it was getting even better for Trevor. OK, so, the man inside said that you can have your property back that's in the shed. If we have to make 10 trips, we'll bring all this stuff out here for you. Trevor was really after two cars he says are his. Honestly, dude, you should thank this man and say that's brilliant. Thank you very much, Officer. Thank you. It is not going to get any better than that. Nice job. Thank you. Thank you. Then the good folk from Manurewa Police station really went to work. They literally came out with the kitchen sink. they look like rubbish, but I was repairing them. What's your hourly rate for this? All right, Trev, that's basically it, mate. Awesome job, guys. Thank you! But I hope he can give things back to people that he's hurt, you know, for we've both done. If he can do a good thing like this and let me have my things back, surely he could pay for everybody that he's ripped off. The family won't be holding their breath waiting for money to come back. Very very sad and upset. It just breaks my heart that this is being done to our lovely aunt. So let's return to where we started. Speak to me, Mr Travers. Why have you taken that money? Giving the money back would require Eddie Travers to have a conscience. Now, if that gentleman can even spell conscience, I'd like to find out. We wish we had some explanation, comment, anything at all from Edward Travers. We've heard nothing, and we have tried pretty hard. One again, we say be very careful with any dealings you have with Edward Travers, and a very important bit of advice ` if you have an elderly relative, consider talking to them about a power of attorney, and if you get one, tell the bank immediately. OK, changing pace now. We're at the pointy end in the countdown to the dumbest charge. Here's Mark. Our dumb charge this week comes from Ian of Campbells Bay, or is it Mairangi Bay? Ian had resided at his Campbells Bay address for 20 years, but a boundary change meant he was now living in Mairangi Bay. As a courtesy, I indicated this minor issue to the insurance company. The response for this simple change of suburban name had been referred upstairs with the advice that this change would cost me $100! I'd hate to think what costs would accrue had I shifted to the house next door. $94.62 was the exact price of this dumb charge from State Insurance. And all it was was a boundary line down the middle of Ian's street. Campbells Bay. Mairangi Bay. $94.62. Nothing. 'Uh oh,' says State Insurance. We've investigated his case and would like to clarify that the $94.62 was not a fee, but relates to a calculation of the premium on his house. It was still an error however to apply it at the time when clearly Ian's house was still in the same location. We base premiums on a wide range of information, which includes the suburb the property is located in. State refunded Ian's money after he complained. Good for them for admitting they'd stuffed up ` no longer a dumb charge, but a dumb mistake and arguably a dumb policy. Oh, good work, Mark. Yeah, really, is there any map that this is the exact border between suburbs? Yeah, it varies all the time I suspect. I dunno. Now, look, a good education is priceless. The bus trip to get it should not be. As soon as you turn 18, it switches straight over to adult fare no matter if you're at school or not. You raise a valid point, though. CLASSICAL MUSIC There's me back in my 'one good ear' days. I had all the moves, like the 'good ear' tango. But then I made my best move ever. I went to Bay Audiology. I got a free hearing check and found out how easily they could sort out my hearing. And the 60-day money-back guarantee? Well, that was music to my ears. Call Bay Audiology on... UPBEAT MUSIC . Welcome back. Turning 18 is a rite of passage ` you can vote, you can buy alcohol, even though you might still be at school. But if you're still at school in Christchurch, turning 18 means a rite of more expensive passage. You suddenly get charged double what your younger mates pay on the buses. Garth went to investigate ` with cake and candles, of course. # Happy birthday to you. Tebo is 18 today. ALL CHEER A time for celebration and cake, but no card. In fact, it's a problem with Tebo's card and Samantha's card, and plenty of others' that brings us out early this morning in Christchurch on board... Bus one of three. So that's six buses a day you're taking? Sure is. Samantha is in her last year at school. This is a Cando card, so it's a student version` like a student ID card, and even though it says that I'm at school on it, specifically saying Catholic Cathedral College, we still get charged adult fares. Stop the bus! Did she say adult fares? It expires in, like, March next year. Yeah. So, it's a year-long card that you get each year, and it's renewed. The problem is the Cando card can't do cheap fares when you turn 18. I reckon we can do a bit better. But like Samantha's daily commute, it won't be straightforward. It's not the card that's faulty ` turns out this is deliberate. As soon as you turn 18, it switches straight over to adult fare, no matter if you're at school or not. And the cheapest adult fare is double the child or student rate ` 2.50 each way each day. 25 bucks a week since Samantha turned 18 in August. My mum rung up just to double check that we were on the right page and we did have to pay adults fares, and all they gave us is a reply was that's just the normal policy and just left it at that. I can see how you feel a bit annoyed about that. Yeah, just a little bit. It's not just Sam that's got this problem. Meet Hillary over here. Hillary, you're 18 as well, right? Yeah. So, when did you turn 18? In March. In March? Yeah. So you've been paying double fare, effectively, to all your friends the whole year? Yeah. Yeah. As the journey continues through bus two and on, I start wondering how many more over 18s are finishing their year paying double in Christchurch to stick to the timetable their education requires? And as we head to bus three at the flash new Christchurch interchange, I've been doing a little checking. OK, I'm gonna risk sounding like some know-all blow-in from JAFA town now here in Christchurch, but it has to be said that if Sam and her friends were on the buses and still at school in Auckland, they'd be eligible for child fares until they turn 20. You'll see why that's necessary when we check the roll, with a good six weeks to go before exams are over. Can I get you to raise one hand if you've turned 18 already. Nice and high so we can see them. And keep them up. If you are going to turn 18 before the end of the school year, stick them up as well. Wow, that seems more than half of you, anyway. In fact, 30 out of 55 in Samantha's year. Quite a big problem then, really. Is that a fair fare? > No, not at all. Why not? > Because we haven't changed. We're still taking up the same amount of room. We're still at high school. We're still struggling to pay the fare each week, and, yeah, they've just increased it to adults for us. Is anyone here 18 today? Time to lift the mood a bit. Is` Is your name Tebo? Yep. You didn't forget about the cake, did you? # Happy birthday to you. # Happy birthday, dear Tebo... Catholic Cathedral College is a decile-three school. Every dollar counts for these people. They work very hard. Our senior students don't have their own cars. It's not something that they could afford, so they certainly rely on public transport. The policy as it stands, you think, needs a bit of a tweak? Oh, I think so, yeah, yeah. I think it certainly does. The school didn't put Samantha up to this. It is right behind her. It's excellent. I like the fact that she's aware of these issues, and she has the confidence to approach you, and I like the fact that as one of our students, she's prepared to take a stance and to see if she can make a change and have an impact on others, you know, bring about something good that other people can benefit from. That's what we try to promote here. Samantha and her classmates are well aware, but does the council know, and does it care about this one? Call me Captain Obvious ` I know Christchurch has problems ` some have no easy solution ` but this business with the buses, I reckon we can fix it. Back at the bus interchange, we've convinced a top official from environment Canterbury, or ECAN, to front up at short notice. We will definitely look at this as fast as we possibly can. Jill explains the clear cut-off at 18 is what ECAN thought most people here wanted, but... You raise a valid point, though, and it's certainly a point that's made us stop and think, and we'd like to go away and think about that some more. That sounds really, really, really good. So you've got a CANDO card, do you think you can do that little bit better? I love the name, Cando. We really like that name, Cando. We would very much like to go away and have a look at that, and as you raised this issue with us, we've had a look at it, and we've gone there's certainly room for us to go have a look at this and discuss this with our council. We will undertake to have a look at our policy, and I'll take that back to my commissioners and the council. In the language of bureaucracy, that's probably worth a cheer. These guys may miss out on any change, but their younger brothers and sisters could be in line for a fare that's fairer. While they're still learning rather than earning, it wouldn't be a sweetener; think of it as just desserts. In case you were wondering how other places compare, Garth rang around. You heard Auckland Transport's offer ` child fares until you turn 20 as long as you are still at school ` in Otago, you get till 21. Now, plenty have no age limit. If you're enrolled at secondary school and can prove it, you're eligible for a child fare. That's the case in the Wellington region, Palmy North, Whanganui, Taranaki, Waikato, Tauranga and the Eastern Bay of Plenty. Though, no special fare for students in Rotorua. So as you can see, nearly everywhere has a fairer student fare than Christchurch. Can ECAN do a better can-do deal? We'll keep you posted. We will. Now, that's almost the show, but a quick reminder to keep sending us your picks for the best and worst ads of 2015. You have just until midnight tonight to get your votes in. We have a special email address for this ` The winners and losers on our special show in three weeks' time. Now, 22 years ago, this was voted the worst ad for 1993. # I'm a nutter, peanut butter nutter # from Sanitarium. # I take the freshest peanuts in the world and pour them in. # Now, that is a classic example of memorable advertising ` sticks in your mind. Another genius jingle from Murray Grindlay, advertising guru. We've profiled him last year. We did. We did. Look, this was the best ad for 1993. JAUNTY JINGLE JAUNTY JINGLE CONTINUES That was a classic. Big year for ads, that one. Yeah, really was, wasn't it? Now, remember entries close at midnight tonight for this year's awards, so you don't have long. Get emailing ` So that's the show, but we will be on Facebook for the next half hour to answer your questions. Our programme ` all about your problems and your thoughts. Please do contact us. Yes, we're on Facebook. Email us ` Write to us ` Now, we ran out of time to bring you the story we promised because of our big lead story. So next week ` what can you do when your broadband is at snail's pace. There is literally no way of knowing what it's gonna be like at your property when you connect until you're connected, and as soon as you do that, oop, you're in a contract now. And if it doesn't work, you should be able to turn around and say, 'I'm sorry. It's not living up to my expectations. It was so frustrating. I just wanted a service that worked. That's next week. Good night. Copyright Able 2015