Tonight ` And I hate driving it. are you driving a time bomb? I hate taking the kids in it. They were destined for Aussie's wrecking yards and ended up on our roads. It's a classic Wellington question ` whose problem is it? How safe is the car you're driving? It's potentially putting consumers at risk. And heard of misophonia? I hate it. It's a hatred of noise. LOUD WHIRRING The sound of silence can be shattered by so many things. Tell you what ` if I made the rules, these things would be destined for the bin. Plus, Little Pets go astray. A little bit upset cos it was my birthday money. Who's to blame when your Trade Me treasures don't arrive? Welcome to Trade Me. Copyright Able 2016 Welcome to Fair Go. We start with a story about so-called ticking time bombs which could affect thousands of Kiwis. They are crash, fire, and flood-damaged vehicles being imported into NZ from Australia. They're called statutory write-offs over there ` not fit for Aussie roads but on sale to you right now. ROCK MUSIC GO-KART ENGINES WHIRR Sacha Perry hasn't had much fun with cars of late, so we thought we'd treat her, her two kids and a mate.... ENGINES WHIRR ...and OK, me too. (LAUGHS) That was fun. < (LAUGHS) Bit more fun than your current car? Yeah, absolutely. Sacha is one victim of a way, way bigger problem. So this is a story about a car deal gone wrong. Way more than that, it is about thousands of cars coming into NZ from Australia. They cannot be sold there; they may be unsafe. This looks pretty flash on the surface ` it's not, and Sacha wants shot of it. I hate driving it; I'm nervous driving it; I hate taking the kids in it. I've been to see Mum in Tauranga twice, but I didn't take the children in the car because I just don't trust it. I don't know what would happen in an accident. And she did everything right when she bought it last year ` pre-purchase inspection, smart questions on the Trade Me listing. You paid how much? > 18,500. What's it roughly worth, really? > Well, um, Turners have said it's parts only $5000. She got worried when she heard about problems with Aussie imports. She got it checked. That is the steering column. The car was flood damaged, written off in Australia, imported here and sold to Sacha. That is underneath the seat ` the water got at least that high. But I can't afford to buy another car so I'm stuck with this. 100,000, 120,000 vehicles come into the country every year. 4000 to 5000 are from Australia. 60% of those are statutory write-offs, says the NZTA, so badly damaged, they're not safe or economical to repair, by one definition. The NZTA has a list. Aussie stat write-offs including flood and fire-damaged? More than 6000 vehicles. And that's not comprehensive. And if you don't know that list exists, why would you check it? Did you know about that NZTA register before you bought the car? No, I didn't. I mean, who does? > Exactly. Turners Auctions are now refusing to sell any Aussie imports except in their damaged vehicle auctions. And Trade Me have had enough. There could be underlying problems with the vehicle that are effectively a ticking time bomb waiting to go off. Maybe these cars are might have ended up on Kiwi roads. But way less water than this can stuff your car. Water and electronic componentry typically don't mix very well, so we believe that consumers need to know about this because they're paying too much for these vehicles. Look, here's a scooter. Aussie import, stat write-off. That is what you need to know. And they're making it compulsory for dealers on Trade Me. If they know that a vehicle has been a statutory write-off in Australia and they're not disclosing that, they are misleading consumers. Trade Me is acting; they're struggling to get government to act too. It's frustrating for us and it must be` it must be said ` it's potentially putting consumers at risk. It's a classic Wellington question ` whose problem is it? Is it NZTA? They've got a list. Is it Customs? They flag damaged cars at the border. What about Justice? The Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal is part of them. Is it Consumer Affairs, part of this lot? They look after consumer sale information. What about the Commerce Commission in here? They investigate individual cases. Now there's at least five ministers there. Who's gonna stand up? First to do so ` Craig Foss, Associate Transport. And yes, there are a few parts of government involved here. Um, that's no excuse or anything like that. That's to say perhaps we need to do some of our work a bit better. Trade Me effectively are stepping in and acting where the government hasn't yet. They're being a de facto regulator here. That's a bit of an indictment, isn't it? Uh, yeah, I reject that. And he points out 'write-off' isn't always as scary as it sounds. We have to be clear that that means often an insurance write-off, but vehicles can be fixed and made safe for our roads. From this Friday, that NZTA list will be upgraded. Put it in the registration or whatever the details are and it will come up 'yes' or 'no' if it has been written off. But I'm fully aware that information should be easily found and accessible to all participants. But that's no help to Sacha ` she's been going round and round for months. She won a Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal case last year ` full refund ordered. So you have had how much of your refund? > Nothing. Nothing at all? > No. I rang the dealer to see what he had to say. ENGAGED TONE 'Don't worry about it'? Well, Sacha does. There's just no excuse for hiding stuff like this. Sacha bought her car from a bloke called Mukesh Chand. He's sold quite a few cars on Trade Me using the names 'carconnection' and 'cardamane'. If they ring a bell to you, we suggest you check your car on that NZTA list right now. Yes, here's the link to it. Trade Me and other organisations will be able to get data from it as of Friday. The Commerce Commission's told us two investigations are underway. If you're buying a car, ask the seller if it is an Aussie stat write-off and do it in writing, send a text, for example. If the answer is yes, be very very careful. All right. After the break ` the right to quiet enjoyment. Do you love your neighbourhood but hate your neighbour? JACKHAMMER WHIRRS Noise! I hate it! Last year, 51,000 noise complaints were made in Auckland alone. 51,000! Brodie's sounding off about noise. Tell you what ` if I made the rules, these things would be destined for the bin. And a birthday treat goes astray. I'm just a little upset cos it was my birthday money. If you buy something on Trade Me and it never arrives, who's to blame? Welcome to Trade Me. Welcome back. Time to serve up some more food for thought. Over recent weeks we've been trying to raise awareness about how much sugar is hidden in our food. And it seems if it's wrapped or packed, it is pretty much stacked with the sweet stuff. OK, OK, I know we tell you every week that sweet stuff is bad. But how easy is it to find how much sugar is actually in your food? BOY: One, two, three... There's half a teaspoon in two slices of this toast, four teaspoons in this serving of baked beans, and five and a half in this glass of OJ. Let your child wolf this down and she's consumed a total of 10 teaspoons for breakfast. ...eight, nine, 10. That's more than three times the World Health Organisation's recommended daily intake for a child. Wouldn't it be clearer if the number of teaspoons of sugar was out front, boldly labelled? That is pretty shocking. Uh, and the measure we're using ` 4g per teaspoon. Right, the sound of silence. Yes, good neighbours can become good friends. But if they breach your rights to quiet enjoyment, they can quickly be good enemies. It's one of Brodie's pet hates and something she was only too happy to sound off about. WHIRRING Sometimes the world is just too loud. CLANKING, WHIRRING What is the most annoying noise? BOTH: Hammering. Early morning, I reckon. Yeah, early morning. Really loud drums or bass. Lawnmowers at like 6 o'clock when you're having dinner ` that is really annoying. WHIRRING What about, like, leaf blowers? Ah, nah. Nah? I've got one of those, so I use it. Oh, you do? LAUGHS: Yeah. Hmm, that's a bit unfortunate. OK, so my least favourite noise of all time is... WHIRRING ...the leaf blower. I mean, aside from the fact that it is the most pointless machine known to mankind, it makes... WHIRRING ...that noise. And I hate it! You see, noise is one those things that can really cause a bit of tension. Have you ever complained to noise control? No. No? My parents have, but I haven't. Yeah, my parents have. I felt really bad, but I needed to sleep. (LAUGHS) People complain about us. Oh, do they? Yeah. OK, OK, so I'll admit ` noises do annoy me. But I am not alone. In fact, last year in Auckland alone, there were 51,000 noise control complaints. LOUDER: 51,000. And look, you're all entitled to blow your leaves away or blast your ghetto blaster. But what are your rights? So how loud is too loud? What time of the day can you fire one of these bad boys up? And how do you know if your sick beats are breaking the rules? TECHNO MUSIC Which brings us to a man who knows a bit about noise. Noise is managed under the resource management act, and there's two main sections in the act that manage noise. The first one is excessive noise and the other one is reasonable noise. So what's the difference? With reasonable noise, uh, that's noise of a more technical nature, so this would be things like businesses and licensed premises, construction sites. But with excessive noise, this is noise of more of a short-term duration, so things like a party. Let's begin with neighbourly residential noise ` anything from parties, loud music, DIY renos. And hey, maybe even a bit of leaf blowing. If you have a complaint, a noise control officer will come out and then make a subjective decision on whether the noise is too loud. The noise control officer, he or she will weigh up various factors ` the volume, the time, the character and the tone of the noise. If they think it's too loud, they'll issue you with an excessive noise direction. And you best be on your best behaviour for the next 72 hours, otherwise they might be called back, and if they are, you'll cop a $500 fine or... DESTINY'S CHILD PLAYS SHOUTS: ...you'll have your noisy stuff taken off you! Everyone has a different sort of perception on what's noisy and what isn't and what they want us to deal with and what we can't deal with. So it really boils down to what's reasonable. And there are some variables to the rules we think you ought to know. Most CBDs will have a much higher noise threshold than out in the 'burbs. Noise control officers can't deal with traffic on the road or aircraft flying over your head. Areas are zoned to things like residential and commercial which have different sound rules. And hey, before you pick up that power saw, check your local council's website as there are different rules in different cities for your noisy DIY activities. Now, there are circumstances where these fellas need to get called out, and they're armed with these machines. Yeah, BNK2250 is what you'd call it. OK, good, I'll try remember that. In other words, it tests sound. So if I talk really really loud, which I don't find that hard to do, is that quite loud? Yeah, that's` that's getting right up there. So that's 85 now. So if I talk like that, someone could complain about it? Yep. Jake and Mike are what we call night time noise inspectors. Noise. Mike speaking. They deal with any residential complaints that have been escalated by a noise control officer. But they also deal with commercial properties like bars, and stuff that's a bit more technical. We do get a lot of things like disruptive noise or nuisance noise like, uh, pool pumps, heat pumps and things like that. Factory noise. We hit the town with the lads on a Friday night to hear first-hand what they hear. Obviously I can hear what the noise is. From a bar, right? Yep. Just, um` Just subjectively, it's not so bad. Yep. But, um, we will have to see what it's like from inside. Yeah. As Murphy and his law would have it, it was a pretty quiet night, but we did hit up a couple of bars and a house party. We did a quick reading and it was slight breach there so we're just gonna have a chat with them just to get them to turn their bass down. Now, the rules for licensed premises and things like factories work a bit differently than your average house party. They will either be stipulated in a council's district plan or in a resource consent. A noisy bar in Manukau the night we were out was luckily playing within the rules. The reading is below the level, uh, in the district plan for this area. Uh, the outcome here will be not excessive. And these guys do encourage you to call if you have an issue. Your complaint will be kept anonymous. Noise control only reacts when there's a complaint. So if people are happy to live with it and we don't get any complaints, we don't deal with the issue. But as Dan says, if you can, try and sort it out with the noisy person first. And hey, if you are the noisy person, you can also do your bit. You know, if you're having a noisy party, uh, doing some construction work, then talk to your neighbours and tell them what's going on, what time it's going to finish. You could even provide them with a mobile phone number that they could maybe text if it's loud. Good advice, I say. And finally before we go, I've got a question that's been on my mind since the start of this story. You can't be doing your leaf blower at 6am surely. No, that's right. We definitely would discourage that. Tell you what ` if I made the rules, these things would be destined for the bin. Kind of ironic that we sent Brodie to do that story, isn't it? Our noisiest colleague. (LAUGHS) Yes. Apologies to Brodie's neighbour, actually. After the break ` if you sell something on Trade Me, post it and it never arrives, are you liable? Trade Me can be a collector's treasure trove. I was really really excited, cos I was like, 'Oh my God'. But a girl's delight turns to despair when the treasure isn't delivered. A little upset cos it was my birthday money. So what are her rights? Welcome to Trade Me. And ` You apply for a job and they want a full credit history. Cool or creepy? We hit the streets of Wellington to get some consumer feedback. Yeah, that is definitely going to be that. Unless I'm in a position of financial responsibility, then that. Welcome back. $31.52 ` not a lot of money to some. But to a 14-year-old girl being raised by a solo mum, it's a small fortune. Mark's been trying to help out a kid whose Trade Me treasures went astray. VELVET UNDERGROUND'S 'SUNDAY MORNING' When it comes to Littlest Pet Shop toys,... I've had them ever since I was little, so it was kinda just, like` They're just kinda special. ...14-year-old Paige Haswell doesn't play with them any more. She's more of a connoisseur. They're like, original, and that they're are realistic than the newer ones. Last year on her birthday, Paige came into a tidy sum of money. I got, like, $100 from my nana and granddad. So why not add to the collection? With the help of younger sister Grace and Mum Karen, she went onto Trade Me to see what was available. BOTH: Yeah. I don't know if I've seen a little house like that before. Yeah, there's heaps of different types of houses and that. Paige is too young to have her own Trade Me account, so Karen let her use hers ` supervised, of course. So, now, this lady, minimum on next figure's $46. Whoa, that's getting up. I found this one, that` like, it wasn't too expensive It had a lot of stuff in it. I said to her, you know, 'You never know what might happen ` they might come broken, they might never arrive'. But let's` But in most trades I've ever done, I've never had a major problem, so we didn't` so let's give it a go. And then we found out we won, and I was really excited, cos I was like, 'Oh my God!' All up, it came to... ...$31.52 including the sending costs. It took longer than normal to complete the trade. Morning. I'm just wondering how you got on with the price to send, please? We were hoping to get to play with them in the school holidays. We've chosen not to name the trader, but after four weeks, the deal was done. Um, I responded to all their texts; I responded to all the emails. They were sent and I told her they were sent. Two parcels were sent by standard post, no Track & Trace, and every day, Paige, Grace and their brother William would go out to the letterbox to see if they'd arrived. Nothing. I didn't expect it to come, like, the next day. I mean, I` it would be cool if they had. But it... I was thinking probably just like a couple of days or like a week or something. But it was never there. Karen brings up these three cool kids on her own as well as holding down a job. Kinda just a little bit upset because it was my birthday money. $31.52 is a big deal to this family. Thank you, Mum. Thank you. (LAUGHS) And the kids` The girls are asking, 'Have they arrived yet, Mum?' and we'd excitedly get home and check that they'd arrived and they never had, and it just started getting quite horrible. (CHUCKLES) Relations, as they often do online, broke down. Have you sent it yet or when are you going to? If I said I sent the parcel, I sent the parcel. That was it and that was six months ago. Communication stopped and Paige's Littlest Pet Shops never arrived. Karen told Trade Me, but Christmas came and she forgot to do the paperwork. $31 for her is a lot of money. It's, you know` It's not something that I've been able to go back and say, 'Look, hey, honey, sorry about that lesson. Here, I'll give you back your money 'because I know it's your birthday money'. I do know that there` Like, as I say, there are good people on Trade Me and that, but there's also people who are not. I'm not saying that, like` something could have happened to them on the way. But yeah, I just` I don't` you just never know. There are no red flags around this trader ` they're verified and authenticated; there's no bad feedback. And the parcels could have easily been lost in the post. And who would know? There was no Track & Trace. But we thought what happened to Paige was stink. So we shouted her and her mum a trip. Hello. Welcome to Wellington. Hi. And guess where we're going? And welcome to Trade Me. Hi, I'm Michelle. You must be Paige. Yeah. Nice to meet you. Trade Me wants to tell Paige what happens when your purchase goes missing. But first, we get to have a look around their flash new digs. What a fantastic view. Yeah, it's beautiful, isn't it? It's one of those quirky, funky technology offices where you get to take a slide to get between floors. That was so much fun. And a caravan for private meetings ` our private meeting. I was just kinda getting a bit, like, worried about it. Yep. Like, is it ever going to come? Well, unfortunately I don't know the answer to that. We are still looking into it. But overall it sounds like unfortunately, you were just a bit unlucky. Um, 99.9% of these trades do go off without a hitch, so it's a real shame that you've had this experience. It's Michelle's job at Trade Me to sort out problems like this. You know, you guys did your homework. You checked, you looked at the feedback; they were address verified, they were authenticated. And what they were selling wasn't too good to be true. Where they slipped up was not returning the paperwork to Trade Me once they'd complained. Normally we would work with the buyer and the seller, and the seller would hopefully resolve the trade by refunding the buyer where it's lost in the post and then they can file a claim with the postal service to get a refund. Trade Me say they're keen to sort this out for Paige. She leaves still poorer in the pocket but maybe a bit richer in other ways. I don't want to get my hopes up too high because I know that they can only do so much. Um, I would be really happy if I could, but... But the experience that we've had, even seeing the Trade Me office and meeting the people, has been awesome anyway. Well, Trade Me says the trader has since agreed to refund the $31.52 to Paige for the Littlest Pet Shops that never arrived. They say she confused Paige's trade with a similar one and the wrong person might've received a refund by mistake. Trade Me says they're confident it was a genuine mistake. Nice to help Paige out. Right, time to test consumer opinion. Every now and then we come across something a little bit weird. Something we're not sure if we're that comfortable with. Something that begs the question ` is this cool or creepy? Lambton Quay on a Tuesday lunchtime ` busy, busy, busy; the commercial hub of Wellington. This is where a lot of the hiring and firing happens, so how's this situation? You apply for a job and they want a full credit history. Cool or creepy? BOTH: Cool. No, they don't need to do that. (CHUCKLES) I'm gonna say yeah, all right. Depends on the job. That's OK. Kind` Kind of OK. Yeah. And` (GROANS) No ` creepy. Absolutely not. Um, I'd be cool with that. Yeah, that's definitely gotta be that. Unless I'm in a position of financial responsibility, then that. So a mixed bag here in the capital. Me? I find it kind of creepy, and the Privacy Commission does a bit too. It says a credit history is unnecessary for most roles. If it is necessary, the job seeker should be told why and give their consent. Next week, how much retailers want to know about you. I'm looking forward to seeing what my fellow Wellingtonians think about that, Pippa. Why do they need my phone number when I buy some batteries or something? We'll find out next week. That's the show for tonight, though. We'll be on Facebook for the next half hour to answer your questions. Our programme ` all about your problems, your thoughts. We do love to hear from you. We're on Facebook. Email us ` fairgo@tvnz.co.nz Write to us ` Private Bag 92038, Auckland 1142. And next week ` The right to know. Blacked out. Right. Blacked out. Is EQC secrecy out of control? Everything was blacked out. Is EQC spending out of control? Two people spent a week doing the job, and it was a $40,000 job? In a city filled with people who need help, Anna wants to know why her repairs cost so much. It's my democratic right to check my account. Is this a case of commercial sensitivity... Blacked out. OK. ...or a cover-up? Why does that niggle you so much? Because I've got a suspicious mind. That's next week. Goodnight.