1 Tonight ` how safe are used imports? Kinda scares me a bit that this sort of thing has happened. They're meant to undergo thorough safety checks. This car has been in a crash in japan. This car has been repaired, and someone has tried to cover up that repair. So, who is scrutinising the scrutinisers? We apologise unreservedly for that. Plus... We like the carrots. They wanted to turn the playground into a pantry. Now, be careful, Hannah. You don't want to trip over. But a lack of panes has turned these hothouses into a right pain. So you've got... four out of eight are missing? That's right. We are just really disappointed and frustrated. And... Here, chook, chook, chook, chook, chook, chook. ...when it comes to banishing rodents, the best defence is a good offence. I don't know if he's a cunning mouse or just the mouse traps aren't that great. Is this the luckiest mouse in NZ? None of them worked, so, yeah, they're just mouse feeders, really. Welcome to the show. Happy Labour Day, everyone. Yes. Now, every day we put our lives in the hands of complete strangers. We trust the people who install, say, gas into our homes, for example. Mm-hm. We trust the electrician who hooked up the 240-volts to the three-point plug that powers our toasters. Yes, we trust the construction workers who built this multi-storey building ` heaven forbid it should collapse! Now, misplaced trust can have catastrophic consequences, which is why we rely on quality-control inspectors and the authorities to keep us safe. But what happens when they fail to do their job? Here's Garth. Road safety ads come at us... CRASH! ...with a mixture of horror... TYRES SCREECH, CRASH! ...and humour. # And you know just what to do. # And they're made by the people watching out for our safety on the roads. But what happens when those people watching are the ones who drift off at the wheel? We apologise unreservedly for that. WHIRRING It's pretty crazy. Unfortunately, um, we made a mistake. We missed something. WHIRRING CONTINUES It kinda scares me a bit that this sort of thing has happened. Scary because Isabelle has been driving a car that legally should not have been on the road, and crazy because our safety watchdogs knew all about it for 18 months and did nothing. Didn't even tell her. Pretty, I guess, let down. I mean, I feel that that's the NZTA and AA's` should be their main concern. You know, you don't want people driving around in vehicles that could hurt them or others. This car had been part of the dream. So (LAUGHS)... Says he. ...move to Auckland, get a BMW. A new job in the big city writing for a fashion magazine. A fresh start after her dad had passed away. I was, um, living with him and my mum and looking after him. And then I got this job. Really, um, did not think I was going to get this job and got it, like, two weeks after he'd passed away. Um, so I had to move to Auckland really quickly. So I used, um, some of the money he'd left me in his will. She'd bought a used car at a reasonable price after getting an independent mechanical inspection, just like we say. And, of course, as a used import, before it was sold or registered for the road, it had also undergone a check like this one ` invasive inspection at an AA certification centre. This one, actually. Oh, highly important. It's the structural integrity of the vehicle, so its safety. Um, and it, uh, establishes that the vehicle is legally allowed to drive on our roads. The car had a couple of minor issues noted, but one potentially very serious one they missed. This car has been in a crash in Japan. This car has been repaired, and someone has tried to cover up that repair. This car shouldn't be on the road. Not until a repair certifier has looked long and hard and signed their name to it. The structure of a car like this is very sophisticated, designed perfectly to crumple in a crash. BMW told us if this high-strength steel is heated or work-hardened, it can cause major failures. In other words, repair it badly, and you make it too strong or too weak, and people can die. For a novice like me, the repair to Isabelle's car take a bit of spotting, especially if you don't even know you're supposed to call it a 'chassis'. This is the 'shassy' rail. This is what it should look like. These are factory welds along there. And the whole surface is a lot smoother. Come around the other side. I'll show you what we mean. On this side of the car, those factory spot welds are missing, and there are other signs that this chassis rail has been changed. To a trained inspector, that should raise alarm. Yet this car was marked as compliant and sold to Isabelle. Fair Go learned about this car from an industry source we've agreed not to name. So a few months back, we opened our own investigation. We learned the AA had heard about the mistake right after making it and had informed the NZTA immediately. This could be a very serious safety issue, so what was NZTA's response? A complaint was investigated by our Auckland office and, uh, then returned to our head office here in Wellington. And unfortunately, um, that complaint was prematurely closed before it had been resolved. And that should not happen, should not have happened in this case. The first thing we should have done was pick up the phone to the vehicle's owner and arranged to have that vehicle inspected. Instead, that call took 18 months to make and then only after we'd prompted it. We spoke to Isabelle in July this year when we did inspect the vehicle. And, uh, we talked about the process that should have been gone through. Isabelle says no, that didn't happen. I didn't hear anything back from them. The other guy was just, like, 'Thanks,' and left. And I sort of thought I'd hear from him, and then didn't, and then, um, really recently got a frantic call from the AA. That was six more weeks Isabelle had been left hanging while the AA and NZTA tried to work out who'd done what. At this stage, the inspections had only been visual. Nobody had dug into that rail to find out if it was compromised. I've driven my, you know, 4-year-old niece around. I wouldn't` I would never do that in a car that I thought was unsafe. Look, we apologise unreservedly for that, because, you know, this should have been dealt with. In fact, it absolutely should have been dealt with in February 2015. Dealing with it now means AA has hired a panel beater and a repair certifier to check her car, steps that should have been done the first time. Here's the very good news nearly two years later, extracted after we raised a lot of questions. I've looked at` at` at the evidence, uh, of the chassis rail, and I believe that structurally it looks fine. Um, we've got a number of experts to have a look over the photos and from what we can see, um, it has been repaired to a high standard. But that's more a case of good luck than people doing their jobs in the first place. NZTA knows exactly why the result doesn't let anyone off the hook. This is not just about a vehicle. It is about the person who owns the vehicle and the stress and the anxiety that it's caused. AA added a few sweeteners to acknowledge the part it played, replace a couple of worn tyres and covering the cost of a dodgy headlight. So that was, sort of, a goodwill? Yeah, it's a` It's a lesson learnt. Isabelle is ready to move on. She's just landed a job in Sydney writing for a fashion mag there. She won't be taking the Beemer with her. Wanna buy a BMW? > (CHUCKLES) Not quite my style, but certainly I can understand, and I apologise that, you know, she feels that way. Um, we` we can tell her that the car is absolutely perfectly safe to` to be on NZ roads. Well done to Garth. Well done to the NZTA for saying sorry. Seven times, I find. From my own household experiences, it's just a word you can't say too much. You cannot say it too much. Garth did speak to the dealer. He's the one who sold Isabelle the car straight after he put it through the AA. And even though the AA was trying to get it back off him for another look, he says it's the AA's problem if they missed something, not his. All right, after the break ` two hothouses get an icy reception from the kids at Christchurch's Cashmere High School. It kinda feels good when you eat what you've grown yourself. They wanted to turn the playground into a pantry,... Now, be careful, Hannah. You don't want to trip over. ...but these glasshouses are a real pain. We are just really disappointed and frustrated. And... Here, chook, chook, chook. He's the victim of a rodent invasion. They've also chewed these bits in the corners out here. But these snap traps haven't got them scurrying to a better place. None of them worked, so they're just mouse feeders, really. 1 Welcome back. Growing veggies can transform a kid's attitude to cabbage, worms and the world. Now, the teachers at Christchurch's Cashmere High were really keen to embrace the sow-and-grow revolution. Unfortunately, their efforts to turn the playground into an pantry have been less than fruitful. Here's Hannah. JAUNTY MUSIC Oh, I love chilli. Oh you do? You love chilli? OK. Salsa! We like the carrots. (LAUGHS) Yeah, and beetroot. And beetroot. We plant a lot of beetroot. Uh, silverbeet. Oh, that's unusual. Nobody likes silverbeet. I just like it, yeah. It was the magic of growing veggies from tiny plants and seeds which lured the students of Cashmere High into horticultural classes. It kinda feels good when you finally eat what you've grown yourself. It's really cool, cos it's outside, and it's, like, practical, and you're learning to work with other people. Problem is, for most of the school year in Christchurch, it's cold and a bit rainy. We've had to plant, like, the same vegetables all the time, because they're the only ones that can really grow outside. < Has that been a bit boring? Yeah. (LAUGHS) Yeah, definitely. Like, a whole year of just planting beetroot. So because the students wanted to grow lovely summertime veggies all year round, the school ordered two kitset greenhouses from this Auckland-based company, Trade Tested. They paid around $4000 for both. And while they look finished, they're missing over half of the vents ` that's the windows ` without which the greenhouses just don't work. Yeah, we haven't been able to use it at all this year. We are just really disappointed and frustrated, I think, that we haven't been able to finish them. The school asked greenhouse expert Darren King to help them try and assemble the kitsets. Well, the first problem, Hannah, was, uh, this PVC, where the polycarb's meant to slot into here. And as you can see, it's... Darren runs a greenhouse business and also sells kitsets. He knows how these things work. So that polycarb there should actually slot into there. So 4 mil does not, sort of, fit into 3 mil. These polycarb sheetings that form the sides actually didn't fit in the slots? Uh, that's correct, Hannah. Wow. That's actually absolutely key, isn't it? Well, yes, it's 101. Yeah, 101. So you got in touch with Trade Tested. What did they say? Well, Trade Tested said, 'Well, maybe you're not trying hard enough, 'because we've not had this problem before.' So we tried, uh, Sunlight soap` (CHUCKLES) ...and all the other bits and pieces, you know, on the edge` Tried to lubricate it, in other words. Yeah, we gave it a good lubing and tried to` and we actually cracked one of these doing that. And, uh, it just was not gonna go. When we gave them a call back and said, 'Mm-mm, not worked,' they were sort of, like, uh, 'Well, it's really not our problem, because we've supplied you the part, 'and we` we believe it works.' So good ol' Darren sourced some other PVC strips that fitted the polycarb sheets, and he also had to find replacements for other missing bits. These braces here that strengthen the building up, stop it from falling over. So they're pretty much everywhere, aren't they? Yes. Yes. Yes. So how many of those were missing? I think in total 16. So that's 16 out of how many? Uh, about 32, I think. But the real problem was the windows. Now, be careful, Hannah. You don't want to trip over ` health and safety. Thank you, Darren, looking after me. Yes, of course. If we look up here, we can see one of the vents missing. And if we wanted to look on this one, it's this portion here that runs along the top of the window. 'The missing bits form the window hinges, an essential part of the ventilating system. 'As the weather gets hotter or colder, 'the hydraulic arms automatically open or close the windows, 'but that system doesn't work if the hinges don't work.' So you've got... four out of eight are missing. That's right. Actually, make that five missing, because they sent one hinge off to Trade Testing to say 'here's what's missing'. And... We still haven't got that back either. So they didn't return it? They still have not returned it either. (LAUGHS) For months now, they've been chasing up Trade Tested to get all the parts. We would get some people saying, 'Yep, it's fine. They're on the way,' and nothing would arrive. Some people would say, 'No, it can't be done.' Then they tried to use the, 'Well, it's out of warranty, so tough bikkies.' Darren asked Trade Tested how long it should take to assemble these. He said two to four hours for two people. I went, 'Great.' Darren says he wanted to fly Trade Tested's staff down to Christchurch. Pay them $5000 if they can put them together within four hours. They went, 'Actually, well, no, no, we can't do that.' So, what do other kitsets retail for? These two are $1500 and $3000 each, plus, say, $400 to assemble. The school's kitsets were about $2000 each, unassembled, plus the cost of missing parts and Darren's labour. So no bargain then. What would you like to say to the company that should e fixing this? Hurry up. No, I can't say. No, I'm scared I might rip them out a bit too hard. Help us get them finished. All we have wanted the whole time is to get them finished. And from the man who's spent the best part of a year trying to fix these greenhouses? Trade Tested ` supply the parts. End of story. We'll all be happy, go home and have apple pie, whatever. We asked Trade Tested for an interview. They said no. We asked them what had gone wrong here. They said, 'Quite a lot.' We asked them could they put it right? They said... How about this: First up, these are the five missing window hinges. They've been couriered safely to Cashmere High School. Trade Tested's Richard Humphries apologises for... He's promised there'll be changes... And he's offered the school $2800 compensation for... And also to help buy some of these, which the students can finally grow, year round, in their greenhouses. OK, so good result, but, really, 12 months, Trade Tested? Do we have to wait that long? Gardening is slow enough sometimes without waiting 12 months for your greenhouse to get sorted. Exactly. (CHUCKLES) So, Trade Tested have promised to change their systems to ensure these sort of problems don't happen to anyone else. Yes. We would certainly like to hear from anyone else who's been unable to get Trade Tested to sort their issues out. We'll try and help fast-track it to a resolution. Moving on now. My favourite part. We got a huge response to our story about Twining's new tea packaging. Yes, the box has got bigger, the price has stayed the same, but the contents have been reduced by a third. Now, if your feedback is anything to go by, it would seem that Twining's, Pippa, aren't the only food manufacturer embracing the 'less for more' trend. Welcome to the incredible shrinking house, where you get less product for the same money. Leggo's Carbonara ` 490g. New bottle. Marcos Winter says: This one got me annoyed. It used to be 13% bigger for the same price. In the baking department, Jocelyn McMillan says her chocolate melts are 85g smaller for the same price. Over by the bench, Morning Fresh has lost 50ml. Janet Ebbett says: It felt different when I picked it up. Meanwhile, if you hand-wash, the Palmolive hasn't shrunk; it's got bigger. Well, the hole has, where the liquid comes out. That's according to Maria Irwin, who tells us... I go through a bottle quicker than Grease Lightning. The laundry is not immune either. Juliet Adlum noticed the new Fab is 10% smaller than the old one. Same price, of course. But it's hard to beat Colgate, though. Alan Goodhew says: I'm dismayed. His Colgate Pump has gone from 130g to 120, and the price has gone up. That's 10g less toothpaste for $1.50 more. So you're paying the same, or more, for less. Maybe it's time you started voting with your wallet. It's the only way to get their attention. TRANQUIL MUSIC It's sneaky. It's not on, eh? No, not happy about it at all. Makes you a bit grumpy. Yeah. After the break ` have we discovered the luckiest mouse in the world? Monkey the cat is disinterested, and the mouse is running riot. They can squeeze in real narrow gaps, but they've also chewed these bits in the corners out here. Meet Houdini. Is this NZ's luckiest mouse? I don't know if he's a cunning mouse or just the mouse traps are not that great. Just mouse feeders, really. SNAP! And... The wrong way! Simply put the Ab-isolator on. ...it's a blast from advertising past. The boss wants to watch us waltz a little. Come on. Get together. Do it! CHEERING, APPLAUSE 1 Welcome back. To some they are cute, furry critters. Now, to others, like the rest of the human population, they are a disgusting pest that, well, parties in the pantry; they chew through the electrical cords; they can do all sorts of damage in your house. Now, we are talking mice. And there was a time when a good old snap trap would send them scurrying to a better place. But not at Rob McDonald's place. No, siree. His home is under attack from some of the luckiest mice in the world. Here's Matt Chisholm. JAUNTY MUSIC Rob McDonald knows as well as anyone chooks... Here, chook, chook, chook, chook, chook, chook. chook. ...are a magnet for mice. It's not so much the chickens. It's more the food. Yet, ironically, this Environmental Health Officer has a vermin problem at home. Which is not what you want, really. Fortunately for us, the Masterton man's not too ashamed to share it. A problem shared is a problem halved, Rob? That's right. Yep. With mice raiding his bread bin,... So they can squeeze in real narrow gaps, but they've also chewed these bits in the corners out here. ...Rob bought a four-pack of the old wood and wire classic from The Warehouse. Oh, they're pretty cheap ` uh, between $4 and $10. I'm not quite sure, actually. Would you say you got a bargain? Um,... well, none of them worked, so, yeah, they're pretty useless. Just mouse feeders, really, yeah, rather than mouse traps. RELAXED MUSIC With Monkey the cat disinterested, mice running riot. Check it out. Using different types of bait. Peanut butter and, um, just cheese. Night after night, Rob put the traps to work,... Normally they'll just touch it, and the trap goes off. ...filming and editing up all the action for our viewing pleasure. Bit of fun, yeah. Got a new video camera. I thought, 'Just try out this new programme on the computer.' Just a bit of a laugh, really. Yeah. The mouse ` or mice ` had the last laugh, winning every single night. I don't know if he's a cunning mouse or just the mouse traps are not that great. Ever considered you get what you pay for? Yep. Yep. Didn't even look at the price, hardly. To be fair, Rob says these traps have worked for him in the past; that he might just have a dodgy batch and agrees the cunning mouse could now be immune to the old wood and wire home staple. Might have evolved with the mouse traps, be more cunning. So that could happen. < Don't want to claim as having a good idea or anything, but... BOTH LAUGH Either way, the big red shed was keen to put things right. Gidday, Rob. How you doin'? We hear you've had some trouble with your mouse traps. Yeah, yeah. So we'd like to replace the mouse traps. Oh, awesome. As a gesture of goodwill from The Warehouse, we'd like to throw in a $50 gift card for you as well. Oh, that's awesome. I didn't expect that. That's brilliant. Cool. Thanks for that. No worries. Rob might not have won the battle at home, but he's determined to win the war. You'll be setting those traps again tonight? Yep, setting the traps up, yep, and probably be buying another cat, probably, as well. (LAUGHS) Cos the other one's no good. Yeah, nah. You're feeding it too well. Yeah, he's too lazy. (LAUGHS) He's retired. Have you been in The Warehouse? Like, I've never seen the cat aisle. If you need to buy a cat to replace the cat that won't kill the mice... I think Monkey should be a little bit worried, though, is all I'm saying. Now, that's almost the show, but before we go, don't forget to keep sending us your picks for the best and worst ads of 2016. Because the Ad Awards, Pippa, are just four weeks away. We have a special email address for this ` adawards@tvnz.co.nz So send in your comments and thoughts. Yes. If you can't email us, then please do write. And as always, we'll announce the winners and losers in our Fair Go special, the Ad Awards, which is later in the year. Yes. Now, a wee trip down memory lane ` 21 years, in fact. This ad was voted the worst for 1995. You'll soon see why. Look at her legs ` everywhere ` the wrong way! Simply put the ab-isolator on, it locks her legs down, isolates your abdominals, it targets the stomach muscles automatically ` perfect exercise techniques every time! They were shocking, those ads. Although I do think my dad bought one of those machines. I think my father-in-law ` hi, nice to see you ` I think he might have bought one as well, as well as some Natural Glow, pots and pans, the works. We're gonna get in trouble. Now, look, And here's how an ad should be made. This was voted best in 1995. COMMENTARY PLAYS 17-12, North Harbour. Look at it again. Nasty collision and the injured man for New South Wales is number 15, Marty Roebuck. BEEP! Yeah? Tell the boys I want them to watch Walter Little. CROWD CHANTS All right, you blokes! Now, listen up. The boss wants to watch us waltz a little! ALL: Eh? Ross, Sam, you pair up. Come on, get together. Do it! WALTZ PLAYS If it's vital to get your message across crystal clear,... Put your arms around him! ...then it's vital you're on the BellSouth GSM Digital network. That was a great ad, and I remember that ad quite clearly. But I'm a little bit alarmed that it was 21 years ago! Were you just finishing school or maybe a little`? I was actually just finishing school, thanks very much! (LAUGHS) We'll stop doing the maths on our ages. So get thinking at home what ad makes you laugh or scream at the TV. Yes. And, of course, entries have closed for the kids' ad awards. Do you know ` well, you won't know, but I'm about to tell you ` we have received nearly 300 entries. So well done, everyone. And judging begins tomorrow, so good luck. Very exciting. Right, that's the show for tonight, but we'll be on Facebook for the next half hour to answer your questions. Our programme is all about your problems, your thoughts, so do get in touch. Oh, get busy. We're on Facebook. You can also email us at fairgo@tvnz.co.nz You can write to us ` we love letters. Private Bag 92038, Auckland 1142. And when I said we love letters, don't write us love letters. We just love receiving letters. We also love love letters, I suspect. Oh, go on. That's our show for tonight. Until next week, goodnight.