Tonight ` Gidday, Keith. We track down a wheeler dealer, whose cheap deals have backfired,... Do you have any money at all that you can pay these people back with? ...leaving customers thousands of dollars out of pocket. Got the money and just done a runner. He just doesn't care. Plus ` What's your middle name? Elsie. It's Jake. Nicole. It's Catrina. Catrina? Yeah. Really? Yeah. It's a holiday horror story with a twist. This is a story all about middle names and the trouble they can cause you when you're trying to fly. Why does an honest mistake, an abbreviation, have to cost $1300 to fix? And ` Go. It's the summer phenomenon that's got beachgoers red-faced. It's not happening. It's not happening! Nah. Do you usually give up this easily? Yes. (LAUGHS) It's also got one of our own in a huff. I'm not gonna do this. I'm not gonna fail on TV. Just stop. Copyright Able 2017 Welcome to the show. We all love a bargain, but when it comes to cars, they can backfire badly. The Motor Trade Association reckons unscrupulous unlicensed dealers are turning over millions of dollars a year. Mm-hm, they're making money, and unsuspecting buyers are being lumbered with cheap, clapped-out cars. So, here's Anna with a story that really highlights the pitfalls of buying used cars from 'backyarders'. Gidday, Keith. Meet Keith Turner. Can I have a couple of minutes of your time? He's a wheeler dealer, who's in the business of importing cars. Can you talk to us about it? But his customers are far from happy. Keith, do you have any money at all that you can pay these people back with? Thought we could trust him and buy a car through him. Um, basically, he's got the money and just done a runner. He just doesn't care. This is the car that caught Paddy Ross' eye ` a four-door Nissan Murano, shiny and sleek. She was promised it'd be delivered to her roadworthy and in perfect condition. Yeah, about that. The seat is damaged. The transmission was faulty. We had to get the transmission fixed. We've got a lot of body damage, some big scratches. It was supposed to have a parcel tray. Big gouging. This was all supposed to be repaired. We had to get new tyres cos the other tyres were so perished. I feel very much for Paddy. She's worked hard for her money. And now she's got a decent vehicle, but it's cost a lot of money to get there. He promised to have a decent vehicle, and he hasn't made good on that promise. Paddy and her partner, Ray, bought the Nissan Murano through local car dealer Keith Turner last May as an import from Japan. 7 grand to get the car to New Zealand and delivered to her Napier home. He'd ring up with promises, saying, 'The car's gonna be here. I need another payment. 'The car's still on its way. The car's on its shipping. The car's on the transporter.' Yeah, pay him the extra $3000. The car's gonna be here next week. No, the car's not here next week at all. Hmm. He's just basically full of lies. Absolutely, full of lies. So we had to do our own homework to find out where the Murano was. It had arrived in the country, but it was nowhere near being delivered. Instead it was here. The wharf... in Auckland, 400km away. Paddy's car had arrived at the wharf, but the importing company Keith used wanted another $4500. Keith had abandoned the vehicle along with three others. He hadn't paid the storage or the delivery fees. So Paddy could have her car, but she'd have to pay for it all over again. The car still needed repairs plus a rego and warrant before it was allowed on the road. All up, Paddy forked out close to double the agreed price. Ray's not impressed with Keith's way of doing business. I felt pissed off that we'd been ripped off. When we reached car dealer Keith Turner, he told us he never meant to leave Paddy in the lurch. I got severe arthritis in my hip, and I couldn't do the work I thought I'd be able to do. And he's adamant he didn't rip Paddy off. I know I paid for her car. You didn't pay for the shipping. No, I didn't pay for the shipping. You didn't pay for the storage. I know, cos storage is the only thing I have to pay for. Paddy says she was never told this. Well, it's verbal. I told her verbally. I wasn't trying to rip her off. But Paddy's not the only one taken for a ride by Keith Turner. This van cost a local community group $11,000. The van doesn't go. And the group doesn't even officially own it. Keith never delivered it. The man who bought the van off Keith Turner didn't want to appear on camera. He told us he recently won a Disputes Tribunal decision against Keith. The bad news is he's unlikely to see the van or his money any time soon. That's because Keith has sold the van again on Trade Me, this time for more than $10,000. Keith is not a registered motor vehicle dealer. His licence expired in 2014. He says he's sold it to try and get some money to repair the vehicle. Well, yeah, I purchased it. Yeah, OK, well, things went wrong with` Look, I'm not going to discuss it any more, right? I will do the best I can. And he will get his money back, all right? Keith also promised us he would refund Paddy some of her money. But weeks passed, and Keith still didn't come up with anything for Paddy or the community group that bought the van. So we went back to Napier to ask him what was going on. Gidday, Keith. Well, can I` you` Can I have a couple of minutes of your time? 'Keith was quick to claim he's not the bad guy.' Ok, how much do you owe her? So pay` pay the 2000, then. When? You told me you'd pay that two weeks ago. She's taken you to the disputes tribunal cos you wouldn't talk to her. Paddy's tried talking to Keith. We've heard the recordings, and we've seen the emails. But the problem is Keith says he doesn't have any money to pay Paddy or anyone else. Keith, have you got any money at all that you can give these people ` just like` even a token payment or a part payment plan? Or anything you can give them? And with that, he walked off. Keith has several other cars in his front yard that he says he's doing up for customers. But Paddy's got a warning for anyone thinking about buying a car off Keith Turner. Stay away! (LAUGHS) Run! Keep your money in your bank! (LAUGHS) Don't go near him. Just get away. Yeah, have nothing to do with him. Wow, that's Keith Turner doing his bit for car dealers everywhere. Hmm, I reckon. Now, we were hoping to bring you one bit of good news. Remember the white van in Anna's story? Yes, well, after a lot of negotiation, Anna managed to get Keith Turner to agree to hand over possession to the community group ` so that's good ` but hopes of hitting the road were quickly dashed. The $11,000 van needs $8000 worth of repairs, which is completely unfeasible. It is effectively a write-off, worth just $1000 to a wrecker. So just to sum up, it's left them with no van, no money and not much happiness. Hmm, so if you're looking for a good second-hand car, we recommend you stay away from Keith Turner. Righty-oh, moving on. Now trivia time. Last week we learned that a faulty item bought in a sale is actually covered by the Consumer Guarantees Act. Mm-hm, that's right. This week we head back to the Bay of Plenty for round two of the true or false challenge. If it's all about location, then you don't get much better than this. But this view comes with a hefty price tag, and if you're renting, you certainly don't want to be forking out more than you need to. So this week we're testing you on your rights as a tenant. A landlord can require a bond of more than four weeks' rent ` true or false? Do you know what that means? No, but I'm going to go with you. True? (LAUGHS) True. True. Ah, I don't think so. I don't think so either. True. We've rented lots of times. I don't know you pay the bills. I think it's three weeks. Yeah. Uh, true. Are they legally allowed to do it. That's another question. Um. Are you gonna stay with true? False. I'm staying with true. Hmm, looks like this one's divided people. OK. Oh, bro, what's happened? So is it true or false? We'll let you know shortly. All right, you were right last week. What are you gonna say? Oh, I'm gonna go false, and that's gonna get me one step closer to the car. Yeah, no, no car. $20 grand prize for this one, remember? Oh, mate. Now, coming up after the break ` how would you feel if a travel agent charged you $1300 to fix their mistake? For three years, she's waited to be reunited with her husband. You keen to come over to NZ. You wanna come and see her? But a booking error has grounded any hope of that. And ` I should just be able to walk backwards. It's the inflatable challenge that's got beachgoers and Anna red-faced. I'm not gonna do this. I'm not gonna fail on TV. Just stop. You're retired, so these days, everybody travels to you. Maybe you only do school runs. You work from home, so drive mostly on the weekend. At Youi, we tailor your insurance premium to how you use or don't use your car. It could save you lots. Call: . Welcome back. The world is full of bad spellers. Yes, it's plagued the lives of many famous writers and thinkers, including Leonardo da Vinci, Winston Churchill, Ernest Hemingway and Agatha Christie. Haydn Jones too. Now, spelling mistakes, or typos, they can be embarrassing. But they can also cost you a fortune when booking travel. Yes, if the name on your ticket doesn't exactly match the name on your passport, you're in trouble. Here's Garth. What's your middle name? Elsie. It's Jake. Nicole. Uh, Jared. Louise. Dwayne. Leanne. For some people it's trouble. I don't have a middle name. Can you say it again? (CHUCKLES) It's Bauto Dominguez. Wow. Or it's for a favourite relative. My granddad, so I'm Timothy Robert Williams the Second. It was my grandmother's name. Or it was just the second-best choice for your first name. David, how'd you get that? It's my dad's first name. Oh OK, so just a hand-me-down, then? Yeah, the hand-me-down. Some are like, 'Come again?' Mine's Catrina. Catrina? Yeah. Really? Yeah. OK. European. This is a story all about middle names and the trouble they can cause you when you're trying to fly. Meipo Rivera doesn't have a middle name. I didn't have another name, thank God. (LAUGHS) And she takes her surname from this dude here ` her loving husband of 20 years, Edgar Rene Rivera. (SPEAKS SPANISH) That's Edgar on the phone from Orlando, Florida, where the couple spent many happy years together, and where Edgar still lives now. You're keen to come over to New Zealand? You want to come and see her? Yeah. You miss her? A lot, a lot, a lot. Yeah. Yeah, I miss you so much. I'm doing my best, so if my best is not good enough, then I'm sorry. Meipo has lived apart from her man for three years not by choice. Illness has brought her back to these shores and kept her here. So you were very sick. Yeah, I was. It costs a lot to be sick in America, doesn't it? Yeah. We look after our people, so Meipo is on dialysis at home five hours a day, three times a week. A relative has offered to donate a healthy kidney. Meipo just has to get well enough to handle that. It's tough on your own, and she can still remember the pain of their parting like it was yesterday. You miss him, huh? Edgar supports her from afar, but Meipo wants to fly Edgar here to be with her ` a three-month trial to see if he could make the switch from sunny Florida to Stokes Valley and then find work as a plumber. She borrowed money to book a trip. Very excited, she went to Flight Centre. She didn't have Edgar's passport handy, but they went ahead, booked the airfares, then the bad news. Let's call it the initial problem. The travel agent didn't ask you, 'What does the R stand for?' And that simple mistake turns out to be costly. It required a name correction charge of $1300 to put right. Then some good news. Flight Centre called. 'Maybe we can do it for $500.' Meipo was suddenly scrabbling to find that. In Scrabble, some letters are worth more than others, right? You got your X. That's worth eight. You got your Q ` 10. Z ` 10. But we are talking about three letters ` E, N and E. They're not worth that much at all, which leaves me with one letter ` Y. Why are those three letters worth $1300 on a ticket? Flight Centre tells us the rules on name correction fees, as they are called, are ambiguous. Every airline does it differently. Some even change those rules from case to case. Generally, if it's an international ticket, you usually have to cancel and rebook at whatever the new price is. That may also apply to some domestic fares. Air New Zealand told us for any travel on its own services, minor spelling mistakes are changed free of charge, but if your whole surname changed because of a marriage, fixing that on the ticket will cost you. As for why, airlines say it reflects the time they have to spend making the changes and checking the ID. Doing it online may be cheaper than on the phone. And it's also to stop people buying up cheap fares and scalping them when prices rise. Nobody mentioned security, by the way. All of this means it's very important to check you have the name exactly as it is printed on a passport. And you'd think a travel agent would know that, which is why we asked Flight Centre how this could just be Meipo's mistake. Flight Centre took swift action. within hours of my call, as I was flying back to Auckland, they were on the phone to Meipo with something to think about. Here's what Meipo took away from the call ` drop the complaint, don't tell anyone about it and Flight Centre will take care of that bill, or go ahead and speak out, and she can handle that $1300 herself. Flight Centre says that was a misunderstanding. Happily, it reflected and has decided to just fix it up. Their boss was away travelling, not available to speak on camera. He sent us this statement. That's Edgar Rene Rivera. Middle names ` more trouble than they're worth sometimes. Well, I'm feeling conflicted. Hmm. I mean, happy, but, really, that is ridiculous over a letter. Yes, but great news that after three years of separation, Edgar touches down on the 10th of March. We wish them all the best and hope everything works out. Excellent result. Now, coming up after the break ` the inflatable lounger that's got consumers and a Fair Go reporter in quite a huff. Is mine inside out? It's supposed to be a bed on a beach. Oh, shit! Go long! But this inflatable lounger has got Anna in a huff. I'm not gonna do this. I'm not gonna fail on TV. Just stop. It's also left some beachgoers with that sinking feeling. It's not happening. It's not happening! No. Plus ` Do you know what that means? No, but I'm gonna go with you. (LAUGHS) How well do you know your consumer rights. Oh, bro, what's happened? I thought we were together on this. Welcome back. Inflatable air loungers have become a summer phenomenon. Yeah, now, they're great. You don't need a pump. No huffing and puffing! No 'Dad, can you blow this up?' A flick of the wrists is all it takes to inflate this bag into a bed on the beach. Perfect, well, that's how it goes in theory, but soaking up the sun and chill-axing with this is easier said than done. Here's Matt. Inflatable air loungers ` (RELAXED MUSIC) ...easily the latest and greatest summer sensation. So easy, so much fun. (RECORD SCRATCH) Yet our social media sites are full... (LAUGHS) ...of failure. So why can't people... Go! Keep going! Keep going! Keep going! (LAUGHS) ...get 'em up? Whoo-hoo! (LAUGHS) Seriously, how hard can it be? ...three, go. Anna and I gave it a crack. So I should just be able to walk backwards, get a bit of air in it,... (LAUGHS) Is mine inside out? But didn't really pull it off... Oh yeah, we're nailing it this time. ...like they do in the promo vids. Oh, shit. Go long! (LAUGHS) We talked others into giving it a go too. Where are you from? Russia. Russia. OK, it's an international competition now. Here you go. Oh, great. (LAUGHS) Fair to say, most of them struggled as well. This is really difficult. This young fella eventually giving up. It's not happening. It's not happening? No. Do you usually give up this easily? Yes. (LAUGHS) But he was in good company. I'm not going to do this. I'm not going to fail on TV. Just stop. Wasn't he, Anna? You've pulled out, have you? Yeah. Zip. Just... You've axed it? Yeah. Are you unhappy? Yeah. Sure, as you know, every problem has a solution, and we found it after about five minutes. Do you want to have a seat on mine? No, I don't want a seat on yours. I just don't` That's not working. - Let me see if yours is faulty. - (BOTH LAUGH) That solution also in the easy-to-follow instructions,... Yeah, see, I think I might have filled up one chamber. Now I just need to fill this other chamber up. ...which usually come with the product. And are everywhere, alongside all those fails, on the net. Roll the Lizard up as tightly as possible. Some, though, just get lucky. With a timely breeze and good instinct, our Russian friend, who takes away the gold medal, had the job done within seconds. It looked crappy, but it actually feels much better than it is. You did very well. Congratulations. You did Russia proud. (LAUGHS) Our advice ` find and follow those instructions. And even when you do get it up, so to speak, You're not feet up, not a worry in the world, completely. Some say these loungers have a 10 minute deflation time. Our very scientific study on this model suggests you're safe for at least 20. But if your colleague's a poor sport, it can be much, much less. (LAUGHS) No worries for these lads, though. They might have missed Valentine's Day,... And then hold my hand. ...but the romance is far from dead. And that's a wrap on Fair Go. (LAUGHS) So we got there in the end. I do want to jump to poor Anna's defence, though, cos those are so frustrating, those things, when you're trying and you just can't get it up. I just think you're trying not get in trouble with her tomorrow morning. Yes, well, that's true too. Now, we should point out ` Water Safety New Zealand has urged people not to use these in the water after reports that two people nearly drowned in Australia. They are an inflatable lounger, not a floatation device! Again, keep them out of the water. Righty-ho, time to find the answer to this week's true-false challenge, and I'm pretty feeling confident. We wanted to know just how much bond a landlord can make you pay. A landlord can require a bond of more than four weeks' rent? False. False. Sound like you know what you're talking about? I've just been to one of our rentals. (CHUCKLES) We've stumbled across an expert, and he's right. The answer is false. And, no, other forms of security are not allowed. Got to tell you, the old Fair Go viewer smarter than your smarter TV viewer. Oh, absolutely. Without a doubt. And you got that right too, so well done. So that's the show, but we will be on Facebook for the next half hour to answer your questions. Our programme, of course, is all about your problems, your thoughts. We do love to hear from you. You can also email us at ` You can write to us ` Yes, and before we go, here's a quick look at what we've got coming up next week. I'm like a bloody fox terrier chasing rats. I ain't giving up. We head to the backblocks to meet a cocky who's really fenced off! Where that car is there now... Yep. ...is where she came in, and she took out over 100m of fence. It's a recurring problem, but the insurance companies don't want to know. And she came back and said, 'Ah, no, we can't proceed any further with this, 'because you haven't got fencing cover,' which blew me out of my bloody truck seat. The little guy takes a stand against an insurance giant. Did you think you were gonna get your money? No, not a snowball's chance in hell. That's next week. Goodnight.