Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2022 - Tonight ` classic Fair Go. We're on the hunt for a ratbag. - I felt like we were being taken advantage of. - Let's put a stop to this guy. - And just how far does your money go at the supermarket? A consumer test with some big surprises in store. - Wanting a really good, balanced diet is super hard being a student and on a budget. - The receipt says 194 so we're already overspending. - Plus ` how do you sell yourself in a rental shortage? - Make a good impression. You want to stick in their mind and you want to be persistent, because sometimes the most persistent people who keep coming back to you about everything are the one who end up get the houses. - Tena koutou katoa. Welcome to the show. - So you've paid thousands of dollars to get your car, you know, your pride and joy. You get it repainted and gussied up a bit. You pay the money, you wait months and months, and then discover the mahi's never been done. - Not only have you lost thousands, but your car's been trashed and is now next to useless. Well, Alistar's been helping two shattered families try and find the ratbag responsible. (FOREBODING MUSIC) - Is this the one? Apparently this is one of the places where he worked. 'We're on the hunt.' Let's go this way. For this man, Nelson Prasad, who's taken thousands of dollars from his customers. - That guy has no remorse whatever. - I felt like we we're being taken advantage of. - But you haven't paid the money, so where is it? His victims want answers. It's been two years and getting them is near impossible. Villa Fata works in construction, so he's a bit of a handyman. - Apparently, a tradesman's house is never done. This deck that were in the middle of doing at the moment, taken a couple of years. (LAUGHS) - That's as long as it's taken for their ute to be fixed. This is what's left of it. - Originally went in for a paint job and it came back with like, rubbish everywhere, the engine's in pieces, parts are missing. - You can't really tell, but it's a Nissan Navara, and it was a need of a new paint job in April 2020. - He loves maintaining his car and he just wanted to keep it nice and white, so that was the whole purpose in getting a whole touch up. - They found Nelson Prasad on Facebook Marketplace. Back then, he worked for Scientific Motors and Body Repairs Ltd. in Otahuhu, Tamaki Makaurau. - I was just looking for someone. reliable, trustworthy. We put our trust in him. - It was just the way he explained everything. He was talking from, sounds more like experienced person that do cars and you just fall for it, yeah. - Plus they had seen some of Nelson's work online and visited his garage. It all looked legit. - I think we should have done more research, but we wanted a quick paint job. He told us two weeks is all he needs to repaint. - It wasn't just the Fatas who were lured in. In July 2020, Vagatai Leaegailesolo was looking for someone to paint his pride and joy ` his Mitsubishi L200. - Money I'd put into that car... between 3 and 4 grand. - Replying honestly, it's more like he's married to the ute than to me. (CHUCKLES) - Vagatai found Nelson on Facebook, too. - To me, everything looked legit. Facebook page, everything, photos. - Let's stop here for a sec. There are probably better ways to find a professional tradesperson. - Don't go for the cheapest price. Cheapest is not always best. Good collision repair work is more expensive than people think, even repainting. - And it's really important to get someone who's been recommended, not just someone who's got the gift of the gab. - I don't even trust people that I see, especially when it comes to money and if it involves a large amount of money. I trust my husband. - Trust being the keyword here. In both cases, Nelson asked for a deposit. They would pay the rest when the jobs were done. The Fata's were quoted $1500. - Through painting and fixing up some other dents on the truck. - They paid in full within a couple of days. Vagatai and Sauiluma were first quoted $1500 for the paint job. but Vagatai also wanted the ute lowered and a new suspension system added. The new quotes was $3500. - I call my wife to go and withdraw and withdraw $2000. - They paid the 2000, and in the same week paid an extra 1000 for the parts that Nelson needed. - And then that's left us with $500 left. - They also say Nelson only needed a couple of weeks. The ute was to be done at the end of July 2020. It wasn't. - And then when I confronted him, and he goes, 'Look, I'm really busy. 'Come on the 11th of September and your ute will be done.' - But come September and still no ute. It was the same deal with the Fatas. Their job was pushed back several times. Nelson kept asking for money and they kept on giving it. In the end, they forked out about $7000. This was 7000 extra on top of the 1500 they had already paid. - He kept adding stuff on and on and on. - I felt like we were being taken advantage of. I said, look, this doesn't feel right. He just keeps on taking our money, but nothing's been done. - Then in October, a call from the police. - The police from Otahu had rung him, asking if that was our vehicle at the workshop, and we had to ring round for a tow truck that would tow it because it was just left there. - You trust someone and someone just break your trust that much. - In the same month, Vagatai and Sauiluma got a text from Nelson's partner at the time, that Scientific Motors was closing up and moving to Papatoetoe. They say Nelson asked for more time to do the job, Vagatai put his foot down and picked up the ute, but he wasn't prepared for what he saw. His ute completely trashed and left on the hoist. - You know, I was crying on that day. Yeah, I was crying on that day because that was my` that was my dream car, and I'd put a lot of money to that car and time spent on the car. - What breaks my heart even more is that Mr Nelson refuses to own up to it. That guy has no remorse whatsoever. - The Leaegailesolos took Nelson to the disputes tribunal, while the Fatas took Scientific Motors and Repairs. Both families won, but they'll never get the utes back. In the Fatas case, the DT ordered scientific motors to pay nearly $18,000 by March last year. Almost a year later, and... - Nothing, not even a dollar. Nelson didn't even turn up for Vagatai and Sauiluma's case, but the DT found against him anyway, and ordered Nelson to pay $9000. by January 2021. And surprise, surprise... - Nope, nothing. Not even a 1c. (CHUCKLES) - Fair Go's been working behind the scenes for months now and tried every way possible to get in touch with Nelson Prasad, Scientific Motors and its three directors. Phone calls, emails and letters sent to several addresses. Finally, Nelson got in touch. (NOTIFICATION DINGS) - MAN READS: There's some people who my business dealings didn't go to plan with, and we've owned up to it. Not all business has a 100% track record of customer satisfaction. Scientific Motors was run by three directors, and I'm not one of them. You should contact the owners of Scientific Motors. - The Fatas say Nelson did get in touch with them to apologise, but both families say there's been no sign of any payment. Fair Go tracked down one of the directors of Scientific Motors, Mohini Devi, Nelson's mother. Fair Go also spoke to the other two directors, Nelson's sister-in-law and Nelson's ex-partner, and they pointed us to Mohini. We just tried to potentially address for Mohini and another dead end. 'But then...' Hello, is this Mohini Devi? You're listed as one of the directors of Scientific Motors, right? Mohini husband soon took over. Sorry, can I ask who I'm speaking to? We need some answers. These families need answers. Are you at least willing to sit down with these families and work something out to get their money back? While these families hope for a potential meeting, their desperate for their stories to be a warning. - Let's put a stop to this guy. Put a post up and we'll start warning people. - It pays to be really careful who you choose to do your repair work, and make sure there's a safety net. if the wheels come off. - Always go for a Collision Repair Association member. There, that big red sign, that's the one. They have to have certain types of equipment, training levels, everything to keep up with collision repair in general. - The Leaegailesolos salvaged what they could. - I sold my ute to Pick-A-Part for $500. Yeah, that's all the Pick-A-Part offer me. - The Fatas sold for parts, too. But it's not just the money. The whole experience has taken its toll. - Letting go is the hardest part. - The court, the law is not really strong enough for people like them, ripping people off like that. You're stealing and you need to be stopped. - That's really heartbreaking. Those poor families. - Obviously, still keen to talk to Nelson or anyone else who knows anything about this, please get in touch. - Yes, indeed. E haere ake nei ` coming up ` we compare the three big supermarket players and challenge households to live off a budget. Can they do it? - Still got a few leftovers of essentials, like rice, pasta and things like that. but majority ` gone. - Too expensive. - And how to make yourself stand out from the crowd in the rental market. - The most persistent people who keep coming back to you about everything are the ones who end up getting the houses. - Nau mai ano ` welcome back. Now, we all know that food prices are absolutely through the roof these days, and it's hard enough just to budget for the weekly shop, let alone buy something remotely healthy. Is this even a thing you can do these days? - Well, we got hold of the latest budgeting research, got some cash from the Fair Go special projects kitty... - The what? - ...and sent a family and a group of student flatmates to do the weekly grocery shop. - Could they last the week? Place your bets quick, because here with the all answers is Garth. (CHILL MUSIC) - In Mangere, Talalelei and Lua Perenisi are back from the supermarket. With two children still at home, extra hungry tums at weekends,... - Yeah, too expensive. - ...more than $300 a week, but often they trim it to pay rent, power and petrol. - Sometime I... I wanna eat some steak or lamb. But I can't afford. Yeah, I buy the chicken packs. Yeah, because cheaper. - And if meat is really tight... - Heaps of (LAUGHS) gravy. - Extra gravy? - Yeah. - That's the treat. Sometimes all the gravy in the world can't cover up what you lack. - If I know no food, I bring my daughter or my son help me. - It's hard, eh? It's expensive. - So hard. - This week, Fair Go is chipping in because we have set a challenge. Could you feed a family of four on $250 a week? Or feed a flat of three for even less? - Wanting like, a really good, balanced diet is super hard being a student and on a budget. - Just to make it worse for Lucy... - So, obviously COVID has become a lot more prominent in Auckland, and one of our flatmates was a close contact. So we took all of our precautions, and we also self-isolated in our rooms. - They can't even share the kitchen at the same time right now. They're on a group chat to write the shopping list,... - So, my shopping list for the week, I'll start with breakfast. I'll probably have eggs on toast. - ...leaving me to pick it up. Oh, without word of a lie, that was one of the longest shops I've ever done for three people I've ever met, at a store that I don't normally go to. And it's not just a case of hitting the noodle aisle, either. Remember, this is supposed to be nutritionally balanced. - Variety is the key. Definitely including lots of fruit and vegetables. - Dr Smith runs the Food Cost Survey. - We survey 16 different supermarkets all over New Zealand, and we work out how much it is per gram for the different food groups. - And those are the figures we're using. We've picked up the bill for Tala and Lua's shop. This is what $252 gets you. In 2019, this was what the Food Cost Survey says it took to feed a man, two grown women, and a teenage girl the right stuff. Now it's time to drop off to Lucy, Blake and Emily at the student flat. So, we have a budget of $191 for groceries because, according to the latest figures, that is the very least amount that you need to spend for a week to feed a household of a man and two women in Auckland. However, the receipt says $194, so we're already overspending. We know it won't be easy to make this stretch a week. Consumer NZ surveyed 1000 people online. 84% have removed items from their usual weekly shop because of cost. 89% substitute items because of price. Time for a check-in at the checkout. We've been mystery shopping at three Auckland supermarkets since this time last year. What's up? Well, prices, of course. We chose staples ` milk and cheese, bread and butter, cereal and yoghurt, eggs and bacon ` and some treats, like chocolate and soft drinks And a year on, we're not just looking at what you pay, but also how much each store has put their prices up. Our shop at New World cost most. The price has changed least in a year; the total went up by almost 4%. Countdown prices started lower in our trolley and actually fell, but are back up now by over 13%, well ahead of inflation. Our Pak'nSave shop started lowest and stayed cheapest ` but check the rise. Our figures show nearly 11% in one year, so it's not just prices that are rising. It looks like there's less difference between shopping at the cheapest or the most expensive places, which doesn't sound great for consumers. Pak'nSave was looking for positives. - It's really pleasing to see Stickman cheap as in Fair Go's basket. We're all having to share the burden of the price rises as a result of wider inflation. - That's from Foodstuffs, which also speaks for New World. - We're delighted New World returned a result in Fair Go's survey that was well below inflation. The average price increase on products we've seen coming through this year is around 7%, so they did an amazing job. - Countdown owner Woolworths says its specials affected our numbers. - Promo pricing can obviously alter the cost of a basket of goods quite significantly on any given week. - But could those big players be doing more? - Should supermarkets be in a position where they can freely take the level of profits that they are taking at the moment without any real competition being offered? - Next week, the Commerce Commission delivers its verdict on how competitive our supermarkets really are. - In a normal competitive market, you'd have competitors knocking heads together, trying to get that price down to attract the customer. We just don't see that in the supermarket industry. - Maybe that's why if you ask, what's the luxury? More than half of us say meat. Nearly half say fresh fruit, and more than one in 10 would include sanitary items as luxuries. Time we saw how that's affecting our shoppers. - We're COVID-free! (LAUGHS) - Yeah, they're out of iso, and just about out of food, also. - The hardest thing for me was actually being organised, and the sense of, you know, I've spent all my budget, so I've just gotta make what I have last. - Still got a few leftovers of essentials, like rice, pasta, and things like that, but majority gone. - Yeah, went within a couple of days. And then we had to top that up. - So spending what it cost in 2019 is no longer a healthy budget. - And we find that a lot of younger people in shared households. They're more inclined to be cooking separately. But you know, there can be a lot of cost savings if you pool your resources. - Sadly, Tala's household has health hassles. We weren't able to revisit this week. He does say their shop is lasting better than the students while the challenge for all of us continues. - Food price are one part of the equation, so when we've got costs in other areas also increasing, so transport costs, housing costs, then that's putting really added pressure on families, and then it further reduces that spending that they have for food. - That budget squeeze is only getting tighter. - Quick tip from Haydo ` reheat everything. Last night's dinner becomes tomorrow's lunches, and I find with my cooking, a bit of microwaving really brings the juices together. - Enhances the flavour (!) E haere ake nei ` coming up ` top tips for renters, and our Gill has a eureka moment at the fast food drive through. - It'll be a Colonel Burger, this time. Thank you. 'And here it is...' Excuse me? (ROCK MUSIC) (GRUNTS) My bike! Oh! VOICE-OVER: It's good to have another look. Get two pairs for just $169. Should have gone to: (ENGINE RUMBLES) PHONE: You know, it's just freedom. You know, you just can't beat the feeling of gettin' a few smooth corners together. You're the one in control of your machine. (ENGINE RUMBLES IN BURSTS) You've gotta really own that control. - Kia ora ano ` welcome back. Now, back in the day, it wasn't too hard to find a flat, was it? You stuck a toasted sandwich maker under your arm, you circled the classifieds, you put a bed on layby at Farmers and away you went. Easy. - Yeah, that's right. These days, it seems you need gold-plated references just to get a viewing, with the Real Estate Institute saying property managers get 40 rental enquiries a day. So if you or someone you love needs to know how to get to the top of the rental pile, then our latest Fair Go Finds Out is for you. (ROCK MUSIC) - There are so many people who are looking for properties at the moment. - Stass McGee is a property manager for First National Realty. - The days of just being a really good tenant and walking in and saying, 'Oh, hey, I like that house, 'I'm going to rent it,' ` they are way over. - There are 28,000 people waiting on a State House. For private rentals, the demand is high and value varies. $500 a week will get you this one bedroom apartment in Auckland. The same money on the West Coast gets you this rather nice house, or in Invercargill, an art deco delight. Whatever you're after, Stass says you have to get yourself known. Have a quick chat. Let them know you're interested in the property. It's a little bit like a job interview. You want to put your best foot forward, create a good impression. - Stass says, when it comes to looking for a house, staying online is not the way to go. - So many people apply online at the moment, that you just become another enquiry, essentially, and you're just probably going to get a generic response back. You want to make a good impression. You want to stick in their mind and you want to be persistent, because sometimes the most persistent people who keep coming back to you about everything are the ones who end up getting the houses. - And when you get a home, you want to keep it, which means... - You need to stick to the terms of your tenancy agreement. So if it says no pets, you can't just go and get a pet because that would be a breech. If it says one occupant or two occupants for the property, you can't just have a flatmate or a boarder randomly move in without approval from the landowner. Sometimes little issues can become big issues, whether that's a maintenance issue that could have been solved when it was smaller, or whether you've missed perhaps one rent payment and haven't mentioned it. - For $200 a week, in Auckland, you'll get a room in this place, with 22 flatmates. In Ohope, you can be beachfront with this section. You can swim and fish ` just bring your own water and power. And Stass says just because you're renting doesn't mean you aren't cleaning. And you gotta remember, it's tenants' responsibility to keep the house clean and tidy, the lawns mowed and the gardens done. - The housing market is fierce and very competitive. So remember, above all else... - The number one thing would be to pay your rent on time every week. You'll find your landlord is probably a bit more forgiving about other things if your rent is up-to-date and paid on time each week. - Oh, nice work, Haydo. So it pays to follow up, right? - Yeah. All the time. - Look, peak time is mid-January to mid-March, so we are right in the thick of it. The best time to start to look is apparently the end of November. - Which makes you well-armed for next November. Right, the other day, Gill ` our lovely reporter Gill, went to KFC, used the Fair Go special projects budget again. - (LAUGHS) - It was for her husband, apparently. Anyway, he ordered the wicked wings, not a bad choice, and mashed potato, yes, please, but got more than he bargained for. - Yes, as you can see it in this photo here ` for one portion, he got four spoons and a handful of napkins. And, well, that got us thinking. (ELLIE GOULDING'S 'ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN') - No, we're not about to join a COVID-testing queue. I'm off for a fast-food fix, like a few million people do every month. Yes, you heard that right ` a few million. I guess at least you know what you're getting. It'll be a Colonel Burger this time. Thank you. And here it is. Excuse me. So, what did I get? A burger. No spoons this time. But serviettes? Three, four, five. I've just got five serviettes here; I probably only need one. - Oh OK. - Sorry. (CHUCKLES SOFTLY) - See ya. - Thanks. So, if you're a messy eater, you might need two of these, but not five. And just think ` a few million visits a month. That could be more than 10 million wasted napkins. So why not join us before you tuck in and ask for less? - # Anything could... # - Struth, Ruth. She may be right. - It's a thing! Yes! - Could it be, because all packaging is marketing, so they're not napkins ` they're advertisements, they're flyers. - Yeah, look, if this has happened to you, send us your examples on social media. And that is it from us, but if you only caught part of the show, you can catch all of it on the Fair Go page on TVNZOnDemand. - Repeat, love them. Our programme is all about you at home, your consumer gripes and groans, so please, get in touch. - Yes, we're on Facebook and Instagram and TikTok. You can go to our webpage ` tvnz.co.nz. You can email us ` fairgo@tvnz.co.nz, or write to us ` PO BOX 3819, Auckland 1140. - Thank you for watching. Happy shopping. Don't forget your coupon books. Are they still a thing? (CHUCKLES) Until next week... - BOTH: Po Marie.