(RELAXED LOUNGE MUSIC) www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2023 - Tonight ` it was an innocent online purchase... - It looked very legitimate. - ...that disrupted an entire town. - 'Well, you can turn it off now, or you can turn it off in an hour when the police come round.' - And ghosted by his fencer... - I contacted him again. Guess what? It's disconnected. - Can Fair Go help Steve get his money back? - I just couldn't believe that people could be so bold like that. - Plus ` scams. Are the banks responding quickly enough? The Call Centre Olympics team put them to the test. So there's a little lesson in there ` hang on. Hang on! Tena koutou katoa ` welcome to the show. The man in our next story was in need of a fence, so he weighed up the options and decided on a custom-built barricade from a gate specialist, thinking, 'This'll sort it.' - Well, he was wrong, and came to Fair Go. Alistar has the story. (NELLY'S 'HOT IN HERRE') - ALISTAR: How many calls does it take to get a job done? - No one's turned up. In come the excuses. So I contacted him again. Guess what? It's disconnected. - How long do you persist before you give up? Steve Knowler's just about there. He paid a 7 grand deposit for an electric gate. - The quote was 13,600 and a bit of change. - A year later, the gate still hasn't been installed, and the installer? A no-show. - I just couldn't believe that people could be so bold like that. - 'People', meaning GateSystems, an electric gate business and its owner, Tizane Wakeling ` or Zane for short. Just a note ` Tizane is a sole trader, not to be confused with another registered company called Gate Systems Limited. After months of no action, Tizane is taking responsibility. - OVER PHONE: Yeah, I'm more than happy to make things right, for sure. - But before we go there, we're at Steve's place... - # I'm a Barbie girl. # - Are you singing 'I'm a Barbie girl'? # In a Barbie world. - # I'm a Barbie girl... - ...where Steve is dad... - I'm a Barbie girl. - ...to 2-year-old Anastasia. - How did I end up here having to dress dolls? - (ALISTAR CHUCKLES) - She's taken over the house, runs around like crazy. It's all about her now, of course. Off you go. - Which also means keeping her safe wherever she goes. Because on the road at the end of their drive... - Some cars just roar down there at full speed. We're just thinking about a bit of safety and also a little bit of privacy for our front yard here and security as well. - And Steve needs the security. - Oh, this is my pride and joy, my old Holden. I've got a couple of classic cars that you don't want people walking down the street to see. - So installing a gate made sense. He did some digging and compared prices. - I thought, 'I'll get three prices from three different companies.' All three of them required a 50% deposit. I landed on a company called GateSystems... - ...Tizane's business. He visited Steve himself to talk about the job. This was in March 2022. - I chose GateSystems because Zane seemed to know everything about the gates and what` and he manufactured them. - The plan for Steve's gate... - The sliding gate would go all the way down here, 6 metres, and slide up behind the fence, so it would slide down here... and then there would be a 1.2m pedestrian gate here with access. - Tizane says he could do the job. He quoted just over $13,600. - He wasn't the cheapest, and he wasn't the most expensive. He was in the middle. - Last August, Steve paid a $7000 deposit. Tizane told him the job would take eight weeks to complete. - Eight weeks is not a long time. - That's the president of the Fencing Contractors Association, Phil Cornelius, and a fencer himself. - You have to order the products. They take time to get there, and then by the time you manufacture it and put it together ready for installation... - Phil says a 25% to 50% deposit is standard and it should go towards the materials. - You secure those materials at that price at that time, and that'll go towards the job. A lot of contractors have been burnt in the past, and getting a deposit sort of seals the contract, more or less. - That's how Steve understood it. The only red flag he noticed was there was no GST added to GateSystems' quote. And when he asked Tizane about it, he said... - 'We haven't registered the business yet, but we're gonna do that in a couple of months.' - Phil says stick to those who are GST-registered. - Yeah, I'd say probably if you were employing a contractor that wasn't, there definitely could be problems. - But Steve had met Tizane face to face and was confident he could do the job. They got the ball rolling... - And then silence. All communication was initiated by me. So it was just texts saying, 'Hey, you really need to call me. I'm not hearing anything from you.' - Then after the eight weeks, some communication. - Four times, he said, 'Someone will be there.' - One text said... - 'We are finishing a gate installation in your area, then making way to your job.' Well, that never happened. This is the stage where you start to doubt that you've got the right guy for the job. - Sticking to contractors who are members of the association is an option, because if things go wrong, FCANZ can help. For those contractors who aren't members... - There's only a certain amount that the association can do. Do your homework around those contractors, make some phone calls and just make sure you... yeah, get those references. - Which would have helped Steve. From August to December last year, it was a lot of unanswered calls, broken promises and a whole lot of waiting. - I'm feeling ignored at this point. In come the excuses. 'I am getting about 30, 40 calls a day.' 'I'm really busy to talk to you over and over again,' and 'Oh, I've got a worker who's just been injured...' And I'm going, 'Well, I don't really want to know about all this stuff. What I want is what you promised.' - And then just before Christmas last year, an email from Tizane. - 'I will happily refund the remaining $1009 of your $7000 deposit. 'Please let me know when you would like the materials delivered.' - So Tizane was going to give Steve the raw materials ` about $6000 went to buying them. That $1009 was the remainder. Not quite a Christmas gift, but it is something. And then... - The goods never arrived. The money in the bank never arrived. So I contacted him again. Guess what? It's disconnected. And then I fired him an email. Guess what? It bounced back. So I've had no communications, no way to get hold of this guy... - ...until Fair Go got involved. So we just want to understand from you, like, what's happened exactly? - OVER PHONE: I've had some personal stuff go down, so I had a couple of my friends sort of take over and finish what was left of the jobs. So there was a couple of other jobs that I had to finish and his was one that never got done. - We've heard a lot of excuses on Fair Go, but after seeing evidence from Tizane, we understand his actions were a result of personal circumstances. - I never had, like, any intentions of ever ripping anyone off. - Tizane says the business is no longer running. - I never took any other jobs since November last year. - He does say that most of the deposit money went on buying materials, but he can no longer access these. Tizane knows he stuffed up, knows he should have communicated better and wants to give Steve's money back. And when are you thinking of doing that? - I'm happy to return his money, even make payments until I have some money come through. I won't be doing it again, but I'm... yeah, more than happy to make things right. - So what do you think about that? - Uh... well, it's the right thing to return my money, of course. And if it has to be in instalments, then that's something, isn't it? I understand, you know, that's life and we all have trouble, but you've got to be careful not to take on jobs or things that you can't do, right? - This is a very complex and tricky situation. I think Steve is being very fair, and it's good that both parties are communicating now, cos that really is the key ` and good to hear a payment plan is in place. - That's right. - We'll be watching to make sure that follows through. - E haere ake nei ` coming up ` how a simple online purchase disrupted an entire community. - About half past 7 in the morning, there was a knock on the door, and it's quite unusual. He said, 'Well, you can turn it off now, or you can turn it off in an hour when the police come round.' - Plus ` they're the first port of call when you've been scammed. - The sooner you get in touch with your bank and let them know, then they can freeze these funds, potentially. - So are they picking up quick enough? We put them to the test. Call! (LINE RINGS) - Kia ora. Nau mai, hoki mai ` welcome back. Now, this is a story that starts off innocently enough ` just a man and his waning cell phone connection ` so he thought he'd go online, make a purchase, and that would save the day. - But that tale took a dark and unexpected turn with a simple knock at the door. Haydo has the story. (FURTIVE MUSIC, FOOTSTEPS CRUNCH) - He had been hunting them for a week. Tracking their signal off nearby cell phone towers, he'd worked through the streets of Timaru, narrowing it down to their neighbourhood, their street, and finally their house. It had just got dark when he came up the drive and found what he was ultimately searching for. So what the man was looking for was one of these ` an aerial, a cell phone booster. He decided he'd be back in the morning. (GNARLS BARKLEY'S 'CRAZY') - During COVID, the Allison house had a change-around. Wendy came home to work, so Dion moved his home office outside, and post-COVID, it stayed this way. - This is my workplace. It just happens to look like a bar. - The only problem... - The signal out here is terrible. - Luckily, Dion was a solutions guy. - I googled 'signal strength boosters'. - He found signalboosters.co.nz - It looked very legitimate. - The major cell phone networks are displayed. - We've got the Spark, Vodafone, 2degrees, and it was going to guarantee me full signal. - He spent $800. It arrived soon after, and he excitedly plugged it in. - I mean, it lights up nicely. - And then... - Boom. No better. Hasn't done a thing. - The $800 signal booster was a dud. - I feel a bit silly being duped. - Dion kept it plugged in, until four weeks later early one morning... - And about half past 7 in the morning, there was a knock on the door, and it's quite unusual. - Things changed suddenly. - So I jumped up and put my dressing gown on, and shot down the stairs. - The man told him he was representing Vodafone, now One NZ. - For Vodafone to send someone out like that, there must have been something pretty serious going on. - The man had one simple message. - 'Well, you can turn it off now, or you can turn it off in an hour when the police come round.' - So Dion turned off his $800 mistake. - So we're back to square one. Um... No service in a slight hollow. - What Dion didn't realise was the moment he turned on his signal booster, he severely impacted One NZ's Timaru network. - The Timaru example actually impacted three cell towers and up to 66% of our traffic actually degraded. - That's Thaigan Govender, One NZ's head of mobile networks. - So in the worst case, you just won't be able to make a phone call. - So he was just in that shed there... - Thaigan says as soon as they realised something was up, they moved in. - So we dispatch a specialist radio technician and he literally drives around the location of interest, trying to narrow down the location. - That was the guy looking for Dion and Wendy's aerial. - And then the last step is actually on foot, trying to visually spot the device` the interfering device. - Is it very common? - It is. It is very common. - Thaigan says they've tried to shut down these websites before, but... - We've not been successful. - But I checked out the address which had Auckland, Auckland phone number. - Dion's wife, Wendy, also went on the hunt. Wendy has rung and written about a refund, but her $800 is gone. - We'll never see that back and they won't want to hear from us again, and they won't respond. (LINE RINGS) - WOMAN OVER PHONE: - Oh, kia ora. - She even gave them one last call while we visited. - And you're actually` I'm speaking to you and you're in Auckland. - What's the address in Auckland? - So we bought a signal booster that we've been advised is not certified for New Zealand. - OK. - No, but your website states that you're certified. - 'Certified' is a broad term ` Signal Boosters' equipment may be certified safe, but they're not fit for our airwaves. - And as for that claim they're in Auckland.... - So what's the weather like in Auckland today? Are you googling? (CHUCKLES) - 'We'll hear more from the people selling signal boosters soon...' I just don't understand why you're selling these products when they're clearly illegal. 'But first...' There seems to be more fake sites than actual bona fide products out there. - Sorry` Sorry, mate. Can you just repeat that one? You just cut out. - Nathan Schaffer and I could do with some cell phone boosters ourselves. Nathan's from Radio Spectrum Management, the government department in charge of our cell phone networks. So are the signal boosters on signalboosters.co.nz legal? - No, they're not, Hadyn. They are not approved by the current network providers. We strongly recommend that people seek the advice of their cellular provider before purchasing. - Have you tried to get these websites shut down? - We have reached out to the Domain Name Commission, but because these operate outside of New Zealand, it's very hard to` to contact the owner of this website. - They're not alone. All three major telcos tell Fair Go they've tried to shut down signalboosters.co.nz and failed ` which means they're still in business. - Hello? - WOMAN: Hello? - Is that signalboosters.co.nz? - It is, yes. - 'Still a phone call away from taking your money.' And does it work on the New Zealand networks? - 'Their latest salesperson said they were in Australia, 'even though they state they're in Shortland Street, Auckland ` 'which is handy, because that's where I was.' And I was wondering which number. 'No address, and an admission the Spark, Vodafone and 2degrees logos on their website...' - So you don't have their permission. - You don't ask. OK. In New Zealand, it's illegal to sell signal boosters without the permission from the telecommunications company. So you're selling illegal products. - Why won't you tell us your physical address? Cos it makes you really sound like a scam website, cos you're taking people's money, you're selling illegal products and you're not giving refunds. 'We could have chatted all day.' - The Signal Boosters' New Zealand website is registered to an address in Colombia. They have websites in 17 different countries and they certainly aren't the only ones selling illegal cell phone boosters in New Zealand. Mobileboosters.co.nz do much the same thing. Here's their listed New Zealand head office in Christchurch. The real owner of this house told Fair Go they've tried for years to get this fake listing pulled down. - I don't think that actually does anything. - As for Wendy and Dion, they're still looking for decent cell reception and wondering how a dodgy signal booster nearly knocked out coverage for a good portion of Timaru. - Yeah, I would say scam. - Phoof, who knew? - Take down a whole town. Wow. - Now, let's talk about solutions, cos I too am a solutions-based guy ` grab your phone, go in to your connections and set up Wi-Fi calling ` it means it uses your Wi-Fi network to make your phone calls and your text messages if your cell phone coverage is a bit dodgy. There's also a great product that's approved by all the communications companies in New Zealand ` we'll stick that on our Facebook for you. - Oh! Haydo's hacks. E haere ake nei ` coming up ` are banks doing enough to keep your money safe? A scam expert weighs in. - The issue I have ` if I was to send money to you, I have no way of guaranteeing that's actually your bank account. - And we put their wait times to the test in the second instalment of the Call Centre Olympics. The results will surprise you. Do you know how to take the L? - OTHERS: Haydo! Haydo! Haydo! Haydo! - Kia ora. Nau mai, hoki mai ` welcome back. - Now, let's talk about scams ` we know they can happen to any of us at any time, and whatever we think we've done to keep ourselves safe, those scammers seem to be just that little step ahead. - Mm-hm. So true. And so we turned to the businesses charged with safeguarding our money ` the banks. - Garth asked a scam investigator what the banks are doing, and if they're doing it fast enough. Plus ` look out ` the Fair Go telephone Olympics team tests which banks are the quickest to respond. - GARTH: 'In the Call Centre Olympic crucible, the confident...' You and me, ASB ` we got this. All day. - And I've got ANZ. They say, 'We do how,' but let's see how well they do. - 'The overconfident...' - My name is Haydo, current two-time defending champion, and I am calling Westpac. Probably gonna win. - 'Some carry a hoodoo.' - Bank of New Zealand says here, 'Let's find a way.' CHUCKLES: Yeah. Let's find a way to win. - 'Some wear the fern.' - Well, unlike my colleagues, pretty proud to be representing New Zealand today. I'm calling Kiwibank. Feel good about this one. - 'It's coming up 2pm on a Monday ` each has the bank number to ring if you spot trouble.' Three, two, one... call! (LINE RINGS) '...and wait. Let's cross to the commentary box.' - If you are caught out in anything and you think that you're losing money, you need to contact your bank as soon as possible. Now we have same-day payments, and the sooner you get in touch with your bank and let them know, then they can freeze those funds, potentially. - 'Right ` let's ignore that I seem to be in two places at once.' 'Some absolute scenes are unfolding.' You are kidding me! Congratulations. This is Garth Bray from Fair Go. This is the Call Centre Olympics, and you were incredibly quick off the dial to answer, so you are today's winner. - Wow. - ASB says it's very pleased with this win. It says more than 28,000 customers have digitally responded to card fraud alerts since it launched a new app tool in April last year, leaving lines clearer for complex scam situations. I'll let you go talk to another customer who's probably got a real problem right now, but thank you. - Some of the banks are absolutely brilliant and the fraud teams are really, really trying. - But the process can feel like a marathon. - Branches are being closed down. They can't go into a branch and talk to frontline staff, so they're having to wait on those contact centres, or wait for someone to ring them back, and it's not good enough, in my opinion. - But who is looking good enough for silver? - It's actually Pippa here from Fair Go. - Kiwibank just too quick. - So the message I got was that wait times could be 40 minutes to an hour, and then lovely Sam answered immediately afterwards. So there's a little lesson in there ` hang on. Hang on! - Bronwyn shares another lesson. - If anybody rings you and is pretending to be from the bank, the banks are not going to ask you for your password or your PIN or your two-factor authentication. So that's a biggie. - Now, one Fair Goer has consistently been finishing last. Today, at 9 minutes 10 seconds, Kaity breaks her medal drought with BNZ. - I'm actually calling from the Fair Go programme, and I'm pleased to say that you've taken out third place in our Call Centre Olympics. - Huge upset for the champ. He's in for a long day. Here comes Star. Oh, the humanity! - Thank you so much for answering. - MAN: Oh, awesome, yeah. How can I help? - Almost 17 minutes, ANZ. Not too bad ` they said they were going to be 20, but they came in under. Well done. - Typically, as play stalls... - Do you know how to take the L? - OTHERS: Haydo! Haydo! Haydo! Haydo! - ...the commentary fills. - The issue I have ` if I was to send money to you, I have no way of guaranteeing that's actually your bank account. - If I give you my bank account number and my name` - Yep. Yep. - ...does the bank check that those two things actually match up? - Not at the moment, no. - Really? - Yeah. - That would solve a lot of the problems. - It would` Yes, it would. - On behalf of the banks, the Banking Association says: - Name-to-number matching is a complex issue impacting customer privacy and account name practices. - ...and that bringing it in could also lead to many legitimate transactions being held up by innocent typos. - If you type your name wrong, that transaction doesn't go through, so it causes a bit of pain. But actually, I'd much rather have a bit of pain and that transaction be delayed... - More pain for Haydo as we pass 25 minutes. Then... - Oh, hello. Hello. Don't go away. - (INDISTINCT) - Hello. - MAN: Hi. How are you today, sir? - Oh, I am great. Got some fantastic news for you. You have finished fifth in the Fair Go Call Centre Olympics. That's the good news. The bad news is there were five in it. - Oh. - Westpac says contact-centre volumes fluctuate throughout the day. The average was five minutes that day, but spiked in the very hour when we were calling with the longest wait time up to 30 minutes. - That's an awful long time. - Especially if you are fretting and also want to call police or family, or just hear a reassuring voice. At least some of those medal-winning times look respectable when it's not just pride that's on the line, but savings at stake. - How did you go in the Levin Masters Games in 1983 when you got that tracksuit? - It was a vintage tracksuit ` but not as vintage as your shorts, Haydo. - Hey! Hey, hey. - Wow. That is it from us ` but if you only caught part of the show, you can catch it all, plus past episodes and some handy consumer information on the Fair Go page on TVNZ+ whenever you want, because we're always here to help. - The shorts are certified for a New Zealand audience. That's right ` our programme is all about you at home, your consumer aches and pains ` huge, teeny-tiny ` we've got you covered. Please get in touch. - Teeny-tiny like your shorts. We're on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok; you can go to our webpage ` tvnz.co.nz; email us: fairgo@tvnz.co.nz or write to us: PO Box 3819, Auckland 1140. - Thank you so much for walking` like my shorts, they just keep giving. Until next week ` - BOTH: Po marie. - Did I say watching or walking? - You said walking.