(RELAXED LOUNGE MUSIC) www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2023 - Tonight ` when is a relative not considered a relative? - I thought it was very unfair. I thought it was a totally irrelevant clause. It was cruel, unjust. - A surprising detail in the fine print. - To me, family's family. It's irrelevant where they're located. - Plus ` they've been a staple for picnics, parties and packed lunches for decades ` is the humble sandwich under threat? - They said they were bringing it back in when they stopped making it, but they never did. - And it's a waste crisis. - At no point have they tried to recover the various bits of pieces and plastic. - But is there an easy fix to a rapidly growing issue? - I think it would be an absolute game-changer. - Tena koutou katoa ` welcome to the show. Appliances ` they used to be built to last, and when they broke down, we fixed them. - What an idea. (BOTH CHUCKLE) Now cheaper products are made en masse, and biffed en masse too ` we're throwing them out everywhere. It means a growing pile of e-waste in our landfills. - Mm. But as Gill discovered, there might be an easy answer ` one that helps the environment and the customer too. (WHAM!'S 'FREEDOM') - GILL: Every time Ruairi hits the hills, he puts his legs and his heart to the test. - It'd probably be around 150 beats per minute on average. - Same reading for many a glorious ride ` until one. - I had` I think it was about 213 beats a minute. - A crazy reading. - Ah, well, I knew there was either something badly wrong with me, or that the heart-rate monitor was broken. - Luckily, it was the monitor, but his heart still missed a beat. The monitor costs $170, and he'd only had it for four months. But no worries ` the US company Wahoo sent a replacement at no cost. A brand-new one ` in fact, three new ones in just 18 months, because of three fails. Number one... - So it lasted about four months before it just started giving these crazy readings. They sent me a really quick replacement. - Number two... - Within a few days of using the second heart-rate monitor, it was full of moisture. Plastic battery casing had kind of disintegrated. And once again, they just really quickly sent me another one. - And number three... - Just over a year, it stopped working. It started giving crazy readings again, and they just emailed me to say, 'What's your address?' And they sent me another heart-rate monitor, no questions asked. - Now, you might say, 'Great customer service,' but Ruairi would say... - It's terrible. People want products that last, that they can rely upon, and that will work well for a long time. They don't want to be sending them back, receiving new ones, sending them back, receiving new ones, and just collecting junk plastic. - And look at the claims made by Wahoo. - On the social responsibility page of Wahoo's website, it says that they want to treat people and the planet like they want to be treated. - The company even boasts of its partnership with an organisation that ensures waste is recycled. - Slightly hypocritical, to say the least, that they partner with a charity and they just keep sending someone device after device after device, and at no point have they tried to recover the various bits of pieces and plastic. - We put that to Wahoo, but it simply replied it was focused on customer service. - A new firmware update has solved some of the main issues we've seen from returns. - And as far as its environmental commitment... - Our customer service team will always advise customers to do the right thing, as, at present, there is no global solution for consumer electronics products. - It got Ruairi thinking. The case with his heart monitor could apply to so many appliances. Quality goods like a fridge are generally expected to last 10 years, which could mean maybe four replacements in your lifetime. Cheap goods? Well, you might need 20 times as many. - 20 times the plastic, 20 times the metal ` all of it probably going into landfills. - EWAN McGREGOR: Choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers. - But Kiwis love cheap ` it makes us cheerful. But the feeling, like the product, doesn't always last, so e-waste ` everything from fridges to phones ` piles up. And we are one of the worst offenders for this in the world. Yay (!) And to give you an idea of how bad, we're here at Eden Park, and to represent all the different types of e-waste that we chuck, we're using... (CLATTER) ...the humble toaster. So it's the equivalent of about 4000 toasters an hour, which is about 2.5 million toasters every month. And... I'm out of here. Because that's like 32 million toasters ` enough e-waste to fill this stadium every single year. And it's not just consumers chucking the cheap stuff when it stops working ` it's manufacturers too, as we exposed in this investigation with Consumer NZ. We loosened the wire in some food mixers ` an easy repair ` and inserted trackers, then took them back to where they were bought. The tracking showed the two cheap ones went straight to landfill. - They were just buried in a big hole in the ground. - The Warehouse told us it will keep improving, while Kmart's recently said it's starting a trial where goods can be returned. But it wouldn't tell us what would happen to them. In the same investigation, the same loose wire test was carried out with pricier models. One was recycled, which is something, but the other... came here to the Appliance Outlet in Tamaki Makaurau Auckland, where everyone really gets a bargain. We're back to see how it sells products that have been returned to stores. - Basically, anything we can take off the market that can be refurbished and put back into the public arena. - It's still a business, so has to make a profit, which isn't easy, as it has to pay for the returned products, plus... - We have to employ staff to refurbish it. We have to buy parts for the product, we have to warranty it as well, which all has cost. - But the benefits? - Yes, it keeps it out of landfill and it keeps the product going back into the market. - Consumer NZ would like to see more stores like this, because... - We'd have access to really good quality products that are durable because they're made to last and be refurbished and resold, and you'd get those at a much better price. - And the Appliance Outlet would love to do more business, but only with products that make it worth their while. - So much of it is a` It's a disposable product. It's cheaply made, cheaply produced in China. It's sold at a cheap price, and you can't refurbish product like that and still make money. (SOBBING) - Well, they'd have even more to cry about if giant TVs like this ended up in landfill. So why don't more companies make their products durable so that a second chance is worthwhile? - There's nothing that compels a manufacturer to make a product repairable. There's nothing even that compels them to do anything other than just throw their products straight into landfill. I mean, what the market has shown us over decades is that they're not going to do it by themselves, so they need a nudge. - How about a push? - They need something to incentivise them to actually go down this path, and legislation might be the answer to that. - So Consumer NZ wants Kiwis to try this. - The French introduced a repairability label a couple of years ago that actually encourages manufacturers to compete on repairability, so you can shop and see this product's more repairable than this product. You don't just compete on price any more ` you compete on repairability and durability. - The rating would be based on availability of a repair manual, availability and price of spare parts, ease of taking the item apart and life expectancy of the product. - And it relies on the idea that manufacturers are going to call each other out. - And, just like the energy and water ratings we have, it needs to be a legal requirement. - Without that, we're left with just the good companies that would do it, and I'd say the majority of companies probably wouldn't. - So, we've seen what happened with France and New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup ` imagine if we took the nation on in the game of repairability ` and won. We just need everyone on board. - I think it would be an absolute game-changer. I think just the idea that it's a really light-touch legislation that just allows, that just nudges manufacturers to compete on something other than going for the lowest price. - Of course, we don't know if any leaders would support the labels, but Consumer NZ hopes they do. And if you do... - We've got a petition live at the moment, so, yeah, I would go to consumer.org.nz and go and sign our petition for the repairability label. - OK, I better go, then. - (LAUGHS) Thank you. - I do like a good label everywhere, and I have trouble with good buys, so if I could keep a product and then get it fixed and bring it back into my life ` emotionally, it'd be better for me. - Just about changing our mindset. And hey, that link to that petition is on our Facebook page. - E haere ake nei ` coming up ` they say you can't choose your family, but are insurance companies choosing for us? - We cancelled everything to be by our family member's side, and then... Yeah. It's irrelevant where they're located. - Plus ` the changing face of sandwich bread. Is this the end of an era? - KAITLIN: What makes this sandwich a sandwich? - Kia ora. Nau mai hoki mai ` Welcome back. Now ` heading overseas for the summer holidays? Lucky duck? Then travel insurance is likely to be on your to-do list. - Yep. It is a good safety net, but as the family in our next story discovered, there may be something in the fine print you really need to know. Haydo has the story. - Many of us have done it ` reaching for the credit card, booking that holiday. - Jervis Bay rentals. - For Natalia Zuleta and her family of four, it was Jervis Bay, Australia. Cost around $10,000 to book, but really worth it. - It's got the whitest sand in the world, apparently. - Best thing was, Natalia's Westpac platinum Mastercard had free travel insurance. - Well, that's why I pay with my credit card. - Perfect. - One less thing to worry about. - Until... - It was April. Right? It was two days before we were due to leave. - That was when Natalia's world changed. - Yeah. They were sudden. She'd been taken to hospital and we didn't know what was going on. - It was her mother-in-law. - Life-threatening. Yeah, very serious. Yeah. The whole thing was extremely stressful. - They were left with one choice. - We decided that we had no other option but to cancel our holiday and to travel immediately to the UK to be by her side. - The Zuletas packed their bags and fled Tekapo for the UK. - They would be gone for months, and their trip would end with a funeral. Natalia was sure her $10,000 Australian holiday would be covered by Westpac's credit card travel insurance. - So this is everything I sent them. Not happy days, but claim goes in. I was pretty confident. - But her assurance in insurance was misplaced. - A few weeks later, they said that my claim had been denied. - At AIG, we are your ally from now to next. - AIG, who run Westpac's travel insurance, denied her claim because her late mother-in-law was not, under their definition, a relative. - And that was a clause on page 24 of their policy document, which obviously I hadn't read. - So... So, yeah. - Turns out insurance companies can redefine the words we thought we already knew. While you and I and the English dictionary may define a relative as a family member through blood or marriage, not AIG, Westpac Bank or a bunch of other insurers ` who say a relative is only a relative if they live in New Zealand or Australia, not further abroad. Uh-uh. - We cancelled everything to be by our family member's side, and then... Yeah, it's irrelevant where they're located. - Natalia was angry and determined. - I thought it was very unfair. I thought it was a totally irrelevant clause. It was cruel, unjust. - She complained to AIG and the Financial Services dispute service. Both denied her complaint. In fact, AIG said... - (READS) If you consider the scope of the policy is too restrictive, it is open to you to seek alternative insurance that better suits your circumstances. - Ouch. - Very much a dead end. - If you're travelling soon, you may want to check your insurance, because the big banks ` BNZ, ASB and Kiwibank ` all say a relative is only a family member if they live in New Zealand. In fact, ANZ is the only one of the big banks that will cover your cancelled holiday if you have to rush overseas to be at the bedside of a family member. Remember, we're talking about complimentary travel insurance that comes with your credit card. We asked AIG why in their world, a relative can only be family if they live in New Zealand or Australia. Here's their response in full. (BREEZY LOUNGE PIANO MUSIC) (GUITAR MUSIC RINGTONE) - A few days after we started asking questions, Natalia's phone perked up. - Oh, hi, Emma. How are you doing? - It was Westpac offering to help. - Um, great. That` That's... Yeah. Thank you. - What wasn't so great was they asked her to stay silent. - Um... no, that doesn't really sit right with me, to be honest. - Westpac wanted her to sign a non-disclosure agreement which would stop her from telling her story. - I said that no, I wasn't willing to do that, cos at the end of the day, it's all about transparency and accountability. - Westpac confirmed this, telling Fair Go: - In some cases, this may involve a confidentiality agreement. - So, while we were filming... - I just got an email from Emma. - ...an email arrived from Westpac. - (READS) To acknowledge the difficult service experience you had with one of our product suppliers, we would like to extend the amount of $10,000 in full and final settlement of this matter with Westpac. - Officially, Westpac said: - We encourage customers to carefully read the terms and conditions to understand what they're covered for. - Natalia could finally take her family on that holiday. - That is very good news, yes. It's a shame, though, it's taken this long and it took you guys to get involved in order to come to this. - But first, a trip to a closer beach. - Yeah, I'm just relieved now, really, that it's done and dusted. - Natalia says she's certain she knows what family means, regardless of where they live. - To me, family's family. - So if you're banking on your credit card for travel insurance, then go and check those T's and C's. Good advice. - Ooh, yes. E haere ake nei ` coming up ` is sandwich bread becoming extinct? - I freeze it and I keep it, and it's kind of precious. - Kia ora. Nau mai, hoki mai ` welcome back. Now, whether you're Marmite or, of course, Vegemite, ham and cheese, or maybe a lettuce and tomato kind of person, the humble sandwich has been a constant in this ever-changing world. - Ah yes ` but could the sarnie be under threat? Kaitlin hit the supermarkets to find out where all the sandwich bread has gone. (LIZZO'S 'PINK') - KAITLIN: Leonie's come prepared today ` and not just for those pesky punctures. - I always got some emergency gear, some water, snack... - The snacks matter. - You don't really want to be eating pies, you know? And then biking. - So she's packed a staple she can count on... a sandwich. - What makes this sandwich a sandwich? - Sandwich bread. - Hmm. - Not toast bread ` sandwich bread. - But it could be a dying bread, because the more Leonie shops, the less of it she's seeing on shelves. - Toast. And toast bread, and toast bread, and more toast bread. Yeah. Very, very few sandwich breads. - She's not wrong. We counted. Right, so when I looked between the major supermarkets, there were over 70 different sliced bread options to choose from, not including the fruity or gluten-free ones. Then, when focusing on the 13 different bread brands, only half of them actually sell sandwich bread in the first place. There are a couple of outliers, like two Very Thin loaves and four Super Thick, but the bulk of bread is toast. Take your pick from 55 different toast varieties. Take that off the shelves, and we're left with the crusts ` just nine loaves left labelled 'sandwich bread'. When we shopped at Leonie's local supermarket, there were a choice of these sandwich loaves. - They're all on offer, but I'm not a great fan of white bread. - And her favourite from Tip Top Bakery wasn't in stock. - It goes very quickly. It`It` It's gone if you don't` if you're not there by midday. - She's started a stockpile. - I freeze it and I keep it, and it's kind of precious. It's wholemeal sandwich. - She might have to buy a bigger freezer if it's phased out like her other favourite was a few years ago. RIP Nature's Fresh's wheatmeal sandwich. - And they said they were bringing it back in when they stopped making it, but they never did. - Goodman Fielder says it wasn't selling enough loaves for it to be commercially viable. Even Tip Top's one disappeared for a while last summer ` Leonie let the brand know what she thought about that. - (READS) Are you able to reassure me that this bread will be available after Christmas? - Tip Top Bakery explained they do a smaller range over that period to give their bakers a break. It promised to bring it back in January ` and it did. - I was very worried that they wouldn't. - And worried how that would affect consumer habits. - If there's only a little bit of bread selection there and it's not there half the time, then people are going to switch to the toast variety, because they will give up trying to look for and hunt for it. - But bread-makers say they're simply giving the people what they want. - Broadly, about 7 out of 10 loaves sold in New Zealand are the toast variety, and about two of those loaves would be sandwich. I've looked at data over the last five years, and it's stayed that same ratio. - Mark heads up George Weston Foods, the company behind the Burgen, Tip Top and Ploughmans brands. So would he reveal where his allegiance lies? - Do you go for toast or sandwich bread when making a sandwich? - Ah, you're asking for my secrets. I actually do go for toast. I think the big debate between toast and sandwich does come down to what you're using it for, and maybe there's just more versatility in toast ` you can either toast it or make a sandwich, while sandwich bread, really, it's only for sandwiches. - With that in mind, and an election looming, we polled the Napier electorate. - Toast bread. - Why? - I just like it cos it's thicker. There's a bit more substance to the sandwich. - Always toast. - Toast. - Toa` Emphatically toast. - Yes. - Like the bread itself, support for sandwich was thin. But there to be found... - I was actually looking last week for my kids to buy bread for the sandwich and there's not many options ` it's all` It says toast. And especially with the brown sandwich, there's nothing. - And so not to be accused of ignoring the minor parties... - What about you? - I buy gluten-free bread, so it's pretty much just one size. - The country's other major bread manufacturer, Goodman Fielder, told us it's often adjusting what it makes to fit the needs of consumers. - 'Decisions around product mix, 'including thin, sandwich, toast, and superthick, 'are based on these needs.' 'Our latest research shows that just 23% of loaf bread is consumed as fresh sandwiches.' - But in a cost-of-living crisis, every crumb counts. Most toast bread has 17 slices and two ends. A loaf of sandwich bread has 21 slices plus the crusts, which means you're getting two more sandwiches per bag. Is this also just about consumers spending more dollars? - Well` and that's up to the consumer. We don't charge any more for slicing it more than we do for slicing it less. - One thing they won't be choosing is Tip Top's wholemeal sandwich. Leonie now has some of the last loaves left in the country, because as of August, it's no longer being made. But Mark says that's made room on the shelf for something new come November. - I can't tell you precisely what it is, but it will be under the Ploughmans brand, and I think she might like to give it a go. - Does it sound like 'sandwich'? - It sounds delicious. - Whatever the change, Leonie's message remains... - There are people out there that really do enjoy a sandwich sandwich, not a toast sandwich. - Eh, sandwich bread. Not a fan. - Oh, really? - Overrated. It's too thin, it's too fragile, it's too skinny. There's no point. - Oh no, it has its place. I like the crusts, actually. - Wow. You think you know a person... - Yes, I know. All right, that's a wrap from us, but if you only caught part of the show, you can catch all of it, plus past episodes, on the Fair Go page on TVNZ+ whenever you want, because we're always here to help. - What about, like, potato chips down the middle and fold it over like a bread taco. - Ooh yeah. OK, that's all right. - Our programme's all about you at home, your consumer aches and pains, no matter what the size ` please get in touch. Remember, just jot down your phone number so we can give you a yell. - Yes. That's right. (LAUGHS) - Phone call. - We're on Facebook` - On the blower. - ...TikTok and Instagram. Go to our webpage ` tvnz.co.nz Email us: fairgo@tvnz.co.nz or write to us: PO Box 3819, Auckland 1140. - Thank you for watching ` until next week, may all your sandwiches be toast size. - No! No. - Po marie. - Po marie.