- Tonight ` an engine failure... - I mean, I know I haven't put any petrol in my diesel truck. - ...and a diagnosis that just doesn't smell right. - The bottom line is, those results are not a smoking gun in any way shape or form. - Plus, a dream holiday scuppered by luggage limbo... - It's absolutely abysmal. - ...and we look back at Fair Go's evolution over nearly five decades. - We've unearthed some major rip-offs and some minor rip-offs. (LADDER CRASHES) www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2024 - Tena koutou katoa. Welcome to the show. It's something we've all feared at the pump ` mixing up petrol and diesel. The consequences for your car can be fatal. - But what if your car failure is blamed on a fuel mix-up ` a mix-up you know nothing about? Luckily, though, a good mystery is what gets Garth revved-up. - The joy of happy motoring is still pure for little Lincoln. He's trucking along on battery power, and the driveway is his highway, but it's a full-sized 2017 Ford Ranger that's missing from this carport, and that has left a bad smell for dad Dion and mum Lizzy. - Yeah, you just realise how much you need it when you don't have it. - Their truck has been off the road since January, still at the workshop... - It's a mystery. I mean, I know I haven't put any petrol in my diesel truck, no. - Let's rewind to that summer Sunday. They'd loaded the truck for a run to visit family in Waikato but got two streets from home. - Dion lost compression in the accelerator, and it just slowed down, and then black smoke started coming out of the back of the exhaust. We noticed that there was a noise` like, a ticking noise, so we quickly grabbed Lincoln out of the car given the smoke, turned the car off. The engine made a very loud knocking noise. - They couldn't understand ` their Ranger had 163,000 K's on the clock, but they'd had it serviced regularly. - We've never had any issues with our truck before; it's always been serviced on time. All services were through Ford... - Oh. - ...South Auckland Motors Ford, yeah. - They'd bought the truck from South Auckland Motors four years ago. Since then, they've put 45,000 K's on the clock. They told Lizzy, 'Too busy, can't take the truck right now.' So Lizzy brought the truck here, where it normally comes for its warrant of fitness. They worked on it for a couple of hours and then said, 'You might need a new engine.' That was just an initial diagnosis; more work needed to be done to determine the full scale of the problem. - That's why we went back to Ford, because, I think, anyone who buys a car... doesn't expect their car to blow up so soon. - South Auckland Motors said it would chip in $3000 of the $12,000 to $14,000 estimate out of goodwill. Lizzy thought they could do better. - We assumed that the truck was fit for its purpose. - South Auckland Motors did step forward again, only then did they pull the engine apart, by now, more than a month on from when it had stopped. They say using specialist equipment... - '...our technicians were able to definitively determine that the breakdown was in fact 'due to the failure of the high-pressure fuel pump and multiple injectors.' - The emails that we received were that, initially, there was a strong smell of petrol. Then the next email was, 'We can confirm there was a contamination of diesel with petrol,' and then, 'This is the bill, and this is the issue, and it's a result of something that you did.' - How much? - 5500. - For Lizzy, that just didn't pass the sniff test. - Just didn't make sense, given that the last fill was in Whangarei. I mean, I'm no fuel expert here, but I would think if you put a whole tank of the wrong petrol in your car, it would not make it back to Auckland. - But the workshop was adamant. - There was a clear contamination of the fuel in petrol in a sample at their branch... and so I requested a fuel sample report, and they said, 'We haven't done one.' - She went back over the trip, checked her memory and receipts ` no petrol there. She wanted proof. - They then decided to do a fuel test fuel report... and get that sent away. - She got... - A piece of paper with lots of numbers on it. An email attached to it said there was a 1.5 increase in 'hypercarbons' in the fuel ` which means nothing to me. - So we took a look at the report ourselves, and we thought we could smell something other than fuel. You've got to pay close attention to the language. You see, the lab report says that opinions and interpretations are outside the scope of their accreditation, nonetheless, they provided an explanatory comment in an email that says there could be up to 1.5% of lighter hydrocarbons other than diesel present in the sample. 'Could' is the word. The email that Lizzy then gets from the workshop says it confirms there's up to 1.5% lighter hydrocarbons present. So isn't that already a leap? We asked an expert. - From the chemistry point of view with the tests` test results that you showed me, I could not say that there was contamination. - Chemistry professor Richard Hartshorn had no problem with the lab or its methods for testing diesel and petrol. - The molecules are very similar. The only differences are the size, and therefore the boiling points of the molecules; and because they're complex mixtures, they have a range of boiling points, so they boil over a whole range ` and for petrol and diesel, that range will often overlap, depending on the samples that you've got. - Which might explain why diesel could still show that result, confirming nothing. - The bottom line is those results are not a smoking gun in any way, shape or form. - We wanted to be sure, so we asked the authorities. We've worked with Trading Standards before on Fair Go. This time, it wasn't weights and measures; it was petrol and diesel. They also looked at the test data Lizzy had been sent. - 'The report is consistent with data we would expect to see for diesel. 'In particular, the data for distillation is typical for automotive diesel sold 'at service stations across the country, including the figure of initial boiling point.' - We also talked to Gull about where Lizzy had filled up a week before the breakdown. - 'Gull has double-checked all processes and events at both Gull Kaitaia and Gull Whangarei 'and found nothing out of the ordinary has occurred 'that could contribute to a motor vehicle issue.' - And we went back to the first garage ` had they put petrol in the truck? - PHONE: Absolutely not, no. - Nor had they seen signs. - No, but it's not that easy to pick up petrol in a diesel. - South Auckland Motors was certain fuel contamination can cause fuel injectors to fail and it's team had smelled petrol. - I would not regard 'we can smell something' as being a particularly scientific test. - The company told us ` 'We accept the position that the testing was inconclusive with respect 'to the contamination levels required to cause the damage to the vehicle's fuel systems. 'We are continuing to undertake further investigation on the failed components, 'both to satisfy our own curiosity and to ensure we fully understand 'what has occurred to Lizzy's vehicle. 'Putting aside the multitude of technical and other details and our various positions, 'we agreed to extend our gesture of goodwill, and we have completed the repair at our cost.' Lizzy and Dion are up north at his grandfather's tangi. - Um, yeah, we're at my uncle's place. - They've had a call, with that good news. - I'm not sure what's happened there, but I mean, I'm happy with the outcome. I mean, we're rapt to get our truck back, and it'll be hopefully fully fixed and no further issues. - Big takeaway from this is, what, stick at it? - Yeah, stick at it, keep going. We need Fair Go to stick around. Fair Go definitely needs to stay around. I mean, I was working on this for four months, and Fair Go helped me solve this in four days. Thanks, Fair Go. - Yeah, thank you so much. - (LAUGHS) I'm just happy that my truck's fixed, and we finally get it back. - Aw, happy customers. That's what we like. - And good on the business for stepping in there and doing the right thing. - That's right. E haere ake nei, coming up ` a carefully planned bike trip that went truly off track... - This was my final trip to go to all those places that I hadn't been to. - ...and 47 years of Fair Go reporters. - This is fearless Fair Go reporter Kevin Milne. VOICEOVER: Get your free 'Consumer's Guide to Hearing Aids', New Zealand's only independent guide to all the latest models. Choose the right hearing aid for your lifestyle and budget. Call 0800 45 45 42 for your free copy. - Kia ora. Nau mai, hoki mai. Welcome back. Now, you may've heard those stories about how it's the unplanned things when you're travelling that really make the holiday. Well, this, it's not one of those stories. - Nope. It's about Roger's cycling holiday, which involved him and his wheels both going walkabout. Kaitlin geared up for this one. - There's only so far you can go without the gear... whether it's on the ice... (JAUNTY MUSIC) ...or in Roger's case, in the United Kingdom, on a bike ` his bike, to be precise. - I have done three previous trips to the UK, all on a bicycle... and this was my final trip to go to all those places that I hadn't been to. - Which placed him in a quite the pickle back in August, when he arrived in London to find his bicycle had not. - Well, I didn't cycle at all. - Before he flew out of Christchurch, Roger had packed what he needed for his trip into two boxes. - My great big box, which is this big, I put my bike. - Other important bits and bobs went in the small one. - Things like pedals, the axel from the front wheel. I also have a front basket because I like it, even though it's very sort of old-fashioned and feminine, but I like my basket. - Roger had booked through Air New Zealand but flew into the UK on a British Airways jet. So when his two boxes didn't show up, he went to airline's counter for help. - She said, 'Fill in this form,' gave me a pamphlet and, um... said, you know, cheerio. - What the pamphlet said changed everything for Roger ` - 'We return most bags within 72 hours,' - ...and... 'Update your baggage claim with the address you would like your bag delivered to.' - Roger had three months of travel mapped out ahead of him and had paid for all his accommodation. He couldn't hang around London forever, so after those 72 hours, he was on the move. - Right, well I'll give them four days' notice, because I'm going to York, and they've got four days to deliver them, and then they didn't turn up in York. - Roger says he gave British Airways plenty of warning about where his next stop would be. - The next one was Edinburgh, and they had five days. - At this point, all Roger had to show for his bike adventures was his helmet. - My trip became a walking and public transport trip. - It wasn't the same. - From Pitlochry through to Aviemore... there is largely off-road cycleway. I really wanted to do that, and I didn't, and I got a bus and I'm going along in the bus, and every now and then, I'm seeing the cycle way right down beside the road, and I'm thinking I should be on that and I'm not. - British Airways' pamphlet told Roger he could claim for essential items, So he recorded all of trips he had to pay for, which he would have been riding for free. - And then, I got a taxi ` here's a taxi ` a short distance to where my little road went off. Oh, there was one I didn't get a receipt cos I went on a school bus, so I gave them a donation, but I didn't get a receipt, so I won't be able to claim that back. - He could also rent sports equipment, but Roger was holding out hope. - And so I thought, 'Right, well, I'm going to get my bike in a week's time, 'so I won't even investigate hiring a bike.' - One month into his trip, Roger gave nearly two weeks' notice that he'd be staying at this hostel on the Isle of Skye, and the latest date his luggage could be delivered by. It didn't show up. Then in October, while still in Scotland, he got an email. - 'We're sending your bike to Christchurch,' - But no word on the other box. Then suddenly, a week later, it showed up at the hostel on the Isle of Skye almost three weeks after Roger had left and was now back in England. Who's choice was it to send one box in one direction and the other one in another. - British Airways. I had no say in it. - So he asked for the box to be sent back to Christchurch, but it wasn't. Meanwhile, he kept trying with his compensation claims. - 8th of October, Broddock to Broddock ` that's going round in a circle ` bus �7.20. - All up, a total of NZ$830. - Almost all of that was public transport; I bought very little else. - But British Airways wouldn't cover those costs, and it wasn't clear why, and they seemed to be forgetting to compensate something else. - The box has never been mentioned. - It's like it doesn't exist. - It doesn't exist, yeah. - Which meant Roger having to buy new parts in Christchurch to put his bike back together, another $382. - Oh, it's absolutely abysmal. - There was only one thing left to do ` go to Scotland. (BAGPIPES SKIRL) No, no. But we will talk to British Airways. And that's what prompted the airline to investigate Roger's case. A spokesperson came back with an apology for Roger and explained flight delays caused his luggage to 'misconnect', and because he was moving around the UK, redelivery was difficult. But finally, in March, they made it happen. - Eight days later, I've got my box. I spent four months trying to get my box from them, and then Kaitlin delivered it in eight days. Ah, my packets of dehydrated peas. That's my big mug, which, um... is a bit too big. - British Airways also paid him back every cent of his extra costs and offered a travel voucher worth around $1000. - From my point of view, I've had a 100% result. I've got my box back, I've got a definite promise that they'll reimburse my costs ` really, really good. I mean, it's just, you know, extraordinarily good. - Aw. - Well, I might've been a bit annoyed about that messing up my holiday. - (CHUCKLES) - But Roger, you're a better man. Good on you. - Yeah. Good on him. E haere ake nei, coming up ` we share some proud ` and maybe not so proud ` moments from the Fair Go Ad Awards. - RAPS: # Dialling up. It's killin' me. # Type in a web address, go off and make a cup of tea. - ALL: # K-k-k-k-k-k-kilo bytes. # K-k-k-k-k-k-kilo bytes. # K-k-k-k-k-k-kilo bytes. # - Kia ora. Nau mai, hoki mai. Welcome back. As you've probably heard, things are changing around here, with just three more weeks left before this version of Fair Go goes off air. - Well, to mark that transformation, we'll be celebrating highlights from the past 47 years, starting with a look at the programme's evolution over five decades. April 1977 and Fair Go launched on TV1. (APPLAUSE) Hosted by Brian Edwards, the show went where no New Zealand show had gone before... - We've unearthed some major rip-offs and some minor rip-offs. - ...going in to bat for the little guy, holding big business to account, tracking down dodgy dealers. - Can I have a word with you this time, please? - No, thanks. - Put the camera off. - You won't talk to us at all? - No. - A mixture of confrontation... (LADDER CRASHES) ...and comedy, it didn't take long for the programme to become one of the top-rating shows on New Zealand television. - Because we were naming names, the impact was amazing. Once Fair Go went to air, it just became an instant hit. - Kevin Milne joined the programme in the early-'80s... - This is fearless Fair Go reporter Kevin Milne. - ...and became a fixture for nearly three decades ` joined by some of the country's best-known television journalists. - Good evening to you, and welcome to another addition of Fair Go. (RETRO 'FAIR GO' THEME) - There were always changes... ...but some things stayed the same. The show covered big stories... - In those years ` 1980 and 1981 ` Toyota built 18,000 Corollas and Starlets. - ...and small ones... - Oh, it's a long, long way down. - ...but the viewers were always at the heart of it. It was the court of public opinion, and public opinion was what led to the first ad awards show in the mid-'80s... - Fantastic Flop Awards. - ...putting a spotlight on the country's favourite and least favourite ads. - Welcome to the wild West Coast and the wildest Fair Go Ad Awards ever. (APPLAUSE) - And it lowered the cheese factor since then, but it's still all about what you love and loathe. But wait. There's more. - The winner of the Fair Go Best Ad goes to... Specsavers. (CHUCKLES) (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) And with the ad awards, of course came the infamous spoofs created by the Fair Go team. So here's a look back at some of our faves. (BASSY HIP-HOP BEAT) - RAPS: # I'm so 'giga-poor'. I'm dialling up. It's killin' me. # Type in a web address, go off and make a cup of tea. - ALL: # K-k-k-k-k-k-kilo bytes. # K-k-k-k-k-k-kilo bytes. - # You townies skyping and you Instagram it. # We asked Robyn, but they're telling us to jam it. # You're talking streaming in the country. Aren't we phishing it? - ALL: Whoa! - # Am I 'giga-rich'? # I ain't no 'giga-naire' # Am I 'giga-rich'? - Gidday, sport. I'm Gary Toohey from Air New Zealand, Ansett Australia, Singapore Airlines, Brierley, Virgin Blue. (THE RONETTES 'BE MY BABY') - # The night we met, I knew I... # needed you so. # And if I had the chance, # I'd never let you go. # So won't you say you love me? # I'll make you so proud of me. # We'll make 'em... - # Cool Charm Kiss. Cool Charm Kiss. (COUNTRY HARMONICA MUSIC) - You going to the deerstalkers ball this year? - Hadn't planned on it. - Mrs McCain's making her stir-fried veggies. Apparently, they've been on telly. - Oh yeah. - Mrs McCain, eh? She makes a mean stir-fry. I've got two tickets. - Fair enough. See you there then. - Mrs McCain's ` a surprise in your mouth for over 125 years. (LAWNMOWER RUMBLES) (SENSUAL FUNK MUSIC) - So, are you here for the job too? (PHONE RINGS) - Me? Nah. I work here. I hire the people that answer the phones. (PHONE RINGS) Welcome to Inland Revenue. You've got the job. (CHUCKLES) - I will make you a Fair Go reporter! - # Sunday dreamers end up last. # Fixing holes in sunken past. # And please don't blame me for my lies just to keep him... # ...if my mama stares, step right in, look right through. # I beg you get to think the way I do... - Hey, guys. Having a good day? - # I've got you under my skin. # I've got you over my grin. # I've got you under my skin. # And I got you. # I, I got you under my... - How good are the makeup artists here at TVNZ, right? - (CHUCKLES) - And next week, we'll looking back at some of the big characters and stories of the past 47 years. - Right, that's it from us. But if you only caught part of the show, you can catch all of it plus past episodes on TVNZ+ whenever you want, because we're always here to help. - We're on Facebook, and you can email us ` fairgo@tvnz.co.nz ` or write to us ` PO Box 3819, Auckland 1140. - Thanks very much for watching. I'm just gonna book in the body painter for you for next week, Garth. Until then... - BOTH: ...po marie.