Tonight ` Having the girls there was the best. The holiday that turned into a nightmare. The attack happened in the Hard Rock Hotel. Her travel insurance will cover the bills, right? Wrong. They've had me in all states on the phone ` angry, crying. Plus, those half-price offers ` are they really legit? The public has been misled, and what's happening, it just needs to be uncovered. And his broadband was at snail's pace. This is ridiculous. But what happened when he took on the big boys? This is not about the money; this is about what's right. Copyright Able 2015 Welcome to Fair Go. An overseas adventure is just one of those things young Kiwis love to do. The young woman in this next story did just that, until her holiday turned into a nightmare. And more than two years on, thanks to her insurance company, she is still reliving it. Here's Brodie. Combine the very best of friends and a trip of a lifetime. There was five of us that went on the trip, and we've always wanted to do it. We did LA and went to Coachella, the music festival. Was that amazing? Yeah. So, that was Route 66. Oh, awesome. Vegas, of course. Sarah and her besties travelled the States in May 2013. It was really amazing. We did heaps in the time we had. Yeah, it was amazing. Sarah was a student, so she had to save all her coin to create these memories. And she was smart, booking travel insurance with Allianz to protect herself. Little did she know that she'd desperately need their help. it was just a basic full cover, and it covered everything I needed. And the holiday was epic. It was absolutely insane. It was the time of my life, and having the girls there was the best. But in her last couple of days, she parted ways with the girls and spent a couple of nights in Vegas. It was there that Sarah's holiday took an horrific turn. She was brutally beaten. The attack happened in the Hard Rock Hotel, and I was taken by security, um, downstairs, where the ambulance bay was waiting for me, um, and then I was rushed into hospital. Out of respect for Sarah and for her safety, that's as much as we'll go into about the attack. Sarah's focus shifted on getting herself home. It must've been pretty scary. Yeah, it was scary, cos I was by myself, so me and the girls had parted. Um, and no one was there that I knew, and I knew get to LA, to fly out of LA to get home. Her trip home was a long, painful one. I didn't tell anyone when I got back here, so my family and friends were unaware, including my friends that I was with over in the States, um, and yeah, it was a relief to be home and to just recover. But the attack had taken its toll. I was definitely in shock for quite a long period of time, and it didn't really sink in what had happened, um, and then, of course, I had to go through the process of quickly letting my insurance company know that something did happen when I was away. A few weeks later, the hospital bills started to arrive. Was that for the ambulance? Yeah, so there's a ambulance medical response bill. It's not cheap. It certainly wasn't ` 988 US bucks. It's not cheap. It's an expensive ride to the hospital, isn't it? Yeah. Right. So with that and her $1500 hospital bill, she put in her insurance claim with Allianz, filled out all the relevant forms and was asked to pay $250 in excess. As far as I was aware, everything was paid and the claim was being processed, and I got all the right emails saying we've received it, it's being processed, we've got your payment. But if that were the case, well, she wouldn't be on our show, now, would she? And why is she on our show more than two and a half years after the attack? Cos she's still getting bills. And despite trying and trying and trying to sort it with her travel-insurance company, they have failed to get to the bottom of it. Every time I say why, like why are you doing this and why hasn't it been sorted, um, they just say they're looking into it or, you know, they'll get back to me. The time she's spent on it is staggering. Hours and hours. It would be weeks, in the end, after you call and call and email and... You know, I've tried everything. And in May she started hearing from a debt-collecting dude from Switzerland chasing her up for a bill from the same hospital for $1161. When I finally got up the nerve to kind of say, 'What are you doing, like, why are you calling me? 'I don't have any debts,'... Yeah. ...um, then he explained, and I realised it was quite serious. Yeah. Serious because two and a half years later, Sarah says Allianz has not allowed her to move on. That's the part that irritates me the most, cos they have my medical reports, they have the photos ` they have everything, and they still don't take it seriously. And I don't know how much more they need to see. They've had me in all states on the phone ` angry; crying; you know, everything. And it means so much to me and my, like, mental state that it should just be a simple fix. All Sarah wants is to completely forget about what happened. So I try and take the positive memories, but, um, it is difficult because you do have such a massive negative at the end of it, but you can't just throw it away. So we got in touch with Allianz, which is a big global company. We wanted to know what went so horribly wrong for Sarah. Bart said that at the time Sarah put her claim through, the bills were paid, and as far as Allianz were concerned, it was sorted. Regardless of what the bill is, Bart told me the company is treating the matter with urgency and will be apologising to Sarah and her family. Which hopefully means Sarah can put that awful incident behind her and remember that trip of a lifetime. And look, our huge thanks to Sarah for having the courage to tell us her story. So a good result that took way too long ` Allianz are paying that mystery bill. We hope that means the Swiss debt collector is off the case. Allianz are considering compensation too. Yes, and given what Sarah endured, we think it's entirely deserved. Now, did you have a nice Labour Weekend? I enjoyed some Bay of Plenty sunshine and a very cold swim, but how many of you were spending up large at Labour Weekend sales? Yeah, 30%, 40% off, even half price. Do you believe those discounts are genuine? This guy doesn't, not where he worked. Oh, of course they're gonna deny it and say that I'm a disgruntled employee. And fed up with slow broadband ` what happened when Daniel took on Goliath? This is not about the money; this is about what's right, and that's what I was there for. And we reveal our dumbest charge voted by you. Doesn't make sense, does it? Bloody fees, if you ask me. 1 Welcome back. Over the past nine weeks, we've been counting down to the dumbest charge as suggested by you. We've had sneaky extra ticket-booking costs, a silly address-change cost, a $2 email from a power company, a charge for not using your credit card. But this is what we judged the number-one dumbest fee, mostly because it infuriates so many of you. It's not a huge amount, but it's $1.50 that's had you crying out for some common sense. Dumbest charge ` customers being charged $1.50 to receive their Spark phone bill in the post. Nothing's changed except them making up this charge and just charging it. Doesn't make sense, does it? Bloody fees, if you ask me. Businesses have just got to remember that it is the people who use their services. We feel ripped off. I suppose I'm the dumb one for paying. We had complaints about a bunch of companies that've introduced the $1.50 paper or paying over the counter charge, but most of the complaints were aimed at Spark. So what did they have to say? To start with, Spark says if you only have a landline account with them, you don't get that $1.50 charge, so people who are less likely to have internet access don't get pinged. It's a digital world now, they say. these bills represent a genuine cost to business, and there's lots of flash ways to pay online or on your smartphone. Some of their competitors don't even offer the choice of a paper bill, but Spark wants to keep offering the choice as an optional extra. The thing you guys out there seem cross about is the cost to generate these bills has always been there, so why start charging for it now? Spark, you've got a bunch of loyal customers who feel a bit mistreated. For them, this isn't just a dumb charge; it's the dumbest. So that's it for this year, but keep 'em coming ` we don't think dumbness is disappearing any time soon. No, unfortunately not. Now, great sales over Labour Weekend ` Bike Barn's down to half price. Not a big deal? Well, we think it is, actually. They stopped saying half price after we questioned that in a story in May. We revealed the Commerce Commission's investigating those half-price claims, and since then, I've been told a great deal more about Bike Barn and its amazing half-price sales. It's back to half price storewide nationwide for Bike Barn, but should you, the public, believe that? Well, I think that they just have to be aware that the 50%-off sale may not be true. Meet Hamish Methven. He reckons Bike Barn pumps up the full price, the one you pay half of, so you feel you're getting a better deal than maybe you are. I think that the public has been, um, misled, and what's happening, it just needs to be uncovered. Hamish should know ` he was Bike Barn's South Island manager for two years. It's not half price. I've been in meetings where they work out the half-price sale, where they want to sit at half price and then just double it, so that when they're on sale, it's at half price. Hamish is among a quite startling number of sources inside and outside Bike Barn who've come forward since the story we did back in May. You need to know he took and won employment action against Bike Barn. Now, they're obviously gonna say that you're a disgruntled, bitter ex-employee with a chip on your shoulder. Oh, well, I'm not disgruntled. I've had a fantastic win in the Employment Court. It was actually the Employment Relations Authority, and he got $20,000 for unjustifiable dismissal. Three times, this says, his evidence was preferred to that of a Bike Barn senior manager. Here's another document sent to me be one of those Bike Barn sources I mentioned. That's seen by every salesperson in the company. It's a $50 staff incentive to sell a bike at full price. Did you ever sell a bike at full price? Oh, I never did, no. < Never? No. You've never sold a bike at full price? No, I never have, no. Why would you have to offer a $50 incentive? If a bike is somehow sold at full price, that would back up Bike Barn's half-price claim. You're allowed to give the same bike away or the value of the bike away in accessories as long as they were not on the same receipt. There's no written evidence for that. Oh, of course they're gonna deny it and say that I'm a disgruntled employee. So what other ammo can they throw? But hand on heart, you know that happened? Absolutely. I swear on the Bible. Back in May, we heard this. It was a great price, it was the sharpest price worldwide, but it wasn't half price. Canadian bike-enthusiast Jordan is also in an employment dispute with Bike Barn. Back in May, he showed us that bike RRPs, recommended retail prices, are way lower in Australia than at Bike Barn. They appear to be nowhere near realistic. Back then, Bike Barn told us Australia is a much bigger market, so more buying power; comparisons with Australia are pretty meaningless; but as we revealed in that story, the Commerce Commission is now investigating the half-price claims. I'm told the commission's investigation is hotting up, people are being hauled in for chats under a newish and so-far little-used power of compulsory interview. But surely, all this is all a bit of a laugh, as this Facebook shot suggests. If the public gets a great price, does it matter? I think they were getting a reasonable deal, but they weren't getting half price. Absolutely no, no way were they getting half price. Jasen Syms is yet another in dispute with Bike Barn. He used to run the Napier store. He too says the full price isn't genuine. Such an inflated price that it was embarrassing. I never ever remotely got close to selling a bike at full price. This security footage shows Bike Barn management arriving to take over the shop. It's quite horrible to watch it back, really. Things get very nasty. That's my big mate manhandling one out. I'm just on the phone to police, I think, at this point. He lost a lot of money. He'll probably go bankrupt. All that hard work gone. Horrific. Of course I'm disgruntled. I've lost me livelihood, and I've lost hundreds of thousands of dollars. But, I mean, the Commerce Commission are all over this like a rash, you know. And the truth will come out, and people, the public will see what's been happening. Hamish Methven is back on his bike. Unlike Jasen, his dispute with Bike Barn is over. And I think to be able to actually stand up and do the right thing now, it just gives you a little bit of peace for, you know, what you're involved with at the time. Bike Barn doesn't wish to talk about Hamish or the others we interviewed. They note that all three are or were in disputes, as we reported. But they disagree with Hamish's comments. They note a 1998 decision where the judge said it wasn't necessary to establish actual sales were made, but that goods were offered at the was price, the pre-sale price. Bike Barn say that during non-sale periods, bikes are offered at the full price. Individual stores have discretion to discount during that non-sale period, and they say that's above board. Commerce Commission advice to retailers is very clear... Bike Barn say they are co-operating with the commission and they can't say much in public till that's over. Which brings us to a recent Bike Barn private function we heard about. Awards were presented to the Commerce Commission and Fair Go. We think they are too offensive to detail at this time of night. Bike Barn says the awards were in poor taste and they apologise. Slow broadband driving you nuts? You can scream at your device in pointless fury... ..or you can take one of our biggest companies to the Disputes Tribunal, like Daniel did. There was poor-quality service being provided, so you shouldn't have to pay full price. Give us a chance to fix it first before you go to the Disputes Tribunal. And the ad awards are just around the corner ` must mean a Fair Go parody. There's no penguins around here. 1 Welcome back. We're always saying on Fair Go, if you can't something sorted, go to the Disputes Tribunal. The bloke in this next story did just that. He had a gripe with one of the big telcos about his broadband speeds and his bill. He took them to the tribunal, and the result was pretty interesting. Here's Hannah. Daniel van Kessel has a couple of outstandingly smart leather couches, very comfy. And he makes a very nice cup of tea. And yes, am stalling a little bit, because this story's about broadband speeds and stuff like that. OK, Daniel, go ahead with your story. I was connected with another provider, Snap, uh, and I happened to see that Spark were offering, um, a decent amount of broadband for about $20 less per month and switched to Telecom, did the signup. But pretty soon, Daniel was wanting to switch back. The internet was atrocious, like, half to a quarter of the speed of the previous provider. You know, and I just thought, 'This is ridiculous.' Nah. It was so frustrating. I just wanted a service that worked. Daniel switched back to Snap, and then got a Spark bill for five weeks' service, plus a 30-day notice period and a $99 disconnection fee. Daniel tried to argue with Spark that the service was so bad, he shouldn't have to pay. No matter what happened from any manager that I spoke to, it was basically, 'Our position has not changed ` you owe us this money, the services are justified.' Daniel then went to the TDR, the telecommunication disputes resolution service. Make a complaint now. That took a couple of months, and... The TDR adjudicator came back with no jurisdiction on line-speed issues. (SIGHS) What did you think of that? I was just gobsmacked. And the most fundamental part of internet is line speed, and they don't have a ruling on it. So it was off to the Disputes Tribunal. Kia ora, and welcome. Again, it was a couple of months' wait for the hearing. Apply online. Here we go. But this time, Daniel did get a result. The referee said... So Daniel got a third off the cost of his five weeks with Spark. It's an acknowledgement that there was poor-quality service being provided, so you shouldn't have to pay full price to begin with. And there was more ` under the CGA, if the failure of a service is of a substantial character, then the consumer can cancel the contract. I have found that Daniel was entitled to cancel the contract, he should not be liable for an early termination fee. And the notice period was also cut from 30 days to just two weeks. The total bill, you know, the invoice from Spark was $241, and I was left to pay, uh, $78 and a few cents. How'd you feel about that? Fantastic. This is not about the money; this is about what's right, and that's what I was there for. So... yeah. Wouldn't it have been better to have just sorted this out with Daniel before it got to the Disputes Tribunal? No, I think it's a principal thing. You know, give us a chance to fix it first before you go to Disputes Tribunal. Under the CGA, the service provider, Spark, should've been given the opportunity to investigate and try and fix the problem. That's why the referee awarded Spark a part-payment from Daniel. Daniel's saying, though, that when he was with Snap, his speeds were reasonable; when he went to Spark, they weren't, which suggests that the problem is with Spark. I can't comment on that, cos again, Daniel didn't give us a chance to check it out. All I can say is we don't have a whole lot of customers who are talking to us about low broadband speeds. < You don't? No. But when they do, uh, we can check it out, and in pretty much every instance, we will fix it. Slow speeds can be caused by problems both inside and outside your house. I mean, you've got your junction boxes, you've got your wiring, you got your cabling, you got your software, you got your modem ` listen to me, talking the talk ` anyway, you've also got the problem of lots of people trying to use devices at the same time. But if the problem actually is with your service provider, what then? We would have said, 'Look, you haven't had acceptable broadband for that five-week period, 'so you obviously shouldn't be paying all of that ` that's on us.' Would you have let him out of the contract with no penalties? We'll put our hand up if we don't get it right, and we would waive that early termination fee, uh, um, if, uh, the customer, um, had a bad experience, and we'd also waive the notice period so they could move on to another broadband provider without delay and without penalty. Well, so that's good news, isn't it, For other Spark customers who are having the same problems, but something else was bugging Daniel, which is that you don't know what your line speed will be like until you're connected. And as soon as you do that ` oop, you're in a contract now. It may take three or four months to determine that in fact your service is not capable of being at the speed that you want. That is not great for the consumer. > It's not. It's not. And you should be able to, um, at least assess the service first before, um, committing to a full year's plan, for example. If you are concerned about your line speeds, check out... A speed test, yep. speedtest.net is probably the most well known. OK, so we're waiting for that needle to move. Yours is quite good. So do some tests ` different days, different times. Screenshot those to show your service provider to see if they can fix it. Despite Daniel getting no joy from the telco resolution service, Paul reckons it's worth lodging a complaint. Normally, simply saying to your ISP or telco, 'I am now going to take this to the Dispute Resolution Service' will see them escalate that problem internally, and you will get a faster resolution. So at the very least, you should use that as a lever to try and get the best result. Paul used to work for Vodafone, so that's from the horse's mouth. And if it doesn't work... Off to the Disputes Tribunal, and, um, I would be writing letters to the minister or to your local MP as well, because this is ` as you say ` this is gonna become a bigger problem as we all get on to the ultra-fast broadband network, as we get much faster speeds and we become more reliant on the internet. I've been banging on for years about the TDR, the telecommunications disputes resolution service. It's free for consumers, its decisions are binding on the telco ` if you've got a problem and it's not being sorted, tell the telco you're taking it to the TDR. But as we've just seen, it can't rule on broadband speed issues unless the provider has marketed and sold those services with committed or minimum speeds. And Spark says it's too difficult to specify line speeds because there are just too many variables. Now, this website, tcf.org.nz has some useful info about what might be causing slow speeds inside and outside your house. Now, fast approaching, the Fair Go Best and Worst Ad Awards, a time where we also give our own slant on a current ad. And yep, this year ` no different. They walk like this. There's no penguins around here. Penguins live in Antarc-ria? The Antarctica? We have some fun. And we end up doing dancing. Again. That is the show tonight, but we will be on Facebook for the next half hour to answer your questions. Our programme ` all about your problems, your thoughts, we do love to hear from you. We're on Facebook, email us ` fairgo@tvnz.co.nz Write to us ` Private Bag 92038 Auckland 1142. Next week it's one of the highlights of the year ` the Kids Ad Awards. We've rolled out the red carpet this year. Get out, ya mongrel! And here come the judges. Pip Mayne from FCB, one of NZ's top ad agencies. And Tammy Davis. You might know him as Munter from Outrageous Fortune. They've watched the finalists; now the judges have to pick the top three and the winner. Cos I've been doing this for a couple of years now, this is definitely for me the best year. That's next week. Goodnight.