* Tonight ` living with the consequences of climate change. We are safe standing out here, right? I hope so. She's trapped between a rock and a hard place. I was just living in fear of my life. Are you covered for nature's fury? I don't know what my life's about any more. I'm just stuck. And a digital dilemma. You can't actually call them to say, 'I want to stop my subscription.' What do you do when a company gets its hooks into your credit card and won't let go? It's kinda like they have no customer service at all. Plus ` skinny mirrors. I think I like myself better in this one. (LAUGHS) I think they need to put more skinny in it. I don't think I'd go back to a normal mirror. It's just so flattering. They make you look and feel good, but should shops be using them? It's a bit sneaky. It's not a true representation, so I think I'd be a bit disappointed. Kia ora. Welcome to the show. We lead tonight with climate change. Whether you believe in global warming or not, weather disasters are taking a huge toll on Kiwi homeowners. Fire. Flood. Nature's fury has cost Kiwi homeowners a fortune. I saw the muddy water coming through the back paddock, so we knew then that the little stream out the back couldn't cope. Insurance data shows storm-related claims have risen by more than 50% in the past three years. Really four seasons in one day sometimes. In 2017, insurers paid out more than $240 million. Probably take a couple of months for us to get her back up to what it was looking like. In 2016, it was just $42 million. And the damage that has been done is already there. New Zealand is now ranked a 'high hazard' country for natural disasters. And... Excuse the pun, but shit happens. ...if insurance payouts tell us anything,... it's that New Zealand homeowners have good cause to be concerned about climate change. What's really interesting is data from the world meteorological organisation shows we're going to be dealing with weather disasters for many, many years to come. And if you're thinking, 'I'm all right, Jack. I'm fully insured,' well, you might want to listen up. We are about to shed some light on a weather trap that could leave thousands of homeowners very vulnerable. Here's Hannah. Gosh, it's so dark, and when did they turn the electricity off? The following day after the evacuation. Mescal Bradey's house has been red-stickered. The water's off as well, isn't it? Yes, you can't use anything in the house. Mescal, her 91-year-old dad and her niece had to get out. So you can't even flush a loo in this house? No, you can't use the toilet. Because this house is simply too dangerous, that's why all the services are shut off. It just really brings it home that you can't live in this house. Looking around, it's really hard to see why. This was my dad's room. The house seems intact, and it is. So, this is my old bedroom. It's what's outside the house that's the problem. Shall we look outside? Yeah, sure. It's perfectly safe. We know it's safe. Unless there was a massive earthquake, it would be pretty safe. OK. So, all of this` So that's the problem up there? Up there is a large slip in the hillside above Mescal's house. Her boundary is at the very top, so she owns ` she's responsible for ` the whole shebang. The two existing slips and a larger area of unstable ground mean Mescal's house has been branded too dangerous to live in. It's basically a 124 notice, which means you're not allowed to occupy. Council's let us in today because there's been no substantial rain for a couple of days. Which means... we are safe standing out here, right? I hope so. (LAUGHS) Shall we go back inside? Yeah, maybe. What did that feel like, having your house red-stickered? I don't think there's any way to describe it. It's like` It's` It shatters your life. It will take massive earthworks to stabilise this hill and make Mescal's house safe, and now she's discovered that the insurance cover she thought she had... won't get her out of this mess. You feel like your life's destroyed because you can't see any financial way of digging yourself out of the hole. It started with the Kaikoura earthquake, which hit Mescal's Plimmerton home hard. So, first of all, like you, you notice that the dogs are acting a bit weird, and then there's a massive crash. And you've got these big boulders spilling out over your roof. I don't know how you describe that noise, but it's panic, terror. Everyone was safe, but there was some damage inside. We had to have that boarded up because the rocks all came over and into the skylight. Oh, there. After the debris was cleared away, the house seemed pretty much OK. Because we had the retaining wall built, I didn't think that it would cave in. I was quite confident that it would be safe. Then came the storms of August last year. Mescal came home to find a huge slip had filed the backyard and deck with rubble, rocks and plants. Pretty frightening? It was. It was extremely, cos we knew then that this was really serious. And she could see that more slips were very likely. I was just living in fear of my life. She called council for help. I knew that the danger was real. It wasn't just me. It was real. Mescal and her family were told to evacuate. They had about five hours to get as much gear as they could out of the house then it was red-stickered. It's not actually a red sticker at all. No. It means you're not allowed to occupy the premises any more. Mescal says that since leaving her house, she's felt that getting all the help she needs is a bit like pushing that landslide back up that hill. I have no idea. I don't know what my life's about any more. I'm just stuck. EQC had paid a total of $126,000 for the two landslips, repairing damage to the house and land, but they only cover land that's within 8 meters of a property. Anything beyond that boundary isn't covered. The cost of stabilising the land is massive. I've only got estimates. But one's 200 to 250, and the other one's 200 to about 500, and the other ones are up around a million. Mescal then contacted her insurer, Tower, but their response came as a shock. It just said that, basically, that it was the land that needed to be fixed, and so the house isn't damaged so they` There is no claim is basically what they said. I think it's gonna be a very hard thing for people to comprehend, that your house` You can't live in it. Yes. I mean, people think that you've got insurance and that you're covered, but it seems that that's not the truth at all. With storms and weather bombs and landslips happening all around the country, we wanted to know if any insurance policy would cover homeowners in Mescal's situation. The answer ` a blunt no. House insurance covers you for damage to your house and other buildings that are on your property. It doesn't cover you for land. No private insurers anywhere in the world cover land damage. Why? Because landslips are tricky beasts. They could actually start hundreds of meters away from your house, so... It's very, very difficult to understand how the risk to land can be managed and underwritten by insurers. That's why no one in the world does that. What's so difficult for Mescal to understand is that her house, uninhabitable but undamaged, isn't covered. Because? The insurance is paying for a loss of material damage to your house. If there is no material damage, then the insurance simply doesn't respond. To add further misery, Tower Insurance have confirmed that Mescal's house and contents policies won't cover the cost of off-site storage of her contents... This is where you're keeping all your storage? ...and don't include cover for temporary accommodation. It's pretty rough for anyone caught in this situation. Yes, we certainly do feel sorry for those people. But our advice is to look at what your insurance policy does and doesn't cover you for. That's little comfort for Mescal, who when she bought her little house with the amazing views of the sea, had no idea that the hill behind it was potentially so dangerous and so expensive to fix. Her message is to everyone who owns a slip-prone property ` pray that you don't have a major landslide like hers. You could be sitting where I am today, and that's stuck, you know, with looking at maybe 500 or a million dollars to get back in your house. Just` yeah, you're just trapped. Yeah. I got a solution ` large stick of dynamite, gravity. It works. I'm sure you're not the only one to think that, but no. Although it is an utterly ludicrous situation, because if a huge landslip came down and wiped out Mescal's house, she'd be covered. But she's not covered to do the earthworks, which could and would prevent another landslip. Makes no sense. But, yowza, also, a million dollars is a lot of money. So if anyone has a good idea which doesn't involve a stick of dynamite, then please let us know. Yes, right. Coming up after the break ` what do you do when an international giant turns a deaf ear to your troubles? You can't actually call them to say, 'I wanna stop my subscription.' All she wanted was to pull the plug on her Adobe software. But the software giant has taken a hard line over this refund? It's kinda like they have no customer service. And ` we've got the skinny on skinny mirrors. I think I like myself better in this one. (LAUGHS) They make you feel good, but is it OK for retailers to use them to boost profits? It's not a true representation, so I think I'd be a bit disappointed. * Welcome back. Remember the days ` those good old days ` when you could just pick up a phone and complain to a real-life person if you had a problem? Oh, yes. Sadly, real-life people are getting harder and harder to find, especially when you are dealing with huge international software giants. Here's Garth. Have a listen to Cheshire Grimm. # Stomach churns. It makes me sick. Grimm like the fairy tales, and 'Cheshire' like the cat. And this is Kat, and this is Kat's tale. It's more cautionary than fairy. It's about struggling to be heard. I could've yelled down the phone, for sure. If I could have actually got in contact with them. 'Them' is the massive multinational Kat has been chasing for a legitimate refund ` Adobe Systems Incorporated. But how can she ask for her money back when she just can't seem to reach them? They're literally impossible to contact, to say 'I wanna stop my subscription.' When Kat isn't making some noise, she's expressing herself in the visual arts. Last year, she was studying illustration. You basically can't be a designer or an illustrator or do anything in the creative industries without Adobe Software. If you're not trained on Adobe software, you're basically unhireable. You've gotta be able to use it. Adobe doesn't sell that software outright. You get a subscription and pay in instalments, like leasing a car instead of buying it. The process was just so easy. Bam, bam, bam. Put in your credit card details, click the button, you're subscribed now. Easy in. But as you'll see, not so easy out for Kat. Yeah, well, I was fuming because I couldn't even download the software on to the computer I was using at the time, so I'd just lost $55 out of my account immediately, so I was just, yeah, really hoping to get that back straight away. Cos it's actually a lot of money when you live alone, raising two young kids. When $55 disappears out of your account, when you might have been counting on that to go take the kids and do something or get some groceries or whatever, and then, yeah, it's pretty debilitating. There was hope, something Kat didn't know yet. Adobe's terms for her plan include a 14-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked. She just had to click a button. Either the button wasn't there or she couldn't find it. So she tried live chat with Adobe. They gave me the impression I'd be better off if I didn't cancel. This was the live chat advice ` In Kat's case,... it's not correct. But it put her off. So I didn't push until I noticed that it had come out of my account month after month after month. Kat was now out $165. Time to act, but these live chat session aren't snappy. Kat's first had taken 22 minutes while she waited for each line of the response to appear and offer that incorrect advice about cancellation fees. When she tried again another time, there was simply no response, even when she waited and waited. So Kat hit the phone. Please hold, and we will be with you shortly. She never got a word in with Adobe. (DIAL TONE BEEPS) I've tried calling countless times on three different phone numbers, which are all basically international. One number she tried, there wasn't even an automated message. It just rang and then rang off. Very, very bizarre. It's kinda like they have no customer service at all. Adobe's worth $150 billion. It employs nearly 18,000 people worldwide, so why has Kat found it so hard to reach a human at Adobe when she wants to cancel? Really, how hard can it be? (DIAL TONE) We're calling Adobe's PR hotline. Record your message. (LINE DISCONNECTS) Just disconnected. We didn't give up, and we thought we'd got through. This is the answering service for Adobe public relations. How may I help you? Yeah, hi... Dunno why they call it that. Can they give you answers? No, I cannot. I can take a message if you'd like. I left that message and emailed their head of PR and phoned him and phoned him again. They are pretty busy. They've just made a big announcement at Adobe that they sold USD 2 billion worth of stuff in the first three months of the year. Finally an answer, short and to the point ` 'Detailed instructions on how to return, cancel or exchange an Adobe order can be found here,' it says. Let's have a look. '404. Page not found.' That's like the internet's version of the TV Kiwi ` 'We're having technical problems.' It's no help. But it tells me a quite lot. They fixed the link when we pointed it out. Kat has her fingers crossed waiting for her refund and says she's no longer lost in a cycle of perpetual frustration. Which sounds like inspiration for the next tune. So, as Garth said, 18,000 employees and no one picks up the phone. That's like 10,000 spoons and all you need is a knife. (CHUCKLES) If I quote Alanis Morissette, isn't that ironic? It is. Right, coming up after the break ` we all love to look and feel good, but are skinny mirrors a bad reflection on retailers? It's much more slimming. There's no denying skinny mirrors can boost your confidence. But are retailers also using them to boost profits? It's not a true representation, so I think I'd be a bit disappointed. Yep, we've got the skinny on 'skinny' mirrors Welcome back. Retailers exist to take your money. You walk in, you spend, you walk out with a bag and everyone is happy. It is a beautiful thing, but are you being manipulated, subtly seduced into spending more of your hard-earned cash than you planned? There are many tricks to the retailing trade, including 'flattering' or 'skinny' mirrors, but are they a deceptive step too far? (RELAXED MUSIC) The sun might be shining and beach time calling, but it turns out no matter what the weather, Aucklanders can't resist the shops. So we headed to Auckland's mega mall of Sylvia Park to ask our latest round of Cool or Creepy questions. This week ` flattering mirrors in the changing room of a clothes store. Is that cool or creepy? Oh, that's absolutely fine! Yes, that is cool. Unflattering mirrors not so fine! Yeah. (LAUGHS) Yeah, I think it's a bit creepy. (LAUGHS) Yep, it's creepy. I haven't come across one of those yet. So-so. Where do you find those? (LAUGHS) I don't think I've ever found one like that. So you're OK with it? Yeah. What you try at the store, it looks really different when you go home. Cool. (LAUGHS) Yeah. Cool. Have you noticed that in places? You look in your reflection, and something seems off, you know, you can kinda tell they've done something and doesn't really make you want to buy it any more. You choose that one cos I don't stand in front of mirrors very often. Say cool. You'd say cool. Oh, would you? Right, OK. Do they exist? If they showed you skinny, yeah. (LAUGHS) Flattering. We like them to be flattering. (LAUGHS) Can I just say for all men throughout New Zealand, 'What?' Oh, come on. Is that a thing? Of course. I love a skinny mirror. I have to say I'm all good with a skinny mirror, but, you know, they probably do make you part with a little bit more cash than you'd intended to. I'm still saying 'what?' They're news to me, and I struggle to believe that Kiwis would allow themselves to be so easily manipulated. So, they say a camera adds 10 pounds, but what about a mirror that makes you skinnier? I don't know about that. Is that a thing? Once we get out of these doors, we're gonna see if it's a thing. Revolving doors ` big in the 80's. OK, let's find out. Here we go. We have mirrors, two of them, two cameramen too, one consumer behaviour expert. I look long and lean. And... Hadyn from Fair Go. How's it going? Oh, no, you'd be great on TV. Do you want to come and help us with a quick experiment? ...one question. We have got over here two mirrors. Yeah. You just have to look at each mirror... and just tell me which one you like the best. One mirror is regular, standard. Seems pretty normal. Makes me look a bit short. The other is bent ever so slightly to make people look skinnier. I like it, yeah. Taller. Yeah, taller. But not any kilos. This is a skinny mirror. Skinny mirror, OK. It's a skinny mirror. It works for me, yeah. It's hard to show on camera,... It's a bit sneaky. ...but it works. Normal mirror. Skinny mirror. I think I like myself better in this one. (LAUGHS) Think they need to put more skinny in it. I reckon this one's probably a bit more realistic. Emma liked it, so did Sam. Much more slimming. Normal mirror. Skinny mirror. This is my one. This skinny mirror is Harriet Fisher's. Yeah, that one's way nicer. She bought it by accident. I went to the Warehouse to get a mirror, and I saw the only long one that appeared to be available and had a look in it and thought, 'I look good in it.' How did you find out it was skinny? I could just tell. I know what I look like in a normal mirror. She took it home anyway. I don't think I'd go back to a normal mirror. It's just so flattering. Brioche got it not first time. Yeah, this is more clean. But second. Yeah, I look more slim. Demetah made an instant discovery. Is that what they use in the changing rooms? You got it. That's key. It's how I like to feel, right? A skinny mirror is no accident. Dr Sommer Kapitan is a leading academic in consumer behaviour at AUT. They are a thing in some places. She says skinny mirrors are prevalent in clothes stores. The idea is that you, as the retailer, are trying to design a fitting room that inspires people to want to buy, and if you can angle a mirror a certain way or set it up in such a way to make you seem more flattering as a consumer. So in that way, there are such things as skinny mirrors. We already want the mirror to confirm what we see so it pushes us over the edge. The only problem is when you walk outside and it looks or feels differently, right. The Skinny Mirror design offers a subtle, believable slimming reflection... American woman Belinda Jasmine started skinnymirror.com She estimated each skinny mirror could bring in nearly $150,000 more sales each year based on a shop selling an extra item a day. It's actually not about making people look good; it's about making them feel good. Unfortunately, investors on the Shark Tank reality show did not like it. I will not be part of this sham, cos that's what it is. OK, that's fine. You can smile all you want, but the truth is you are lying to people. I'm out, but I also forbid any other Shark in investing in this. Belinda no longer sells skinny mirrors. Pretty deceiving. Some felt a bit cheated by a skinny mirror in a shop. Clothes stores always gonna try and sell you clothes. They use a lot of ways to do that. Mirrors are just one of them. It's not a true representation, so I think I would be a bit disappointed. Very true. But I'd like to think I'm a bit wiser and realize there's something not quite right here. So next time you're shopping, take a really honest look at yourself. Oh, no, let's go here. I like this one. I really like this guy over here. As for Harriet... I would like long legs, and that's what this mirror gives me, so it's great. She wants her skinny mirror back when we're finished. It's mine. You can't have it. She'll get it. Nice to find it on a street corner. As soon as Fluffy is done look at herself. She looks just as gorgeous in both of them. Wow, I believe I am wrong. They are a thing ` skinny mirrors. They are a good thing. Yes. Yes. That mirror was just slightly concave, wasn't it? That's how it got that effect. But most of the time it's really quite simple. A mirror that is tilted even slightly forward will make you look shorter and wider. And a mirror that's tilted toward the back will make you look taller and leaner. So, that's the show, but we're always here to help. Obviously. Our programme is all about your grips, your grumbles, pet peeves, so please do contact us. We're on Facebook ` can you believe it ` or you can email us ` fairgo@tvnz.co.nz or you can write to us ` I dare you ` Private Bag 92038 in Auckland. The post code is 1142. Thanks for watching. Until next week, pomarie.