Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2023. - Tonight ` it's an issue no one wants to deal with. - Just exploding into life, right? I've never seen anything like it. It was almost like a geyser coming through. - (CHUCKLES) - It was pretty horrific. - Why is this couple being asked to take responsibility for the ongoing costs of a very public problem? - Oh, our heart just goes out to them. We really feel for anyone that's had to suffer overflows as a result of these extreme weather events. - And ` he gave her a wedding ring to last a lifetime, so will the jeweller stick to their commitment? - I don't want a refund ` I want them to just honour what I've bought. - Plus ` he's kept his SodaStream going for decades, so why is he now facing a breakup with his treasured machine? - Function over form; it's still functioning ` why get rid of it? (JAZZ MUSIC) - Tena koutou katoa. Welcome to the show. Rain, rain, more rain ` we've truly had enough of it this year, but it's looking like we've got plenty more to come. - Indeed. And that's creating all sorts of issues around the motu, like the rather disgusting problem our next couple found themselves facing. - It's one they'd like Watercare to step up and take full responsibility for. Garth has the story. (ALARM WAILS) - Auckland Anniversary weekend ` who can forget? The rain fell like a river. While the waters have subsided, anxieties remain high. - I can honestly tell you now that there's nights where I wake up in the middle of the night when I hear a bit of rain now. And they say one in a hundred years, but we've had one in a hundred years about five times so far this year. - Nicole and Aaron's trouble showed up here ` an overland flood into the Whau Creek, from right across their backyard in Blockhouse Bay. Then ` a second omen. - There we are ` more toilet paper and shit's coming up through our drain. Awesome. (!) Just exploding into life, right? I've never seen anything like it. It was almost like a geyser coming through ` it was pretty horrific, and, yeah, then to see all the other stuff come floating through with it, you know, the faecal matter, wasn't nice. - At least they could see that mess running away from the house. As night fell, the flooding from uphill was relentless. - The water was just flowing through the bedroom over there, just coming through, and, it was, like, get all the buckets out. We were just all in, weren't we? - I was scooping water until about 1 in the morning. - Exhausted, only then did the full horror hit them ` the stuff coming through the walls wasn't just storm water. A retaining wall was holding that overland flood at bay ` this was that blackwater, none of it theirs, backing up from the public sewer through the drains outside. And you couldn't smell anything at that point? - No, no. - And we were on hands and knees, we were scooping up the water and all that ` we didn't realise how bad it was until it dissipated a wee bit. - Yes. - And then we could see, if you like, you know, some little presents were left behind ` and, yeah, strips of toilet paper, and there was even female products and all that sorta stuff out there. So, yeah, it was at that stage we were, like, 'Oh my God. 'Time to disinfectant.' - Did anyone get sick from that? Yeah, the youngest boy did. - The youngest boy did ` he was sick, vomiting and diarrhoea, and he was in bed; he was sick for a couple of days. - Vomiting and diarrhoea wasn't the end of it. More heavy rain in February, more blackwater flooding ` another cleanup squad sent by Watercare, which owns, runs and charges for Auckland's water system. - This huge truck with a huge vacuum, and they vacuumed our back garden. Never seen that before. - Now in the midst of costly and disruptive flood repairs downstairs, the couple are over it. - We just want the poo to stop coming up our pipes, basically; that's it. We just want that. - Can you say, 'Poo'? - It's not our problem ` that's not ours. (BOTH CHUCKLE) - So Watercare, sort your... - ...poo out! (LAUGHS) - Sort your poop out, yeah. - We've even sent pictures to our Facebook chats with the neighbours up the back saying, 'Does this belong to you,' cos there's poo ended up on our back step that was there, and they've just cracked up laughing. You know, it's not funny for us, though. - Nicole bought the house she grew up in, the house her parents built. Is that you? Where are you in that one? - Yes, I'm on my dad's lap, in the purple bikini, yes. - That's you here? (CHUCKLES) - And that would have been about 1975. - Right here? - In this house, yes. - 50 years, no problems, until 18 months ago. Since then, another three big blackwater floods, with sewage surging from the public system on to their lawn, and down over the public path, and into this stream, that flows all the way to the Waitemata Harbour. So, how high did the water get down here? - So, yeah, it was mid-thigh. - Yeah, there was water everywhere. - Under siege, they've dug a moat, while Watercare has made an offer. This peg marks the spot. - A man came over and he hammered it in and said, 'We'll be back.' - Hasn't been back? - No one's been back, apart from the letters we've received. - Those letters lay out a short-term solution. Basically they'd be getting a fitting with a flap that lets things down the pipe but not back up. But there's a catch ` not on the flap; on the deal. - They won't install it unless we sign off to say that we'll take it as our own private asset, and we're not taking it as a private asset, because it needs to be maintained as well. We've been told by drainlayers that when you install one of these, it should be maintained regularly, and we don't wanna pay that cost, because it's not our sewerage coming up ` - Mm. - ...it's everyone else's. So we feel as though this is on... the onus is on Watercare to actually step up and own this. - Well, credit for fronting up. Fair Go is getting a tour of the place the waste should be going to with the guy in charge of running Auckland's water system from end to end and checking the bit around Nicole and Aaron. - The wastewater system, surprisingly enough, is actually operating as it's designed to do. There's no faults or failures in the system itself, but the root cause of the problem is there's excessive amounts of storm water and ground water entering into the sewerage system, and that's what's causing overflows in extreme wet weather conditions. - But it's not the couple's fault is it? - Absolutely not. - Their son got sick. He was off school for three days with diarrhoea and vomiting. - Our heart just goes out to them. We really feel for anyone that's had to suffer overflows as a result of these extreme weather events. - Watercare has been doing some detective work with the Auckland Council, and it's pointing the finger back uphill and at the rest of us too. - Take a look at where your downpipe goes. That's collecting the roof water from your gutter and popping it out. Where's it going? And make sure, please, it's not directed to a gully trap, because that's storm water entering the wastewater system ` most people probably aren't aware of the adverse impact it has; probably won't have any impact on your property, but it has huge impacts downstream. - That doesn't sound like a quick fix. That system is failing Nicole and Aaron. What about that valve and its upkeep? - We're more than happy to meet the installation costs, but the ongoing maintenance costs, we feel, is more appropriately met by the... by the recipient of that device. - Is it fair that they should have to spend more than the people up the hill to enjoy the same level of protection? - I guess that's what I'm indicating is that, uh, everyone has a role to play in remedying this. - Right now, he knows, $200 a year would sort this. But even though Watercare has already spent more than 10 times that much cleaning and disinfecting this property, the company is sticking to a principle that anything attached to a private drain can't be a public asset ` even something it puts there to solve a problem its public system can't handle. Hold that thought for a minute. - October 2022 that was put in. - October last year. - So this is nothing to do with the poo? No. - No, this is storm water. - So it's the council's, not Watercare's, for now. That new Three Waters thing may well change that. And that's not a private asset? - BOTH: No. - That's theirs? - BOTH: That's theirs. - And they can come and do stuff to it? - BOTH: Yes. Absolutely. - But they wanna put something over here, and that's gonna be yours? - Yes. - That you have to keep? - BOTH: Yeah. - And maintain. - Does that makes sense? - No. - Not at all. - Back to Watercare. - So, we're talking maybe several hundred dollars each inspection, and the inspection period's potentially annually or 18 months. - So why not just pick that up yourselves? - If Watercare was to co-ordinate all that work, there'd be a high burden of overhead for what is relatively a pretty minor cost, I think, that we're talking about. - It's not their fault. - The resolution to this issue requires all of us to do our part. - Back in Blockhouse Bay, small signs of action. In the 10 days since we started filming and asking questions, this path has been concreted to complete the storm-water runoff. But that blackwater risk still hangs over the family. They're on edge every time it rains or even looks like raining. This is a problem that will only get more common ` how we all deal with those big climate shocks that we've already had and the bigger ones that are yet to come. Do we say to the people who are on the front line, or at the bottom of the hill or the bottom of the heap, you have to pay extra to get the same level of service that we all enjoy ` and we call that you doing your bit? Or is it more equitable to spread the cost of that across the whole community, through an organisation, like Watercare, and say that's us doing our bit? Whatever you call it, the answers will say a lot about all of us. - Whoa. - A lot to think about, right? Watercare not budging, it seems, but they have agreed to meet with Nicole and Aaron later this week. And if you want to make sure you're not contributing to the problem, we've got an article on 1news.co.nz that explains just what to look out for. - And Auckland Council has told us if you do get flooded, then act like the water is contaminated with waste and get on to Watercare for the clean-up quick smart. - Yes. E haere ake nei, coming up ` remember this? - These are people's whole life savings. This could be our grandparents or parents. - We have more news on a multimillion-dollar scam. - Plus ` they bought a lifetime guarantee, so what went wrong? - In the terms and conditions, it doesn't say anything about it not being honoured in New Zealand. - And ` honk, honk ` no more busy with the fizzy; why this owner may have to part with his vintage SodaStream. - (BOTH LAUGH) - That doesn't sound like a SodaStream. - One of the senior staff behind the counter said, 'Oh, no, no, no ` 'they've stopped sending us the 30 litres.' - Kia ora, nau mai, hoki mai. Welcome back. A bit of an update for you now on a term-deposit scam we covered earlier in the year that cost people their life savings. Remember this? - One person's lost a million dollars and another $950,000. - How on earth does someone lose a million dollars? - Overnight ` it's a one-off payment, and the money's gone. - Well, turns out maybe not all of it ` police say by working closely with banks; they've recovered more than $600,000 for one of their victims. That is amazing. - That's fantastic. They've also arrested a 60-year-old man after raiding his house. Now, it's alleged that the man accepted those huge bank transfers from the victims and sent their money offshore. - He was in court last week charged two counts of money laundering. So if you've been scammed, speak up ` please don't suffer in silence. - Mm. And how great that some of that money has been retrieved! - Yeah. - Now from scams to something much more pleasant ` love. This next story is about a couple who made a lifetime guarantee ` with each other and for their rings. - And while their marriage is still going strong, there's been a problem with those rings. Alistar has the story. (JEWEL'S 'YOU WERE MEANT FOR ME') - They say when you know,... - We only dated for three months. - ...you just know. - And then I proposed to her. So many people asked me, 'Why so soon? 'That's not normal,' and I was, like, I just knew ` I knew it was her. - And so he put a ring on it. Mitchell found Crystal's first engagement ring from Michael Hill Jeweller. - It's a New Zealand brand; they're trusted, it's got a good reputation. - This one here. - And if getting engaged wasn't exciting enough, five months later, the couple moved to Canada for work. - Big move, crazy to some people, but seemed great to us. - And we saw the grizzly bear. - While in Canada, they started planning for the big day. - I realised Michael Hill Jeweller was in Canada. And we found some rings there ` well, Crystal found some rings which she was happy with, and that was good. - And as far as rings go... - I love it, and, you know, it's not too complicated or anything like that. - Because we had a two-year visa in Canada, we knew we'd be coming back, so I thought, 'Well, we're gonna get good service on the rings when we're back in New Zealand.' - By service, Mitchell means a warranty. Michael Hill has a 12-month jewellery limited warranty, which covers things like refunds, exchanges or repair of an item, if a customer is unsatisfied with the workmanship or quality of that item. It also offers a lifetime warranty on all diamonds $999 and over. But Mitchell and Crystal wanted extra protection ` piece of mind they'd be covered if anything happened to their rings. - We're still at an age where it's a big investment ` it's a big investment for anyone. - On top of their three rings, which came to about $2000, the couple also purchased lifetime professional care plans for each ring, worth NZ$360 in total. This covered parts and labour costs up to the value of the original purchase ` things like ring sizing, cleaning and stone tightening. At that time, in 2021, Michael Hill offered these warranties for a lifetime ` lifetime of the owner or the product. - So, we would understand a lifetime warranty to mean something that covers the product for its reasonable lifespan. - Jessica Walker from Consumer NZ. - So, in this case, a wedding ring, you would expect to last as long as the marriage itself. - One would hope, but there was one more important condition they needed to check. - Will the warranties be valid in New Zealand, cos that's really important for us ` we'll probably be going back to NZ next year. 'Yes,' she said, 'it will be,' and I double-checked. The next time we went back to actually purchase the rings, they confirmed again, 'Yeah, it will be valid in NZ.' - That was in Michael Hill in Canada. Last year they moved back home to New Zealand. - There we go. - Thank you. - Great ` nothing to worry about. Or was there? - She noticed a small little crack, very, very minor. So not in the diamond, but in the silver ring ` it was kind of on the underside of her finger. - This happened in Feb. They took it into their local Michael Hill, with all their warranty paperwork, but they were told... - Like, no, the plan, it's not valid here ` it's only valid in Canada. I was completely caught off-guard, cos I wasn't expecting that. - The reason why ` even more unexpected. - Tax reasons ` Canada's a different tax system, and therefore, the warranty of a lifetime care plan is not valid in New Zealand. - But does tax affect warranties? - We think this sounds like a jolly good excuse for not honouring the warranty. We can reasonably expect that there would be imitations between countries which might affect this warranty, but the fact that he asked the question and was told otherwise, we think that he's been misled, and so he's got a really good case to challenge this. - And he did. - In the terms and conditions, it doesn't say anything about it not being honoured in New Zealand. - Mitchell complained, and Michael Hill agreed to cover the cost of the $250 repair and resize the rings, but the problem still wasn't resolved; what about the lifetime warranties? - If I have future issues with the rings, I have nothing to fall back on. - Michael Hill offered to refund the care plans, but even if the couple used that money to purchase New Zealand lifetime warranties, they couldn't. - They said, 'No, cos we don't do them any more.' They've offered us a refund of our care plans, but they're not offering to honour the actual lifetime care plan. - It's true ` from April last year, Michael Hill stopped offering lifetime care plans, with only three- or 10-year plans now on offer. But Crystal and Mitchell had bought theirs well before that ` Fair Go wanted some answers and finally got the result the couple were really after. - And we are sorry that Mitchell did not have the great service experience that... - So, guys, Michael Hill has decided to come forward and honour all three of your lifetime warranties here in New Zealand. - Wow! - (CHUCKLES) - Lifetime warranties ` wow. I didn't... didn't expect it, to be honest. - Good news? - Fantastic news. Honestly, I don't think they were gonna do anything if it wasn't for Fair Go, so thank you. - At least now they can rest assured their rings will last as long as they need. - Oh, beautiful young couple, great rings, honeymoon period of the marriage. - Aw. I know. - What a time to be alive! - And look, a great result, Star, and confident about the marriage ` let's hope the rings last for many years to come. - E haere ake nei, coming up ` we're continuing our theme of lifelong commitment. Cos you are the epitome of loyal, aren't you? - (CHUCKLES) Yeah, 40-plus years, I guess, yeah. - Kia ora, nau mai, hoki mai. Welcome back. Now, it is the late 1970s in Aotearoa ` Muldoon is Prime Minister, Graham Mourie's the All Black Captain, and Hello Sailor's just recorded Blue Lady. - And the Walters family of Canterbury have just bought their new SodaStream ` a machine still going strong in 2023. - Mm-hm. But now that treasured machine might be made redundant before it's ready. Hado has the story. (WEEZER'S 'SAY IT AIN'T SO') - Come and hang at Scott Walter's place. - Tall glass be all right, Haydn? - The drink options are many and varied. - Haydn, there's sun tea or homemade lemonade. - I'll probably take both. Homemade syrups with a dash of SodaStream. Except lately, Scott's heard... nothing. Your one doesn't make the noise. - It doesn't fart. - (CHUCKLES) It does not. No gas. - Pakaru. - Feast your eyes on perhaps New Zealand's oldest SodaStream machine. - That 1970s orange. It's just fantastic. - Complete with the original glass bottles. Cos you are the epitome of loyal, aren't you? - (LAUGHS) Yeah, 40-plus years, I guess, yeah. - Even when the machine broke 10 years ago, Scott rebuilt it. - The top part's come out of a neighbour's machine. - Then recently his SodaStream started leaking, so Scott emailed the New Zealand agent. The reply... - READS: We don't have spare parts, and no, there are no authorised repairers. - No service agent means you can never get a SodaStream repaired, but Scott needed just two washers, so he pushed back ` that's disappointing and bad for the environment. Things like the sealing washer are definitely replaceable. Then SodaStream... - Accepted that they would send me a couple of washers. - Done. - I thought, 'Great. I'm all sorted now. 'I'm gonna go get my gas bottle refilled.' - Or not done ` at Mitre Ten, he could only find the bigger 60-litre bottles. Will they fit? - Don't think so. - So he went to New World. - One of the senior staff behind the counter said, 'Oh, no, no, no, 'they've stopped sending us the 30 litres. They are no more.' - Finished, gone-burger ` game over. - Then I discovered we were being forced to purchase a new machine. - Scott believed it was the end of the road for him and his vintage machine. - # Busy with the fizzy. # - No more busy with the fizzy. - Function over form ` it's still functioning; why get rid of it? - In the depths of a breakup, Scott made himself a drink and made a promise. - I'm not gonna buy another SodaStream machine if I can help it. - I'm Sheila from the SodaStream team. - Late last year, when SodaStream announced on their website they were ditching the 30-litre bottles,... - We're currently in the process of upgrading all our 30-litre gas cylinders to 60-litre gas cylinders. - ...they talked about the benefits. - This is a global initiative that saves you money and is friendlier on the environment. - And when we contacted them, they were quick to point out the 60-litre cylinder... - Is much lighter in weight ` providing our users with more gas in a single-refill cylinder, at a slightly better price per serve. - They also claim the vast majority of its machines are still usable. - It is our estimation that 95% of all machines are compatible with the 60L cylinder. We have had an active 30L to 60L refill cylinder upgrade programme, as well as extensive communication via our web and social platforms. - But what SodaStream's extensive communications to customers didn't tell people was... - For a non-vintage machine, we will offer the customer an upgrade path of 50% off their new machine. - That's not the only good news ` SodaStream told us they actually have a secret club for their vintage machines, complete with closed Facebook page. And... - We are happy to provide those customers with an ongoing supply at a subsidised cost, as we would like to keep these machines operating for as long as possible. - However, none of this information is on their website, YouTube channel or where you buy SodaStream bottles. SodaStream tells us it encouraged customers to contact them, which frankly is all too late for Scott, who wasn't offered any of this, so in the meantime has started seeing someone new. - Isn't this beautiful? - It's name is Philips. (HISSING) - He even likes its burp. (HISSING) - Much more cultured. - Awkwardly, SodaStream has now offered Scott two 30-litre bottles and a place in their vintage club. Will you chuck this out? - Love is never simple when there's three in the relationship. It's a long pause. - Yeah. - Three in the relationship ` always tricky. Stay with two. It's what I recommend, but what do I know? If you wanna be part of SodaStream's not-so-now-secret club, just Google up SodaStream New Zealand ` that's the words you need. You'll find them, flick them an email, and they'll hook you up with some 30-litre bottles. - The secret password. That made me very nostalgic, seeing that SodaStream machine. Right, that is it from us. But if you only caught part of the show, you can catch all of it on the Fair Go page on TVNZ+ whenever you want, because we are always here to help. - She is speaking the truth ` our programme is all about you, your consumer aches and pains. No matter if they're huge or teeny tiny, get in touch with us. We're right here. - We are. We're on Facebook, TikTok and Instagram. 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 for watching. Until next week. Can I make you a SodaStream? - Do not make the noise again. - Honk, honk. - (LAUGHS) - BOTH: Pomarie.