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Source: ONE News -
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Reporter: Ali Mau
When we shop we have just a few seconds to choose between different
brands offering the same product. Manufacturers of food and other
everyday products use catchy claims to get our attention - but how
true are they and should we believe them?
Consumer advocate, former MP Sue Kedgely, gives her opinion on three products we chose at random - and checked with the manufacturers for their side of the story.
Watered Down
Reporter: Phil Vine
Whanganui truck driver Robert Rillstone's mighty MAN logging truck
was brought to its knees by a formidable enemy - H2O. When he
filled up at a Caltex diesel stop he claims the fuel was
contaminated with water. What followed was $55,000 worth of
repairs. An independent assessment of the fuel showed it has six
times the legal amount of water in the diesel. Chevron the
company which owns Caltex says that Robert took too long to report
the alleged contamination - three weeks - and because they say
there were no other complaints from that pump on that date it
refused Robert compensation.
Fair Go spoke to two other truckies in the area who experienced similiar problems. One of them was paid out for repairs by an oil company, the other wasn't. One in three new cars in New Zealand are diesel powered. Water in diesel is a very rare but it can result in tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage. Here are some tips to avoid it:
1/ Water tends to lurk at the bottom of tanks if you see a
tanker filling up a service station go to the next one
2/ Avoid older under used rural filling points where water may
accumulate
2/ Avoid filling up at contractors or farm diesel tanks which may
contain water
3/Keep your own tank topped up to avoid condensation forming
4/Always keep fuel receipts to prove where you got the fuel from in
case of a claim
5/Familiarise yourself with the water sensor light (if fitted) on
your dashboard
6/If you think your fuel is contaminated take vehicle to mechanic
immediately
7/Check whether your insurance allows claims for fuel
contamination
"No dealers" ... yeah right
Reporter: Gordon Harcourt
The Backpackers Car Market in central Auckland targets visitors to
New Zealand, like Israeli tourists Merav and Ori. Our hidden camera
recorded this: "In here we only let backpackers sell to
backpackers. We don't have dealers or locals."
We checked. About 40% of the cars were registered to
dealers.
Merav and Ori looked at a car and - as suggested by the Market - took it across the road for a mechanical check, to a garage called Autoworx. They paid about $5000. VTNZ failed it on a WOF inspection because of serious rust holes in the chassis.
When we started investigating we found some disturbing stuff. The car was registered to a company owned by a bloke called Goran Stojanovic. Autoworx, the garage that missed the rust, is also owned by Goran Stojanovic.
And we have found extensive connections between Mr Stojanovic
and Sam Howard-Williams who owns the Backpackers Car Market.
We've also got serious questions about a dealer selling at the
Market. We think he's a fake person, and we think Sam
Howard-Williams knows all about it.
Note: This story is only about Backpackers Car Market Auckland Ltd, and not about the Backpackers Car Market in Christchurch. It's only about Autoworx in East St, central Auckland, and not about any other business called Autoworx (or Auto Worx).
