Getting The Clamp
Reporter: Gordon Harcourt
In a private carpark on Auckland's Dominion Road, two blokes in a white BMW sit and wait.
They're waiting for you to park up, then walk out of the carpark. If you do you get clamped, because hidden behind some rubbish bins in the carpark is a sign reading 'P30 While Shopping at 583 Dominion Road'. 583 Dominion Road is a group of food joints and an internet cafe.
It doesn't matter if you are just crossing the road to the money machine to get some cash for lunch in one of the cafes. They still clamp you.
Bernadette Pere parked up, then went to meet her client before taking her to lunch at one of the cafes in the shops. She got clamped before she made it to lunch, and she's not alone.
The blokes in the white BMW are from an outfit called NZ Wheel
Clamping. We think it's fair enough to keep the carpark for
the use of shoppers, but we think NZ Wheel Clamping is over
zealous.
Hallensteins update
Reporter: Phil Vine
We've received some heated responses to our item involving Hallensteins putting a photo of the sculpture of an Auckland artist on their T-shirts.
So far the clothing giant has won its legal case against John Radford because of a loophole in copyright law which doesn't protect artists with permanent work in public places.
Fair Go is putting its weight behind Mr Radford's efforts to gain compensation and acknowledgement from Hallensteins. We're also campaigning to change the law to protect artists.
There were a few who thought Hallensteins shouldn't have to compensate John, as it is public art already paid for.
Other viewers have called the retailer's actions:"disgusting", "despicable", "arrogant", "reprehensible", and "morally wrong." "Shame on you" you says one message "I was told to admit to my mistakes and face the consequences."
Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey says: "I completely cheer on John Radford in his indignant rage at seeing his art being commercialised without his permission or payment."
Craig Ritson a builder from the North Shore got one of the T shirts for Christmas from his mother in law. After seeing the programme he sent it back to the artist in disgust.
John Radford incinerated the T Shirt on a rooftop barbecue. He's calling on Fair Go viewers who might have the T shirts at home to send them in so he can destroy them.
We're still waiting on Hallensteins to get back to us with their
plans to compensate John Radford.
Gold rush
Reporter: Ruwani Perera
Jason Hooper wanted to treat his pregnant wife Dulcie to some
pampering before having their second child Ethan.
He came across Gold Book after a call from a telemarketer, checked
it out, and saw the booklet was filled with lots of beauty
treatments that Dulcie could redeem for free. Jason says he
was told that the books were limited in number and clients were
select.
The Gold Book is packed with thousands of dollars of giveaways. For $99 dollars, the gold book promises free treats like facials, dance lessons and hair cuts from well-known businesses in your local area.
However the Hoopers found that they couldn't redeem the coupons at local businesses due to the popularity of the voucher book scheme.
Businesses like Shannon Dowd's Zibido Hair have been inundated with Gold Book customers. She signed a contract with Gold Book to honour from one to 3,000 coupon books but says she was told by Gold Book sales staff that the actual number printed would be much lower, more like five hundred.
Shannon estimates her Gold Book experience has cost her around $20,000 in free treatments and hasn't been the promised marketing tool to increase her customer base. In fact, it's lead to lots of angry customers who can't redeem their coupons.
Gold Book say that in their experience there is always an initial surge in redeeming coupons and generally have had a hugely positive reaction. The say they haven't oversold the books; in fact selling 1,663 in Hamilton and 1,665 in Tauranga.
Local merchants in Hamilton and Tauranga believe Gold Book sales to be much more.
House crush update
Reporter: Erica Wood
Fair Go managed to get an interview with the housemoving company, Brittons, which East Cape couple, Chubby and Agnes Rewi, have been fighting for compensation for nearly three years after a crane crushed the top storey of their house. Paul Britton admits they've been procrastinating about getting a resolution sorted for the Rewis and have apologised to them. Brittons will be meeting with their insurance company QBE and their lawyers to discuss what they'll be doing for the Rewis.
IRD update
Reporter: Kevin Milne
Remember last week's story about getting an overloaded message when you call the student loan 0800 number at the IRD. We've continued to monitor that line. The good news is that we didn't get an overloaded message. But on Friday it did take 10 minutes for a human being to answer, on Monday it took 15 minutes and Wednesday 4 minutes. We'll continue monitoring the IRD's phones.
