When Allan Smith’s lawnmower from The Warehouse packed up, he was relieved to see he simply needed a new fuel line fitted. But it took a long battle, and an intervention from Fair Go, to finally get it fixed.
‘I thought, oh well that’s an easy fix’: Watch more on this story on TVNZ+
It was less than two years ago that Wellington man Allan Smith made a trip to The Warehouse to invest in a brand new lawnmower. He chose a brand called KiwiGarden, feeling he’d like to support New Zealand business. For months, he used the mower to give him a lawn to be proud of, then one day, “I filled the mower up with fuel, and next thing, there was a puddle underneath it”.
Smith describes himself as a handyman, not an expert, but someone who can turn his hand to DIY around the home and garden. He saw that all he needed was a new fuel line because the one in place was damaged. So he high-tailed it down to his local repair guy to get a replacement. He had no luck, there was no replacement “because it’s flared at one end. It’s sort of quite specific to the mower”.
So he called the manufacturer, surprised to find this mower with a Kiwi-sounding name was produced by a company in Australia. Again, no luck. “They put me through to The Warehouse here in New Zealand.” And still no luck, he was told they had no spare parts at all. “They offered me a $50 store credit”.
Smith was not impressed, after all, New Zealand consumer law says it’s his right to get a replacement or repair if the product fails within its expected lifetime. He believes a lawnmower should last more than two years.
After a frustrating series of emails back and forth with the Big Red Shed, Smith turned to Fair Go. He told us he was fed up with not being able to mow his lawn, but also with the bigger picture. “I’ve now got a machine that doesn’t work and it’s just landfill and that seems such a shame. The machine itself works fine, bar this little part.”
He told Fair Go it actually blew his mind that machines like this could be sold without any way to repair a tiny problem.
Finally, after Fair Go communicated with The Warehouse, his luck turned. “Behold, they found a part, hidden under a couch maybe.”
The Warehouse sent a statement: “The Warehouse does work with repairers who fix mowers and have those extra parts. We didn’t give this customer the right information and we’re sorry they had that experience with us. We’ve been in touch and are getting their mower fixed, and we’re giving our team a refresher on repairs.”
Smith isn’t entirely convinced by the response and says that, at the very least, it shouldn’t have taken three months to get to this point. But back to that bigger picture. “What I want is for stores and manufacturers to stand by the machines that they make and to make them serviceable”.
His wish may soon come true. In August, a select committee will report back on the Consumer Guarantees (Right to Repair) Amendment Bill which is currently proceeding through Parliament. It requires manufacturers to “reasonably” ensure spare parts are available for the products they sell. It also requires suppliers to repair, rather than replace, a product if that’s the wish of the consumer.
In Smith’s view, this strengthening of consumer law is well overdue. While he’s been able to replace the degraded fuel line in his mower, he expects other products will fail in the future and hopes his call for repairs won’t require a three-month fight.
‘I thought, oh well that’s an easy fix’: Watch more on this story on TVNZ+.
