consumer

PSA: You might not need to pay that parking fine

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Pinged $65 for overstaying 10 minutes in a parking block? Put away your hard-earned cash and read this first. Hopefully, by now, I’ve already established myself at The Spinoff as the resident tightarse, determined to avoid all unfair and unnecessary punishments (see: oversize baggage charges). Today, I’m focusing my attention on a similarly evil institution … Read more

Online shopping soared at level three. So what have we actually been buying?

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Gaming consoles, exercise bikes, DVDs and paint – turns out what New Zealand is buying says a lot about what we’ve been doing in lockdown. Last week, I finally bought a TV. Nothing fancy, just your stock standard 30-inch telly to replace my cheap tablet that was starting to splutter to the end of its … Read more

Product recalls rarely work and it’s about time we did something about it

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Recalls typically result in fewer than half of affected products being returned, leaving plenty of dud toasters and dodgy kettles still in circulation. Consumer NZ’s Jessica Wilson proposes a couple ways we can change that.  Already this year, close to 80 household products have been recalled because of the safety risk they present to consumers. … Read more

The great Spinoff recall list: How many of these are your kids still using?

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In part two of The Spinoff’s great recall list, we look at various items targeted towards parents and children, such as toys, strollers, cots, carriers, rattles, bottles, and kids pyjamas. Below is a selection of recalled items we think are most relevant to consumers (part one looked at a selection of common household items). Of … Read more

The great Spinoff recall list: How many of these common household items do you have?

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From kettles and candles to laptops and lamps, hundreds of common household items have been recalled over the last few years. But chances are, you never even knew about it. In part one of The Spinoff’s great recall list, we look at various items in the heating, small appliance, electronics and homeware categories. Earlier this … Read more

There have been 24 heater recalls since 2010, and there’s a decent chance yours is on the list

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With up to 80% of faulty indoor electric heaters potentially still in use, is the recall system in need of a major shake-up?  UPDATE: As of June 2019, two more heaters have been recalled. An open flue space heater and an open flued gas log fireplace, both for producing potentially high levels of carbon monoxide. … Read more