Home owner not happy with NZ supplier

When deciding to build your dream home or a retirement home for mama and papa, have you gone out with a shopping list of building products and decided that it is cheaper and easier to buy everything from overseas? You may wish to think again after you read about the recent experiences of Sela Apera.
Sela wanted to build a home for her mother and after comparing costs locally and in New Zealand, she settled on purchasing her building supplies from a well known NZ building supplier that specializes in the Pacific Islands market.
The deal seemed fine with wholesale rates plus freight and duty, the total of which was still 20% cheaper than locally purchased goods (but admitted she had not asked about local discounts). However, when the materials arrived, her builders discovered they were a very poor quality “C or D” grade but did what they could to ensure the structure was still sound (by cutting out all the unsound bits causing a lot of wastage).
Even in the yard in NZ, Sela said she would prefer top grade timber but was assured that there was little difference between A grade and B grade. Not only that but the material and plan was supposed to be for a gable roof line (inverted V shape) but turned out to be something entirely different. Building stopped while the plan was sent to an independent roof specialist who advised that the roof plan was for a mix of 3 different types of roof.
After complaining, the company assured her they would send the correct roof plan to be delivered on her arrival in Rarotonga but that was still wrong and caused further delays.
Other issues were the $8-10,000 of materials not actually ordered and when challenged, the company blandly stated that extra materials are always sent and initially refused to allow her to return the goods but Sela was firm and returned the goods.
In addition, the company also included materials in her container that did not belong to her but for which she had been charged freight and customs duties.
In front of her mother, the owner assured her everything would be sorted out and they would allow a reduction for the errors but instead they have charged her for the full amount without deductions. They are now suing her for the balance (in NZ).
Sela is a strong minded person and has a lawyer to defend the action but her real concern is that there are likely to be many other people with similar experiences but have no idea what to do about it. She urges people to come forward and tell their stories so she can include them in her case where she and her lawyer can act as a voice for such people. Her lawyer tells her that this would allow the court to see if there is pattern in the treatment of Pacific clients. The exposure and bad publicity may help to stamp out such predatory conduct or at least act as a warning to other consumers.
Local consumers may be able to rely on the Fair Trading Act 2008 (Cook Islands) with enforcement and legal remedies available against those who contravene the Act. For instance, under section 18: No person shall, in trade, engage in conduct that is liable to mislead the public as to the nature, manufacturing process, characteristics, suitability for a purpose, or quantity of goods.
Perhaps the Business and Trade Investment Board should follow this matter up an ensure that when such businesses trade in the Cook Islands, the consumer is protected.

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