Consumer NZ

The grocery report highlights a number of regulatory measures that could improve competition and lead to fairer pricing and greater choice for consumers. This includes focusing on the duopoly’s land banking practices, improving access to wholesale groceries and enhancing supplier relations. The Commission is working with the powers it has to clean up our broken grocery sector. Improvement in the grocery sector will be slow work and the Grocery Commissioner has been clear to emphasise this. We look forward to the outcome of this investigation but are concerned that ongoing errors at the checkout are in the hands of shoppers to report, rather than monitoring from the Commission. Read more: https://lnkd.in/g7aRz_n6

Unit prices are those smaller prices on the price tag that let you compare products per unit of measure – such as per 100g. Supermarkets must now show them in-store, including on items that are on special, but have another whole year before they have to show them online. We checked in with Foodstuffs – the owner of New World and Pak’nSave supermarkets – and Woolworths this week to see if they thought they’d meet the deadline. Foodstuffs said there had been extensive training across its stores to meet the requirements. “Compliance is a top priority for us and, while it’s a complex task with over 60,000 items on our shelves, we’re dedicated to ensuring everything is up to standard.” Woolworths said not only was it able to meet today’s deadline to show unit prices in-store, but it was on track to display unit prices online from September. Learn more about our supermarket campaign: https://lnkd.in/gyHS24gB

UV radiation from the sun or sunbeds causes 90% of all skin cancers. New Zealand has one of the highest skin cancer rates in the world, yet we're behind other countries in protecting people from harmful UV rays. Our main concerns are about the lack of adequate regulation of sunbeds, sunscreens, and other sun-protection products. We want better sun protection laws to protect consumers. We’d also like the government to consider options to make sunscreens more affordable. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gXB3pFde

New Zealanders across the country are doing it tough right now. Scammers are everywhere, it‘s hard to trust supermarket specials, and businesses are peddling products that can’t be repaired. We’re fighting hard for your rights. But we need your help to do more.  As an independent, non-profit charity, we rely on the generosity of our members and donors to help us advocate for all New Zealanders.  That’s why we’re aiming to raise $50,000 in the next 4 weeks. Please donate today: https://lnkd.in/dJg5MVeC

The latest eye-watering profits for power companies have been announced while we’re seeing a spike in the number of people worried about the cost of electricity. One in three New Zealanders place the cost of electricity in their top three financial concerns. Are you struggling with your power bills? Check our free power comparison service to see what you could save. The average saving for people who switched power providers on Powerswitch in June was a whopping $524 per year. It's free and takes just 5 minutes: https://lnkd.in/gUAkwSBm

Today, we were proud to present a petition on behalf of over 21,000 New Zealanders who want to see repairability labels on household appliances and electronic devices, so they can easily make informed purchasing decisions based on how long products will last and how repairable they are. Consumer NZ CEO Jon Duffy called on all Members of Parliament to recognise the urgent need for decisive legislative action to tackle the scale of our e-waste issue in his handover speech. Read more about our petition: https://lnkd.in/gc--MM2V

Our domestic airline market lacks competition. Barriers like high costs and Air New Zealand’s strong position prevent new airlines from entering. Unlike Australia, New Zealand isn’t addressing this issue. We’re concerned by the highly concentrated nature of our domestic air transport market, and we’re not convinced that consumers are getting the best deal. We believe a market study should be conducted to ensure that consumers are not paying more than what is fair. Read more: https://lnkd.in/g6vBZNWX

A delve into the Consumer NZ archive shows we used to have a lot of choice about where to do our weekly supermarket shop. Back in 2001, Auckland and Christchurch shoppers had the choice of eight supermarket chains. Hamilton and Dunedin had five chains and Wellington had six. So, how did our choice get so limited and what’s being done to increase competition in the supermarket sector? We look at the state of supermarkets. Read more: https://lnkd.in/geuXM6JU

Last week the government announced reforms to the benefit system which included a money management sanction for those on the Jobseeker allowance. The sanction means if a jobseeker doesn’t meet their obligations, half of their benefit will go onto a payment card that can only be used for a limited range of goods and services. We talked to people who bought goods using the payment card system for essential items and they told us the cards landed them with low-quality products. Read more: https://lnkd.in/g3ms5JUB

One in three people place power in their top three financial concerns. We heard from many people who are restricting their energy use, particularly using their heater, to keep their bills down. However, for a lot of people, it’s still not possible to keep up with the payments. If you’re having difficulties paying for the power you need to be warm and healthy - contact your electricity provider to let it know and ask about its consumer care policy. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gUkMQ7GE