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Looking to woo that summer fling? Many of these can double as warm-weather date ideas.
The worst retailers for hoodwinking shoppers with false advertising have been revealed, with The Warehouse topping the list.
The Commerce Commission each business directory listing in the Philippines.
The breaches included advertising goods that were not in high supply, known as "bait advertising", and adverts that gave the impression a product was cheaper than it was.
But it was overstating the amount of goose and duck down feathers in one of its duvet brands that landed it in court. It pleaded guilty to several charges of misleading adverts and was fined more than $200,000 in 2009.
It's not the only trusted brand which has tried to pull the wool over shoppers' eyes.
Telecom had the second highest number of proven complaints over Fair Trade Act breaches in the past five years, followed by fellow telco Telstra Clear, then Australia-based supermarket owner Progressive Enterprises and electronics giant Dick Smith.
Subscribing customers to a premium text messaging service without their permission was among the complaints against Telecom; while Telstra-Clear was pinged for double dipping on GST. It charged customers GST for text-a-park services which already included GST.
Countdown supermarkets were hauled up for misleading advertising over beer discounts.
Dick Smith copped complaints for advertising "free shipping", then charging it anyway, and for falsely making out some products were exclusively available to Dick Smith.
Larger companies were more likely to spark complaints because of larger trade volumes. But their size means they should also know better, the commission's competition general manager Kate Morrison said.
"The fact one business is larger than another is no excuse for breaching the Fair Trading Act. These large businesses have the resources to invest in compliance programmes, and we expect them to do so."
The commission lodges and investigates complaints, and issues formal warnings and compliance advice where needed.
It can also take a complaint under the Fair Trade Act to the courts.
"When a business, large or small, is frequently coming to our attention, we will respond," Morrison said.
The investigations can cost thousands of dollars. The commission spent $66,674 investigating complaints against The Warehouse that went to court in 2009.
The Warehouse said it has since made efforts to improve its processes through quality control measures.
"As New Zealand's largest general merchandise retailer we output a high volume of customer communication daily, and despite a robust process, human error can occur from time to time," spokeswoman Gretchen Lowe said.
One in every two to three first-home buyers could be shut out of the housing market as the Reserve Bank forges ahead with controversial restrictions on home loans.
Banking sources say the central bank will announce new rules within the week that will rein in riskier mortgage lending to 12 per cent of new loans.
The changes will dramatically reduce the amount of high loan-to-value (LVR) loans that the banks are writing, making it much harder to get a mortgage with a deposit of less than 20 per cent.
In theory, the new regime could strip close to $2 billion out of the loan market in a year, equal to more than 4000 homes at average prices.
Prime Minister John Key's attempt to pressure the Reserve Bank to "carve out" an exemption for first-home buyers appears to have failed.
The sources said tensions between the parties had run high as governor Graeme Wheeler refused to water down the policy tool.
"My understanding is that all the efforts of Government to slow them down on the decision have not been successful," they said.
Labour's housing spokesman Phil Twyford said Key's "crocodile tears" were not good enough. "The very people that they claimed to be wanting to protect are the victims of this policy."
Mr Twyford said prices were spiralling out of the reach of first-home buyers.
Lending limits would prevent poorer families becoming homeowners.
"It advantages property investors and locks out first-home buyers," he said.
Bankers' Association chief executive Kirk Hope said the rules would have "perverse consequences" and lock buyers out of the market.
About 70 per cent of first-home buyers got their foot in the door with a deposit of less than 20 per cent, he said.
The Reserve Bank, which is committed to financial stability, is worried that as much as 30 per cent of the banks' new mortgage lending is high risk.
That is much higher than the historical average of roughly 20 per cent, and could leave home-owners in serious trouble if house prices fall suddenly.
Limits on LVRs were announced in the Budget as part of a commitment to housing affordability.
However, the policy may have backfired.
The new rules will leave the Government scrambling to find other ways to avoid a further squeeze on first-home buyers.
Those are expected to include boosting supply, through fast-tracked "greenfields" new developments, and allowing higher thresholds for access to Welcome Home Loans.
Ministers are also considering allowing those in KiwiSaver to withdraw more of their savings to use as a deposit.
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