Vacuum cleaners can be seriously damaged by any fine dust. Photo / Thinkstock
Q: A month ago, I had $61.95 left to pay to clear my GE Gem account. I paid this, thinking it would be the end of it. This month, I've been issued a statement saying I owe them $1 — for the written statement. Do I have to pay this?
— Jeremy, Whangarei
A: GE says this is something they're working on and they're letting you off the $1 charge in this case. A spokesperson says: "Active Gem Visa accounts generate a $1 paper statement fee if the cardholder has not elected to view their statements online. From last month, for customers making a payment to clear their account, the paper statement fee was automatically removed from the account. In the meantime, we are manually waiving this fee for these customers, as we have done for this customer. We recommend that all Gem Visa cardholders opt to receive their statements online to avoid any statement fees."
Q: I bought a vacuum cleaner from Harvey Norman and after two weeks it stopped working, so we took it back. They rang us two weeks later saying they would not replace it because the motor was damaged by sand. I have no idea where the sand came from and they told us that the warranty did not cover if the vacuum cleaner was damaged by sand.
— Sunita, Auckland
A: Harvey Norman tells me this is a common problem. A spokesman said customers need to read the instruction manual when they get their appliances because most people think that whatever they do with them should be okay. He said vacuum cleaners could be seriously damaged by any fine dust. This could be flour, concrete dust, plasterboard dust, sand or anything similar. Some models allow this damage to be fixed under warranty but a lot don't. He is keen to find a way to work with you to find a solution, though, and will be in touch.
