Wednesday, 06 December 2023
KaitaiaWhangareiDargavilleAucklandThamesTaurangaHamiltonWhakataneRotoruaTokoroaTe KuitiTaumarunuiTaupoGisborneNew PlymouthNapierHastingsDannevirkeWhanganuiPalmerston NorthLevinParaparaumuMastertonWellingtonMotuekaNelsonBlenheimWestportReeftonKaikouraGreymouthHokitikaChristchurchAshburtonTimaruWanakaOamaruQueenstownDunedinGoreInvercargill
NZ HeraldThe Northern AdvocateThe Northland AgeThe AucklanderWaikato HeraldBay Of Plenty TimesRotorua Daily PostHawke's Bay TodayWhanganui ChronicleThe Stratford PressManawatu GuardianKapiti NewsHorowhenua ChronicleTe Awamutu CourierVivaEat WellOneRoofDRIVEN Car GuideThe CountryPhoto SalesiHeart RadioRestaurant Hub
Voyager 2023 media awards
Subscribe

Advertisement

Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Local Focus: Faceless Facebook difficult to contact for locked out local business

Georgie Ormond
By
Georgie Ormond
4 May, 2020 12:56 AM3 mins to read
Saveshare

Share this article

facebookcopy linktwitterlinkedinredditemail
They sold masks at no profit but Facebook shut them down. Made with funding from NZ On Air.
GOLOCAL

Facebook is a lifeline for a lot of small businesses. But Whanganui clothing manufacturers Mindzye Fashions is finding out just how precarious it can be to rely on them after their account was shut down five weeks ago.

Concerned by the shortage of personal protection equipment for dealing with Covid-19, the Mindzye team researched, prototyped and produced 1000 masks. Mindzye put a post on their Facebook page to say they had the masks for sale if anybody needed them.

Little did they know, Facebook had banned the sale of masks due to profiteering around the world.

"I went to message some clients back and couldn't message them," said owner, Sara Fredrickson. "It just said you are no longer able to do this."

Advertisement

Advertise with NZME.

Facebook had closed Fredrickson's page without bothering to notice that her company was actually part of the solution, rather part of the problem.

"I felt really bad about selling anything for profit at this time because everyone's going through difficult times," she said. "The cost of making them, labour and material, was $2.66 and that is what we were selling them for."

"We were making no cream on top. It did keep my staff going during those couple of weeks until the subsidy kicked in, so I could fully employ them. And we made at least 1000 masks. We also gave some away to people in need."

Reluctant to lose their followers by starting a new page Fredrickson kept trying to contact Facebook to have the issue resolved, but despite repeatedly following Facebook's instructions they have had no luck. Five weeks on and still there's been no progress.

Advertisement

Advertise with NZME.

Mindzye stand by their decision to make masks saying if they protect health workers, they protect the public.

"My partner is immune-compromised," Fredrickson said. "Before this came to New Zealand we asked the specialists, who recommended he not leave the house and if I go out to do shopping, then I need to be wearing a mask to protect myself from getting it, so I don't pass it o nto him. Because of course, there's a great chance I would recover really quickly and there's a great chance that he would never recover."

Despite Facebook's lack of contact, Mindzye have setup their own contactless sales counter in their industrial workshop at 27b Hatrick St West in Gonville.

Customers can drop off garments for alterations, and of course, buy face masks in packs of three for $8 or bespoke masks made to order.

Related articles

New Zealand

Local Focus: Beaches popular level 3 destination

01 May 12:33 AM
New Zealand

Local Focus: Eat Local app taking on Uber Eats for regional hospitality

01 May 11:45 PM
Kahu

Local Focus: Lockdown brings out the TV host in Kiritahi

30 Apr 01:41 AM
New Zealand

Local Focus: Level 3 opening 'our busiest day ever'

01 May 12:24 AM

Made with funding from

Saveshare

Share this article

facebookcopy linktwitterlinkedinredditemail

Advertisement

Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

How to avoid stolen packages this Christmas

05 Dec 11:14 PM
New Zealand

Unusual shark washes up on Dunedin beach, far from home

05 Dec 10:48 PM
New Zealand

Students protest against 'sexist' uniform policy

New Zealand

'Appetite not there': What next for $37m spa plans?

05 Dec 10:23 PM

Toy trends for Christmas

sponsored

Advertisement

Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

How to avoid stolen packages this Christmas

How to avoid stolen packages this Christmas

05 Dec 11:14 PM

Police are urging the community to be vigilant this summer.

Unusual shark washes up on Dunedin beach, far from home

Unusual shark washes up on Dunedin beach, far from home

05 Dec 10:48 PM
Students protest against 'sexist' uniform policy

Students protest against 'sexist' uniform policy

'Appetite not there': What next for $37m spa plans?

'Appetite not there': What next for $37m spa plans?

05 Dec 10:23 PM
More houses coming
sponsored

More houses coming

About NZMEHelp & SupportContact UsSubscribe to NZ HeraldHouse Rules
Manage Your Print SubscriptionNZ Herald E-EditionAdvertise with NZMEBook Your AdPrivacy Policy
Terms of UseCompetition Terms & ConditionsSubscriptions Terms & Conditions
© Copyright 2023 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP