I hadn't watched the consumer gripe programme Fair Go for a very long while.

I usually switch over rather than listen to the tales of woe people have suffered at the hands of shonky business owners.

But on Wednesday I not only watched it, I enjoyed it all over again. It was as if I was suddenly returning to a great TV show friend like Country Calendar.

The team say they get a huge number of story ideas each week, for which they are truly grateful - "but unfortunately we can't respond immediately or individually to each one" is their automated email reply.

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Well, hardly surprising. I'll bet they get some right clunkers along with the ones worth following up.

I usually have a grizzle about current affairs show presenters, but not in this show. Pippa Wetzell and Gordon Harcourt are the perfect out front combo.

First up this week was a bridal horror story about two women who hired the same bridal company and were let down.

That's a horrendous disaster for those brides, who have probably been planning their huge day since they were 8. Both women used a bridal company called Christobelle's Bridal months before their big day, selecting thousands of dollars worth of bridal gown and bridesmaids' outfits.

Of course it all went pear-shaped just weeks before both weddings, leaving the brides distraught and hyperventilating.

One of them was told that unfortunately one gown still hadn't arrived from Belarus yet.

"But my wedding is in six weeks," our bride wept.

Crikey, landlocked Belarus in eastern Europe is gazillions of kilometres from New Zealand ... really? Though both brides were offered some financial compensation, new gowns had to be sorted.

Then a story about having a glistening blue pool in your back garden, which is sought by many. Three people who'd had their state-of-the-art pool ordered and built by The Spa and Pool Company were a trio of very unhappy chaps.

There was everything from a questionable engineering report to shoddy workmanship to a below-par product.

The beauty of this story was it was the seventh time Tony Radisich had appeared on Fair Go.

We were told that Radisich had pleaded that the programme not go to air.

Well, sorry old bean, the team said they had the backing of the local council which clearly showed the company's operations needed to be investigated.

Fair Go is an intelligent and probing watch. It's solid, well told and has real guts. I'll be watching again.