An Auckland couple have been fined $15,000 each and a company run by one of the pair was fined $30,000 after breaching the Fair Trading Act with false or misleading claims about their fire extinguisher maintenance business.
The charges against Aero Fire came after dozens of complaints and an investigation by the Commerce Commission.
Mira Singh, 62, owned the business and was its director, while his wife, Lalita Wati Singh and also 62, worked with him each day.
Between February 2015 and March 2017, they told customers that extinguishers were installed and maintained to the required New Zealand standard when they weren't, and that they had a maintenance history that they didn't.
In one incident, the couple claimed a business's fire extinguisher needs to be maintained every six months to meet Council requirements and get insurance cover, the Commerce Commission says.
In reality, the business didn't even legally need to have a fire extinguisher in the first place, and they normally only need to be maintained once every 12 months.
Manukau District Court Judge Philip Recordon called the offending "very possibly dangerous” and “certainly dishonest", according to the Commerce Commission.
The Singhs have agreed to remove Aero Fire from the companies register and not knowingly be involved in the supply or services of fire safety equipment.
They were each fined $15,000 and ordered to pay an additional $20,000 for emotional harm reparation.
The Commerce Commission urges anyone who has an extinguisher serviced by Aero Fire to get them re-checked by qualified technicians.
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