O’Connor said the suspension was ironic, given Consumer NZ named Flick “energy retailer of the year”, and was tough for staff and the business. But it didn’t make sense for any independent retailer at the moment to be acquiring new customers, he said. The suspension does not affect a “small number” of sign-ups through Flick owner Z Energy, which began selling power plans under its own brand in March, sourcing its power and services from Flick. The wholesale price of electricity has spiked this year, with spot market prices spending long periods above 30 cents a kilowatt hour. Energy Minister Megan Woods has expressed concern high prices could persist and Enerlytica analyst John Kidd has said uncertainty is affecting futures prices out until 2024.
Apple s Independent Repair Provider Program will soon expand to more than 200 countries. At the moment if something goes wrong with a household appliance, games console, computer or smartphone consumers don’t have the option to repair it themselves, or to take it to a third party of their choice – with manufacturers forcing consumers to use their approved repairers. Even then it’s often an unnecessarily expensive option – and many choose to throw the product out and buy a new one. The restrictions also hurt small businesses and infringe on consumer’s rights and lead to anti-competitive pricing. Apple, for example, refuses to provide spare parts outside of their repair network. Often the repair is something any competent tech can fix but the parts or any repair information aren’t available to them.
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Graham also offered to supply methylphenidate, a class B drug known by the brand name Ritalin, on January 14. Over six months Graham offered a total of 9.44 grams of meth and an unknown amount of Ritalin, the summary said. When spoken to by police, Graham said that in some of the messages he was not actually intending to sell meth – he just led the recipient to believe he was, so that he could take their money and rip them off. He also claimed that on one occasion a friend was using his cellphone. At the time of his meth dealing, Graham was waiting to be sentenced on 13 other charges, including for his role in a serious crash in Christchurch last year.