Photo: RNZ / SIMON Rogers
A woman who was prevented from leaving a rescue Whanganui Pak’n until she gave personal details hope to ensure that other buyers are aware of the recently introduced politics.
Taysha Puohotaua Williams and her children were purchases of supermarket in Pak’n Save Whanganui on March 1, spending more than $ 1000.
Williams said he was stopped and asked for private information from Pak’n Save Staff and said he could not leave the supermarket without doing so. She said she talked to five different supermarket workers, including three supervisors, who could not produce relevant policy.
According to the tax legislation introduced in 2023, companies must collect customer details for purchases over $ 1000 to ensure compliance with tax rules.
Williams told RNZ that he was curious about why he had to give details and when employees could not tell her that he was worried.
“I knew I needed to move on, asking why I could show my tamariki that just because uniform people are asking and saying these things. You have the right to ask why.”
Williams said that although it was a trial for her and her tamariki, she just wants people to be aware of being caught by politics.
“I have seen comments made about people who do not shop at Pak’n Save, I just wanted to present that this was never my intention to prevent someone from shopping in any space they want, but just just to create conscience for my community and our whIONAU and Rohe that this policy is in force. Next time, maybe they can be aware of it because it was not.”
Williams said he ended up receiving FoodStuffs policy on Wednesday and saw it briefly now. She also received an apology from the owner of Pak’n Save Whanganui.
“I shopped this amount many times for my WHānau, for national sports competitions, and never wondered, I was never asked that question before.
“I felt a little scared. I was feeling like being harassed and probably arrested mainly because I didn’t know if I could just leave. What I would like to know I could have gone.”
Williams said Pak’n Save should implement some training for his team so that someone does not go through something similar.
“It would be really good for all employees to have the knowledge and training base around this policy.”
Pak’n Save committed to ‘revising our processes and training’
In a statement, a Pak’n Save Whanganui -wise door said he mourned Williams’ frustrating and disturbing experience and said they could have dealt with the situation much better.
“According to the tax legislation introduced in 2023, companies must collect customer details for purchases over $ 1000 to ensure compliance with tax rules. Unfortunately, we do not explain it clearly at the time, which could understand confusion,” the statement said.
“Since then, we’ve been gathering with the customer to apologize and we are committed to doing the right things. To prevent this from happening again, we are reviewing our processes and training our team to ensure that these conversations are treated with care, clarity and respect. We are committed to improving the experience of all our customers.”
‘Companies need to have a good understanding of the requirement’ – retail nz ce
NZ Carolyn Young’s chief executive said companies need to have a good understanding of GST requirements and how they need to meet them. The hardest thing is that what happened in Whanganui is not something that happens very often, she said.
Young said the change in tax legislation only affected April 1, 2023, so it is still relatively new.
“When someone has transacted more than $ 1000, you need to have name and contact details and most of us are not aware of this because many of us are not in business first, so we don’t have to worry about GST requirements. And secondly, when we buy many stores, we are already members of these stores or we are happy to have our store,” she said.
But in a store like Pak’n Save, where there is no loyalty program, they do not maintain customer details; Therefore, when a purchase reaches the limit, they need to ask for name and contact details, said Young.
Since the burden is in companies to properly explain the team’s team training is important, she said.
“When you’re in place, it’s sometimes really difficult, aren’t you? Always remember exactly what it was and, once you get under pressure, so you forget more.
“I think so, training is really important. But the first time you go through it, you may not remember that. It’s really to make sure you escape you to your manager at that time.”
