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A LOT OF HOT AIR: Serene fan heaters and the largest appliance recall in New Zealand history

A LOT OF HOT AIR: Serene fan heaters and the largest appliance recall in New Zealand history
A LOT OF HOT AIR: Serene fan heaters and the largest appliance recall in New Zealand history
A LOT OF HOT AIR: Serene fan heaters and the largest appliance recall in New Zealand history
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Title: A LOT OF HOT AIR: Serene fan heaters and the largest appliance recall in New Zealand history
Author(s): SOLLITT, Justin P.
ISBN: 978-0-473-70799-6
Category: Business
New / Used: Used
Book Type: Medium Softcover
Published: 2024
Published By: The author
Edition: 1st edition
Pages: 280
Size (mm): 210 w x 295 h x 25 d

Condition

New

About

TO BE RELEASED SOON, this story commenced writing in 2018 and is now concluding.

In 2015 New Zealand businessmen and registered electrician by trade, Justin Sollitt was invited to establish the Australian division of Serene Industries Ltd, a heating products manufacturer established in 2012, that had its foundations dating back to 1967 when their manufacturing was under the iconic and respected brand SKOPE in Christchurch.

With a career of 30+ years in business including the experience of many high risk startups, Sollitt thought that this was the opportunity of a lifetime, to invest in a 50yo conservative and stable multimillion dollar appliance business with an iconic brand legacy, in an industry that he knew very well, and all for relatively very little money.

But with all his electrical, technical and business experience and commercial due diligence, nothing could prepare Sollitt for what lay ahead.  Very quickly he was facing unhappy customers and various consumer investigations in Australia, his insurance company told him they no longer wanted a bar of his new business, and professional advice that insisted Sollitt exit SERENE in Australia immediately and at all costs - before the Australian Safety Regulator lands him in jail. The original SKOPE quality legacy that Sollitt grew up knowing since the 1970’s had become a junk brand under SERENE that was riddled with massive product quality, safety and compliance issues including multiple heater fire incidents in New Zealand, of which two came close to fatalities.

So concerned was Sollitt about the safety shortcomings in SERENE products, and in lieu of an ever growing record of fire incidents on products that continued to be sold in New Zealand, many with no safety compliance at all, that for the next seven years commencing in late 2017, he meticulously bench tested the SERENE products and cross checked them to the safety regulations. Multiple safety reports were filed with the New Zealand Safety Regulator who just labelled Sollitt a disgruntled ex-reseller, repeatidly confirming that they could see little wrong with SERENE.  Sollitt also tried to warn all known SERENE resellers in New Zealand about the glaringly obvious dangers but no one would listen, all whilst the tally of SERENE fire incidents in New Zealand just kept growing.

Then one day in February 2024, seven years since first flagging the safety concerns and completely without warning, the SERENE mountain blew in what has shaped up to be the largest appliance recall in New Zealand’s history - with a cost of tens of millions of dollars for those who did not heed Sollitt's numerous warnings.

This is not just another story of a business that simply didn't work. It is a story of the lethal combination of industry hubris, arrogance and technical ineptitude when mixed with significant systematic shortcomings in a New Zealand government regulator that has prevaled for years. To the layman this story very clearly illustrates how the Pike River Mine disaster was allowed to happen only a few years prior, and all under the nose of the very same industry watchdog.

A must read for anyone in business and who says they have seen and heard it all….because until you read this story, you haven’t.

"Both Serene and Worksafe picked the wrong guy for a fight with Sollitt - to the bitter end he won't give up." KS

"This will completely reshape Worksafe New Zealand, especially in lieu of the Pike River and White Island disasters". PN

"There is enough in this to blow both Serene and Worksafe halfway to the moon." DS

"The arrogance and neglience detailed here should see these Worksafe people end up in jail." BJ

"No one has realised that Sollitt is like the abused child at an orphanage, for years he wrote everything down in the dark and hid it under the mattress." DS

"Sollitt has the all hallmarks of Mr Bates, Post Office TV fame". ES  

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