Rascal

Thanks.
Its hard to explain to people just what can and does go wrong for many, many migrants without fear of putting people off........
Our first 3 months here were rosy, all was going well.......then wham........our whole lives were suddenly turned upside down, something we could not have researched in a million years!
Knowing that other migrants on both islands were having similar treatment proved to us, it goes on here.
I have threatened to write a book, "NZ...the other side".
Still here though, still battling and still surviving but not living.

livewire

Sadly Rascal your story is not unique by any means. Many immigrants fail through no fault of their own whatsoever. No matter how hard you try if your luck is against you and the buggers are out to get you what can you do?

You made a good point about not knowing a place until you lived there for real. What I got when I came here was so different to what I'd expected it knocked me off my feet for a while, hence the reason for wishing I'd visited first. Couldn't afford it though.

SteveDK

This sounds dreadful. Was there a common thread throughout these experiences? Did you all travel to NZ with a job arranged then to find the employer was far from ideal? I have now worked in Denmark for 11 years and know first-hand that immigrants get treated differently from natives but it is disconcerting to read that this happens to Brits in NZ. I hope this is not a general occurrence.

Thus far my employers-to-be seem very positive and my immediate boss is herself a migrant, so I hope I will avoid such problems.

scottish

Steve, with myself and Sky yes the job was prearranged. Racal Im not too sure about. My story aint too bad compared to Rascals and Skys... Skys is horrific IMO.

The job offer we were sent and the info that we sent to NZIS was of the same. Very good job description and conditions etc. However, on arrival and only after a few weeks working did we find that the contract was useless. Hubby got told he would work a 45 hr week at $21 per hour. Simple we thought. But, actually he wouldnt get paid if he was in the office during quiet spells or picking up parts etc. This we only found out when the wages started to drop and he had to ask. He did argue the point but got told by other expats that there was no point and thats why the guy was loosing staff every month and why he has a conveyor belt between the UK/South Africa and NZ.. as one left one came in. I kid you not. When we decided to leave and move to Tauranga the employer got very dirty on us (we told him we were going home)... he kept dropping hints about his good mate in Immigration bla bla... idle threats who knows. So if anyone sees a job advertised for a guy called DK Putt in Manukua or needs a Plumber, dont use him. He promised us loads when we were in the Uk but never came across.

During the short period there he constantly picked away at hubbys confidence anytime he done plumbing work. Hubby has told him numerous times that he hadnt done plumbing in ages and was a Gas Fitter but it was as if he wanted to give him stuff he wasnt too sure of compared to things that he could do with his eyes shut.

livewire

My partner was conned by the company he first worked for in NZ, aided to some extent by the employment agency which found him the job.

His employer basically "sold" him this job, his boss talked it up - making it sound like he would be in charge of their Auckland office but wouldn't give him a company structure though. When he got here a woman picked us up from the airport and introduced herself as his fellow manager in the Auckland office. We spent the whole weekend wondering what was in store for him on the Monday morning.

Sure enough, not only was there another person at the same level at him but there was a manager above him. He wasn't in charge of the Auckland office but just a section leader. The company also turned out to be absolutely pathetic - accounting practices from the stoneage, working routines that were so inefficient that the company was loosing money and the whole dept. up to its neck in **** after the previous manager left taking everything with him. Quite frankly he was lied to by his company and he was furious to have been taken for a ride. We are not talking about a small, local firm here. This was an international company.

Fortunately, it wasn't long before another employer recognised a good thing when they saw it and head hunted him. He is now earning a lot more (over and above his UK salary) and is doing a job that he loves.

Everyone - without exception - who we know who was offered a job in NZ whilst still living in the UK has got here to find out it's been over sold, or it's not the job they thought they were going to do. They were lied to.

I'd say to people who find that their employer has misrepresented the job "stay long enough to find another one. Do not let them feel as if they own you".

Rascal

I have been in touch with Sky to support her, when she heard that what had happened to her OH had happened to my husband FIVE times, she was shocked. Confidence is knocked out of you BIG STYLE!
By chance, I met this guy (kiwi) on the beach in January this year, he was from Wellington, he was a manager, just off the top of my head without thinking I asked if he was a 'good one'......he wanted to know more.......so I explained all we had gone through here with false job description, illegal salary cuts, abuse, to name but a few.......his answer?
He said that being a manager of a firm he employs nationalities from all countries, USA, UK, Asia....etc......he admitted that if someone comes into his company well qualified and professional.......'the kiwis will chop off their legs"..........He said he knew exactly what I was talking about because he had witnessed it first hand and he has stopped it happening in his company........but in his own words (and dont forget this was a born and bred kiwi), unfortunately SOME of us Kiwis are like that, and cant stand to have someone from another country who are better qualified than us so we make sure we 'chop off their legs'.......it does go on still and I am ashamed to admit it that some of our people do treat migrants like that.
I felt better after that converstaion even though I KNEW my husband wasn't at fault in any way shape or form......I had witnessed some friends of ours go through exactly the same time after time after time until eventually, he could take no more and they left NZ for Australia........where.....touch wood, so far has been plain sailing for them.
Things have improved for us over the years (self employed) but my husband will NEVER work for another Kiwi firm again......no matter what salary gets offered.
No-one is saying it WILL happen to all migrants that come out, but if it does, just dont blame yourself and dont let it knock your confidence, hard I know.

isv

This is a useful comment and, I think, has some parallels to what others have told me. There would appear to be a Kiwi 'way' of doing things and they do not like it one bit when someone with more experience/skill etc. comes along and shows them a better way... Factor in potential resentment towards 'rich' Brits and you've got to be careful.

But this does present a wonderful opportunity. I suspect that many Kiwi firms are inefficient and in need of serious competition. Everytime I have been to NZ within a few days my wife is telling me to shut up as I seem to come out with a constant stream of things that I would 'fix' in businesses we encounter.

I plan to start my own business in NZ. It saves me having to go through the confidence-sapping experience that others have encountered as above. Most importantly it gives me the ability to have complete control over my income.

Alan.

Rascal

This is why we are now self employed, we control our income, rather than the Kiwi company controlling it at their own will (!!).......Offer big bucks, then drop it once they have you.......threaten to leave.....and its an case of "Leave if you dare but we will make sure you wont get work elsewhere".......(and they do!)
We haven't been the only ones caught out by this BTW so am not talking from sole experience here.........

Lots of migrants come out here with sufficient funds too (unlike some people seem to think) but circumstances here soon make you lose lots of money......hence financial difficulties occur, kiwi salaries make it hard to climb back out of the rut so most give up and go home broke.
One comment posted previously was saying "it is not the fault of the country people are so broke"....... quite often......it is, or more so the Kiwi attitude and treatment.
We had sufficient funds to buy a house mortage free when we came here, but with the disaster that happened.......it left us with debts in order to survive and eat. None of which was our fault.
Just hope it doesn't happen to any of you lot coming who think you are immune and have done 'your research'.......it could easily be you next.
Life has been VERY difficult for us here, but I wont quit so easily.

uk+kiwi

Rascal - That all sounds like a complete nightmare. I hope your relationship hasn't taken too much of a battering as I imagine all this has been very emotionally draining.

Have you taken legal action? Or contacted NZ Herald and let the companies involved know in an attempt to gain financial goodwill instead of going to print. Also, NZIS may offer some advice although I'm not really sure what they could do, but you have been conned in your application process. And also, are there professional bodies who could help/you could report to? In fact, post a BE meet outside one of the offices and take big boards and call the paper!!! Your fellow expats will help you out!

Sue their bloody arses - you must have a case. I do appreciate though that this would involve money at some point, and stress that you would rather not face. I'd do the legal work for you if I was qualified!

Truly hope some miracle happens for you.

mumomonty

That's the spirit Rascal. No one knows what they're in for in life anywhere but I think you are all doing right in telling it like it is.

glennf

Rascal,

I just had to reply to your point about orthodontists. We have been waiting for 12 months now to get free treatment for our daughter in the UK and all we hear is that we are moving slowly up the waiting list. All NHS dentists in our area are now closed, private only, I don't think UK is any better in this respect. At least (from my research) private health insurance is a lot more reasonable in NZ than it is here.

Glenn

lapsed kiwi

Could I just ask why it is that you leap on any negtaive comment and try to reinforce it? Do you really need more confirmation of why you're so miserable? I don't know who I feel more soory for - you, dadomonty or poor little monty himself.

livewire

We pay quite a bit for our Health insurance every month and that's discounted through work and with a voluntary excess. We still have to pay full wack for a doctors visits :$50, medications can come to $30 a time including the cost of getting the prescription written out.

Dental insurance here is, to all intents and purposes, non existant. A filling could cost you $150 and you will not get free orthodontic treatment here, ever.

It's very hard finding the NZ equivalent of an NHS dentist for the kids here - the only ones are those who come to your kids' schools.

annaerb

You can find cheaper Doctors. I pay $18 for mine and $5 for the kids. If your child is under 6 it is free. All Maternity care is free unless of course you go private.
Re Dentists. Normal treatment is free upto the age of 18 providing that the kids are still in school. Orthodontist work is expensive and I'm going through the process now and have been told in the region of $5-$6K which can be paid off.

mumomonty

I'm not miserable. If I was miserable I wouldn't have the determination I have to warn people not to bother to come to 2 p**y islands in the south pacific as one welsh rugby player put it. I have been miserable but now I've come to a state of 'acceptance' I want to try and let peeps know it is not the place they think it is.

Anyway why are you a lapsed kiwi if it's so great?