Latest news with #Capstick
NZ Herald
23-04-2025
- Climate
- NZ Herald
Auckland family left without power for six days, unable to flush toilets, forced to throw out food
She was initially told an equipment fault caused the power outage. 'After the next day, because the weather was terrible, I asked who was going to pay for all the stuff we are losing. They said it was because of a weather event.' Areas of the North Island were hammered by ex-tropical Cyclone Tam last week. Vector told Capstick the power would be turned on by 6pm on Thursday. She called back about 5pm, asking for an update and was told it might be restored about 7pm or 8pm, she said. She called back at 8pm asking for an update and was told the power may come back on at 4.30pm the next day. This Monday, after telling Vector there was an 8-month-old baby in the household who needed feed bottles, Capstick was told the house had been prioritised. 'I rang up at 6pm and asked what was going on, and was told we were high-priority. They twice assured me they were sending someone out to our property, but no one has turned up.' Eventually, the power was restored about 9.10pm. Capstick claimed the Vector repair officer told her: 'Whoever was in charge of checking the lines and fuses either never bothered to come up this far down the road or simply never did their job.' Because of their rural location, the family's house relies on tank water, which requires electricity to run the pump. Capstick said they were forced to scoop water out of the tank to wash hands and do the dishes. 'We have had gas cookers going, but it's costing so much for the gas cans, it's not doable,' she said. 'We also had a generator, but you can only run it for so long because it costs so much to run.' The family were forced to throw away all the food in their refrigerator and couldn't eat hot meals for almost a week. Capstick said the family couldn't wash the dishes or flush the toilet. 'We've had to scoop water out of the tank and pour it down the toilet.' Capstick said she wanted Vector to apologise and reimburse them. 'We have just been silenced,' she said. 'I don't think they care.' A Vector spokesperson said the energy company was aware the house was without power for an extended period. 'This was understandably frustrating, particularly with young children. 'Our crews attended the property and restored power on Monday night. We're dealing with this customer's complaint directly to investigate why this happened.'
BBC News
03-04-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Kendal wedding venue The Villa Levens closes leaving couples in limbo
Couples have been left in limbo over their wedding plans after a popular venue suddenly that The Villa Levens near Kendal, Cumbria, had closed started circulating on social media on 1 April, leading many to believe it was a tasteless April Fools' Day venue confirmed to the BBC it "reluctantly closed" its doors due to the "huge strain" on the business in "the current economic climate", and said creditors and employees would be contacted by the Tremble, from Morecambe, Lancashire, who was due to get married there on 3 May to finance Jack Riley, said she had been left "in a state of disbelief". The couple had booked the venue two years ago and were sent the final bill for their upcoming wedding on Tremble, 37, said: "We've just been left in complete and utter limbo to just work it out for ourselves." Couples who want to marry in England must give notice to a registrar four weeks before the ceremony and confirm the means if Miss Tremble and Mr Riley had not been able to secure an alternative venue and give notice on Wednesday, they would not have been able to get married on their chosen date. Lost deposits The couple said the timing was a "silver lining" but they had to call up to 40 venues to find a new one."[The date] was really important to us, we picked that bank holiday weekend two years ago because we've got a lot of family travelling in from all over the UK," said Miss Riley, 39, said he was grateful to the many suppliers who accommodated the switch to the alternative venue, however they lost deposits on some who said the change was a breach of their terms and conditions. The couple said they had "luckily" recently taken out insurance, after seeing another local venue close and the impact it had on Tremble added: "It will take a while to get any money back and of course we still need to pay the new venue - it's not ideal by any stretch." 'Staff in tears' Kendal couple Brandon Carder and his fiancee Poppy Rhodes had recently signed a contract to book The Villa Levens and had paid the deposit on Monday. "We went along on Monday to pay and everyone was all smiles – they must have been completely unaware," said Mr Carder, 29."When I saw the posts on social media I thought it was a really distasteful April Fools' joke. When I told my partner about it she was really upset."He said they had spoken to the bank and they were hopeful to recoup their Capstick, 48, booked the venue with her fiance Phillip King, 46, for their wedding on 25 Miss Capstick, of Kendal, saw social media reports of The Villa Levens having ceased trading, she decided to go there after being unable to reach them on the phone. She said: "There were people emptying out the building, so I asked if there was someone there I could speak to. "[A member of staff] came out to speak to me and was in tears, saying she'd only just found out."Miss Capstick said they had paid the final balance two weeks ago and having paid cash she feared they would be "stuck".She added the couple were visiting a different venue with availability for their dates, but they "can't afford to pay out again". A spokesman for The Villa Levens said the owners had "reluctantly closed the business with immediate effect". "Like many hospitality businesses, the current economic climate has applied a huge strain on the business with increased costs and employment costs which are increasing further from April of this year," they said in a statement."Whilst every effort has been made to sell the business as a going concern sadly, we have been unable to do so, therefore it has been sold on a closed basis. "A liquidator will be appointed shortly to deal with all matters, and creditors and employees will be contacted over the next few days." Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
BBC News
09-02-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Exeter & Newcastle seal cup quarter-final spots
Exeter Chiefs and Newcastle Falcons sealed quarter-final places in the Premiership Rugby Cup as they both made it five wins out of five in the group beat Cornish Pirates 43-7 to ensure they finish top of Pool E, while Newcastle dominated Caldy 73-12 to go through as Pool A join fellow Premiership sides Bath and Harlequins in the last eight with the final four places to be determined next Caldy and fellow Championship side Cornish Pirates will both finish bottom of their groups having lost all five Exeter and Newcastle struggling in the Premiership, their cup form has been Sandy Park Paul Brown-Bampoe starred for the hosts, scoring four tries, including a hat-trick after the break as Exeter pulled clear from their 10-7 half-time Capstick, Tommy Wyatt and Ethan Roots also went over for Rob Baxter's side, with Tom Georgiou scoring Pirates' only try in the first completely outclassed their lower league opponents, running in 11 tries at Kingston took a surprise lead through Will Robinson, but from then on Falcons took complete control with Jamie Blamire, Nathan Greenwood, Freddie Lockwood and Joe Davis all crossing from Adam Brocklebank, Connor Doherty and Reuben Parsons completed the rout.
