Mover hits sour note with Peter Fats

Former Manu Samoa captain Peter Fatialofa has been in the piano-moving business for 20 years. He says a rival is ruining his good name. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Former rugby player Peter Fatialofa, who has his own piano-moving business, claims a similar company is giving him a bad name.

Better known as former Manu Samoa captain Peter Fats, Mr Fatialofa has been running a piano and furniture moving business - Fats Enterprises Ltd - for about 20 years.

But now he says another business, trading on his good name, is ruining his reputation.

And he has even approached the police over Pete's Piano & Furniture Movers.

Mr Fatialofa told the Weekend Herald he had been fielding a number of calls from disgruntled customers who had called Pete's Piano & Furniture Movers in Henderson, West Auckland, having mistaken it for his company.

"People are ringing me up saying they're very disappointed in my work. But it's not me.

"I've had calls from companies saying that he's been giving me a bad name.

"I'm pissed off - we built up this reputation over the past 20 years - so I just want to secure my name.

"I want to tell people not to get confused between me and this guy."

Mr Fatialofa said he had been told that a person named Pete was pretending to be from his company.

"What's coming is that when they ask, 'Where's Peter Fats?', he says, 'Oh, he's in Samoa - I'm contracted to him now.'

"When I found out about that, that's when I started to do some investigation myself. I rang him up and asked him, 'What's the story?"'

The other Pete, director of Pete's Pianos & Furniture Movers, denied the claims but acknowledged having callers who have mistaken him for Peter Fats.

"I can't help that. If they phone me to go do a job, I go do a job.

"They don't ask me what the name is. I just turn up to doit and then they realise there'sa different person there.

"It's mistaken identity ... They didn't ask me on the phone who I was. I can't help it if my name's Peter."

He did not want to reveal his surname. However, the company is listed on the Companies Office website under the name of director Arie Peter Sterk, whose business operates from an address in Great North Rd, Henderson.

Mr Fatialofa has asked Pete if they could meet in person to discuss the matter. "He just said, 'Yeah', and hung up," Mr Fatialofa said.

"He denied it, but I heard first-hand from one of his workers ... 'He's making [money] out of your name, that's why he put Pete in the ad'."

The lack of an address on Pete's website, as well as the omission of his surname, meant Mr Fatialofa could not track him down.

He has since contacted Yellow Pages asking for Pete's surname to be put up on his ad so people would not be mistaken.

Mr Fatialofa's own Yellow Pages ad now has a warning, telling people that Pete's Piano & Furniture Movers has no connection to Fats Enterprises.

Mr Fatialofa warned people to be vigilant and not be afraid to question any customer service-type person.

"Some of the jobs he can't do, I end up having to go and do it for them.

"I just want to clarify it to all the public that some guy's using my name. But there's only one Peter Fats the piano mover."