KEY POINTS:
Four furniture movers have lost their jobs after a hidden camera investigation caught them going through underwear drawers and with their hands, literally, in the cookie jar.
For the first episode of its new series, TV consumer watchdog show Target has secretly filmed four moving companies doing a job in a west Auckland house.
The movers were instructed to pack and move one bedroom, including a bed and some fragile items. Prices for the companies' services ranged from about $300 to more than $1000 to move the items 13km, including wrapping, packing and moving.
An actress showed the movers what to pack and then left the house. While two companies performed well - a smaller Auckland company and another firm - the behaviour of the employees of two other firms shocked everyone who was involved in the show.
"The largest company, their two workers were straight into the fridge stealing chocolate biscuits; then they started going through the knickers drawer making comments about the underwear, and read a private diary," Target producer Simon Roy said.
On delivering the furniture, one of the movers went through the underwear again, and commented on the "nice little red numbers", Roy said.
That same company was the second most expensive, and charged an additional $184 for an extra truck that never showed up.
A mover working for another company went into a different bedroom and stole $20 from a money jar - after proclaiming to the actress he was honest and trustworthy.
Roy said the behaviour was "outrageous", and some of the worst he had seen in two years of hidden camera filming for Target.
Of the seven movers who were filmed, four have lost their jobs over the incidents.
"The international company came in and watched all of their footage, and they were absolutely gutted," Roy said.
Roy claimed endemic problems with movers had been highlighted by this and a previous Target hidden camera operation, which also revealed bad practices.
"We've actually ended it by saying if you want your private property to remain private, it might pay to just pack it yourself and move it."
Target: Tuesday, TV3, 7.30pm.
