Browse content similar to Episode 9. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Let's be honest. There's nothing more frustrating | 0:00:00 | 0:00:02 | |
than when something goes wrong in your house. | 0:00:02 | 0:00:05 | |
Last year, we spent a staggering £15 billion on house repairs. | 0:00:05 | 0:00:10 | |
But how can we tell if we've got a good deal | 0:00:10 | 0:00:13 | |
or if we've been taken to the cleaner's? | 0:00:13 | 0:00:16 | |
Do you want to go for 225? | 0:00:16 | 0:00:18 | |
Just for today, 500 quid. If it's cash. | 0:00:18 | 0:00:21 | |
Probably about seven and a half grand. | 0:00:21 | 0:00:23 | |
We've been secretly filming up and down the UK | 0:00:24 | 0:00:28 | |
and we reveal how shockingly easy it could be for you - yes, you - to be duped. | 0:00:28 | 0:00:33 | |
-I'm afraid you've been ripped off. He's not a bona fide tradesman. -He's not?! | 0:00:33 | 0:00:38 | |
Have I been done? | 0:00:38 | 0:00:40 | |
So yeah, I've been done, maybe. | 0:00:40 | 0:00:43 | |
And this is the bit I love. | 0:00:43 | 0:00:45 | |
We expose the UK's most outrageous tradesmen rip-offs. | 0:00:45 | 0:00:48 | |
It was one of the worst conservatories I'd ever seen. | 0:00:48 | 0:00:51 | |
It needed pulling down. | 0:00:51 | 0:00:53 | |
The house was a death trap. | 0:00:53 | 0:00:55 | |
There's no other word for it. Conned. | 0:00:55 | 0:00:57 | |
Coming up: | 0:00:57 | 0:00:59 | |
Our tricky tradesman Roger tries to pocket hundreds of pounds | 0:00:59 | 0:01:03 | |
while posing as a gas man in London. | 0:01:03 | 0:01:05 | |
I'm pretending this is a piece of pipe I've taken out of his house. | 0:01:05 | 0:01:10 | |
The heartless rogue in North Yorkshire whose rotten roofing trick | 0:01:10 | 0:01:14 | |
bagged him thousands of pounds while putting consumers' lives at risk. | 0:01:14 | 0:01:18 | |
We noticed a large bulge in the ceiling and water dripping down. | 0:01:18 | 0:01:22 | |
It's really unsafe, dripping around the electrics. | 0:01:22 | 0:01:25 | |
And sparks fly in Middlesex when Roger shocks a consumer | 0:01:25 | 0:01:29 | |
about the state of his kitchen wiring. | 0:01:29 | 0:01:31 | |
Aghh! | 0:01:31 | 0:01:32 | |
BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP | 0:01:32 | 0:01:34 | |
-Has that come straight from the socket? -No using that for a while. | 0:01:34 | 0:01:38 | |
Stand by for Dirty Tricks of the Tradesmen. | 0:01:38 | 0:01:41 | |
Hello. I don't know about you, but I don't know a lot about trades like roofing or plumbing. | 0:01:47 | 0:01:53 | |
That's why we rely on tradesmen. The vast majority of them are professional and hard-working, | 0:01:53 | 0:01:58 | |
but a small minority give tradesmen a bad name with their dirty tricks. | 0:01:58 | 0:02:03 | |
Today we're meeting people who've been ripped off by the cowboys. | 0:02:03 | 0:02:08 | |
What's more, with your help, we'll show you just how easy it is | 0:02:08 | 0:02:11 | |
to fall for some of the oldest tricks in the tradesmen's books. | 0:02:11 | 0:02:14 | |
People have set up friends and relatives for a visit from our tradesman. Why? | 0:02:14 | 0:02:19 | |
To show you how to avoid being taken to the cleaners. | 0:02:19 | 0:02:23 | |
This is Roger Bisby. | 0:02:24 | 0:02:26 | |
After 40 years' experience, there's not much he doesn't know about the building game. | 0:02:26 | 0:02:31 | |
If there's one thing he doesn't like, it's con men | 0:02:32 | 0:02:36 | |
cashing in on their dirty tricks. | 0:02:36 | 0:02:39 | |
But we're asking Roger to turn tricky. | 0:02:40 | 0:02:43 | |
To become a bad apple, one of the dodgiest tradesmen you could meet. | 0:02:43 | 0:02:47 | |
Why? To show you how not to get conned. | 0:02:47 | 0:02:50 | |
We'll set up small property problems | 0:02:52 | 0:02:55 | |
and send Roger round to show how easy it is | 0:02:55 | 0:02:57 | |
to be scammed. | 0:02:57 | 0:02:59 | |
Filming with hidden cameras, | 0:03:00 | 0:03:02 | |
Roger will be working with his cameraman and "apprentice" Luke. | 0:03:02 | 0:03:06 | |
Very soon, we'll discover where they're setting their first trap. | 0:03:06 | 0:03:10 | |
According to Gas Safe, one in three of us trust a tradesman | 0:03:10 | 0:03:14 | |
to do gas and boiler work on the recommendation of a friend or neighbour | 0:03:14 | 0:03:18 | |
without checking their registration first. | 0:03:18 | 0:03:20 | |
That can be dangerous, not only for the wallet but also for the safety of our homes and families. | 0:03:20 | 0:03:26 | |
Roger's on his way to find out whether one south London man | 0:03:26 | 0:03:29 | |
is as smart a consumer as he thinks he is. | 0:03:29 | 0:03:33 | |
Retired teacher Kathy Dixon wants to set up her lighting engineer husband Kevin | 0:03:34 | 0:03:39 | |
because she thinks he pays too little attention | 0:03:39 | 0:03:42 | |
to jobs that need doing. | 0:03:42 | 0:03:44 | |
I call my husband a "gonna" because he's always gonna call somebody in | 0:03:44 | 0:03:48 | |
and he's always gonna do it himself, but he never gets round to it. | 0:03:48 | 0:03:51 | |
Cathy and Kevin had their cooker serviced recently. | 0:03:51 | 0:03:55 | |
A Gas Safe engineer gave it the all-clear. | 0:03:55 | 0:03:57 | |
But she's been telling Kevin she can sometimes smell the odd whiff of gas. | 0:03:57 | 0:04:02 | |
She wants it checked out and has called in a friend of a friend repair man. | 0:04:02 | 0:04:06 | |
And the man with a nose for the job is Roger. | 0:04:06 | 0:04:09 | |
So to help me sniff it out I've got my assistant, cameraman-cum-gas-engineer Luke, | 0:04:10 | 0:04:16 | |
and you've got a few props. | 0:04:16 | 0:04:17 | |
I've got the best prop we've ever had. A stink bomb! | 0:04:17 | 0:04:21 | |
What we're going to do with these stink bombs is just enhance the smell of gas. | 0:04:21 | 0:04:25 | |
Then, when we've done that, because we're total cowboys, | 0:04:25 | 0:04:29 | |
we're not going to repair it. We'll just wrap some tape round it! | 0:04:29 | 0:04:33 | |
The proper thing to do if you smell gas is to contact the national grid | 0:04:33 | 0:04:37 | |
or, if you suspect a leak on a boiler, | 0:04:37 | 0:04:40 | |
you should contact Gas Safe. | 0:04:40 | 0:04:42 | |
They both offer free telephone advice. | 0:04:42 | 0:04:44 | |
They'll put you to a local qualified engineer | 0:04:44 | 0:04:47 | |
who should be registered with Gas Safe and should have an ID card to prove it. | 0:04:47 | 0:04:52 | |
Anyone without Gas Safe ID may well lack the qualifications | 0:04:52 | 0:04:56 | |
needed to make repairs safely. | 0:04:56 | 0:04:58 | |
In our little scenario, | 0:04:59 | 0:05:00 | |
Roger's stink bomb will make Kevin believe | 0:05:00 | 0:05:03 | |
there really is a gas leak. | 0:05:03 | 0:05:05 | |
Roger will make a mountain out of a mole hill in terms of repairs that need to be done. | 0:05:05 | 0:05:09 | |
Roger's got a roll of sticky tape to use as a repair | 0:05:09 | 0:05:13 | |
but this is a really dirty trick. | 0:05:13 | 0:05:15 | |
As it wouldn't be safe and it won't be worth the massive charge. | 0:05:15 | 0:05:19 | |
Gas Safe engineers have told us that the call-out to investigate and repair a leak | 0:05:19 | 0:05:24 | |
shouldn't cost more than 70 to £80. | 0:05:24 | 0:05:26 | |
Roger's looking to collect around three times that much, | 0:05:27 | 0:05:30 | |
at least £200. What a rascal! | 0:05:30 | 0:05:33 | |
Our tricky two-some arrive at just after 9.30. | 0:05:33 | 0:05:37 | |
Oh, is that where we're coming? Gas? | 0:05:37 | 0:05:40 | |
-Is it you? -Yeah. | 0:05:40 | 0:05:42 | |
Sorry, mate. Didn't realise. | 0:05:42 | 0:05:44 | |
-You're with him, are you? -Yeah, that's it. | 0:05:44 | 0:05:47 | |
Sorry, we'll just come and look at your gas leak. | 0:05:48 | 0:05:51 | |
-Have you locked it, Roger? -Yeah, it's fine. | 0:05:51 | 0:05:54 | |
It's an honest area round here, isn't it? | 0:05:54 | 0:05:56 | |
It may be an honest area, | 0:05:56 | 0:05:58 | |
but when repair men call, always check who they are. | 0:05:58 | 0:06:01 | |
Kevin has failed to do this. He's fallen at the first hurdle | 0:06:01 | 0:06:05 | |
by not asking to see the old ID. In this case, | 0:06:05 | 0:06:08 | |
it ought to be Gas Safe ID. | 0:06:08 | 0:06:10 | |
To be fair, he is expecting a friend of a friend | 0:06:10 | 0:06:12 | |
but he's taking a serious risk when it comes to gas. | 0:06:12 | 0:06:16 | |
I'm not sure where it's coming from. | 0:06:16 | 0:06:18 | |
-I got the cooker out. There's nothing there. -OK. | 0:06:18 | 0:06:21 | |
I had a gas fitter in to put a new pipe in from the cellar down to here. | 0:06:21 | 0:06:26 | |
-Yeah. -But I can never smell it. My wife says she can smell it. | 0:06:26 | 0:06:31 | |
As well as his nose, Roger has brought along his specialist gas detection equipment. | 0:06:31 | 0:06:37 | |
Did they do this when they came before, put the gauge on? | 0:06:37 | 0:06:40 | |
-They did on the thing, but he was only checking the regulator. -Yeah. | 0:06:40 | 0:06:44 | |
First thing is to get fresh air. | 0:06:44 | 0:06:47 | |
Roger is using a proper gas detector. It should convince Kevin he's here for a professional job. | 0:06:47 | 0:06:53 | |
It's having trouble calibrating that. | 0:06:53 | 0:06:55 | |
Of course, it won't detect any of Roger's hot air! | 0:06:55 | 0:06:58 | |
OK. Let's give it a go. | 0:06:58 | 0:06:59 | |
He's checked the boiler, the meter and the cooker, | 0:06:59 | 0:07:03 | |
giving his all to earn Kevin's confidence. | 0:07:03 | 0:07:06 | |
Let's have a look under here. | 0:07:07 | 0:07:10 | |
Having crawled his way into the downstairs cellar, | 0:07:10 | 0:07:13 | |
Roger continues to check for gas leaks. | 0:07:13 | 0:07:15 | |
DETECTOR ALARM BEEPS | 0:07:15 | 0:07:17 | |
Oh, look at that. | 0:07:17 | 0:07:20 | |
Straight on it. | 0:07:20 | 0:07:21 | |
But surely Roger is faking this? | 0:07:21 | 0:07:23 | |
-See that, Luke? -Yep. | 0:07:24 | 0:07:26 | |
That's where it's leaking. | 0:07:26 | 0:07:29 | |
Oh, I see. Roger has a genuine leak to fix, not something he's created himself. | 0:07:29 | 0:07:35 | |
See that bubble? That's the leak. | 0:07:35 | 0:07:38 | |
-And there's the kink in the pipe. Do you see? -Yeah. | 0:07:38 | 0:07:41 | |
That's been badly mullered in the past, hasn't it? | 0:07:41 | 0:07:46 | |
Ah. So a damaged pipe is the cause of the gas leak. | 0:07:46 | 0:07:49 | |
As Luke explains to Kevin. | 0:07:49 | 0:07:51 | |
It's quite clear. The pipe's there and it's probably like that. | 0:07:51 | 0:07:55 | |
Like that. So it's obviously affecting it. | 0:07:55 | 0:07:59 | |
Remember, wife Kathy always calls him a "gonna". | 0:07:59 | 0:08:03 | |
I wonder if Kevin's "gonna" mull this one over? | 0:08:03 | 0:08:06 | |
It was pretty easy to find, actually. | 0:08:13 | 0:08:15 | |
It's a steady little leak under the floor. | 0:08:15 | 0:08:18 | |
Somebody's damaged the pipe in the past. Given it a whack. | 0:08:18 | 0:08:21 | |
Probably when they were chucking suitcases down there. | 0:08:21 | 0:08:24 | |
Wow. A genuine but minor leak. Let's put the tricks on hold. | 0:08:24 | 0:08:28 | |
First things first. Roger will make it safe. | 0:08:28 | 0:08:30 | |
In we go. Wish us luck! | 0:08:30 | 0:08:33 | |
Roger will later ensure that the leak is made safe on a permanent basis. | 0:08:33 | 0:08:38 | |
But Kevin doesn't seem to care. He's upstairs leaving our "dodgy" gas men all alone. | 0:08:42 | 0:08:47 | |
Roger's going to charge through the nose for his work. | 0:08:47 | 0:08:50 | |
So he needs a bigger gas leak. Remember the stink bomb? | 0:08:50 | 0:08:53 | |
Time for dirty trick number one. | 0:08:53 | 0:08:56 | |
Ooh! | 0:09:01 | 0:09:03 | |
-I think we'll let another one of those go, don't you? -No! | 0:09:03 | 0:09:06 | |
Steady on, Roger. That'll do! | 0:09:06 | 0:09:08 | |
-No. -That's enough. That's enough to really... | 0:09:08 | 0:09:11 | |
It's one of those smells that grows on you! | 0:09:11 | 0:09:14 | |
I think the only thing growing is Kevin's bill. | 0:09:14 | 0:09:17 | |
So, what a stinker. With the smell working its way round the house | 0:09:18 | 0:09:22 | |
and Roger faking props in the street, | 0:09:22 | 0:09:24 | |
will Kevin ever step out of his office? | 0:09:24 | 0:09:27 | |
I'll muller this. | 0:09:27 | 0:09:28 | |
Sniffing an opportunity, Roger bends all the rules with yet another trick. | 0:09:28 | 0:09:33 | |
What's he playing at? | 0:09:33 | 0:09:35 | |
Statistics show the highest number of trade complaints | 0:09:39 | 0:09:42 | |
tend to be about dodgy roofing jobs. | 0:09:42 | 0:09:45 | |
In fact, in 2009 more than 1,500 reported complaints. | 0:09:45 | 0:09:49 | |
Our next story is a shocking one. | 0:09:49 | 0:09:51 | |
But Trading Standards were soon able to bring the conman to justice. | 0:09:51 | 0:09:56 | |
In two millennia, the city of York has seen rapscallions. | 0:09:59 | 0:10:04 | |
Among them, the invading Romans and the marauding Vikings. | 0:10:04 | 0:10:08 | |
Our story concerns a whole other kind of rogue | 0:10:09 | 0:10:13 | |
who terrorised North Yorkshire for several years. | 0:10:13 | 0:10:16 | |
As local Trading Standards officer Ruth Andrews reveals. | 0:10:16 | 0:10:20 | |
Mr Glyn is a very aggressive man. | 0:10:20 | 0:10:22 | |
He used that to enable him to get more cash out of his victims. | 0:10:22 | 0:10:27 | |
They were frightened, desperate about their properties, | 0:10:27 | 0:10:30 | |
wanting to have the work done and get rid of Mr Glyn as soon as possible. | 0:10:30 | 0:10:34 | |
Darrell Glyn was one of the county's most deceitful and aggressive rogue tradesmen. | 0:10:34 | 0:10:39 | |
He pocketed just under £55,000 from his victims here | 0:10:39 | 0:10:43 | |
and didn't care who he ripped off. | 0:10:43 | 0:10:45 | |
He'd agree a price up front and in a schedule of when payments would be made by the consumer. | 0:10:45 | 0:10:51 | |
But as soon as he actually started, | 0:10:51 | 0:10:53 | |
he would make demands for cash up front. Large sums of cash repeatedly. | 0:10:53 | 0:10:58 | |
In some cases, the damage he caused was worse than the job he was fixing. | 0:10:58 | 0:11:02 | |
He often threatened violence to get more cash. | 0:11:02 | 0:11:05 | |
Mr Glyn was aggressive with the majority of his victims. | 0:11:05 | 0:11:09 | |
Threats were made to specific victims on certain occasions | 0:11:09 | 0:11:12 | |
when he wanted more money and they were refusing to pay. | 0:11:12 | 0:11:15 | |
One of his victims was 29-year-old IT director Stephen Porritt. | 0:11:15 | 0:11:20 | |
Looking to have his roof re-tiled, he did what you and I might do. | 0:11:20 | 0:11:24 | |
Checked the phone book. | 0:11:24 | 0:11:26 | |
I saw the advert. It was a large ad so I thought it was a well-funded company | 0:11:26 | 0:11:31 | |
that's done a lot of good business. | 0:11:31 | 0:11:33 | |
It had a freephone number so I thought it wouldn't hurt to call. | 0:11:33 | 0:11:37 | |
Unfortunately, anyone can print an advert, lying about credentials. | 0:11:37 | 0:11:41 | |
An advert on its own is never a guarantee of quality. | 0:11:41 | 0:11:45 | |
When their roofer came out originally, we stood here, | 0:11:45 | 0:11:50 | |
looked at the roof. | 0:11:50 | 0:11:52 | |
He said he could see some damage from here, which I'm not sure about. | 0:11:52 | 0:11:56 | |
Anyway, he put his ladders up, said there's some broken tiles causing the leaking | 0:11:56 | 0:12:01 | |
and the lead flashing was worn. | 0:12:01 | 0:12:03 | |
So he said the whole roof needs re-doing. | 0:12:03 | 0:12:05 | |
Glyn posed as a member of Trust Mark, | 0:12:05 | 0:12:08 | |
a Government-approved traders' scheme, and a member of the National Federation of Roofing Contractors | 0:12:08 | 0:12:13 | |
in order to persuade his victims of his credentials. | 0:12:13 | 0:12:16 | |
In fact, he was lying on both counts. | 0:12:16 | 0:12:19 | |
He said he'd re-tile the whole roof, renew all the fascia boards, | 0:12:20 | 0:12:26 | |
give me new soffits, replace the guttering. | 0:12:26 | 0:12:28 | |
He said he'd remove any waste materials, strip off the old roof, clear the site. | 0:12:28 | 0:12:34 | |
For the whole works, he quoted £2,000, which I was quite happy about. | 0:12:34 | 0:12:39 | |
Stephen didn't realise he was literally making a deal | 0:12:40 | 0:12:43 | |
with the rogue trading devil. | 0:12:43 | 0:12:45 | |
The first day of work, they set up some scaffolding and stripped down the back side of the roof. | 0:12:46 | 0:12:53 | |
They took all the tiles off and put some sheeting over the top, plastic sheeting, | 0:12:53 | 0:12:58 | |
so the water couldn't get in. They said they'd come next day to do the front of the roof. | 0:12:58 | 0:13:03 | |
And the following two days to re-tile the roof and do the gutters and stuff. | 0:13:03 | 0:13:08 | |
It would all be done in a week. | 0:13:08 | 0:13:10 | |
After stripping all the tiles from Stephen's back roof, | 0:13:10 | 0:13:13 | |
Darrell Glyn was ready to spring his scam. | 0:13:13 | 0:13:16 | |
I gave the roofer £700 deposit. | 0:13:16 | 0:13:20 | |
He said he needed money up front to buy the tiles and do the work. | 0:13:20 | 0:13:25 | |
I was happy at the end of the first day that everything was underway. | 0:13:25 | 0:13:29 | |
I just thought, business as usual. Tomorrow they'll come round and stick the tiles on. | 0:13:29 | 0:13:34 | |
But this couldn't be further from the truth. | 0:13:34 | 0:13:37 | |
A nightmare situation was about to ensue. | 0:13:39 | 0:13:42 | |
The work was initially started in about September, October time, 2006. | 0:13:44 | 0:13:49 | |
And after stripping away the tiles from the back half of the roof and putting the scaffolding up, | 0:13:49 | 0:13:56 | |
the builder didn't actually turn up again till January. | 0:13:56 | 0:14:00 | |
Stephen was left without a roof for four months, during the coldest part of the year. | 0:14:00 | 0:14:05 | |
No matter how he tried, he couldn't get Darrell Glyn to return and finish the job. | 0:14:05 | 0:14:10 | |
I'd made maybe about two or three phone calls a week. | 0:14:10 | 0:14:13 | |
Most of the time when I'd call the roofer, I either didn't get through to him | 0:14:13 | 0:14:19 | |
or got through to his answerphone. | 0:14:19 | 0:14:21 | |
It was a bit horrific, really. | 0:14:21 | 0:14:23 | |
It was during the winter months especially | 0:14:23 | 0:14:25 | |
so the house was freezing. | 0:14:25 | 0:14:28 | |
Eventually, Stephen did the only thing he could do. | 0:14:28 | 0:14:31 | |
I'd got in touch with Trading Standards by this point. | 0:14:31 | 0:14:34 | |
I think that's what gave him a kick up the backside to hurry him along. | 0:14:34 | 0:14:38 | |
Then he came back in January to continue the work. | 0:14:38 | 0:14:41 | |
When Glyn came back, he carried out the tiling on Stephen's back roof. | 0:14:41 | 0:14:45 | |
But he didn't care if Trading Standards were on to him or not. | 0:14:45 | 0:14:49 | |
He just wanted more and more money. | 0:14:49 | 0:14:52 | |
Every time he came round to do a bit more work, | 0:14:52 | 0:14:56 | |
or even one time he came round and didn't do any work, | 0:14:56 | 0:15:01 | |
he'd show up and ask for more money because he wanted payment in instalments. | 0:15:01 | 0:15:05 | |
So it would be two or three hundred pounds every time he showed up. | 0:15:05 | 0:15:09 | |
It was only after four more months of badgering and heartache | 0:15:12 | 0:15:15 | |
that the work was finished. | 0:15:15 | 0:15:17 | |
By which time Glyn had trousered well over £2,500. | 0:15:17 | 0:15:20 | |
Stephen might have thought his troubles were over at last, | 0:15:20 | 0:15:24 | |
but worse was still to come. | 0:15:24 | 0:15:26 | |
One evening we were sat in the living room | 0:15:26 | 0:15:29 | |
and we noticed a large bulge in the ceiling | 0:15:29 | 0:15:32 | |
and some water dripping down. | 0:15:32 | 0:15:35 | |
The water was coming in around the lighting fixture. | 0:15:35 | 0:15:40 | |
So obviously it was really unsafe with it dripping round the electrics. | 0:15:40 | 0:15:44 | |
I called the roofer. I think it was about seven in the evening. | 0:15:44 | 0:15:48 | |
I said, "There's water coming in from my roof repair you've just done." | 0:15:48 | 0:15:53 | |
At this point he said there'd be a call-out charge. I wasn't going to pay that | 0:15:53 | 0:15:57 | |
but I insisted he come and fix it immediately. | 0:15:57 | 0:16:00 | |
Glyn repaired the leak, preventing an electrocution disaster | 0:16:00 | 0:16:04 | |
but Stephen was left to clear up the mess of roofing materials left in his front garden. | 0:16:04 | 0:16:09 | |
A lot of the victims in this case were devastated by what had happened. | 0:16:09 | 0:16:13 | |
Not only because of the money they'd spent, | 0:16:13 | 0:16:16 | |
but they had to spend further money to pay legitimate traders to put the house in order. | 0:16:16 | 0:16:20 | |
In all, Darrell Glyn extorted £55,000 in less than two years | 0:16:24 | 0:16:29 | |
from seven victims around North Yorkshire. | 0:16:29 | 0:16:31 | |
He attempted to scam a further £23,000. | 0:16:31 | 0:16:35 | |
Ruth's team at Trading Standards pursued him for months | 0:16:36 | 0:16:39 | |
and finally secured his conviction in February 2010. | 0:16:39 | 0:16:42 | |
Mr Glyn did plead guilty to multiple counts of fraud. He was sentenced to four-and-a-half years. | 0:16:44 | 0:16:50 | |
We proved he was fraudulent and took the money knowing he'd never do the work. | 0:16:50 | 0:16:54 | |
Stephen's brush with Darrell Glyn left him with rather mixed feelings. | 0:16:54 | 0:16:59 | |
I'm really disappointed that I got him to do the work. | 0:16:59 | 0:17:02 | |
Since then, I've had other work done on the house. | 0:17:02 | 0:17:05 | |
Other workers I've found have been absolutely fine. | 0:17:05 | 0:17:10 | |
I'm just really disappointed that I went with this roofer. | 0:17:10 | 0:17:15 | |
Later, the extraordinary story of a rogue tradesman | 0:17:20 | 0:17:24 | |
banged up in London for his dirty tricks on a pensioner's driveway. | 0:17:24 | 0:17:28 | |
He said he wanted another £10,000. | 0:17:28 | 0:17:33 | |
£10,000. Outrageous! | 0:17:33 | 0:17:35 | |
Plus Roger uses literally the most shocking tricks... | 0:17:35 | 0:17:39 | |
Aghh! | 0:17:39 | 0:17:40 | |
..to fake a fuse box meltdown that will cost hundreds to put right. | 0:17:40 | 0:17:44 | |
I haven't had one like that for a while! | 0:17:44 | 0:17:46 | |
But first, time to discover whether south London engineer Kevin | 0:17:48 | 0:17:52 | |
swallows Roger's tall stories about the size of his gas leak. | 0:17:52 | 0:17:55 | |
Remember, there was a faint smell. | 0:17:55 | 0:17:58 | |
Ooh, look at that. | 0:17:58 | 0:18:00 | |
Roger was expecting to fake a leak, but he found a real one. | 0:18:03 | 0:18:07 | |
He's played his latest trick, letting off a stink bomb to make it smell worse than it is | 0:18:07 | 0:18:11 | |
to crank up his eventual bill. | 0:18:11 | 0:18:14 | |
A Gas Safety engineer would usually cost 70 to £80 to repair a simple leak. | 0:18:14 | 0:18:19 | |
But Roger wants at least three times that. | 0:18:19 | 0:18:21 | |
What a terrible whiff! It's usually you who gets the blame! | 0:18:24 | 0:18:27 | |
Even with total strangers in his cellar, | 0:18:27 | 0:18:30 | |
Kevin's still showing no interest. In fact, he's working upstairs. | 0:18:30 | 0:18:33 | |
The boys have been here for 40 minutes and have free rein to do as they please, | 0:18:33 | 0:18:38 | |
with only the family dog supervising. | 0:18:38 | 0:18:41 | |
There's the pipe. It goes up there. You can see where it comes under the floor. | 0:18:42 | 0:18:46 | |
So we need a bit of copper pipe. | 0:18:46 | 0:18:49 | |
Kevin's still nowhere in sight and I sense trick two is on its way. | 0:18:50 | 0:18:55 | |
Roger has grabbed an old piece of pipe from his tool bag. | 0:18:55 | 0:18:59 | |
I'll muller this up and pretend it's a piece of pipe I've taken out of his house. | 0:18:59 | 0:19:03 | |
Sounds like Roger's coming up with an extra dirty trick. | 0:19:03 | 0:19:06 | |
What I want to do is replace that pipe. | 0:19:08 | 0:19:10 | |
Except I don't want to replace it cos it's too much hassle. | 0:19:10 | 0:19:13 | |
So I'm just going to take an old bit of pipe that I've bent up | 0:19:13 | 0:19:17 | |
and I'm going to shove that into the guy's hand and say this is what I've replaced. | 0:19:17 | 0:19:23 | |
And we'll leave the other bit. But if I wrap that in tape, he'll never know that's not the good pipe. | 0:19:23 | 0:19:28 | |
Hopefully, with a sleight of hand, and because he's not watching me, | 0:19:28 | 0:19:32 | |
and he can't get under there, I should succeed. | 0:19:32 | 0:19:34 | |
You mean you're going to make Kevin think you've replaced the whole pipe. | 0:19:36 | 0:19:40 | |
That should big up the bill. And with Kevin still in a different room, | 0:19:40 | 0:19:44 | |
Roger's right that this should be an easy trick to pull off. | 0:19:44 | 0:19:48 | |
Oh, dear, are you all right, doggie? | 0:19:48 | 0:19:51 | |
And so begins their latest dirty trick. | 0:19:53 | 0:19:56 | |
Unbelievable! He's busy making repair sounds | 0:20:05 | 0:20:08 | |
but not actually doing any work! | 0:20:08 | 0:20:10 | |
Householder Kevin is still not paying any attention. | 0:20:11 | 0:20:15 | |
If only he was keeping an eye on them, he'd realise that a catalogue of dirty tricks | 0:20:15 | 0:20:19 | |
is being played right under his feet! | 0:20:19 | 0:20:22 | |
As for Roger, he has only one thing on his mind. | 0:20:22 | 0:20:25 | |
# Money, money, money. # | 0:20:25 | 0:20:28 | |
At long last, Kevin returns. | 0:20:28 | 0:20:30 | |
It's Roger's cue to flannel him with extraordinary stories | 0:20:30 | 0:20:34 | |
of how he's repaired this tricky leak. | 0:20:34 | 0:20:36 | |
He claims it was the fault of a previous tradesman. | 0:20:36 | 0:20:39 | |
What he did is he pulled it under and just went, "Ooom". | 0:20:39 | 0:20:42 | |
He yanked it up and thought, "Oh, I've kinked it." | 0:20:42 | 0:20:45 | |
It wasn't good. | 0:20:45 | 0:20:47 | |
Kevin really is a man of few words. | 0:20:47 | 0:20:49 | |
I wonder what he'll say when Roger presents him with a bill? | 0:20:49 | 0:20:52 | |
He's going to have to stump up big money. | 0:20:52 | 0:20:55 | |
I'll turn the gas back on. | 0:20:55 | 0:20:57 | |
Make sure it's all nice and safe. | 0:20:57 | 0:20:59 | |
Today, Kevin Dixon let a real stinker of a tradesman into his house. | 0:21:01 | 0:21:05 | |
Roger fixed a real gas leak but then played dirty tricks. | 0:21:05 | 0:21:09 | |
Creating smells and substituting pipes, now he's ready to spring his last trick - | 0:21:09 | 0:21:14 | |
overcharging with a massive repair bill. | 0:21:14 | 0:21:17 | |
So how will Kevin react? | 0:21:17 | 0:21:19 | |
How much do I owe you? | 0:21:21 | 0:21:23 | |
Um... Including the call out... | 0:21:23 | 0:21:26 | |
-Are you paying cash, by the way? -Yeah. -Is it cash? -Yeah. | 0:21:26 | 0:21:29 | |
It's 270 quid, please. | 0:21:29 | 0:21:31 | |
Hmm. Not impressed. | 0:21:31 | 0:21:33 | |
Sorry it's so much, but we have to take all these courses, now! | 0:21:33 | 0:21:36 | |
Qualifications aside, £270 isn't bad for 40 minutes work | 0:21:36 | 0:21:41 | |
and handing over a piece of bent pipe. | 0:21:41 | 0:21:43 | |
But Kevin's really taking his time. | 0:21:43 | 0:21:45 | |
I'm just cleaning my hands up now. | 0:21:45 | 0:21:48 | |
Giving him a chance to get the dosh. | 0:21:48 | 0:21:50 | |
Amazingly, it takes ten minutes for Kevin to find the cash. | 0:21:50 | 0:21:54 | |
Sorry, mate. Are you there? | 0:21:54 | 0:21:56 | |
Sorry. | 0:21:56 | 0:21:58 | |
What did you do, print it? | 0:21:58 | 0:21:59 | |
Careful, Roger. You've got quite a nerve. | 0:21:59 | 0:22:02 | |
£270 handed over for a job that should have only cost around £70. | 0:22:04 | 0:22:09 | |
A £200 profit. | 0:22:09 | 0:22:11 | |
For less than an hour's work. | 0:22:11 | 0:22:13 | |
Thanks very much. You'll have no trouble from that. Cheers. | 0:22:13 | 0:22:16 | |
With Roger out of the picture, | 0:22:18 | 0:22:20 | |
it's time for our producer to break the news that Kevin's been conned | 0:22:20 | 0:22:23 | |
and that he needs a proper gas safety check. | 0:22:23 | 0:22:26 | |
-Hello, there. -Hello. -Hi. | 0:22:29 | 0:22:30 | |
We're from the BBC. We're doing some investigations in the area. | 0:22:30 | 0:22:35 | |
We've been chatting to your neighbours | 0:22:35 | 0:22:37 | |
and asking if they've had any experiences with painters or plumbers | 0:22:37 | 0:22:42 | |
who've done jobs that you're not too happy with. | 0:22:42 | 0:22:45 | |
No, I can't say I have. I've just had a plumber here. | 0:22:45 | 0:22:49 | |
Do you mind me asking what he did? | 0:22:49 | 0:22:51 | |
He had to replace a gas pipe. | 0:22:51 | 0:22:53 | |
I thought the bill was rather expensive. | 0:22:53 | 0:22:56 | |
We've had reports that they've been going into people's houses and doing various jobs | 0:22:56 | 0:23:02 | |
-and not actually doing very much. Trying to scam them. -Right! | 0:23:02 | 0:23:05 | |
OK. Well, I've just been scammed, then! | 0:23:05 | 0:23:08 | |
But, er... | 0:23:08 | 0:23:09 | |
I was expecting someone from the gas company to come. | 0:23:09 | 0:23:13 | |
Time for Kevin's wife Kathy to reveal her part in setting him up. | 0:23:13 | 0:23:18 | |
It's a wind up! | 0:23:18 | 0:23:20 | |
Kevin isn't "gonna" let her forget this in a hurry. | 0:23:20 | 0:23:22 | |
We gave her a hard hat in case you hit her on the head! | 0:23:24 | 0:23:27 | |
It's all hot and sweaty, let me tell you! | 0:23:27 | 0:23:29 | |
'Roger was very convincing.' | 0:23:30 | 0:23:32 | |
He had the right patter. He's obviously been trained in that business. | 0:23:32 | 0:23:37 | |
So, yeah, he was good. | 0:23:37 | 0:23:41 | |
You were quite a happy man until we charged you the money! | 0:23:41 | 0:23:44 | |
-Then I saw your face go a little bit... -Yeah. | 0:23:44 | 0:23:46 | |
'Ask to always check credentials.' | 0:23:46 | 0:23:49 | |
Check the people you've got coming to your house are who they say they are. | 0:23:49 | 0:23:54 | |
Would you be happier if I gave you the money back? | 0:23:54 | 0:23:57 | |
-I'm happy anyway cos... -Give me the money back! | 0:23:57 | 0:24:00 | |
Be with them all the time. Don't go and sit in another room. | 0:24:00 | 0:24:03 | |
Be in the same room to see they're doing what they say they are. | 0:24:03 | 0:24:07 | |
Truth revealed, money returned. But Roger, what about that genuine gas leak? | 0:24:07 | 0:24:13 | |
What I've got to tell you now, seriously, is contact the National Gas Safety Helpline. | 0:24:13 | 0:24:18 | |
They will recommend a Gas Safe engineer. | 0:24:18 | 0:24:21 | |
Not me, because I'm frankly just a cowboy! All right? | 0:24:21 | 0:24:25 | |
You can rest assured Kevin and Kathy had a Gas Safe registered engineer | 0:24:27 | 0:24:32 | |
around the next day to deal with their leak. | 0:24:32 | 0:24:34 | |
But what should you do in that situation to avoid a con? | 0:24:34 | 0:24:37 | |
Obviously only use Gas Safe registered engineers. And check their ID. | 0:24:38 | 0:24:44 | |
If you suspect a gas man working illegally | 0:24:44 | 0:24:46 | |
report it to Gas Safe. They will investigate. | 0:24:46 | 0:24:49 | |
Finally, if in doubt, keep them out! | 0:24:49 | 0:24:52 | |
There were nearly 2,000 accidental house fires in 2008 | 0:24:56 | 0:25:01 | |
which were the result of dodgy wiring. | 0:25:01 | 0:25:03 | |
A genuine statistic like that is the kind of scare tactic | 0:25:03 | 0:25:06 | |
that a rogue electrician might use to con you into unnecessary fuse box repairs. | 0:25:06 | 0:25:11 | |
That's just what Roger has in mind as he visits his next consumer. | 0:25:11 | 0:25:15 | |
Miles Buckridge from Middlesex is a travel agent who's asking Roger to pay a visit | 0:25:17 | 0:25:21 | |
to his little brother. | 0:25:21 | 0:25:23 | |
Drew is a manager in a call centre. | 0:25:23 | 0:25:26 | |
He's a nice guy. He's pretty grumpy at times. | 0:25:26 | 0:25:28 | |
He has an innate distrust of tradesmen as well. | 0:25:28 | 0:25:31 | |
He likes to think he's not that gullible | 0:25:31 | 0:25:34 | |
but if someone's good enough they can pull one over on him. | 0:25:34 | 0:25:37 | |
The brothers have been left in charge of the family home | 0:25:37 | 0:25:40 | |
while the parents are away. | 0:25:40 | 0:25:42 | |
Miles is pretending the kitchen appliances are giving off electric shocks | 0:25:42 | 0:25:46 | |
so Drew needs to wait in for an electrician. | 0:25:46 | 0:25:49 | |
There's nothing wrong with their electrics, but Roger has plenty of tricks lined up | 0:25:49 | 0:25:54 | |
to persuade him that there is and take him for as much cash as possible. | 0:25:54 | 0:25:58 | |
-What have you got there? -I've got earth cable | 0:25:59 | 0:26:02 | |
and a safety electrical connector that goes on the end of the cable. | 0:26:02 | 0:26:05 | |
Those are earthing tags which you can buy for about ten for £3.00. | 0:26:05 | 0:26:10 | |
And a bit of cable like this, not too much money. | 0:26:10 | 0:26:14 | |
So our investment in this is very low. Except for one thing. | 0:26:14 | 0:26:17 | |
Out of the magic shop, for about five quid, | 0:26:17 | 0:26:20 | |
I've got this little device. | 0:26:20 | 0:26:22 | |
Now, when I touch the sockets... | 0:26:22 | 0:26:25 | |
Ooh, that frightened me. That's going to let that little spark. | 0:26:26 | 0:26:30 | |
So Roger will fake a problem with the electrics using the gadget from a magic shop. | 0:26:30 | 0:26:36 | |
He'll use whatever he can find on his van to fake up a solution. | 0:26:36 | 0:26:41 | |
Once he's done that, don't be surprised if he tries one of the oldest tricks in the book - | 0:26:41 | 0:26:45 | |
overcharge. | 0:26:45 | 0:26:47 | |
The typical cost to diagnose and fix a simple electrical fault | 0:26:49 | 0:26:53 | |
should be no more than around £200. | 0:26:53 | 0:26:55 | |
But our trickster is planning to more than double this, | 0:26:55 | 0:26:58 | |
conjuring up a magical £500 bill. | 0:26:58 | 0:27:01 | |
Roger and Luke arrive at the boys' house just before 6.30pm. | 0:27:01 | 0:27:06 | |
-Hello. -Electrics, my friend. | 0:27:08 | 0:27:10 | |
Yeah. I don't know much about it. | 0:27:10 | 0:27:12 | |
His brother was right. Drew is a nice guy. | 0:27:12 | 0:27:15 | |
Very trusting. He hasn't asked for any ID. He's just let them straight into the house. | 0:27:15 | 0:27:20 | |
That's in here. | 0:27:20 | 0:27:22 | |
There's been a couple of shocks elsewhere in the house. | 0:27:22 | 0:27:27 | |
Probably because you've got so much juice in it! | 0:27:27 | 0:27:30 | |
Orange juice in the meter. Very funny, Roger. | 0:27:30 | 0:27:33 | |
How about the job at hand, Drew? | 0:27:33 | 0:27:36 | |
I'd better not touch it too much before I... | 0:27:36 | 0:27:39 | |
I'll just go and get a meter. | 0:27:39 | 0:27:41 | |
Roger needs to do a few safety checks so he needs his wattage meter, | 0:27:41 | 0:27:45 | |
a gadget which measures the power supply and can help diagnose any problems. | 0:27:45 | 0:27:49 | |
Let's get some tests run on it. | 0:27:51 | 0:27:54 | |
Roger's more than ready for his first trick, his magic sparking device. | 0:27:54 | 0:27:59 | |
It's hidden in his right hand. | 0:27:59 | 0:28:01 | |
Let's just have a look at this. What's this device? | 0:28:01 | 0:28:04 | |
That's the doorbell thing. | 0:28:04 | 0:28:06 | |
Oh. All right. | 0:28:06 | 0:28:08 | |
Don't think it's on. | 0:28:08 | 0:28:10 | |
Pay close attention to Roger's right hand. | 0:28:10 | 0:28:13 | |
Stand back and watch an Oscar-winning performance! | 0:28:13 | 0:28:17 | |
BLEEP | 0:28:21 | 0:28:22 | |
I'm not going to touch it. I'll turn it off. | 0:28:24 | 0:28:27 | |
Haven't had one like that for a while! | 0:28:28 | 0:28:30 | |
-That's mental. -Let me just give it a little test. | 0:28:30 | 0:28:33 | |
Oh, dear! | 0:28:34 | 0:28:36 | |
He's good, isn't he? That was quite a trick. | 0:28:36 | 0:28:38 | |
His dirty tricks seem to be going very well so far. | 0:28:39 | 0:28:43 | |
That should have gone off, that RCD, when that happened. | 0:28:43 | 0:28:46 | |
OK, that worked absolutely perfectly. | 0:28:49 | 0:28:51 | |
He was standing next to me when I did it with the magic ring. | 0:28:51 | 0:28:55 | |
The spark came out and he saw it and jumped back as well. | 0:28:55 | 0:28:58 | |
That was fantastic. | 0:28:58 | 0:29:00 | |
Now, our trickster hasn't come here just to put on a light show. | 0:29:00 | 0:29:04 | |
He's here to create some jobs for himself so he can earn some money. | 0:29:04 | 0:29:08 | |
That fuse box looks like a good place to start. | 0:29:08 | 0:29:11 | |
When it sparks, it's supposed to trip that RCD straightaway. | 0:29:11 | 0:29:16 | |
So if there's a fault, the RCD is supposed to do its job. | 0:29:16 | 0:29:20 | |
And it wasn't doing its job. | 0:29:21 | 0:29:22 | |
Hang on. There's nothing wrong with the RCD. | 0:29:24 | 0:29:26 | |
That's the trip switch in the fuse box to the likes of you and I. | 0:29:26 | 0:29:30 | |
It didn't switch off because there isn't a problem. | 0:29:30 | 0:29:33 | |
But Roger's fixing it anyway! | 0:29:33 | 0:29:35 | |
Lovely. Yeah. That's good. That's good. | 0:29:35 | 0:29:38 | |
Right. Can we go and look at the gas meter? | 0:29:38 | 0:29:40 | |
Uh-oh. That sounds expensive! | 0:29:40 | 0:29:43 | |
Later in the show, | 0:29:43 | 0:29:45 | |
will Roger persuade Drew into agreeing to even more unnecessary work? | 0:29:45 | 0:29:49 | |
That gas pipe should be earthed. There's no earth on it. | 0:29:49 | 0:29:52 | |
And how will our stunned consumer react when he finds out he's been scammed? | 0:29:52 | 0:29:57 | |
That's what it was! | 0:29:58 | 0:30:00 | |
A cheap toy. | 0:30:00 | 0:30:01 | |
Now, fuse box scams are common. But they're beaten by tarmac-ing tricks. | 0:30:07 | 0:30:11 | |
In 2009, there were more than 1,200 reported complaints | 0:30:11 | 0:30:16 | |
about dodgy driveways. | 0:30:16 | 0:30:18 | |
Our next story concerns a ruthless rogue | 0:30:18 | 0:30:21 | |
who was only brought to justice | 0:30:21 | 0:30:23 | |
after a nationwide search. | 0:30:23 | 0:30:24 | |
It just goes to show that crime doesn't pay. | 0:30:24 | 0:30:27 | |
This is Felix Joseph Rooney, a serial conman | 0:30:27 | 0:30:32 | |
who used cold calling, overcharging and intimidating behaviour | 0:30:32 | 0:30:36 | |
to swindle his victims out of tens of thousands of pounds. | 0:30:36 | 0:30:40 | |
He would knock on the doors of residents offering to do work | 0:30:40 | 0:30:43 | |
for a really good price. Once the work had started, he'd inflate the price. | 0:30:43 | 0:30:47 | |
In 2008, Rooney was plying his trade in the London Borough of Enfield. | 0:30:47 | 0:30:53 | |
His victims were so distressed, only one would appear on camera | 0:30:53 | 0:30:57 | |
providing her name and identity is disguised. | 0:30:57 | 0:31:00 | |
So we'll call her Bess. | 0:31:00 | 0:31:02 | |
When Rooney called, she was thinking of redoing her driveway. | 0:31:02 | 0:31:05 | |
So his sudden appearance seemed like a stroke of good fortune. | 0:31:05 | 0:31:09 | |
I was in the front garden and he stopped and started talking to me. | 0:31:09 | 0:31:14 | |
He showed me a brochure showing the grey and yellow bricks | 0:31:14 | 0:31:19 | |
which I liked. | 0:31:19 | 0:31:21 | |
I agreed to have the garden done. | 0:31:21 | 0:31:25 | |
He then gave me an invoice for £2,900. | 0:31:25 | 0:31:30 | |
Ouch! For that amount of money, you'd expect work of the very highest standard | 0:31:31 | 0:31:36 | |
on both the drive and the garden. | 0:31:36 | 0:31:38 | |
Instead, Rooney's men littered Bess's land with hardcore waste. | 0:31:38 | 0:31:43 | |
I had wanted to have a flower bed | 0:31:43 | 0:31:46 | |
and that rubble made that impossible. | 0:31:46 | 0:31:51 | |
It was full of glass, stones and broken slabs of concrete. | 0:31:51 | 0:31:57 | |
And I was very upset. | 0:31:57 | 0:32:00 | |
Ignoring her concerns, Rooney and his motley crew pressed on. | 0:32:00 | 0:32:05 | |
They cleared the mess and finished the driveway using the grey and yellow bricks she wanted. | 0:32:05 | 0:32:09 | |
Job done, Rooney asked for payment. | 0:32:09 | 0:32:12 | |
Not for the original amount quoted | 0:32:12 | 0:32:14 | |
but for £2,100 on top of that, | 0:32:14 | 0:32:17 | |
making a grand total of £5,000. | 0:32:17 | 0:32:21 | |
I said, "That's impossible." | 0:32:21 | 0:32:23 | |
He said that I had chosen the best quality bricks | 0:32:23 | 0:32:27 | |
and they are dearer. | 0:32:27 | 0:32:28 | |
I said, "You didn't tell me that at the time." | 0:32:28 | 0:32:31 | |
He insisted that that was the price he wanted | 0:32:31 | 0:32:35 | |
because he had to pay his men. | 0:32:35 | 0:32:37 | |
It's often the case that they will come up with some reason, some excuse, for the price increase. | 0:32:37 | 0:32:42 | |
It's absolutely unacceptable. | 0:32:42 | 0:32:44 | |
Despicable, if you ask me. And £5,000 in cash? | 0:32:44 | 0:32:48 | |
It's not exactly easy to come by. | 0:32:48 | 0:32:50 | |
Bess's bank told her it would take time for it to be arranged. | 0:32:50 | 0:32:54 | |
Meanwhile, Rooney was growing impatient. | 0:32:54 | 0:32:57 | |
Because it took more than 24 hours really | 0:32:57 | 0:33:01 | |
for them to give me permission to draw that amount of money, | 0:33:01 | 0:33:05 | |
he kept phoning me and wanting to know when he could come and collect it. | 0:33:05 | 0:33:10 | |
I felt very intimidated. | 0:33:10 | 0:33:13 | |
With £5,000 of Bess's precious savings now in his pocket, | 0:33:13 | 0:33:17 | |
Rooney was off, swindling other people using similar tricks. | 0:33:17 | 0:33:21 | |
Meanwhile, Bess could have been forgiven for thinking she'd seen the back of him. | 0:33:21 | 0:33:26 | |
Couldn't she? | 0:33:26 | 0:33:27 | |
Once you've been targeted by these traders, they often come back again. They identify you as a target. | 0:33:27 | 0:33:33 | |
So it's important you report these people as soon as possible. | 0:33:33 | 0:33:36 | |
Trading Standards can stop it happening. | 0:33:36 | 0:33:39 | |
So it's no surprise that six months later, | 0:33:39 | 0:33:41 | |
Rooney called at Bess's a second time, | 0:33:41 | 0:33:44 | |
determined to eke out every penny from this vulnerable pensioner. | 0:33:44 | 0:33:48 | |
Even though she'd been ripped off once before, | 0:33:48 | 0:33:51 | |
Bess felt intimidated into hiring Rooney again. | 0:33:51 | 0:33:55 | |
I have a retaining wall. | 0:33:55 | 0:33:57 | |
Every three or four years, | 0:33:57 | 0:33:59 | |
if we have very bad winters, that wall cracks. | 0:33:59 | 0:34:03 | |
So I asked him if his men could dismantle it | 0:34:03 | 0:34:09 | |
and rebuild it. | 0:34:09 | 0:34:10 | |
Bess was far from impressed with Rooney's work. | 0:34:10 | 0:34:14 | |
This time the cheater told her the job would cost £4,000. | 0:34:14 | 0:34:18 | |
Incredibly, even this amount would soon feel like small change. | 0:34:18 | 0:34:23 | |
He said he wanted another £10,000. | 0:34:23 | 0:34:27 | |
And I said no. | 0:34:30 | 0:34:32 | |
I said, "Your work isn't worth it | 0:34:32 | 0:34:36 | |
"and besides, I don't have that kind of money." | 0:34:36 | 0:34:39 | |
He told me to go to the bank, he told me to get a loan, | 0:34:39 | 0:34:44 | |
he told me what I should do. | 0:34:44 | 0:34:46 | |
The intimidation wasn't limited to Bess. | 0:34:46 | 0:34:49 | |
This and his persistent overcharging had brought him to the attention of Trading Standards and the police. | 0:34:49 | 0:34:55 | |
We managed to see paperwork from a vehicle that was on site | 0:34:55 | 0:34:59 | |
and once that was examined by the police, | 0:34:59 | 0:35:01 | |
we found fingerprints on it which were matched to our suspect. | 0:35:01 | 0:35:04 | |
We then had to start a nationwide manhunt to track him down. | 0:35:04 | 0:35:08 | |
Felix Rooney proved to be a slippery customer to catch. | 0:35:08 | 0:35:12 | |
But after two identity parades and the involvement of a private investigator, | 0:35:12 | 0:35:16 | |
he was eventually apprehended. | 0:35:16 | 0:35:18 | |
In February 2011 at London's Wood Green Crown Court, | 0:35:18 | 0:35:22 | |
he was sentenced to 17 months behind bars for ripping off Bess | 0:35:22 | 0:35:26 | |
and another victim to the tune of £7,700. Shocking. | 0:35:26 | 0:35:32 | |
I was so upset I wasn't well | 0:35:34 | 0:35:37 | |
for some time. | 0:35:37 | 0:35:39 | |
It really did affect my health. | 0:35:39 | 0:35:42 | |
There are real lessons to be learned from this case. | 0:35:42 | 0:35:45 | |
It highlights the importance of not dealing with traders on the doorstep. | 0:35:45 | 0:35:49 | |
If you need work doing to your property, then make sure you shop around | 0:35:49 | 0:35:53 | |
get at least three quotes from different traders and then decide. | 0:35:53 | 0:35:57 | |
Make sure that you go to a reputable firm. | 0:35:57 | 0:36:01 | |
The only thing that was true on the invoice | 0:36:01 | 0:36:07 | |
was the mobile phone number. | 0:36:07 | 0:36:09 | |
I find the whole episode extremely embarrassing. | 0:36:09 | 0:36:13 | |
Trading Standards respects your confidentiality in all investigations. | 0:36:14 | 0:36:18 | |
There's nothing to fear by reporting rogue activity. | 0:36:18 | 0:36:21 | |
You could stop another consumer from becoming a victim. | 0:36:21 | 0:36:25 | |
Now, what about that sparking fuse box in Middlesex? | 0:36:25 | 0:36:28 | |
Right. Electrics. | 0:36:28 | 0:36:30 | |
Drew Buckridge was set up by his brother Miles | 0:36:31 | 0:36:34 | |
who told him their kitchen appliances were giving him electric shocks. | 0:36:34 | 0:36:38 | |
When Roger arrived, he used a simple gadget to persuade Drew | 0:36:38 | 0:36:41 | |
the problem is real and serious. | 0:36:41 | 0:36:43 | |
Building on his award-winning performance, | 0:36:45 | 0:36:49 | |
Roger's plan has been to fix the earth on the electrical fuse box. | 0:36:49 | 0:36:53 | |
That's good. That's good. | 0:36:53 | 0:36:55 | |
Now he's trying to persuade Drew there's a problem with the gas meter too. | 0:36:55 | 0:36:59 | |
I ought to check the earth on it just to make sure it's OK. | 0:36:59 | 0:37:03 | |
The gas meter is in the garage. | 0:37:03 | 0:37:05 | |
I don't want you to take loads of stuff out. | 0:37:05 | 0:37:09 | |
I think they're going to have to, Roger. | 0:37:09 | 0:37:11 | |
The meter's right at the back. | 0:37:11 | 0:37:13 | |
I just want to get to the corner. | 0:37:13 | 0:37:15 | |
It's very unusual. That gas pipe should be earthed. There's no earth on there. | 0:37:18 | 0:37:22 | |
They're normally on the meter there. | 0:37:22 | 0:37:25 | |
Roger, you know full well that the gas meter is already earthed. | 0:37:25 | 0:37:31 | |
Just as it should be. | 0:37:31 | 0:37:33 | |
The work is completely unnecessary! | 0:37:33 | 0:37:35 | |
I'm just going to whack one on it, Luke, just to make sure. | 0:37:35 | 0:37:38 | |
I don't expect it will be too long before Roger works out | 0:37:38 | 0:37:41 | |
another dirty trick he can play. | 0:37:41 | 0:37:44 | |
To be fair to Drew, there aren't many consumers who'd recognise an earthing wire on their meter | 0:37:44 | 0:37:49 | |
so our trickster's on pretty safe ground. | 0:37:49 | 0:37:52 | |
Ignorance is bliss to every good con man. | 0:37:52 | 0:37:55 | |
I've put the earth wires on there. | 0:38:04 | 0:38:06 | |
Connected them up. None of that needed doing, | 0:38:06 | 0:38:09 | |
but it all looks good. It's taken less than an hour. | 0:38:09 | 0:38:12 | |
Now I'm not going to put the electrics back on until he's paid me. | 0:38:12 | 0:38:16 | |
So when he pays me, I'll flick the switch. | 0:38:16 | 0:38:19 | |
If he doesn't want to pay me, we'll drive away and he won't have any electrics. | 0:38:19 | 0:38:24 | |
See how that goes. | 0:38:24 | 0:38:26 | |
While Luke helps Drew put the garage back together, | 0:38:26 | 0:38:30 | |
Roger calculates the bill. | 0:38:30 | 0:38:33 | |
And how much can he get away with? | 0:38:33 | 0:38:36 | |
It's 475 in all. | 0:38:36 | 0:38:39 | |
Four hundred and seventy-five pounds?! | 0:38:39 | 0:38:42 | |
Now that's magic. | 0:38:42 | 0:38:44 | |
-OK with a cheque? -Have you got any cash? | 0:38:44 | 0:38:46 | |
I don't know how much cash we've got. | 0:38:46 | 0:38:48 | |
Today, Drew Buckridge let a rogue electrician into his home. | 0:38:51 | 0:38:55 | |
He fell for Roger's spark trick | 0:38:55 | 0:38:57 | |
and gave him free rein to solve the problem. | 0:38:57 | 0:39:00 | |
Roger pretended to fix both the fuse box and the gas meter. | 0:39:00 | 0:39:03 | |
Two totally unnecessary jobs. | 0:39:03 | 0:39:06 | |
Drew didn't question the work and now he faces a shocking bill | 0:39:06 | 0:39:10 | |
for work which never actually happened. | 0:39:10 | 0:39:13 | |
I'll have to write you a cheque. | 0:39:13 | 0:39:15 | |
OK, I don't mind a bit of cheque, bit of cash. | 0:39:15 | 0:39:19 | |
It's nice to have a bit of cash. | 0:39:19 | 0:39:21 | |
-I've got 160 in cash. -OK. | 0:39:21 | 0:39:23 | |
Unbelievable. | 0:39:23 | 0:39:25 | |
Drew doesn't seem to be questioning the bill at all. | 0:39:25 | 0:39:28 | |
He's even going out of his way to help the conman | 0:39:28 | 0:39:31 | |
by finding as much of the payment in hard cash as he can. | 0:39:31 | 0:39:35 | |
And there it is. | 0:39:35 | 0:39:37 | |
£475 for a quick magic show | 0:39:37 | 0:39:40 | |
and less than an hour's work. | 0:39:40 | 0:39:42 | |
Drew's made our trickster's day. | 0:39:42 | 0:39:45 | |
But at least he's doing the right thing here. | 0:39:45 | 0:39:47 | |
Can I use your back? | 0:39:47 | 0:39:49 | |
He's getting a signed invoice as proof of payment. | 0:39:49 | 0:39:53 | |
Well done. Although, knowing Roger, it probably isn't worth the paper it's written on! | 0:39:53 | 0:39:58 | |
I'll just go and do your fuse box. | 0:39:58 | 0:40:00 | |
Happy with the result, Roger can now switch the electricity back on. | 0:40:00 | 0:40:04 | |
That's all up and running now. | 0:40:04 | 0:40:07 | |
Before making a very quick getaway. | 0:40:07 | 0:40:10 | |
Thank you. Cheers. | 0:40:10 | 0:40:12 | |
Bye-bye. | 0:40:12 | 0:40:14 | |
With the dodgy double-act off the scene, | 0:40:18 | 0:40:20 | |
it's time for our producer to reveal the truth to Drew. | 0:40:20 | 0:40:24 | |
Ooh! | 0:40:24 | 0:40:26 | |
-Hello, there. -Hi. -Sorry to disturb you. We're from the BBC. -Yeah. | 0:40:26 | 0:40:31 | |
-We've been doing some investigations in the area. -OK. | 0:40:31 | 0:40:34 | |
Into people who've had experiences with various plumbers, electricians... | 0:40:34 | 0:40:39 | |
You mean the guys who were just here? | 0:40:39 | 0:40:41 | |
They were here to fix some faulty electrician work from before. | 0:40:41 | 0:40:47 | |
But it's all fixed. | 0:40:47 | 0:40:48 | |
-Did you pay much for it? -Yeah. | 0:40:48 | 0:40:50 | |
-Did you give them any cash? -Yeah. | 0:40:51 | 0:40:54 | |
-Did you get a receipt? -Yeah. An invoice, yeah. | 0:40:56 | 0:40:58 | |
One of them... We didn't have a lot of cash on us. But he wanted part cash, part cheque. | 0:40:58 | 0:41:03 | |
He got a cheque for most of it but cash was involved as well. | 0:41:03 | 0:41:06 | |
It's likely he didn't do what he said he'd do. It's likely he didn't do much at all. | 0:41:06 | 0:41:12 | |
Right. First impressions were that it was obviously expensive. | 0:41:12 | 0:41:17 | |
-But I don't know. -There they are! | 0:41:17 | 0:41:20 | |
Time to let Drew off the hook! | 0:41:21 | 0:41:23 | |
What?! | 0:41:23 | 0:41:24 | |
And reveal that he's been set up with the help of his brother Miles. | 0:41:24 | 0:41:28 | |
You gave me the funniest look when you plugged the plug in. | 0:41:28 | 0:41:32 | |
When you got the shock. You went like that. | 0:41:32 | 0:41:35 | |
I was like, "He did that purposely. What's going on?" | 0:41:35 | 0:41:39 | |
-When I went like that? -That's what it was! | 0:41:39 | 0:41:42 | |
A cheap toy! | 0:41:42 | 0:41:44 | |
Roger was very convincing in what he did. | 0:41:44 | 0:41:46 | |
The spark kind of threw us and showed us what we thought the problem was. | 0:41:46 | 0:41:52 | |
So, yeah, very good. | 0:41:52 | 0:41:55 | |
I'm quite impressed you actually gave him the money. | 0:41:55 | 0:41:58 | |
-But you said you got a shock off the plug last week! -I'm sorry. | 0:41:58 | 0:42:01 | |
You've had me going for about three weeks! | 0:42:01 | 0:42:05 | |
When it dawned on me I might have been scammed, my heart was racing. | 0:42:05 | 0:42:08 | |
I didn't know what to think. Did I follow them round the house, or leave them alone? | 0:42:08 | 0:42:13 | |
Did we have anything out on the side like wallets or laptops at all? | 0:42:13 | 0:42:17 | |
Drew learned not to be so trusting today. | 0:42:17 | 0:42:20 | |
But what else has he taken away from Roger's antics? | 0:42:20 | 0:42:23 | |
When I got the invoice, it was pricey for what they were here for. | 0:42:23 | 0:42:27 | |
That's a waste of a cheque! | 0:42:27 | 0:42:29 | |
The fact he asked for mainly cash rather than a cheque. | 0:42:29 | 0:42:32 | |
That was a bit of an alarm bell. | 0:42:32 | 0:42:35 | |
We don't tend to carry cash around the house at all ever. | 0:42:35 | 0:42:39 | |
I should have demanded that he be paid solely with a cheque. | 0:42:39 | 0:42:42 | |
Thanks for taking it so well, Drew. | 0:42:42 | 0:42:45 | |
Remember, the vast majority of tradesmen are honest and hard-working. | 0:42:45 | 0:42:49 | |
It's only a very few who play dirty tricks. | 0:42:49 | 0:42:52 | |
The crucial thing is, remember, if in doubt, keep them out! | 0:42:52 | 0:42:55 | |
Thanks for watching. See you next time. | 0:42:55 | 0:42:58 | |
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd | 0:43:17 | 0:43:20 |