New Car Problems Don't Get Done Get Dom

I've been fighting your consumer battles for years.

But the same old problems just keep flooding in.

'And it's all the usual suspects.'

'Poor customer service, faulty goods and hidden small print.'

'No wonder some of you are fed up with the way you're being treated.'

They think they can afford to lose customers. If you don't go back, it doesn't matter, another one walks in.

-The customer is forgotten.

-I couldn't agree more.

Things need to change and we're on a mission to get companies to treat us better.

'I'll be taking on your cases and fighting your fight with the big companies.'

I think he'll be sensible and say, "Hands up. Have your money back."

'I'll be showing you how to shop smart and stay one step ahead.'

She's a really good shopper.

-So remember, don't get done...

-..get Dom.

'On today's programme, the newlyweds' brand-new car that had massive gaps.'

Crikey! A gap like the Dartford Tunnel, that is.

'Rani explores tenants' rights.'

"I just popped by to see if everything was all right."

I'm, like, "Excuse me. This is my house."

'And the man who got rid of nuisance callers by making them pay him a fortune.'

Then I invoiced them for 19½ minutes at £10 a minute.

You know, buying a new car is a bit of a buzz.

Everything you do the first time is really exciting.

Like turning on the engine.

ENGINE REVS

And then, there's that lovely fresh smell.

That brand-new, spanking, straight out of the wrapper interior.

And then, you've got your perfectly polished and unmarked paintwork,

like you'd expect with a brand-spanking-new motor.

What about if the one that you picked up at the showroom wasn't up to scratch?

'Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened to newlyweds

Rachel Florey and husband Kevin from Bury near Manchester.'

'They decided to celebrate their upcoming marriage by buying themselves a new carriage.'

'A Ford Focus, to be precise.'

'Brand-new and straight out of the Evans Halshaw showroom.'

We decided to choose Ford because the Focus suited all of our needs.

They're a well-known brand and we thought,

"A new car, you're not going to get any problems with that."

That's why you buy a new car.

'It was a hectic moment for the couple,

'who had more than buying a new car on their minds.'

When we picked up the car, it was an exciting time for us,

we were busy planning our wedding and honeymoon.

We didn't take much notice of the car. We thought it was brand-new.

It'll be perfect. It was a few weeks later that my father noticed

that the rear of the car was out of alignment.

'Yes, indeed. Unfortunately, once Rachel and Kevin had calmed down

from the excitement of the wedding, they found their pristine new car

was far from perfect.'

The spoiler on one side looked a little wonky.

There were lines running down the left-hand side of the vehicle that were symmetrical.

But on the right-hand side there were huge gaps that you could fit your fingers in.

'The worst affected panel seemed to be the tailgate.'

'The couple simply hadn't thought to inspect these gaps when they collected their Focus.'

'Like many new-car buyers they assumed that, with a factory fresh motor,

they didn't need to worry about such things.'

We were surprised to begin with, because you buy a new car

and you expect it to be perfect.

When you pick up a new car you look at paint defects,

you don't look at build defects.

'Rachel took the car back to her dealer, Evans Halshaw,

'who said they'd investigate.'

'She also raised concerns with the manufacturer Ford.'

'It was agreed that Evans Halshaw would try and repair the alignment issues

'and Rachel hoped this would solve the problem.'

Evans Halshaw asked us to go and pick the vehicle up.

We thought this meant it was repaired. We went to collect the car.

It didn't look that much different than it did when we dropped it off.

We highlighted this to Evans Halshaw.

'A few days later, Evans Halshaw contacted Rachel to say that,

'having carried out various adjustments to the tailgate,

'the gaps now met Ford's standards.'

'But Rachel still wasn't happy with them and worse was to come.'

'The car soon developed other faults,

'including windscreen wipers that wouldn't work,

'and a problem starting their car.'

'All told, these problems had damaged Rachel's confidence in her new Ford Focus.'

By the sounds of it, Rachel's brand-new car

didn't live up to its expectations and that's to say the least.

I've come to meet her to find out what's been happening

and also what's going on.

-You must be Rachel. How are you doing?

-Hi, nice to meet you.

-I'm soaked through. It's pouring down.

-It's always like this.

-I hope you've got the kettle on.

-Come in.

'I'm keen to see for myself how the panel gaps were when the couple collected their car

'before any adjustments were made by Evans Halshaw.'

-Have you got pictures of what we're talking about?

-Yes.

-Let's see.

-If you look at that, it looks like the boot's open.

-It does.

-And that's shut?

-And that's shut.

Crikey! A gap like the Dartford Tunnel, that is.

If you look, comparing these two pictures.

That's one side of the car where you can see

it's just my fingernail in the gap.

-On that side, my whole finger.

-That's unbelievable.

-That's how it was delivered?

-That's how it was delivered.

'Car manufacturers like Ford have strict standards for panel gaps.'

'When cars are built, these gaps must be within a certain tolerance.'

'Usually one or two millimetres of the agreed standard.'

'From the photos, it seems unlikely the gaps were within tolerance when the car was delivered.'

'But, as the tailgate has since been adjusted, we may never know for sure.'

'The thing is, panel gaps aren't the only issue here.'

We subsequently had problems with the ignition.

The car just would not start.

You would put the key in the ignition and the car would not start.

'Having a car that wouldn't start was bad enough.'

'At around the same time, Rachel had the unnerving experience

'of having her windscreen wipers fail whilst driving in the rain.'

They just wouldn't work.

Given the torrential weather that you've witnessed in the northwest, it's not ideal.

'Rachel reported the ignition and windscreen wiper faults to Ford

'and a different Ford garage, Gordons of Bolton.

'They made sure the windscreen wipers worked

'and fixed the ignition faults.'

'They also had another look at the tailgate to see if they could improve the alignment further.'

'But it seemed, no matter how much adjustment was done,

'the gaps on Rachel's car were never going to be perfect.'

Have you ever heard the expression, "You've got a Friday afternoon car"?

-Yeah.

-Right. By that, they mean one that's been

rushed through, one wants to get home for the weekend.

It's an expression. Your car's like that, one which might not have gone through all the checks

or they haven't picked up on problems when they should have done.

But, and here's the big but,

when you go in and say, "I would like that Ford Focus," and give them your spec,

it then goes through a PDI, a pre-delivery inspection.

That's when a mechanic, a qualified mechanic,

will inspect everything. Oil levels, brake-fluid levels,

make sure nothing's been missed, no panel damage and that car is 100% ready to be given to you.

'Those panel gaps look pretty big in the photos,

'yet it seems nothing was picked up by any pre-delivery inspection.'

Most garages now are really hot on customer service.

It's something which is fundamental to them.

They're doing everything they can to gain customers and keep customers.

I'm a little bit surprised that I'm here addressing a problem

which I would have thought was quite straightforward to sort out.

Why hasn't it happened?

Well, in all fairness, I really don't know.

Right. What I'd like to establish is how long had you owned the car

when you first alerted the dealership to the problem?

We picked it up in February and we alerted the dealership in April.

-Two months later.

-Two months, yeah.

If it's that bad, why did it take you two months to notice it?

When we picked the car up at the beginning of February, we were due to get married on the 3rd of March.

We didn't spend time looking at the car, it was more toing and froing, getting ready for the wedding.

Then we immediately went on honeymoon.

We got married, went on honeymoon, came back.

Then it was getting back into the swing of things with work.

-Then it was in April that we alerted them.

-Totally understandable now.

I'm with you on the two months.

No-one could pull you up on that. It was a busy period in your life.

'Once Rachel noticed the panel gap issue, she was in regular contact

'with Ford over this and the other faults that cropped up.'

'And, when after 3½ months, she felt the car still wasn't right,

'she and her husband decided to take action.'

We'd just completely had enough of the whole thing,

so we formally rejected the vehicle back in July.

We wrote to Ford and Evans Halshaw saying

this vehicle was of unsatisfactory quality, we were rejecting the car,

and that we would accept an exchange replacement of the vehicle.

After several more weeks of paperwork and processes

that Ford were telling us they were having to go through,

Evans Halshaw came back to us and said,

"We'll replace the car for you but we want £3,000."

When they said that we'd have to pay £3,000 for a replacement car,

I was just astounded, I was gobsmacked.

'A like-for-like replacement for Rachel's car wasn't available immediately,

'so Ford were offering her a higher-specification car with a new type of engine.'

'They were also asking her for a contribution

'towards mileage and depreciation for her existing Focus,

'which she'd now had for several months.'

'But Rachel wasn't happy with any of this

'and wasn't prepared to pay another penny.'

-How did you buy it?

-On finance. Part exchange and finance.

That's not a bad thing, because, although you pay interest with the finance,

-automatically you're covered by the Consumer Credit Act.

-Right.

'That means that, in the highly unlikely event it becomes necessary,

we could turn to the finance company for help.'

I can go to the finance company, who are now jointly responsible for the quality of those goods,

and say, "Rachel's car is not as described,

it's not fit for purpose, whatever the situation may be."

"Give us the money back or give us another car."

What would you actually like as an outcome?

We wanted another car. However, after everything we've been through

and the months of stress and heartache Ford have put us through,

I don't want another one now. I don't want to see a Ford ever again.

-I want my money back.

-OK.

So you want me to get on to Ford, get you a full refund.

Slight complication because you had a part exchange.

Their problem not yours, as far as I'm concerned.

You want your money back, your interest back,

no penalties for mileage and you can start again.

-Yes, please. There you go.

-OK.

Right. I'll be conceited and say you've got the best man on the job.

I understand the motor industry. And I also know my consumer rights.

-I'll see what I can do.

-Fantastic.

-Thank you very much.

-Good to meet you. Speak to you soon.

Anybody who buys a brand-new car should be full of excitement.

Rachel's not and I can understand why.

Let's see what Ford's got to say about it, shall we?

'Rachel's main complaint is that she's not happy with the quality of her car.'

'But we're dealing with a true motoring giant here,

'because Ford are the fifth-largest carmaker in the world.'

'And were the first to mass produce cars over 100 years ago.'

'It's time to get on the phone.'

'To help us direct your call to the correct team,

'please choose from one of the following options.'

How annoying is that? I'm just going to press two.

'I opt for customer services.'

I'm calling from the BBC.

Thank you.

Here's where I get put through to a press officer.

'Sure enough, I'm told I need to speak to their press office.'

Thanks very much.

'For speed, I'm just going to redial.'

KEYPAD TONES BEEP

I'm just trying to ring them direct.

RINGING TONE

Tim, good afternoon to you. It's Dominic Littlewood at the BBC.

'Tim doesn't want us to use his voice,

'so I fill him in on the situation with Rachel and her car.'

There's all sorts of issues.

I think some you'll find shocking when you see them.

I've got photographs...

'He asks for the name of the dealer that sold the car.'

She bought the car initially from Evans Halshaw.

'Not a long chat but enough to let the Ford brass know that Rachel's got me on her side.'

That guy knows what he's talking about. I can just sense it.

That's good for me because, once he realises exactly what I'm fighting,

I'll be very surprised if he wants to argue with me.

I think he'll be sensible and say, "Hands up. Have your money back."

'But, coming up, will it be as straightforward as I had hoped?'

Sticking that in one of the gaps, to me,

it's a hell of a tolerance they're giving it.

I'm Rani Price. And there is nothing that I like better than helping you, the buying public,

through the minefield of regulations to make sure you stay savvy shoppers.

'Consumer law can be very confusing.'

'You've got your Sale Of Goods Act, Distance Selling, Right To Return, and it doesn't stop there.'

'But knowing just a few of these laws

'can not only save you money but a lot of hassle as well.'

Do you know what this is?

Two for a tenner.

'Today, I'm out on the streets armed with questions for the buying public,

'to find out if you know your consumer rights from your consumer wrongs.'

-Do you want to be on the news?

-No.

Many people are being priced out of the housing market and forced to rent.

The number of families renting has increased by 86% in the last five years.

The number of complaints about landlords in the under-regulated rental sector

has rocketed by a quarter in recent years.

Which begs the question, do renters know their rights?

Can I ask, do you rent a property?

Do you rent a property? Do you? Do you? Do you? Do you? Do you? Do you?

LAUGHS

-You're a renter?

-Yes.

-You have a private landlord?

-Yes.

-Do you know your rights?

-No, not really.

-Do you know how to fight your rights?

-No.

'There seems to be some confusion on the streets.'

'Time for some expert guidance.'

There are 3.6 million households in the private-rental sector in Britain,

which has gone up 41% in the last five years.

We predict that, at the current rates, by 2025,

one third of people in Britain will be renting their home.

'So, first up, I want to find out how much you know about repairs.'

'Who is actually responsible? The landlord or you, the tenant?'

Things are going wrong. Maybe, for example, let's have a think.

-The bathroom's leaking.

-Yeah.

-Who's going to sort it out?

The letting agent.

-The tap starts to leak, something like that. What do you do?

-Call the landlord.

If something goes wrong in your flat or your house, who do you call?

-And don't say Ghostbusters.

-I'd call the agency.

'All three of you think that the landlord or agency

'is always responsible for fixing household repairs.'

'Well, think again.'

-Do you read the small print?

-Er, not really, no.

Any major repairs are the landlord's responsibility

and their responsibility to make sure the building's safe to live in.

Minor repairs may be the responsibility of the tenant,

but you should check your tenancy agreement for the rules on that.

'But what about when you don't need to call your landlord

'because they've already turned up at your place

'and let themselves in without you knowing?'

Your awful landlord, did you ever find him in your house?

-Yeah.

-You did?

What was he doing in your house?

Your house that you were renting from him.

-The old one, not this one now.

-Yeah, the old one.

He was, like, "I just popped by to see if everything was all right."

I'm, like, "Excuse me. This is my house."

If you came home and the landlord was there just checking the boiler, what would your reaction be?

I would be, like, "Oh, OK. Um, all right."

Have you ever come home and somebody from the agency is in your flat?

No. I know they're not supposed to or are allowed to come in

-unless they give you 24 hours' notice.

-Very good.

'Well done. Right answer.'

'It's your home and it's up to you who comes to visit.'

'Not only that...'

If you turn up at home and your landlord's sitting in the house

or going through the mail saying, "I'm just checking things up."

You can ask him to leave. It is your right.

'But if your landlord does insist on coming into your property uninvited,

'refuses to carry out repairs, or resolve any other dispute,

'does your rent become a bargaining tool?'

Would you have ever thought of withholding your rent?

I think that would be the last step.

I suspect, if you withhold rent, they may be able to kick you out.

Would you ever think of withholding your rent?

I'd think of threatening it,

-but I don't know if I'd do it.

-Well, don't.

As a tenant, you don't have the right to withhold your rent.

Withholding rent could put you in arrears,

which could put you at risk of eviction.

So, remember, when you sign on the dotted line,

make sure you know what you've agreed to as a tenant.

Know your rights and you won't get done.

'I've been trying to find a way forward for Rachel Florey and husband Kevin.'

'A couple of months after buying a brand-new Ford Focus,

'they noticed some problems with the alignment of the tailgate.'

-Unbelievable. That's how it was delivered?

-That's how it was delivered.

'But soon after, the car developed other faults too.'

'The windscreen wipers stopped working.'

'There was also a fault with the ignition.'

'All told, these problems caused Rachel

'to lose confidence in her Focus.'

'So she decided to reject her car.'

'But having now had it for a few months,

'Rachel was asked to contribute £3,000 towards a replacement model,

'which would have to be a different higher-spec version.'

Obviously, for us, we'd bought a new car and we weren't happy.

'I've already told Ford that I'm on the case.'

'I'm keen to speak to Evans Halshaw, the dealer who sold her the car,

'to hear their take on the problems.'

'I've been told I need to speak to a chap called Martyn.'

'I explained why I'm ringing and checked that he's familiar with Rachel's case,'

'We supplied the car.'

'After Rachel raised concerns about the panel alignment,

'Evans Halshaw investigated

'and told her they'd made some adjustments and then checked the gaps against Ford's tolerances.'

'When we've checked the vehicle out,

'the tolerances are within spec that Ford has sent to us.'

Right.

'When I say tolerances, I mean the tolerances of the tailgate

'and the gaps between the tailgate

-'and the rear quarters, the rear panels.'

-Right.

'We've also compared it with other Focuses.'

'Again, it's well within tolerance within other Focuses.'

'Although Rachel was unhappy with the panel alignment on her car,

'even after it had been adjusted,

'Martyn says the panel gaps were within tolerances.'

'But he questions why it was over a month before they raised concerns about their panel alignment.'

'The lady took delivery, I think it was in February,

'and it was probably some time late March

'when she first brought it to our attention.'

-Yep. She got married in between and went on honeymoon.

-'OK.'

'The thing is, we'll never know exactly how the original gaps compared to Ford's tolerances.'

'That's not really the point. The fact is,

'faults like the misaligned panels caused Rachel to lose faith in her car.'

'From what Martyn's saying, it sounds like the problem

'was probably there when the car rolled off the production line.'

As far as you're concerned,

you think that's how it came out of the factory?

-'That's how it came out of the factory.'

-Right. OK.

-Thank you for your help.

-'Thank you. Bye.'

-Bye.

'Of course, the panel gaps aren't the only problem Rachel has experienced with her car.'

'And her case has got me thinking about what we consumers

'should expect from a brand-new motor.'

If you buy a car second-hand, you'll need to spend time checking out its condition.

Everything from whether the engine ticks over nicely...

..to whether the bodywork has got any dents or scratches.

Ouch!

And all the panels should line up.

Of course, when you buy a brand-spanking-new car,

you shouldn't need to worry about that,

because it's barely turned a wheel.

But is it actually as simple as that?

'Well, not according to Barry Wheeler.'

'Yes, that is his name.'

'He provides vehicle reports for insurance firms

'and is an expert on the construction history of cars.'

'He has heard stories of what can happen to cars

'between leaving the factory and reaching the showroom.'

While some cars are made in the UK,

the vast majority of cars are made abroad. And a lot of cars

are made in the Far East. In order for them to be sold here,

they have to be transported halfway around the world.

There's a lot of opportunity for damage to occur to a car during that transit process.

They sit on docks, they're in storage yards,

they have to be moved on and off of ships.

There's a lot of opportunity for damage to occur to these cars.

A lot of damage occurs, which then gets repaired

and the cars get sold on as brand-new cars still.

'Now, I should say here that this has nothing to do with Rachel's car

'and nor does it apply to Ford or Evans Halshaw.'

'But, if you're thinking about buying a new car,

'it's worth knowing what could have happened if it was damaged in transit.'

Manufacturers will sell a car brand-new

even if it's had panels damaged and repaired.

They will repair and paint it, sell it as a new car

without informing the customer that it's been damaged and repaired.

'Of course, the vast majority of cars reach the showroom unscathed.

'But, if there's a lesson here, it's that,

'even if you're buying a brand-new car,

'you should spend plenty of time checking the condition

'of the bodywork to make sure it's up to scratch.'

'And, if you have any concerns, tell the dealer as soon as possible.'

'Right, back to Rachel's case.

'Next, I'd like to speak to Gordons of Bolton,

'the other Ford dealer who had a look at Rachel's car.'

'Gordons fixed the windscreen wipers and ignition issues

'but were also asked by Ford to have another look

'at the alignment of the tailgate.'

'I'm keen to hear their thoughts.'

I'm trying to get to the bottom of what the issue is.

I've seen photos of the car, there's big problems with gaps and things.

What causes that?

'The chap doesn't want his voice used.'

'But he tells me, although they've done all they can to realign the panels,

'the gaps still aren't perfect.'

OK. That slightly concerns me.

If you've done everything you can to realign it and it's still not ideal,

still not correct, what other options are left for Rachel?

'And that's my point. If the car is never going to be perfect,

'then who can blame Rachel for wanting to reject it

'and have her money back?'

'There may be light at the end of the tunnel. Since my call to Ford,

'they've been in touch with Rachel and made an offer on behalf of them and dealer Evans Halshaw.'

'But I've still not had any answers on exactly what went wrong with Rachel's car.'

'So I get back on the phone to Ford.'

Tim, good afternoon. It's Dominic Littlewood at the BBC.

Somewhere along the line, it seems that these panels don't fit

and quite visibly very, very... Well, shocking is the word I'd use.

'Tim can't tell me exactly what went wrong with Rachel's Focus,

'but I know that Ford have commissioned reports into the car.'

'And I'd love to get my mitts on them.'

If we can have the reports, that would be brilliant. We can put it to bed.

'Something tells me I won't get to see those reports.'

Thanks for your time, Tim.

'That doesn't mean we can't get our own expert to have a look.'

It shouldn't have been allowed to have been sold in that condition.

Cold calls, they can drive you mad.

But most of us would just say, "Thanks but no thanks," and hang up.

But one man was hounded by so many cold calls,

he decided to take action.

'Richard Herman from Surrey is a man who appreciates a bit of peace and quiet in life.'

'He's a small-business owner.'

'In 2012, he decided he could quite happily work from home

'and avoid the hurly-burly of office life.'

'It meant he got to spend more time with his wife,

'but he found being at home was anything but free

'from disturbance.'

I found I was more aware of people who knocked on the door trying to sell things.

And more aware of the number of cold telephone calls that we received.

'Like many, he felt there was little he could do to stop the calls.'

'He believed his telephone number must've been sold on to one or more

'sales companies who were free to disturb him at will.'

It felt like somebody coming along and kind of doing this all the time,

which isn't an acceptable lifestyle thing to do.

In fact, talking to family and friends,

hearing that half of them don't answer their landline any more,

they leave it to go to answering machine or don't answer it at all.

Which is a real abuse, that we can't have a landline to be able to talk to people.

'One day, he received a call about PPI, payment protection insurance,

'from a company he suspected had rung him before.'

'Richard decided to play along with the call and pretend he was interested,

'just to get more information about the company.'

While talking to them, pretending that I could be a customer with them,

I had to carry on until they gave me their company name

and I could look it up on the internet.

I said, "Ah, I can see your address is XYZ."

They said it was right, so I knew who I was dealing with.

'Richard had all the information he needed,

'so he dropped the pretence he was interested and hit them with an ultimatum.'

I said to them, "If you call me again, I'll charge you £10 per minute for my time."

'It wasn't the response the company was used to getting.'

'Richard hoped his tactic would be enough to make sure they never rang back. Some chance.'

To my astonishment, two days later, on the 20th,

the phone rang again with similar kind of acoustics, similar kind of script.

And I carried on with it to find out who they actually were.

It turned out to be the same organisation again.

When I wasn't a customer for them, they hung up on me. But I called them back.

I said to them, "You need to be clear, don't call me again because,

"if you call me, I'm going to charge you again."

"You need to get this right and not call me."

'Richard felt he'd made it perfectly clear he intended to charge the company.'

'Now they'd called a second time, he made good on his threats.'

Then I invoiced them for 19½ minutes at £10 a minute.

So I sent them an invoice for £195.

'Richard didn't get a response to his invoice.'

'But he had no intention of letting the company off the hook.'

After 30 days, I hadn't heard anything from them,

so I sent a recorded-delivery letter to their registered office

reminding them that they had this unpaid invoice.

'The PPI company he had invoiced

'was quickly realising they had picked the wrong man to cold call.'

It's good in this kind of case to show a relentlessness to somebody.

In the first letter, the invoice, I said I want payment after 30 days.

Bang on the 30 days, I wrote the second letter. It shows I'm awake and paying attention.

And then saying to them, if I didn't hear from them in 11 days,

I'd raise a small claims court.

'Richard did finally get a response from the sales company to his threats of court action.'

'But it wasn't what he was expecting.'

'They sent a letter flatly denying that they'd ever called him,

'but that didn't bother Richard at all.'

'Unbeknownst to the company, he had a secret weapon.'

Receiving that letter amused me more than anything else,

because I record every phone call that I make or receive at home,

as we do at work, so I had the recordings of all these calls.

And in the recordings, it's got my name and their name,

so it's very clear what's gone on.

'There is a good reason Richard was able to record calls so quickly and easily.'

'It's been his line of work for over 20 years.'

One way of recording calls is with something like this,

which can sit in the computer, as you can see here,

or it can be used externally.

Fit it into the computer and you plug your telephone line into it.

And record calls straight on to the PC.

'This is the actual recording of the phone call that Richard made.'

'I charge my time for speaking to anybody at £10 a minute.'

'So if anybody calls, I'll be charging them by the minute.'

'I have an agreement that I'll be charging.'

'Richard knew he had the kind of killer evidence to easily prove the company had been calling him.'

When I received the two letters from them

denying that they'd ever called me,

that didn't upset me at all, because I knew I had 100% solid,

cast-iron proof to play in court of my voice, my name,

their company name all in the same audio recording.

'So Richard took a few simple steps to start a small claims court case.'

It's ineffectual to keep complaining to a company for month after month.

It doesn't get anywhere.

Obviously, nothing's happening, nobody's paying it attention.

But the small claims court does make any company, any trader,

which is of any size that they're not going to run away, disappear,

it does make them respond.

'When the company received notice of the court claim,

'and Richard informed them he had the voice recordings,

'they decided it was time to hang up on this argument.'

I had a letter apologising for what had happened and offering to pay the claim.

That was the £195 of my invoice and to refund the £25 of the court fee.

I felt pleased not to be the victim,

which is how I felt right at the beginning.

But I felt this company would be careful not to call me again.

'And they never have. It was a double victory for Richard.'

'He got his peace and quiet from nuisance calls and he got paid.'

'So, what does he think the key ingredients of his success were?'

Recording the calls.

What it was we were agreeing to. They could call me at £10 a minute.

I was clear, definitively, who they were,

which I got from checking the phone call against their website

and recording that in the conversation.

Send an invoice with a letter, very business-like and formal.

Send a recorded letter when it's ignored.

Then to raise the case in the small claims court

all on the dates I'd given them beforehand,

so they could see this was a relentless situation

that wouldn't be stopped unless they took an action.

'Well, good on you, Richard. You're an inspiration to us all.'

'I've been helping out Manchester newlywed Rachel Florey,

'who bought a brand-new car only to discover it had problems.'

'The panels on her Ford Focus didn't line up

'and the car has had ignition and windscreen wiper faults as well.'

'She wants to know how a brand-new motor like hers

'got to be in such a state.'

-There were huge gaps you could fit your fingers in.

-Crikey!

A gap like the Dartford Tunnel.

'I've been in touch with the dealer who sold the car, Evans Halshaw, and Ford themselves.'

'I've asked for any reports done on Rachel's car.'

'But none have come through.'

'So we've asked engineer John Dubeck to meet Rachel and take a look at her car.'

'He's a motoring expert who gives cars a forensic examination

'to detail their history.'

What I can see here is that somebody's had a go at adjusting

the hinges and they've painted it afterwards.

But the tooling marks are still there.

'Well, that much we knew, as two separate Ford dealers have attempted to rectify the fault.'

'But what about the rest of the car?'

I can say that everything's original.

But what has happened is, it's not been through the proper quality control checks.

Those quality control checks should start in manufacture.

It seems to have slipped through.

-Let's have a look.

-'John's ready to deliver his verdict to Rachel.'

'It's clear, he thinks the alignment should have been sorted earlier.'

Shall we? I've had a look over here.

And this is the area where I expect realignment to be carried out.

These are the hinges for the tailgate.

And you can see over here we've got the four mounting bolts.

What would happen is, they would slacked those bolts off,

reposition the tailgate until it's right,

fasten them up, keep checking them.

Then, once it's all right, put a little bit of paint again.

You can actually see the marks, it's called tooling marks.

-That means there's been a realignment process carried out.

-OK.

That process should've been carried out prior to you buying the car.

-At the factory.

-At the factory.

-Yeah, OK.

-If there was an issue

with alignment, all they had to do was slacken those bolts off,

reposition them, tighten them up again,

-keep checking until it's within tolerances.

-Right. OK.

Clearly, they haven't done it. What's it taken to get there?

It's taken the pre-delivery inspection not being carried out properly.

It's taken you to bring it to their attention.

-Unfortunately, you've had to nag them. It's not very good, is it?

-No.

'And what does John think of the alignment of the car right now?'

-Clearly, it's a lot better than it was before.

-A lot better.

But it's not 100%. But what can you do?

I think this is probably as far as you're going to get.

But it's not 100%, as I say.

The engineer from Ford said that, without cutting panels and welding,

they couldn't improve it any more.

It shouldn't have been allowed to have been sold in that condition.

Given the other problems you've had with the car

in that very short space of time,

-I think you've got a great case to reject the car.

-Yeah.

It really confirmed what we said all along that it was down

to the way it was built in the first place, which isn't my fault.

I shouldn't have to deal with that. It's down to Ford.

It's clear that, occasionally, even a brand-new car can have its faults.

But if you've shelled out your hard-earned cash for something as pricey as a new motor,

what are your rights when things go wrong?

'Rachel's been disputing the issues with her car for months now.'

'All she wants is to hand it back with no cost to her.'

'But does the Sale Of Goods Act apply to her situation?'

'I contacted a motoring expert to find out.'

If your new car doesn't meet the conditions

set out in the Sale Of Goods Act,

then you are within your rights to reject it.

If you've lost confidence in a vehicle,

because it's been repaired lots of times

and the repair wasn't successful, or if the fault continues to occur,

then you may want to reject the vehicle.

If it can be proven that the dealer

has been unsuccessful in repairing the car,

then he must replace it for you.

'But what if the dealer says there's nothing wrong with it?'

If a dealer has repaired your car

and you're not happy with the repairs, you don't believe it's worked, or was done badly,

and the dealer disagrees, then it may be worth you seeking a second opinion.

'In Rachel's case, a second Ford dealer did look at the car

'and did everything they could to fix it.'

'But there was only so much they could do.'

'With Rachel still not happy,

'I think it's return time. But what about those timescales?'

'Rachel didn't complain straightaway because she was busy getting married.'

The Sale Of Goods Act says that you must reject a new car within a reasonable time.

It doesn't actually specify what that time is.

But I think common sense applies.

If a fault is visible, for example, the paintwork is the wrong colour,

that's something very obvious and you'll notice it immediately and you should act immediately.

However, not all faults are visible,

if they're mechanical or electrical.

If this is the case, you wouldn't be expected to know about them immediately.

But, basically, as soon as you are aware of the fault,

you should act on it.

'So you can return a car that is still faulty after repairs.'

'That's good news for any car buyer.'

'Now, though, it's time to head back to see Rachel to find out

'more about the offer Ford and Evans Halshaw have made.'

'Is it enough to put a smile back on her face?'

-Hi, again, Rach, how are you doing?

-Good to see you.

-Can I come in?

-Come on in.

-Rachel, there's quite a lot happened since I got involved.

-Certainly has.

-Ford have got involved and started to pay more attention to you.

-Yes.

That's what we need. That's what you should've got from day one.

-You weren't happy with the service you received, were you?

-Not at all.

I was constantly ringing, emailing, sending letters, photographs, videos,

trying to make them realise that there is a problem with this car and they need to sort it out.

Something I wanted to do was get an independent report.

I'm glad you were able to witness that.

-Talk me through what the guy said to you.

-Well, he summarised

that it happened at the factory. It was the way the car was built.

Apart from that, he said it was not something you'd expect from a new car.

He knows, he's seen the pictures, he knows what I've been through.

He summed up that, if he'd have bought that car brand-new,

he'd have rejected it immediately.

When you hear that from an independent expert,

-it cements what you tried to do as soon as you noticed the problems.

-Exactly.

You doubt yourself. You start to think, "Am I being unreasonable?"

We know that, for months, we've been accommodating and patient.

We're not asking too much of Ford, we're asking them to replace the car.

I think you're right. At the end of the day,

you had a car that was a Friday afternoon one.

But it never should have reached you, the end user, the customer.

-Ford have contacted you directly, haven't they?

-Yes, they have.

-That's since I got involved.

-Uh-huh.

-Since I rattled their cage.

-Yeah.

And since I said, "Give her her money back."

What have they said to you?

We received a letter saying that they will give us a full refund

of both our deposit and the value of the part exchange,

which, obviously, we're very happy with.

'Bingo! Just the news I was hoping for.'

'It's a really positive result for Rachel.'

'A full refund will be paid by Evans Halshaw, the dealer who sold her the car.'

'This means, Rachel will be able to start again with a clean sheet.'

'And I'm pretty sure this time when she chooses her new motor,

'it'll be getting her own pre-delivery inspection.'

As it stands now, you've wiped your hands of the car,

you've given it back, you're getting all your money back.

Very happy and grateful for your involvement and everything you've done.

Because it took me seven months to get nowhere.

-As soon as you get involved, it seems that they came up with the answer that we wanted.

-Yeah.

But, this is what annoys me about a lot of big companies,

you should be able to do that yourself and very easily.

Send a message to them now. What would you suggest they do in a situation like that again?

Improve the customer service.

If it's something that's down to the way the car was built,

replace the car, it's Ford's problem, it isn't the customer's problem.

-Will you every buy Ford again?

-Never. And I will never let a friend or family buy a Ford.

Which is a shame. A big shame, because they're a big manufacturer and very good and well respected.

-But they've let themselves down in this one.

-Definitely.

'We spoke to Ford and they told us...'

'They also said...'

'We also spoke to dealer Evans Halshaw, who said...'

I'm so grateful and very happy in the end.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd