Mobility Don't Get Done Get Dom

My name is Dominic Littlewood

and I'm passionate about taking on your consumer battles.

In fact, taking companies to task has become my mission in life.

Do you think she deserves her money back?

I said, "Yeah."

Big or small, no company's excused from my quest to ensure you

guys get what you're entitled to. Let us know if you don't get sorted.

Whether it's getting your money back...

It was extraordinary circumstances.

You're not entitled to any sort of compensation at all...

Or taking on your contract conundrums...

You book a holiday with that company,

that company should be the one that you complain to.

Whatever the issue, I'm here to help.

We'd all like technology to make our lives that little bit easier.

But I help out a lady whose life just got harder.

The whole debacle is absolutely pointless.

Buying goods which don't do what they say on the tin leaves

some of you feeling slightly off-colour.

We then looked at another window and that had turned yellow as well.

It was a bit of a panic, to be truthful.

And I give you the lowdown on how to tackle the big companies.

They don't value you as a customer,

they just think of you as another person.

I'm taking on your consumer problems to make sure you don't get done.

As consumers, we make millions of purchases each year.

And what do we want from them?

Well, we want to make sure they suit our needs and that they work.

So what happens when you buy a product that isn't faulty,

but it doesn't work for you?

80-year-old Joan from Cambridgeshire has contacted me

with exactly that problem,

after buying a mobility aid for her bathroom, due to an arthritic hip.

I can't get into the bath any more.

Well, I can get in, but I can't sit down in the bath.

I have to stand up and pour water over myself.

Very often if I sit down for very long,

when I go to get up my hip is sort of almost set.

And it takes me a couple of minutes to get going again.

Despite paying out nearly £1,700 for the bath lift, according to

Joan it hasn't helped her one bit to get in and out of the bath.

The product is working, just not for Joan.

I have still got to get my legs over into the bath.

And it's all right with one leg.

I mean, it's the leg that's got to go in the bath first that needs

the help to get in.

The whole experience is rather, as you can see, off-putting,

painful for the right leg. Because that is the one that's the problem.

And to my way of thinking, not any use at all.

But the company has refused her a refund

and that's why she's contacted me.

I was very disappointed to think that I'd paid out all that money, which

I really couldn't afford, because it had taken me two years to save it up.

I'd just got this thing stuck there which I couldn't use and I think

I've used it about five or six times at the most.

It's a frustrating situation for Joan,

who in every other area of her life, is an active octogenarian.

I live here on my own, apart from my dog and pony out in the yard.

Obviously I can't bring the pony indoors! Steady now, steady. Steady.

I have three acres of land which I have to look after.

A large garden.

Joan is widowed, but staunchly independent,

and doesn't want her hip getting in the way of that.

So, when she saw the bath lift in a TV advert in May 2013,

she was interested.

When I first saw the Aqualift, I thought, that seems a good idea.

This is how the company described their product in their adverts.

Has getting in and out of your bath become a bit of a problem?

An Aqualift from Willowbrook could be the answer.

Aqualift is safe and easy-to-use,

with no worries about losing your balance or slipping.

They were saying that you could go up and down in the bath in comfort.

Then I sent away to them, or phoned them,

and they sent me a brochure with it in.

And it looked to be fine and I thought,

"Oh, that's what I need, something that's going to

"put me up and down in the bath without any problems."

Joan called the company which makes the Aqualift, Willowbrook Ltd,

to arrange for one of their "free, no obligation" home demonstrations.

She discussed her hip ailments with a Willowbrook representative,

and they arranged for her to receive a visit from one

of their sales people.

They also responsibly recommended she had a relative with her

during the demonstration.

Enter Joan's son, Gary.

When the rep from Willowbrook came round,

he set up a frame in the living room with the product

so we could see roughly what it was like, regarding for use in the bath.

He showed us how it fixed onto the bath and regarding

how it would be mounted.

He then progressed to sit on it himself, show us how it worked,

how it went up and down. Which at the time seemed reasonable.

He just said, that's how it works, and went upstairs to measure

the bath and came down and said, "Right, that's it." You know.

And I said, "OK, seems fine".

And I said to my son, "What do you think?"

And he said, "Well, it looks good, Mum."

He said, "That's just what you want."

You know, there's nobody here if you fall, you know.

So that would be ideal.

Joan paid the deposit of £176.

The total cost of the bath lift was a clean 1,676.

It was a significant amount of money.

But for Joan, her savings were being well spent.

You know, I thought, this is fine.

You know, in a couple of weeks' time when they come and deliver it,

I'm going to have a safe bath.

But it didn't work out that way, unfortunately.

It seemed the people fitting the bath lift had different ideas

from the sales rep as to the suitability of Joan's bathroom.

And they told her that, after fitting it.

He did say at the time that because my bath was short,

it wasn't where they normally fit them.

They normally fit them where the bath slopes down, where it slopes

down at the back to the flat bit, they normally fit them across there.

But they couldn't because my bath was short.

Joan was told that due to having to have space to remove the lift's

rechargeable battery,

the fitters had to install the Aqualift further forward

in Joan's bath. It was an ominous start.

Well, that night I went up for my bath, went to lower myself into the

water, only to find that I was being tipped over one side of the bath.

And I thought, oh, maybe I'm not doing it right.

So I sort of went up again, readjusted myself,

and each time I went down I was leaning over towards the wall.

Coming up, I was leaning to the outside of the bath.

And all of this movement and repositioning aggravated

the reason Joan had bought the lift in the first place. Her hip.

Joan understandably got on the phone to the salesman.

On his return visit, Joan told him the lift irritated her hip

and she had to swing her leg over the toilet to get on it.

The salesman said he would have to put Joan's complains

to his manager, who arranged to come and see for himself.

He went upstairs and he said, "Oh, yes," he said, "it seems to be OK."

As far as he was concerned, it was perfectly OK.

And that was that.

The company was happy that the product was in their eyes

correctly installed and in working order.

So they said they couldn't offer a refund.

Despite Joan and Gary writing repeatedly to the company,

they have been told yet again that there is nothing wrong with

the product or its installation.

When all products are sold you would have thought

they would have obviously done their investigation right to make

sure the product was adequate for my mother.

One, obviously, the size of the bathroom not being fitting,

and two, her health issues.

I am personally not aware of the day I met the rep,

he covered any of her health issues at all.

So, on both counts, I think they were very poor.

So Joan is nearly £1,700 down.

And, not being able to use the lift,

is back to standing in the bath and pouring jugs of water over herself.

Not on.

I was hoping that Dom would get this company to see a little

bit more sense. We weren't asking for the impossible.

We'd bought the product in good faith.

The demonstration we'd had given, it seemed the ideal bit of kit,

but, unfortunately, it turned out not to be.

All I want is the damn thing taken away cos every time

I go up in the bathroom it's a bugbear,

I look at it and think, "Oh, all that money," and I can't use it.

And that is exactly why Joan has repeatedly requested a refund.

Now, Joan complained about the lift within days,

but Willowbrook refused to budge. Why?

My job is to find out what went wrong, try and put it right

and try to put a smile back on Joan's face.

Time for me to immerse myself in this case.

Joan's bath lift makes up a proportion

of the four billion spent in the mobility aid market,

and it's a market that is growing rapidly.

I do think there are more mobility gadgets available.

If you do need to have a stairlift

or you do need to have a special bed in your home.

Well, my mother died a few years ago.

She had a wheelchair and, yes, that was fine.

Yes, we sorted that out for her.

I went to an independent shop.

And Willowbrook is meeting that need.

They're a big player,

having had 18 years selling everything from beds to bath aids.

They boast over 45,000 satisfied customers.

Obviously, that doesn't include Joan.

My office has already put in an initial call to Willowbrook

to let them know that I'm on the case.

Right, let's give Willowbrook a ring.

'I've got the contact details for Christine,

'the sales operations manager, but she's in a meeting.'

Could you let her know that I've tried to call,

because she's probably quite keen to speak to me?

So hopefully she'll be able to call me back quite quickly.

'As there's a lot I'd like to discuss with her

'and what I discover later on doesn't fill me with hope.'

Is this industry regulated?

No.

Buy a phone, you'd expect to make calls on it.

Buy a watch, you'd expect it to tell the time.

If you buy a tin of white paint,

you'd expect it to do exactly what it says on the tin,

but we've been contacted by a group of people whose

attempts to brighten up their home have left them

feeling a little bit off-colour.

'Carl Hughes from Swindon e-mailed me

'after he decided his house needed a little TLC.'

My wife and I have lived here for eight years. It was an ex-showhome.

We hadn't had it painted since we moved in.

It was starting to look a bit tired,

so we decided to repaint the property from top to bottom.

Carl is part of the DDIY crowd, the "don't do it yourself".

He was after a professional finish, so employed a decorator.

The decorator we used, we had previous knowledge of him

because he'd done work for family and friends.

We knew that he did a good job.

We obviously needed to know how much paint to use and what to use.

The decorator said to use the Dulux trade gloss - A, because it's

cheaper than buying the smaller tins and B, the coverage is better.

It was very important to ourselves to have the gloss.

It needed to be white because that's what gloss should be,

because it looks clean and tidy.

Carl bought the paint in March 2013 from a large DIY chain.

The brilliant white gloss is an established product

for its manufacturers.

Dulux has been making paint for over 80 years

and our gloss paints are some of the most popular around and they're used

to paint the skirting boards and the doors and even metal work as well.

In April, work began in Carl's house.

Every windowsill, door, door frame

and banister was going to be giving the white gloss treatment.

Carl couldn't wait for the end result.

Everything was new, once the paint was completed.

We brought all new fixtures and fittings.

It just basically felt like we'd moved back in again,

so it was quite a buzz. It was amazing.

But just three months later, Carl made a not so brilliant discovery.

We removed a candlestick holder off of the windowsill

and there was a yellow patch there,

so we removed the other item, which was another candlestick holder.

That also had a yellow patch.

We then looked at another window which had the cat's bed on

and that had turned yellow as well, so we realised that something

was causing it, it wasn't reacting to that surface.

We also removed a cuddly toy from one of the windowsills

and it had left an imprint of that as well.

We just both felt gutted, we knew then what was going to happen,

that it needed redecorating.

It was a bit of panic, to be truthful.

Once Carl had calmed down, he did it what a lot of us do

and got on the internet.

I googled "yellowing gloss" and it just brought up pages and pages.

It turned out the problems were linked to new laws

about paint and their ingredients brought in in 2010.

VOCs, or volatile organic compounds,

are basically organic chemicals that are found in day-to-day products

like fabric softeners as well as products like decorative paints.

Nearly four years ago now, European legislation came in to reduce

the level of VOCs in our products, and that was something

that the whole industry endorsed

because we want to reduce the use of those VOCs -

it's better for the environment and so they introduced

the legislation and we all reformulated our products.

But reformulating a solvent-based paint

like brilliant white gloss is no easy matter.

We found after about three months that under certain conditions

the discolouration was at a much faster rate

than we'd ever seen before.

We then reformulated again.

Carl was not a happy chappie.

Had he bought a bad batch of the gloss?

Was the paint still not up to scratch?

Carl took direct action and went on to Dulux's Facebook page.

I took some pictures, posted their pictures onto their Facebook

wall, just detailing my problem I had with the yellowing gloss

and was it normal after three months for it to go yellow?

They quickly responded the following working day just asking me to

private message them and they gave me a reference number

to use as correspondence.

Carl filled out an investigation form for Dulux and very quickly

got a reply that left him seeing brilliant red instead of white.

The letter explained...

Solvent-based paints will always discolour over time

and under certain conditions of low natural light or UV light,

they will discolour at a faster rate

and that's always been the fact with solvent-based paints.

The reply also explained that due to the reduction in VOCs,

the solvent-based gloss will discolour quicker than

it did pre-legislation.

Oh, and also Dulux will give you a voucher for replacement paint.

At that time when I got that response, I was just gutted.

It was just the thought of having to, A,

do all the work again myself, and, B, the cost of doing it.

It was just unacceptable as a customer to be told no, through

something that was no fault of ourselves and we weren't aware of it.

Carl went back to Dulux's Facebook page and started looking for

other people who were experiencing the same problems he was.

He duly e-mailed these to Customer Services and escalated his claim.

One of the people he spotted was Sarah Butterfield from Surrey,

who had also contacted me.

She suffered discolouration using the brilliant white gloss

after forking out over two grand redecorating her home.

Dulux were offering her a goodwill gesture of just £850

and some more paint.

I also have Janet from Scotland writing to me

in exactly the same boat as the others.

I carried on with my campaign.

I wasn't going to take no for an answer

cos I knew it wasn't my fault and from talking to other people,

they'd gone through similar experiences.

Carl carried on posting online

and sending Dulux more similar cases he'd found,

rousing other customers and getting them to follow his lead.

Yet, despite escalating his claim, a response came back saying

the original offer of vouchers to replace the paint still stood.

I had a letter back from the person that was Escalation,

and they also said no,

it's standard for this particular paint or gloss paints

to discolour under non-UV-light conditions, natural light, they

have to be subjected to a level of UV light to keep their brilliant white.

Dulux told Carl his decorator should have known

about the issues, but this was just passing the buck in Carl's opinion.

He contacted Trading Standards, the Citizens Advice Bureau,

his solicitor, trade experts,

the retailer who had sold him the paint.

He also e-mailed yours truly, but even I couldn't top his next move.

I put a post on my own Facebook wall, just asking for friends' help

and, luckily, a friend of mine,

I don't know how, found the e-mail address for the CEO for AksoNobel.

AksoNobel are the parent company of Dulux.

Carl e-mailed the CEO.

He brought them up to speed with his case, his activity online,

where he'd crucially spotted that the tins of paint

he bought had no warning label on them

stating the paint may discolour in low UV conditions.

They arranged for a visit to his home.

Once they'd seen it, it kind of went a bit quiet.

I think they realised the severity of it with the timescale.

I think from looking at their reaction, it was quite

evident that they knew something was wrong.

Once they'd inspected the property,

they said that they had to write a report

to give back to the CEO's department.

The two experts submitted their report

and Carl waited for their response.

Following a visit to Mr Hughes' house by some of the members

of our team, we looked at the affected areas

and we decided that we wanted to redecorate those affected areas

and we recommended the use of a water-based paint

so that the area stayed white.

Our initial contact with Mr Hughes was something that

I wasn't satisfied with.

We've acted to learn from that

and improve the way we deal with our customers.

At this point, I was elated, I kind of felt a bit of a victory.

It was a good result.

It was just a shame that it had to take that much to get to that point.

It could have been resolved a lot sooner and a lot easier.

Because of cases like Carl's and due to the VOC reduction in their paint,

Dulux had already been actively relabelling their tins

and he had bought a batch that had missed out on the process.

The particular product that Carl bought was omitting a really

key piece of information -

a label that talked about how solvent-based paints

discolour over time and discolour faster in conditions of low

light or low UV light, and that was the piece that was missing

and we appreciated the fact that Mr Hughes pointed out to us

and we immediately rectified that on the product that he identified,

but our labelling now is in a really good place.

It's hugely informative to the consumer

and if they can't find the information on the packs,

then we ask them to contact us and talk to us direct

because we can help them choose the right product for the right job.

It sounds good for the consumer. I was originally contacted

by Carl, Sarah, and Janet regarding this yellowing gloss issue.

Without me even lifting the phone,

Sarah had her redecoration costs paid and so did Janet, all because

Carl spread the word on the internet as to how to get a brilliant result.

What a great example of how people

can work together to resolve a dispute.

Now, if you've got a problem, it's worthwhile looking

online to find out if other people out there have similar issues

because working together can give you a much stronger case.

Might is nearly always right.

And in fairness to Dulux,

they listened to what their customers had to say.

They took steps to rectify the situation

and make sure it never happens again.

You can't say fairer than that.

Good on you, Dulux.

80-year-old Joan contacted me about her £1,676 bath lift.

If I could go back to the very beginning,

knowing what I know now, I would not have entertained the idea at all.

Joan had discovered that due to having a small bathroom

and a bad hip, the product has not proved suitable for her needs

and the company, Willowbrook, has refused her request for a refund.

Son Gary doesn't agree.

I think these companies, yeah, if they're dealing with old

and vulnerable people that have got ailments and illnesses

and the reason they're having this product, there should be more

investigation done to that particular person to make sure the

systems are adequate for the people they're providing the system for.

However much you try to get out, you've still got to come over

and you hit your leg on there. You can't...

Unless you can fold your leg in half,

and this one I have to lift out, which then smacks onto there again.

And this palaver is all because the fitters installed the lift

further forward in the bath than they normally would due to needing

more space to remove the lift's rechargeable battery.

Interestingly, Willowbrook has tried to contact me

saying they want to sort out the situation with Joan.

The problem is we keep missing each other.

I'm not going to give up before I go home.

DIALLING TONE

'But it's looking like Willowbrook and I are as busy as each other.'

OK, I'll have to come back and fight another day.

And that's because we need to have a proper chat about Joan's Aqualift

and one of the crucial questions I want to ask is how

they decide if a mobility aid is the right one for a customer.

This isn't just about getting a result for Joan.

The average age of the British population is growing.

It's currently estimated that there are over four million users

of mobility aids in the UK.

Now, that's an awful lot of people who might not

necessarily have the right product for their needs. Hmm!

'So, I've come to the charity Disability Living Foundation

'to see if I can find out more about this growing

'industry and where the consumer stands with it.

'The charity is based in West London

'and they offer impartial advice and the opportunity for people to

'try out a mobility aids and work out which one suits them best.'

Now, you say you're a charity, so you're non-profit?

-We're non-profit.

-OK.

We provide a centre like this which the main purpose

is for people to come and try out equipment themselves,

so that gives them hands-on experience.

Whatever your ailment, there is some sort of device or

modification to aid your daily tasks, whatever it is.

Oh, yeah, there's masses.

On our information system that people can access for free

-we've got 11,000 products.

-It's a booming market, isn't it?

Yes, it is, and there's a lot of very clever bits of kit,

from the very simple to the quite complex, quite technological.

Who is the onus on? Is it you as a customer

to make sure you're buying from a reputable

company and the right product or is it the salesperson to make sure

he's selling you the right product for your needs?

It's not their job to assess your needs,

unless you're buying a service where that's part of the package.

If somebody says, "I will come to your home

"and I'll give you an assessment of everything you need

"and make recommendations, and some of those will be from this supplier

"and some from another," and so on, so it's more of an impartial thing,

but, mostly, the salesperson is coming to your home to make a sale.

Now, with that in mind, is this industry regulated?

No.

There's no regulation, there's no law,

there's no legal framework that says you must only sell in these

circumstances or to put a series of constraints around particular

sales, so it's like many other markets and there's quite an onus

on the individual to take special care of the purchases you're making.

'The overriding message here is to try before you buy

'and get a proper understanding of your needs.'

As a customer, you have to take good care to make good decisions,

to research well in advance and to get good advice, assessment

if you need it, before making a purchase and then to deal with

and choose carefully a company that will give you

the kind of standard of service that you deserve and you need.

Tell you what, you covered it all there, Chris.

-Thanks ever so much. Do you want a lift up?

-Yeah!

Tell you what, that was an interesting chat with Chris.

What I learned from that is that this industry is unregulated.

The emphasis really is on you, buyer beware. Use your common sense.

As we all know, common sense isn't that common.

Unfortunately, as a customer, it's easy to be

wowed by a company's claims. So, just what was Willowbrook saying

their product could do for someone like Joan and what was the reality?

Joan chose this Aqualift product based on this glossy advertising

campaign. It all just seemed so perfect for her.

'Aqualift is safe and easy-to-use with no worries

'about losing your balance or slipping.'

Well, that's the claim, but what's the reality?

She found straightaway that it felt, for her, unstable,

lowering her into the bath and lifting her back up.

I don't think it's very good for a person like me

who's got hip problems.

If you've got to shuffle yourself backwards and forwards, that is

not easy with a bad hip.

'Easy-to-use, handheld controller.

-'Adjustable seat height to suit your bath.'

-Sounds great.

They didn't fit the seat, which they should have done,

because as you can see, if the seat is on there,

then it's not very comfortable to sit on the toilet,

I've got to sit sideways otherwise my knees bash up against there.

'Rediscover the pleasures of a relaxing bath.'

Trouble is, it didn't work out that way for Joan.

-The whole debacle is absolutely pointless.

-I agree, Joan.

Which raises the question,

was this product ever suitable for Joan's needs?

A question she raised in her complaint to Willowbrook's manager

when telling him about the painful tipping to and fro on the lift.

"Oh", he said, "You'll have to do the Willowbrook shuffle."

I said, "What on earth is that?"

And he said, "Well, when you go down and you feel you're tipping

"towards the wall, shuffle yourself across."

His words were, "Shuffle your bum across."

Um... And then it will...put right, but you have to do that two or

three times before you get down to the bottom of the bath.

He didn't mention anything about that when he came

and demonstrated it and there's nothing in their brochure about it.

It's when you come up and down and you've got to do their

"Willowbrook shuffle" that it affects the hip.

"Willowbrook shuffle"? Hmm.

Joan's Aqualift was supplied with a slip cushion designed to make

it easier to use.

Joan didn't use this cushion

because she found there wasn't much space in her small bathroom.

So Willowbrook advised Joan to reinstate the cushion

and say that the Willowbrook shuffle was just a light-hearted

phrase used by their staff to refer to the issue she was having.

But Joan has tried the lift with and without the cushion

and, either way, she finds it uncomfortable.

Let's get an expert's opinion.

Teresa Barton is an occupational therapist.

Her job is to assess people exactly like Joan, to work out

their capabilities and how to advise them best on staying independent.

We've arranged for Teresa to visit and assess Joan to work out

whether the Aqualift was the right mobility aid for her.

Joan, do you want to just tell me a little bit about your health,

how has things been going for you?

Um, well... I'm not too bad in normal health,

-it's just the hip that plays me up.

-So what's the problem with your hip?

Um, it's more arthritic, I think, than anything.

After the initial assessment, and so Teresa can fully understand Joan's

mobility, it's upstairs to see the bathroom and the lift first-hand.

-So this is the bath aid.

-OK.

-Called a Willowbrook Aqualift.

-OK.

Supposed to lower you gently into the bath and bring you up again.

When you're sitting on that, because of the problem with your hip,

do you manage OK to bring that leg over the side of the bath?

I have to lift my leg over.

Without that seat it's not so easy, because as I lift my leg over,

-it hits the toilet.

-You're quite restricted to space, aren't you?

The problem you've got with that is the minute you start bringing

any piece of equipment forward, you lose the legroom.

Hmm - I agree, Teresa.

Because the fitters had to compromise on the location

of the lift due to having to have space to remove its battery,

it actually makes getting in and out of the bath more difficult for Joan.

And what about her use of this product, given her hip issues?

Do you feel quite supported?

No, because you're being tipped that way all the time, so then

you've got to shift yourself over that way and go down a bit further...

Are you experiencing any sort of discomfort in your joints at all?

Yes, it hurts my hip. Right in my groin.

See, then I've got to stop again... Go over a bit further.

And none of this moving around would be such an issue

if Joan didn't have such a painful hip.

So do you feel it's not actually made getting in and out and

-using the bath...

-No, it hasn't made it any better at all.

-Do you feel confident when you're using it?

-No.

Teresa has now seen the bath lift first-hand and Joan using it.

In my opinion, with the equipment that Joan has bought, I don't

know whether she was misunderstood or whether she had the opportunity

to express any concerns, but it clearly isn't suitable

and seeing how it has to be positioned in the bath to

allow it to be used correctly with the charger coming out,

I just wouldn't have recommended it.

Right. So that's an occupational therapist's opinion

on Joan's purchase.

Now remember, Joan told Willowbrook down the phone that she had

hip issues before they even sent a salesman out.

The salesman never really covered any issues regarding Mum's health,

to whether she'd struggle to use the equipment,

there was no questions asked at all regarding whether

she would be able to use it because of health issues.

OK, but what about THIS?

Try the Aqualift today

in the comfort of your own home with

a no-obligation dry demonstration,

available nationwide.

I wasn't given the opportunity to try it at the time.

Right, I'm even more determined than ever to finally make contact

with this company.

Now, Willowbrook...

I did call them the other day, on a couple of occasions,

and the lady I want to speak to, Christine, wasn't there.

Fair enough. I left messages and, in fairness to Christine,

she tried to call me back and we were like...ships in the night.

We haven't actually spoke yet. So...

Let's see if we can change that.

'Bingo.

'This time I do get through to Christine, the sales operation

'manager who will be dealing with me in relation to Joan's case.'

Is that Christine? Hello, I was expecting a voicemail.

It's Dominic Littlewood from the BBC.

'Christine doesn't want us using her voice. Fair enough.

'I have already e-mailed Willowbrook a list of questions regarding

'the Aqualift's installation.

'But after hearing the occupational therapist's opinion,

'I have a few more.' There's a few things I want to query with you.

I'm interested to find out why he didn't get Joan to do

a demonstration. He gave her one in her front room,

she never got the chance to actually try it.

The reason we didn't try it was he made it look so simple

that there didn't appear to be any need to try it.

I'm told that according to their paperwork,

Joan signed on the dotted line stating that she had tried

the lift on the demonstration day.

He actually didn't ask us to try it at all - me and my mother

both sat there but not at any stage did we get asked

if we wanted to try the product out.

Yes, she didn't DO a demonstration, but she HAD the demonstration.

I think it's probably a little bit grey.

'Because without Joan trying before buying,

'how could she have made an informed decision?

'As, according to Joan,

'the salesman didn't enquire at all about her mobility needs.'

What sort of questions would they ask to find out if the product is suitable?

I want to clarify whether all these sales reps are in the right position

to judge what product's suitable for a customer.

I want to know whether this was the suitable product

for an 80 plus-year-old lady with a quite severe hip problem.

Right, I finally got to speak to Christine.

She seemed a very nice lady,

she did say that she's not really the right person to answer

the more awkward questions so I've left her with a whole list there.

I want to find out are these reps just on commission

and targeted to sell what they can, because if so, I think

there's a conflict of interests there.

Or are they told, "Look,

"only sell a product that's suitable for the particular customer"

and, if that's the case, was Joan sold the right product?

That's the questions I put to them,

let's wait and see what their answers are.

Great. Time for a latte.

If you've got a problem with a product or service,

it pays to know that here in the UK we've got some

pretty hefty legislation to protect us consumers.

I've got to be honest...

it's not a light read, though.

But don't worry - we've got some experts on how to use the lowdown

on a few pieces of law which you might just find invaluable.

Which could come in useful as my inbox is full of e-mails

from people complaining about the products you've bought.

As it is not just Joan who appears to have bought something

which doesn't suit her needs.

I've also had an e-mail from Karen, who told me

that after she gave birth to twins,

she bought herself a double buggy and all was fine

until she found out the buggy wouldn't fit on the bus.

It meant Karen couldn't do her weekly shopping.

When she went back to the store, they said

because it wasn't faulty, there was nothing she could do about it.

Enter my expert.

Let's hope he can shed some light about your rights

when you bought something which, when you get it home,

doesn't do what you want it to do.

Generally, when you're buying something,

the onus is on you to make sure that the product you're buying

is going to be suitable for your needs.

Unfortunately for Karen, she was concerned about finding a buggy

for her two babies and didn't ask whether it would fit on the bus.

But if she had, would she have had a case?

If you're after something for a very specific need,

you've asked certain questions about "is this going to be suitable" and

you've been given assurances that all of that stuff will be fine, then the

onus shifts onto the seller because they've advised you that it's going

to be suitable for your specific purpose in your specific environment.

Question is, should companies take more responsibility for what

they sell?

What's the word on the street?

Everybody is different so they have to adjust their services to

every person they want to serve.

And it's not just buggies giving all of you the run-around.

Mobile phones - we can't live without them these days, can we?

I hate saying it, but I could probably not live

without my smartphone because I've become completely dependent on it.

That's probably the most important part of my life.

It's like a second brain for me.

I adore my mobile phone.

I think everybody does.

But here's a word of caution for you.

A lady called Katie has sent me an e-mail - thanks, Katie.

Katie went into her phone shop and was told she was due an upgrade,

so she got a new phone and signed a two-year contract. Happy days.

But then Katie moved to a different county

and found out she couldn't get reception.

And what does our expert think about that?

There are always going to be blackspots in mobile network

coverage. They would argue they can't possibly cover 100% of the country.

It seems that's exactly what happened to Katie.

She complained to the mobile phone company who told her it was

going to cost 250 large ones to get out of the contract.

That doesn't sound fair at all.

There must be some rights for the 83 million mobile phone users

in the UK.

If you buy a mobile phone

and when it's delivered, you realise you have no reception,

for example, then you are entitled

under the Supply of Goods and Services Act

to return that phone and cancel the contract.

However, you should do that within the first 14 days,

so that's the key cooling-off period to make sure you're happy

with how the phone works.

So if you're already eight months into a phone contract

and you move home to an area with signal blackspots,

you can't just cancel your contract. This was Katie's problem.

She complained after the 14-day cooling-off period,

hence the £250 charge.

So the lesson here for all of us is if you're buying a product,

do as much research as possible to make sure it's the right one for

your needs because if it isn't, you might just be left holding the baby.

80-year-old Joan came to me

because she wanted rid of her £1,676 Willowbrook Aqualift.

The company salesmen sold her a product that works -

it just doesn't work in her small bathroom and with her bad hip.

The people selling those products have a duty and a responsibility

to make sure that what they're selling is right for that person.

I think people who supply these products for people

who are disabled or need assistance at home should be done through

either their doctor or a nurse.

We e-mailed Willowbrook and we asked them

whether their salespeople are qualified to assess a customer's

needs and whether or not the product they are selling suits their room.

They sent us an e-mail back and said, "No qualifications are required,

"but our advisers are experienced in carrying out an initial

"assessment of the bathroom."

So then I put to them the issue of responsible selling.

They e-mailed back again and said, "This is the reason why

"we offer a no-obligation home demonstration

"and trial of the product in the customer's home, so that they

"can decide for themselves if it will suit their needs."

And this is the sticking point.

We have Joan stating she never got to try out the product

and Willowbrook saying she did

and signed documentation stating so. But that doesn't wash with me.

Just listen to the declaration that Joan had to sign

when she purchased the lift. It says...

"I confirm that I have received a demonstration of the Aqualift

"and feel confident and capable of using this product safely."

That doesn't say she actually had a chance to sit on it -

purely that it was demonstrated to her. Hm, interesting.

I hope my points make Willowbrook think long

and hard about how they are selling their products.

So what exactly are they offering to do for Joan?

Christine, hi - it's Dominic again from the BBC.

I just wondered if you can tell me what the

outcome is now for Joan, please?

'Right from the start of the investigation, Willowbrook has said

'they want to do the right thing, but there are "i"s to dot and "t"s to cross.'

OK, that's as long as we can find the tiles or she's got some spare...

'At least things are moving in the right direction.'

I think she'll be very happy with that, so thanks for your help.

'You know me - always get things in writing.'

Could you just send us

in a short statement just to say what you're going to do?

Thank you very much. Goodbye.

I think Joan is going to be rather pleased. I can't wait to tell her.

And with that in mind, I've come to Cambridgeshire to break the news.

-I'll give you a hug, shall I? How you doing?

-Not too bad, thank you.

-Did I just see that horse licking your face?

-Yes!

Oh! That's disgusting, fella!

'Right, that's enough horseplay for the time being.

'We head inside to take a look at the equipment that's been such

'a thorn in Joan's side.'

What would it mean to you to get this taken out?

Well, it annoys me every time I come up here.

I cannot have a bath because I don't want to use that

and I can't get down in the bath myself, so I have to

stand in the bath, soap myself and then pour myself with a jug of water.

'In essence, Joan's gone back to where she was before buying the lift

'and she's been trying to get a refund for the last six months.

'So it's time to deliver the all-important news.'

I've made a few phone calls.

They're going to come round and take it out, they're going to give you

a full refund and they're going to put the tiles in to repair the hole.

-Oh, lovely!

-Give us a hug!

Bless your heart!

-You're squeezing the life out of me there, Joan! Good lord!

-Lovely.

-You're strong, for an 80-year-old lady!

-Oh, well!

-You don't need that!

I don't need that, no. Oh, you're lovely. Bless your heart.

-Pleased about that?

-More than pleased.

-'See, Willowbrook?

'Just look at that smile.

'We asked the company for a final word

'and they told us about their 45,000 happy customers and that:

'And with regards to their sales agreements and whether it's clear

'as to whether a customer has or has not tried out the product

'for themselves, they say:

'And I say, "Good work, Willowbrook.

'Hopefully lessons can be learned by everyone involved.'

With hindsight, where would you now give yourself the proverbial

slap on the wrist, what did you do wrong?

I should have tried it - and then realised I'd got to do this

-Willowbrook shuffle. I would never have had it.

-'Too true.

'I'm just glad we've had a happy ending,

'so I bid my farewells to a rather pleased Joan.'

Cheerio, Joan - thanks for the cake. Bye-bye.

I'm over the moon with being able to have my money back

and I must really sincerely thank Dom for all the work he's done.

I think he's a smashing bloke and he really goes to town

and looks after the underdog.

He really has set about getting some results for me

which I couldn't have done on my own.

I'd like to say to Dom, thanks for everything you've done.

My mum is over the moon that she's finally got this sorted after

a long period of various phone calls and letters.

Dom is the world to her now!

I love helping people like Joan because she didn't know where

to turn to when things didn't go right for her.

As far as Willowbrook are concerned,

I'm really pleased they gave her her money back - thank you for that.

My job's done.