Episode 5 Rip Off Britain

so widely. Thank you for joining us. After a week of battling to solve

your consumer problems it is over for the final Rip Off Britain life.

It is the last in our special week of life editions of Rip Off Britain.

We went to be going quietly! Stand by for another programme packed with

advice you don't want to miss on everything from understanding

instruction manuals, to knowing which restaurants have basic hygiene

standards. Will be on picking what some people are calling the biggest

consumer scandal for decades. The question is, if your tumble dryer

one of the 5 million at risk of catching fire? We asked

We asked you to tell us what has been left you feeling ripped off.

You told us about customer service that is not up to scratch. I have

complained and complained and nobody has taken any notice. I think it is

way for the shops to take more money. You've asked us to track down

the scammers who have stolen your money and investigate unfair

charges. They are trying to offer you little things extra. And when

you've lost out but no one else is to blame, you've come to us to stop

others falling into the same trap. I ran up company and they said it

wasn't their fault, so whose fault is it? So whether it is a blatant

rip-off or a genuine mistake, we are here to find out why you are out of

pocket and what you can do about it. Your stories, your money. This is

Rip-Off Britain. Hello and welcome to Rip-Off Britain Live. We've

enjoyed your company all week long but, sadly, all good things must

come to an end and today is the last day of our run of live shows. We've

enjoyed enormously but we still got a packed 45 minutes ahead and we're

going to be using every moment of that time to solve your consumer

problems and also to tackle the issues that really do matter to you

most. I'll second that, so do send in your comments. We are live and

all your questions go to [email protected] or you can

look for BBC Rip-Off Britain on Facebook. We'll be getting our teeth

into an incredibly important story in just a moment and later on will

be asking why so many restaurants don't be basic hygiene standards. --

meet. With so many of you moaning about the demise of proper

instruction manuals, we've set two groups the challenge of testing out

whether the old way of doing it is better than the new. We are going to

see if the one who followed the more detailed instructions and not just

diagrams gets the job done first. They are hard at it already! I'm so

glad I'm not involved at! Plus, my very good friend, celebrating his

birthday today, Sir Cliff Richard, will be explaining why he is a

super-savvy when it comes to his energy bills. Pop-up shop has been

going great guns all week and we've had some fantastic results. Today

we've got a consumer clinic chock full of experts, helping and hoping

to solve even more albums. But first, a big story we featured last

month and it continues to make the headlines - the safety of 5.3

million tumble dryers. The manufacturer, Whirlpool, insists

that while it sorts out the problem the dryers can still be used. But

there is a growing number of people with a good reason to disagree with

that. In scenes straight out of a disaster

movie, West London was brought to a standstill. It quickly became

apparent that this was really a substantial fire on a huge scale.

The flames were looking up the side of the building over several floors.

On a warm August day, 120 firefighters were quickly scrambled

to a block of flats in Shepherd's Bush. Fire was ripping through the

middle floors of an 18 story residential tower block. Amongst

them was the head of fire investigation Charlie Pugsley. I can

still see the smoke coming from several floors on tower block. There

was a largely scored and place. We had 20 fire engines, plus specialist

units, the Metropolitan Police, the ambulance service. So it really a

significant incident. Local MP Andy Slaughter also rushed to the scene.

First you have a sense of disbelief because you don't really expect

something like this to happen and certainly not in your patch and to

people you know. At least 50 people were evacuated from the building. It

becomes very apparent that the amount of smoke produced, and with

windows open, a few bursts of that smoke, it could be life-threatening.

The disruption and the damage on the loss of property was great but the

trauma, as well. We had very elderly people, people in their 90s, we had

people in wheelchairs, who all had to be evacuated. An absolutely

horrific situation to be in. The cause of the fire, as you'll have

guessed, was one of the 5 million tumble dryers that the manufacturer

Whirlpool last year announced were at risk of catching fire. We had

early with misinformation that indicated that the fire was started

in the tumble dryer, however we still had to look at it and look at

the physical evidence. -- early witness information. The owner of

the flat told her MP she knew straightaway it was the dryer to

blame. She was obviously very upset but she was very clear about exactly

what happened and how the fire started and, of course, it was a

cause which is pretty well-known now and I don't think it was a surprise

at all to the firemen. After a six-week investigation, London Fire

Brigade's forensic team confirmed a fault in the dryer had definitely

started the blaze and, of course, it was the first. Across the country,

I'm aware of other incidents, so you really are starting to build up the

bigger picture that actually it isn't just a one-off incident with

misuse or an accident. In fact, over the last 12 years, at least 750

house fires have been linked to Whirlpool's tumble dryers, most of

them because of a fault in models are sold under its Hotpoint, Creda

and Indesit brands and manufactured between 2004 and 2015. A review

discovered potential safety issues where XS fluff in the dryers could

catch in the heating element. The discovery led Whirlpool to announce

what is thought to be the biggest safety alert in British history, but

didn't recall the dryers. Instead, it began the process of sending

engineers to check and, if necessary, modify the appliances to

make sure they were safe. Good afternoon, you're through to

Whirlpool, you're speaking to Heather. How can I help? But with

millions of dryers to get through, that's been a very slow process.

Last month we featured the case of Laura from Bristol, who was told she

would have to wait 11 months before anybody could check if her appliance

was safe. I was literally horrified. That is such a long time to have to

wait. 11 months before someone can even come out and put the machine

right! It just was totally unacceptable. In the meantime,

Whirlpool insisted that it was safe to continue using a potentially

affected dryer, so long as it isn't left unattended and the filter is

cleaned after each use. But, unconvinced, Laura stopped using

hers altogether. I definitely don't feel safe taking their advice.

Certainly the week all this happened, there were two news

stories where people had had their machine catch fire but I'm not going

to sit there and wait for that to happen just because I put my tumble

dryer on. Laura had at least received notification from Whirlpool

that her dryer could be a fire risk before there was a problem. However,

John Wood, a taxi driver from Hampshire, says he only received

that warning when it was too late. He'd registered his dryer when he

bought it back in 2010 but it -- he claims he didn't initially receive

any safety notice so with no idea that the company was now warning not

to use the appliance unattended, he thought nothing of putting it on

while he dropped his wife off at work. But when he returned home, he

saw smoke coming through the door. I was just in sheer panic. I could

hear the dog screaming, howling, a different type of Howell than they

normally do. This whole room was covered inspected rock I've headed

for the kitchen door, kicked the door open, the dogs have ran past

me, bolted outside. I've got to hear and noticed that in the corner it

was all blowing. This whole room was full of smoke. It wasn't until later

on when the fire brigade had been aborted out they confirmed it was

the tumble dryer that has gone up in flames. John's two children were at

school when the fire ripped through the kitchen but the family's two

lovely dalmatians, Holly and Rosie, where in the house and this shows

the two of them afterwards covered in suits. Sappy, I'm afraid it

turned out to be the last picture of holly ever taken. She died,

presumably of smoke inhalation, later that night. I went to pull

Holly out and she just didn't respond. The kids didn't see it

because they were at my parents' house at the time. I broke down in

tears that night. I have been for the past two nights after that it up

the wife was devastated because it was our first family pet that we had

together. She was a member of the family and was with us for eight

years, nine years. I class her as one of my kids. We can sympathise

with that. It was three weeks after the fire that destroyed his kitchen

and led to Holly's death that John says he was finally made aware by

Hotpoint that his dryer was potentially at risk. And if that

wasn't bad enough, his home insurance won't pay out further

damage to his house because the policy doesn't cover fires caused by

an unattended appliance. So as John waits to see what Whirlpool will do

to put things right, he knows what he thinks should happen. I want to

see every affected tumble dryer that they have got, or appliance that is

affected, be pulled out of everybody's home. Back in Shepherd's

Bush, the owner of the dryer that caught fire definitely had received

a safety notice from Whirlpool. And according to the Fire Brigade, they

had been following the company's advice to the letter but none of

that stop it going up in flames. In the case of this fire, we have

really good information that the person using the tumble dryer had

followed all the manufacturer's recommendations. They were in the

property while using it, they regularly cleaned out the fluff and

a into -- lint filter and as far as we're concerned, they did everything

correct. London Fire Brigade is now calling on Whirlpool to change its

advice to owners of affected models because despite what the company

says, it doesn't believe that any of these dryers should be used until

they've been repaired or replaced. London Fire Brigade believes they

should change their advice to their customers, so that they should not

use those tumble dryers until they've been fixed by one of their

engineering team. We understand we can't stop all fires occurring but

for us, it's just getting to the point that if you know that a fire

has the potential of starting, to us that should be the point where you

say, "Please don't use it". MP and disorder agrees and is amongst those

who can't understand why Whirlpool didn't immediately issue a full

product recall. What happened to my constituent here, I think, just

shows that that advice is not correct. She was told, "You can

carry on using it, don't leave your flat, don't leave it on when you go

to sleep, but otherwise it is safe to continue using it". It clearly

wasn't. I think it's unbelievable that Whirlpool are still saying to

people, "You can carry on using it". That is, to my mind, only being done

for their commercial convenience and it is just not good enough and this

is a matter of public safety and they need to act now and if they

won't act, the Government have to tell them to act. With pressure on

Whirlpool growing, the consumer minister Margot James has said that

she'll be organ -- ordering the company to do more to reassure

customers and the wider public. At the same time, she announced the

creation of a new working group on product recalls and safety but John

Wood hopes for more immediate action. I want every single affected

product removed from people's houses before somebody does lose a life.

We've lost a life with the dog. To us, it's a child. So every single

product needs to be removed. Stop using it, switch them off, unplug

them, don't use them again. Such heartbreaking stories behind

every one of those cases. Whirlpool has told us that its thoughts are

with all of those who were affected by the Shepherd's Bush fire but as

the independent forensics investigations into the

investigation are still ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment

further. But it also said the same is true with John Wood's case but it

was saddened by his loss and has contacted him directly. The company

went on to insist that safety is its number one priority and it is

committed to ensuring its tumble dryer modification programme is

carried out in a safe and timely manner and to speed things up, it

has doubled its engineer and call centre teams and introduced more

convenient booking systems. But Whirlpool has changed its advice

that dryers waiting to be checked can still be

used as long as the filter is cleaned after use and they aren't

left unattended. A lot of that advice is a bit questionable in my

mind but joining me now are Pete from company Margaret and consumer

champion Lynn Faulds Wood. I'm trying to relate it to myself. I do

not want a machine that is likely to go on fire. I do not want to watch a

machine going on fire. The whole thing is ridiculous so why so much

conflicting and in my opinion bad advice?

That is a good question and I think watching a film and hearing what the

London Fire Brigade are saying, the advice is to not use these machines

until you have had a repair or a replacement. The problem is

consumers are getting conflicting advice, when they are speaking to

well pill, and it is worrying. What did you find when you went

undercover version Mark we did some research back in May and we spoke to

800 people who had been affected. We did 30 undercover calls to the

Whirlpool call centre to find out what was going on and we found a lot

of problems. Like what? The first thing is they were telling people it

would take 8-10 weeks to get a customer identification number and

until you have that, you can't start the process of repair and

replacement. There was bad advice, call centre staff telling us it was

nothing to worry about but here we have Whirlpool telling us you have

to sit with your machine the whole time. Some of the people wrote to us

were waiting 11 months for somebody to come out. Lynn, yours was an

independent report for the Government. I was asked to do it

nearly two years ago the first time and here we are and I think the

Government are sitting on their hands. Everyone at Whirlpool and

their staff should be made to watch your package. That was a brilliant

at example of what can happen. First of all, another block of flats could

go up on fire. Think of the fear, Whirlpool, that those people felt

watching all that smoke go past their windows, there are 18 flaws in

that building, and then think of the firemen that are going in there

because I know from talking to them, their hearts were pounding because

they didn't know what they'd find and the last time they went into a

big block of flats with a fire, there were deaths. The whole block

could potentially go up in smoke, which would be horrendous. The thing

I have found, sorry to interrupt you, this was an independent review

for the Government and I've found that the system is broken. The

recall system just doesn't work properly. Am I being naive in

thinking the cost of employing more engineers, all the effort to try and

check them, modify, why don't they just withdraw all of them and

replace? It's a good question and I think there is a problem with the

recall system. Lynn did her report but not enough has been acted on it.

We had a steering group come out of that and the Minister is saying they

are setting up yet another working group and we are fed up of reviews

and steering groups and working groups. We want action and change so

these sorts of situations can't happen and so the system we have is

safe. We are talking about deaths in block of flats, we are not saying

that has happened but potentially, a block of flats could go up. 5-.3

million machines we are talking about, a lot of people don't even

know if they could be affected. Because it is an American company,

is that why the Government aren't hitting harder? It is a huge

company, one of the biggest in the world. It is based in Peterboro now,

that is where the head office is and you have trading standards there

dealing with an enormous company. I was asked to do this review because

the safety laws weren't adequate in this country and the opinion in the

House of Lords was driving change and the review was announced to stop

those changes in the law and I think we still urgently need changes in

the law. In one word, what would you do? I think the Government needs to

review this case significantly, look at what went wrong and what actions

it is going to take. Not another review? The Government needs to look

at this specific case and see what they are going to do. Thank you very

much, it throws a lot of light on your investigations.

Well, anyone with a Indesit, Hotpoint or Creda tumble dryer

Mackie academic manufactured between 2004 and 2015 who hasn't been in

touch can call this free helpline. I think we really do advise you do

that. Our inbox yesterday was dominated by comments about

charities after Lord grade told us his plans to keep them in check but

Valerie from Leicestershire told us that whenever she sends a cheque to

a charity, she sends a letter warning that future donations will

depend on them not bothering her again. She says it seems to be

working. Simple but effective. And Brian goes one further by

discouraging any unwanted callers at his door, putting up a sign saying

he charges 10p a minute to listen to any sort of pitch or message and by

knocking on the door or ringing a bell, you signal your agreement --

?10 a minute. And some of you remain fascinated by what we have been

wearing this week. Eileen Palmer says she loved your necklaces and

your choice of clothes and you have tassles today. Today I am

channelling Patsy on her way out for the evening, as opposed to when she

is on her way in. If you have enjoyed these programmes, and we

certainly have, you can boat for Rip Off Britain at the national TV

awards -- you can vote. Back to business and while some of our

stories get a big response for you, others get picked up by the news. It

has happened twice this week, with the comments on pensions and worries

about banks. But one of our recent investigations made headlines around

the world. Just last Monday, we highlighted a

new scam affecting residents of Chorlton in Greater Manchester. Alan

Dunn and Harold Summers had both been baffled to suddenly find a post

box mysteriously attached to the front of their houses. As I went out

the door, I noticed that stuck to the wall was this metal post box

that I have never seen before. So my first instinct was that perhaps it

had been put there by mistake. In fact, it was far more sinister than

that. When Alan prised away his box, he could see inside was the mail

that would normally come through his post box and among the letters was

something very odd indeed. It was a letter from the TSB saying I had

opened a new account with them and I had negotiated an overdraft of

?1000. It was clear that the scammers have stolen his identity

and opened a bank account in his name and next, they put up that post

box so they could get their hands on the new card and pin number that the

bank sent through. They obviously knew the delivery times for the

postman on that day, they were following him around, almost,

retrieving the mail. Alan called the police and was able to stop the

account, but down the road, the same thing happened to Harold. I am

mystified that anyone would think they could attach a post box to

someone's house and get away with it without anyone noticing. Now, at the

time, Harold had assumed that he had thwarted the scam, but he was wrong.

He has since told us that, like Alan, fraudsters had opened up an

account in his name. They had been given a ?1000 overdraft, which they

had promptly spent. Luckily, the bank accepted that there had been a

fraud and agreed that Harold would not be held responsible. But if a

strange new post box appears outside your house, watch out. Someone could

be playing fast and loose with your details to. -- also.

And who could forget a story that we first covered in our food series in

February? We looked into the food hygiene rating scheme, which awards

marks out of five to all places serving food after an official

inspection. As part of our report, we did our own inspection of

branches are five very well-known names that had previously scored a

big fat zero in the scheme, meaning they needed urgent improvement. And

we sent the results to be examined in a lab. We tested table tops,

trays, self-service areas and freehand plates in the bathroom. We

also ask each place we visited to supply us with a cup of ice or water

and one result stood out. While the rest of this particular lot of rest

rooms came out clean, the ice we got from this ranch of KFC in Birmingham

contain high levels of faecal coliforms, a kind of bacteria which,

I'm afraid, are found in faeces. The presence of faecal chloroform is

suggests there is faecal contamination and it increases the

risk of getting sick from consuming this. KFC immediately launched an

urgent investigation and staff retraining exercises, but the story

made headlines around the world. In Australia, Indonesia and, of course,

the UK. Well, since then, details of the restaurant's earlier problems

have made news again. In late July, the reason the branch had been given

its zero rating became clear when KFC pleaded guilty to three charges

under food hygiene legislation, as well as dirt, grime and Greece in

the kitchen, there had been a mouse infestation, with droppings found in

the drinking straws and sore spots. KFC was fined ?30,000 but is keen to

emphasise it is all behind it out. It has several times been

re-inspected and been given the top rating of five out of five, a fact

the restaurant has been keen to big up on this sign outside.

Joining me is Michael Harding from the Food Standards Agency and I am

glad to say that since we made that film, I have been delighted to see

the number of restaurants and food outlets that are displaying that

green sign, especially when it is a four or five rating, but there are a

surprising number that get zero, one or two. Potentially, what sort of

risk are those restaurants posing to public health? A low rating would be

given for a variety of reasons, it might include staff training, issues

with cleanliness of the premises, pest infestation, a whole host of

things can contribute, but ultimately it means there is an

increased risk of illness and premises with a lower rating. What I

find extraordinary is it is not mandatory that all restaurants that

have to be tested do not have to do then put that is little sign in the

window. If you see a fora five, you know it is safe to eat, if you are

not seeing it, we don't know if it is unsafe or they can't be bothered

to put the sign up. In Wales, since 2012, it has been mandatory. In

Northern Ireland, from last week. In England and Scotland it is not, why

not? It would require a the law and we at the Food Standards Agency

absolutely favour the mandatory display of hygiene rating, so we are

putting their case together based on the evidence from Wales, which is

really strong and shows it pushes up standards of hygiene, and we have

been presenting this to ministers and it will be for them to consider.

It will need to go through a legislative process, so we are

behind it, pushing for it, but it won't be overnight. In the meantime,

how can we be sure if we are going into a restaurant that doesn't have

one of those green stickers that it will be safe to eat there. What can

we do? You can always ask, but I would recommend going online,

looking on the Food Standards Agency website. We make all of the data

available for reuse and there are a whole host of smartphone apps

available, so you go on to the App Store, download the app and check it

before you go into the business. And recommendation from other people is

always good. Thank you very much indeed, Michael. Let's hope we see

more of those green stickers with four and five. Now, the pop-up shop

is bursting with expertise, so let's get straight to it and sold more of

your problems. We have had an absolutely fantastic

week in the drop up consumer clinic. Lots of people have come to see us

and we have managed to save people thousands of pounds, both on and off

the camera. One of the people involved is our personal finance

expert Sarah Pennells and with her is Colin, who we will talk to in a

minute. Where have you come from? Wapping. Not too far, then. Sarah,

tell us about various cases you have been doing. I know energy bills have

featured highly. Yes, we started the week trying to help Nolde retired

firefighter and Colin came to the pop-up shop on Monday and I have

been trying to help him. He moved into his flat a couple of years ago

and tried to pay by direct debit and it didn't happen. He didn't get his

first accurate bill until a year after he moved in. I have seen the

paperwork, he has at all kinds of Bill saying he owes them hundreds,

they owe him hundreds and finally we have some sort of resolution where

his energy supplier, first Utility, has said account issues meant Colin

didn't receive his bill until a year after living in the property and

there were delays with subsequent bills which is not up to their usual

standards, so they will offer him a gesture of goodwill to apologise and

also offering an affordable repayment plan so he can repay the

money they say he now definitely does owe. So presumably it makes a

lot of difference that you can spread the load? It is great, but

there has been a lack of communication from their side which

has been upsetting. Any other successes to report? We were

contacted by Kevin, a pensioner in Hartlepool, who found that Vodafone

were taking payments of ?18 a month out of his bank account for 18

months even though he no longer had a phone with them. He contacted

Vodafone and told them it was their mistake and get the money back in

his account in 24 hours. That didn't happen so he got in touch and the

good news is that Vodafone said they are sorry, it was down to human

error, they refunded the money and made a gesture of goodwill in

recognition of their mistake. It is funny when we get in touch, the

story seems to come right. Rip Off Britain strikes again! Over here, I

have my favourite technology expert, David McLelland, with the dimple in

his chin. What have you been up to? After Wednesday's show, I spoke to

Jennifer who had been saving up her Clubcard vouchers from Tesco to pay

for a senior rail card when she went to pay for it she found that instead

of ?40 at her account, she had 50 p. Criminals had gained access to her

account and been buying iTunes gift cards and presumably selling them on

so it is not the first time we have come across reports of Tesco

Clubcard users being targeted by criminals. We spoke to Tesco and

they say they have not been hacked so what we think is happening is

that criminals are using the usernames and passwords from other

high-profile hacks and trying lots of different sites to see if they

work. Lots of people use the same usernames and passwords, which they

shouldn't do. And they paid her back? Yes, they gave her her money

back. That's what we like to hear. Thanks very much for that. Fabulous

advice. That's it from out here. Back to the nice warm studio.

Who would have thought our loyalty cards would be targeted? Great to

see more fantastic result at our pop-up shop, as we have had all

week. Following yesterday's marmite story, apparently to date experts

are predicting dozens of familiar brands that are likely to go up in

price because of the rise in the cost of imports, all because of the

fact that the pound is dropping against the dollar. I'm going to get

you to help me hope this. This is an important story that we've covered a

number of times before. It is about hospital car parking charges and it

turns out that a third of all hospitals are increasing their

charges up to ?4 an hour. But the bit that I don't like is this lovely

lady down here, who has to have cancer treatment and she says she

spent ?400 of the last six months. Gosh! A cautionary, awful doorstep

selling scam. Dementia Gran in ?6,000 doors can't. Horrendous and a

reminder that we have to look out for the more vulnerable. All this

week, you've been telling us about those not so little things that

drive you absolutely crazy. Today some of you are none too happy about

the lack of instructions in modern life.

Yorkshire farmer Dick Linley knows that if the worst happens and

something goes wrong with his tractor, he's got a manual which is

bound to have the answer. Everything's in it. Checking the

oil, the water, the tyre pressures. It is absolutely explicit and

simple. I find it terrifically helpful. There are no acronyms used,

no abbreviations, no technological stuff. It is straightforward, "This

is how you do that, this is how you do the other," and I think that's

incredible. Dick has always valued these clear instructions but he's

noticed that over the years the information manufacturers supply has

become more sketchy and, indeed, with the latest technology, like his

new mobile phone, you are often left to fend for yourself. There is no

instruction manual with this one. All I've got with it are the details

of the contract with the service provider. And a nice box. I don't

know how you turn the thing on. I've tried clicking it and bending it!

There are all sorts of knobs on here but I don't know what to do to turn

it on. I don't know. Oh, dear. It's also difficult that Dick has ended

up putting his new phone back in the box and is using an old one. And

he's not alone in being irritated by the way instructions have become

noticeably less helpful. Instruction manuals nowadays are not as

comprehensive as the ones that were out in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s. That

is the 1950s, not the 1850s. If it is an electronic one, it has a lot

of jargon that you don't understand and very small text. Instruction

manuals are very hard to comprehend, especially for older people who

don't have access to the internet. Don't tell me about flatpack

furniture! It's ridiculous, the instruction manual that comes with.

Tell me anybody who can put one together right. I had to pay ?40 to

have somebody come and build a cabinet for me in the bedroom

because I just couldn't understand a word of it. Engineering lecturer

Mark has charted the rise and fall of the instruction manual. At the

turn of the 20th century, manuals become more and more important.

Industrialisation has created objects people want to own in their

own house like washing machines and fridges, then the radio comes along,

the camera, the car, and each of those objects comes with a manual,

each one needs a piece of literature to describe it, to introduce it from

their creators to the home. The early instruction manuals are really

charming booklets because the inventors and makers are so proud of

what they have sold to you. They want you to the cut it and love it

and there was a lot of how it works but also how to look after it

because you are in the era when people don't think they are going to

throw things away. But 30 years ago there was a new kid on the block and

things began to change. Welcome to the first IKEA store in England.

According to Mark, the way IKEA presented their instructions became

a bit of a game changer. The big challenge for the flatpack

manufacturers is that they want to sell it to 100 different countries

with 100 different languages and make one manual for all of them and

all of the economy and the way the business model works is to cut the

costs, so they can't make and translated into all these languages

so they start making it in pictorial form, so it is picture by picture

that everyone supposedly can understand. So no pictures or even

no instructions have become the norm. But where to turn to when you

get stuck? In Dick's case, he asks one of his three sons for help,

though he has to overcome using long distance means to do so. What's the

problem? The problem is, it says on the top of this thing that this

particular video conferencing service is now unavailable. So I

don't know what to do. OK. I don't know what I'm doing. Have you got a

big hammer down there? Steady on, Dick! But when there isn't someone

around to call, help is just a click away because the chances are that

with others likely to be equally baffled, you will find the solution

online. If you are struggling, what I recommend you do is go to a

computer and type into a search engine the thing that you are

struggling with, your mobile phone, TV, toaster, and you will find a

whole series of people who have the same problem and you will also see a

whole series of answers and you can now tap into the community who can

help you, a global community, and they are so generous. And then if

you click video, you will find people have made step-by-step videos

of how to solve your problem, which I find really helpful. And if you

are not online, you may find groups in your neighbourhood that can give

advice, too. If you can't get online to help, I recommend having a look

in your local community for a community workshop, because that is

where people are starting to get interested now, again, in the made

object and understanding how things are made. But even without a proper

manual, one way or another most of us do actually get there in the end.

Put it into your little black book of how to turn the computer on. I

have done that and I know how to turn it on now! That's smashing,

Matthew. Thanks ever so much. Well, to test out the clarity of

your typical book of instructions, we came out on air and challenged

two groups to assemble a Playhouse from scratch. One of them using the

instructions that came with a box and the other using a rather

beautifully descriptive set of instructions that were designed by

the DIY expert Jo Behari. What did you do to your set of instructions

to make them clearer than the ones in the box? These are the original

instructions, black-and-white, and the pictures aren't very clear.

There are some intricate details on here that you can't see very

clearly, so to make it easier I colour-coded them... To match with

the colours of the bits. Exactly. And I wrote out a description for

each item, which bit goes where, which bit clicks with which bit. So

if you don't like the pictures, you can always use the written

instructions. An awful lot of people want to know why when these days

everything from mobile phones to prepack furniture is coming with

these rather minimal instructions, when actually we all need to know

how you do it, how you make it work. Why are they

doing that? I think it is costing. A lot of these products are designed

to be sold worldwide and you can't write detailed instructions in 300

different languages so I think manufacturers are keeping costs down

by using the picture forms. But that sets consumers up for failure

because they can't understand what bits go where or if something goes

wrong, you have to fix it. Our two teams did pretty well because they

have completed the houses. You were the winners, using Jo's beautifully

coloured instructions. You 80 minutes and eight seconds. Did you

find it easier with the colour coding? Yes, because you could work

out immediately which bit was which, you didn't need to hold it up to see

which bit was which. But I do have to say that the other team, using

the black-and-white instructions, you were only ten seconds over. How

difficult or easy was it always you watching them? We pretty quickly

ignore the instructions and did it by logic and intuition. There were

bits with holes that needed to slot into something else and it was

helpful not to use the instructions but just to do it between us. Logic

and intuition! I have to say, you've both got a couple of bits left over.

Is that right? Should they have that? I think those are the

decorative items but it is not clear in the instructions that they are

optional extras. We have already got people e-mailing us saying how angry

they get when they don't get proper instructions, so this is clearly

something that really does annoy an awful lot of you. Brands, Jo I'd be

absolutely no use whatsoever no matter what instructions you gave

us! All this week, we've been asking

famous faces to share consumer tips and today is the turn of someone

I've known for 45 years, Sir Cliff Richard. As you know, this is all

about consumer affairs, whether it is holidays, food, day-to-day

living. How astute are you as a consumer? I don't think I'm astute

at all, actually. I've been told off many times because I sign a check,

sign a bill and then someone will say, how much was it? And I don't

even look! I have now started to look and see what the prices are

charged and look at the credit receipt and say, it is the same. But

I don't like asking the price of things. But you have many houses

throughout the world. Are you even conscious of your utility bills,

your gas, electric, water bills? I'm very aware of electricity. My dad

was always switching off lights and even when I go to someone else's

house, if I go there, the toilet light is on and I switch it off. If

I see a light that is not being used I switch it off. I can't help it. It

is one of those natural things. In American hotels, feeble leave it to

be on all the time. I have to switch it off. Are you good at complaining?

No, the only time I was ever tough with someone was when I moved into

Barbados and they promised me a garden and I got there and there was

an eight foot patch of grass and nothing else. I thought it was

outrageous. That's the only time I've been that of. I tend to play

good cop. Do you like a bit of a bargain? Of course. I get seen in

stores in New York looking at shirts and suddenly someone at the other

side has gone, "Cliff, what are you doing here?" I say, "What are you

doing here was" he says, "I'm here for a bargain," and I say, me too.

Of course I can afford to buy things but I still don't want to seem

cheap, even though deep down I am. I'm going to give away a secret

because you receive things that you really like and then you would send

me in to do the deal. You've got the gift of the gab. So you've got

deals! I would get my cheque-book out and you would come and say,

"This is not the best deal!" It is true! Partners in crime. Happy

birthday to him, too. A pair of artful dodgers! Just time to but

some of your questions to our personal finance expert Sarah

Pennells and technology was David McClelland. The first one is for

you, Sarah, and it follows up on our Whirlpool story, for which we fired

dozens of e-mails. Debra asks, where would she stand with their insurance

if she used a faulty tumble dryer and it caused a fire? It is a really

good question. I spoke to the association from British insurers

which represents most of the big insurers. I spoke to them a while

ago and again this morning and their line is that as long as you use the

tumble dry within the manufacturer's instructions, taking the fluff out

every time and not ignoring it, being in the same room, you should

be OK. Having said that, I have spoken to people who have said they

have done exactly that and their claim has been turned down by their

insurer so it seems the message is not getting through to all companies

the way it should. I have one for David from Chelsea. She says she got

a text message to say she is due a tax rebate and to follow a link to

continue. How can she tell if it is a scam? Watch this programme! It is

interesting that the HMRC are increasingly using text messages as

a means to communicate with customers. In this case, do not

follow that link. They will never send tax rebate information but go

to the HMRC website and they will tell you what genuine forms of

communication looked like. I have to squeeze this in for Sarah. A man

says he tried to buy an electrical item at ?45 and that the till it was

60 but the manager refused to honour the price. Was he right or wrong?

The manager was in his rights. You feel that the price is the price you

should legally be able to buy but the rules don't actually say that.

It is a bit more tricky. That leaves us out of time at the end of what

has been a wonderful week for us. We've had an absolute blast doing

these live programmes. And may I say, I think all the experts have

done a brilliant job. Been fantastic, so well done. I'm

delighted to say we will be back doing even more next year! Thanks to

everyone who has contacted us this week. We're sorry we couldn't

include all of your comments and questions but they really will help

us decide what we are going to investigate in future programmes.

We've got food and holiday series coming up and we would like to

remind you that there is more Rip-Off Britain at the same time

next week, so tune in. In the meantime, thanks for your company

all this week and from us, bye-bye. Bye.