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Hello, and welcome to Watchdog Daily. We're with you live for the | :00:27. | :00:32. | |
next 45 minutes. This morning: How to slash the | :00:32. | :00:36. | |
price of a new car. Find out how we were offered over �3,500 off with | :00:36. | :00:43. | |
one simple phone call. Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrison's - | :00:43. | :00:46. | |
they've just signed up to a new agreement to ditch confusing and | :00:46. | :00:48. | |
misleading offers. Will they stick to it? | :00:48. | :00:50. | |
And the rogue tree surgeon who ripped off his customers, put | :00:50. | :01:00. | |
:01:00. | :01:02. | ||
himself in danger, and had trouble controlling his temper. | :01:02. | :01:08. | |
First, thinking of changing your car? If so, you may have been put | :01:08. | :01:11. | |
off by the prices of brand-new models, and turned to the second- | :01:11. | :01:13. | |
hand market instead. But, perhaps it's time to think again because | :01:13. | :01:16. | |
that new vehicle price tag could be significantly higher than the | :01:16. | :01:19. | |
showroom is actually willing to sell at. In fact, our Mystery | :01:19. | :01:22. | |
Shoppers have discovered nearly all dealers are happy to give you much | :01:22. | :01:25. | |
better deals than the ones they advertise. All you have to do is | :01:25. | :01:35. | |
:01:35. | :01:44. | ||
Negotiating, bargaining, haggling, it comes as second nature to car | :01:44. | :01:50. | |
dealers. As for the buyers, we tend to be different. The main thing is | :01:50. | :01:54. | |
we are too shy to haggle. The point to remember is, whether you are | :01:54. | :01:58. | |
buying a new or a used car, there are deals to be had. Don't be | :01:58. | :02:03. | |
afraid to ask some money off. Dealers want to sell you cars. | :02:03. | :02:09. | |
Therefore, they are prepared to give you discount. The cars may be | :02:09. | :02:15. | |
new, but you can get the prices down by using a very old tactic, by | :02:15. | :02:22. | |
how much exactly? Time for us to hit the phones. Over two days, our | :02:22. | :02:28. | |
team enquired about some of the UK's most popular models, the Ford | :02:28. | :02:36. | |
Fiesta, the Vauxhall Corsa, the VW Golf, the BMW 3 Series and the per | :02:36. | :02:45. | |
se diz C class. -- and the Mercedes C class. Is it possible to get a | :02:45. | :02:50. | |
price on a BMW 3 Series? Meet our first shopper. He asked for the | :02:50. | :02:57. | |
price of the car. No pushing, no negotiating. The list price is | :02:57. | :03:07. | |
:03:07. | :03:12. | ||
�9,495. That's �16,425. �24,880. Prices start at �25,915. �9,795 for | :03:12. | :03:15. | |
that. All ten dealers quoted the list price, that is the price at | :03:15. | :03:19. | |
which the cars are officially advertised. But half went on to | :03:19. | :03:24. | |
suggest they could give us some sort of discount and that was | :03:24. | :03:28. | |
without us asking. It would possibly involve us paying for the | :03:28. | :03:32. | |
car on finance. It is worth bearing in mind that at the moment, on the | :03:32. | :03:36. | |
Golf, because we are getting towards the end of Mark 6, there is | :03:36. | :03:40. | |
a finance package available where you can get up to �3,000 off the | :03:40. | :03:45. | |
cost of the car as well. As a deposit contribution, so that price | :03:45. | :03:52. | |
I have quoted of �16,425, you can take �3,000 off that cost so you | :03:52. | :03:58. | |
are looking at �13,425 really. Finance is very profitable for a | :03:58. | :04:02. | |
dealer. It is also a way of keeping you in the network. So what a lot | :04:02. | :04:06. | |
of people do is take finance out for three years and go back and buy | :04:06. | :04:10. | |
the same car again from the same dealer. There is nothing wrong with | :04:10. | :04:14. | |
that. Finance is like everything else, you need to do your homework, | :04:14. | :04:20. | |
make sure you get the best price possible. If deals are available to | :04:20. | :04:29. | |
buyers who don't ask, what is on offer for those who do? Tough- | :04:29. | :04:34. | |
talking, no-nonsense, determined to drive the hardest bargain. Can we | :04:34. | :04:40. | |
make it up to �500? Could I speak to the manager, please? He phoned | :04:40. | :04:44. | |
up another two main car dealers. Five in London and five in | :04:44. | :04:48. | |
Manchester. Instead of being open to finance deals, he offered to pay | :04:48. | :04:55. | |
in cash only. First up, Ford, and a new Fiesta. Great ad, but would | :04:55. | :05:01. | |
they give us a great price? Best I can do on that car would be �9,345. | :05:01. | :05:08. | |
That is not bad. In fact, it works out at �450 discount or 4.6% off | :05:09. | :05:13. | |
the list price, something the Manchester branch was happy to | :05:13. | :05:18. | |
match. Next the Corsa. One London dealer refused to budge on the list | :05:18. | :05:23. | |
price. The Manchester branch did initially offer a discount of �2 50. | :05:23. | :05:27. | |
But then came the haggling moment. I was looking for something closer | :05:27. | :05:30. | |
to a grand off. If there is anything closer to that region, I | :05:30. | :05:37. | |
would be keen. OK. �8495. I'm not sure we will be able to go that low. | :05:37. | :05:41. | |
If you are able to go any lower on that, that would be greatly | :05:41. | :05:45. | |
appreciated. Let me pop you on hold. I will go and speak to him now. The | :05:45. | :05:54. | |
minimum he can go to is �8,9995. If you wanted to put a doz silt on it | :05:54. | :06:03. | |
today, we could -- deposit on it today we could reduce it by �1,000. | :06:03. | :06:10. | |
Making it �500 in total. As for the VW Golf both branches suggested we | :06:10. | :06:16. | |
could get �500 off a new model. But by far the biggest reductions were | :06:16. | :06:26. | |
:06:26. | :06:29. | ||
on offer from Mercedes and BMW. would be looking at �22,6... | :06:29. | :06:33. | |
�3,315 discount just for asking a Manchester Mercedes dealer. That | :06:33. | :06:38. | |
equates to 12.8% off the original list price. It was a similar story | :06:38. | :06:44. | |
in their London branch, too. As for BMW, London, we were offered �3,580 | :06:44. | :06:49. | |
off the list price. But they wanted our car details for a deposit there | :06:49. | :06:53. | |
and then. My number one tip for getting a good deal is do your | :06:53. | :06:56. | |
homework. There is nothing like going to the dealer, armed with | :06:56. | :06:59. | |
information, knowing the best price to pay, knowing what sort of price | :06:59. | :07:02. | |
you should pay before you sign on the dotted line. Therefore, if you | :07:02. | :07:07. | |
know as much as the dealer, you will get the best deal. Four | :07:07. | :07:11. | |
dealers asked us what price we wanted to pay! What is the deal you | :07:11. | :07:15. | |
are looking for? Where do you need to be to get you a deal? Where do | :07:16. | :07:20. | |
you need it to be for us to go ahead? If you can give us an idea | :07:20. | :07:26. | |
where you want to be, we will do that. The salesman will ask how | :07:26. | :07:30. | |
much are you prepared to pay. Don't be drawn into that. The deal they | :07:30. | :07:36. | |
construct will add to the same as you are prepared to pay for it. Be | :07:36. | :07:39. | |
stand-offish, and ask the salesman, "I was interested in the best deal | :07:39. | :07:44. | |
you could do." Then you will end up with the best deal rather than a | :07:44. | :07:48. | |
deal constructed about how much you can afford. We managed to haggle | :07:48. | :07:55. | |
our way to a �15,645 discount off ten cars. Plus a free tank of | :07:55. | :08:00. | |
petrol and car mats that one dealer threw in. We only telephoned! If we | :08:00. | :08:05. | |
had visited the showrooms, there may have been better deals on offer. | :08:05. | :08:10. | |
As this salesman, who had just spoken to his manager, told us. | :08:10. | :08:15. | |
you come in and see us, we will find the right bar for you. We can | :08:15. | :08:19. | |
probably get a bit better for you as well. My tip would be to play | :08:19. | :08:25. | |
hardball. If you say, "I'm ready to leave a deposit." The boss will | :08:25. | :08:31. | |
bust his chops to get you the best deal. I only get paid when you buy | :08:31. | :08:37. | |
a car. It is in my interests to get you the best deal I can. | :08:37. | :08:40. | |
So money to be saved on the phone, perhaps even better deals when you | :08:40. | :08:43. | |
go into the showroom. What do the car companies say, | :08:43. | :08:53. | |
:08:53. | :08:54. | ||
Rani? Well Sophie, BMW along with all the | :08:54. | :08:57. | |
others, says their dealers are free to trade with their customers as | :08:57. | :09:00. | |
they wish. The company adds that it makes no money from finance deals. | :09:00. | :09:03. | |
Ford says they're also able to invest in the high customer service | :09:03. | :09:06. | |
standards it demands. Mercedes and Volkswagen say the models we | :09:06. | :09:08. | |
enquired about are about to be superseded, so greater discounts on | :09:08. | :09:13. | |
them were possible. Meanwhile, if you'd like to comment | :09:13. | :09:17. | |
on that, or any of today's stories, here's a reminder of how to do so. | :09:17. | :09:21. | |
For emails, the address is [email protected]. | :09:21. | :09:25. | |
For texts, it's 88822 and start your message with the letters "WD". | :09:25. | :09:28. | |
And if you want to join the discussion on Twitter, our address | :09:28. | :09:33. | |
and hashtag are on your screens. Now, with around a third of adults | :09:33. | :09:36. | |
trying to slim at any one time, demand for weight loss products is | :09:36. | :09:40. | |
huge. That means big money for the drug companies, but also fortunes | :09:40. | :09:43. | |
for the criminals who put their own so-called diet pills onto the | :09:43. | :09:47. | |
market. As Louise Hulland - in the North West of England for us this | :09:47. | :09:52. | |
week - now reports. Over the last few days, we have seen some of the | :09:52. | :09:58. | |
vital work of Trading Standards officers first-hand. In addition to | :09:58. | :10:08. | |
:10:08. | :10:11. | ||
all that, these Consumer Cops are concerned at protecting our health. | :10:11. | :10:15. | |
Meet Maria. She is one of the team responsible for investigating the | :10:15. | :10:20. | |
sale of dangerous and illegal medical products in St Helens. | :10:20. | :10:25. | |
These diet pills were seized during one of her most successful | :10:25. | :10:31. | |
operations. The product came into us in 2010. The consumer had seen | :10:31. | :10:35. | |
this product in the press. It had quite a lot of positive press in | :10:35. | :10:41. | |
the UK and in America. This was not the same one. It was a copy of the | :10:41. | :10:49. | |
one that had the good press. pills in question looked to be | :10:49. | :10:54. | |
CapsiPlex, a dieting drug that hit the shelves in 2010. The genuine | :10:54. | :11:01. | |
product was said to have a host of celebrity fans and was endorsed by | :11:01. | :11:05. | |
actresses and attracted a blaze of publicity, which the counterfeiters | :11:05. | :11:09. | |
took advantage of. I saw it in one of the newspapers. I thought they | :11:09. | :11:13. | |
were pretty good. I came across many websites which advertised it. | :11:13. | :11:20. | |
The one that I chose, it did look genuine. When they arrived, I was | :11:21. | :11:25. | |
excited. I couldn't wait to start taking them. It was going to be the | :11:26. | :11:29. | |
beginning of my new diet. design and the claims made on the | :11:29. | :11:33. | |
label of her pills were different to those of the genuine article. | :11:33. | :11:37. | |
But once she started taking them, her enthusiasm for her new tablets | :11:37. | :11:41. | |
waned. I was taking them for a couple of days. I started to get | :11:41. | :11:45. | |
stomach ache. I didn't put two and two together it was the tablet | :11:45. | :11:49. | |
until a few days later and I stopped taking the tablets and the | :11:49. | :11:53. | |
stomach ache subsided. At that point, she suspected there might be | :11:53. | :11:58. | |
a problem with the pills. As she works for the council, she passed | :11:58. | :12:01. | |
them over to Trading Standards to investigate. Our next step was to | :12:01. | :12:05. | |
send this to the public analyst to have it tested both on the | :12:05. | :12:10. | |
labelling and composition of the product. During this time, we took | :12:10. | :12:14. | |
a second test purchase from the website. This was also sent off to | :12:14. | :12:17. | |
the public analyst. While the products were being tested, we did | :12:17. | :12:22. | |
research into the website where the products had been bought. | :12:22. | :12:28. | |
testing took place over in Lancashire, supervised by Andrew | :12:28. | :12:35. | |
Smith. The labelling included 278 more calories, change your body, | :12:35. | :12:40. | |
change your life, clinically proven to burn up to 278 more calories. | :12:40. | :12:45. | |
The benefits included of the fat burner, free radical fighter, | :12:45. | :12:50. | |
energy and weight loss, helps improve metabolism and supports | :12:50. | :12:56. | |
endurance and performance. None of these claims are permitted by the | :12:56. | :13:02. | |
legislation as it currently is. illegal claims on the packets. But | :13:02. | :13:08. | |
what was actually inside? The two samples we were sent were alleged | :13:08. | :13:18. | |
:13:18. | :13:21. | ||
to contain caffeine. We suspect that the capsule contained a | :13:21. | :13:26. | |
bulking agent and nothing else. Catherine's suspicions had been | :13:26. | :13:29. | |
confirmed. The pills were not the genuine article. They were | :13:29. | :13:38. | |
manufactured for a company calling itself Bodyscoop and trading online. | :13:38. | :13:42. | |
There is nothing in these capsules that would have the properties | :13:42. | :13:49. | |
claimed on the box and on the labelling. They wouldn't improve | :13:49. | :13:54. | |
metabolism. They wouldn't fight fat. Based on the analysis we did, I | :13:54. | :13:58. | |
can't imagine the contents of those pills were worth more than a few | :13:58. | :14:05. | |
pennies. I don't think they are value for money. 30 pills for �30. | :14:05. | :14:09. | |
Armed with this evidence, Maria and her team tried to contact the | :14:09. | :14:13. | |
seller. However, the director of the company failed to respond to | :14:13. | :14:18. | |
their requests. So they were left with only one option. The case | :14:18. | :14:22. | |
progressed to the Magistrates' Court in St Helens. At the first | :14:22. | :14:26. | |
hearing, the director didn't turn up so a warrant was issued for her | :14:26. | :14:30. | |
arrest and she was arrested down in Surrey and brought to the | :14:30. | :14:35. | |
Magistrates' Court in St Helens. Now, on the second hearing, she | :14:35. | :14:38. | |
pleaded not guilty. Now, what I wanted to prove was that she had | :14:38. | :14:42. | |
been supplying this product and how long she had been supplying this | :14:42. | :14:49. | |
product for. So I got records from both eBay and PayPal and she had | :14:49. | :14:52. | |
quite a number of accounts in her name. There was a minimum of | :14:53. | :14:56. | |
�15,000 worth of sales over a number of years selling this | :14:56. | :15:02. | |
product in both the UK and in Europe. Given the weight of the | :15:02. | :15:07. | |
evidence, the director changed her plea to guilty and was fined | :15:07. | :15:13. | |
�24,000 under the EU Regulations on Nutrition and Health Claims. This | :15:13. | :15:21. | |
case was the first prosecution in the country under this regulation. | :15:21. | :15:25. | |
So success for the team in removing fake diet pills from the market. | :15:26. | :15:28. | |
There are other more dangerous health products out there, too. | :15:28. | :15:34. | |
Coming up, we join the team in Salford as they go on the hunt for | :15:34. | :15:39. | |
unlicensed over the counter medicines. That's a fair quantity | :15:39. | :15:46. | |
of what looks to be illegal products on sale here in Salford. | :15:46. | :15:50. | |
It shows you that you can never let your guard down. | :15:50. | :15:55. | |
And you can see that report later. Now though, the big supermarkets | :15:55. | :15:58. | |
and the false offers and misleading deals we've become all too familiar | :15:58. | :16:01. | |
with. Last week the Office of Fair Trading said it had been | :16:01. | :16:03. | |
investigating, and announced that eight supermarkets have now agreed | :16:03. | :16:07. | |
to adopt a set of principles that will help ensure shoppers are given | :16:07. | :16:10. | |
fair and accurate information. But what exactly are those principles? | :16:10. | :16:13. | |
And how can we be sure the supermarkets will abide by them. | :16:13. | :16:17. | |
After all, it's not the first time they've been told to clean up their | :16:17. | :16:23. | |
act. It's exactly two years since the Office of Fair Trading first | :16:23. | :16:28. | |
voiced its concern about misleading price promotion offers. It gave | :16:28. | :16:32. | |
retailers a warning. Stop advertising them or risk | :16:32. | :16:37. | |
enforcement action. Did that stop them? No. 12 months later, I found | :16:37. | :16:41. | |
evidence of one misleading tactic known as price establishing. Here | :16:41. | :16:46. | |
is an example. A retailer sells a product at a certain price for a | :16:46. | :16:50. | |
long period of time but then raises it. Shortly afterwards, it drops it | :16:50. | :16:55. | |
back down to where it was before, then it can say that it has slashed | :16:55. | :17:02. | |
the cost. According to their most recent set of principles: "Prices | :17:02. | :17:10. | |
should never be artificially manipulated to advertise a later | :17:10. | :17:14. | |
discount." That is what some supermarkets have been doing. I | :17:14. | :17:20. | |
found this example in 2011. delicious Tesco fresh whole chicken. | :17:20. | :17:24. | |
Now with a meaty price cut. Take the supermarket's fresh chicken | :17:24. | :17:30. | |
which features in its ads. In January, customers could buy them | :17:30. | :17:36. | |
for �4 each. That remained the case throughout February, March, April, | :17:36. | :17:44. | |
May and June. In mid-July, Tesco raised the price to �5 each. But | :17:44. | :17:49. | |
then in September it went back to what it had been for most of the | :17:49. | :17:53. | |
year, Tesco labelled it a price drop. Are you concerned or | :17:53. | :17:59. | |
surprised by what we have found? think an average consumer would not | :17:59. | :18:04. | |
expect a price that had been consistent for many months suddenly | :18:04. | :18:11. | |
to rise by a pound to then revert back to the original price to be | :18:11. | :18:15. | |
described as a price drop. Office of Fair Trading also warned | :18:15. | :18:19. | |
the supermarkets about several other promotional tactics. Among | :18:19. | :18:23. | |
those bigger pack better value claims. On the truth of such claims, | :18:23. | :18:33. | |
:18:33. | :18:41. | ||
the OFT's new principles couldn't Since they were first warned about | :18:41. | :18:48. | |
this two years ago, we have caught the big four doing it time after | :18:48. | :18:54. | |
time. In April 2011. Take this from Sainsbury's - you have guessed it, | :18:54. | :19:04. | |
:19:04. | :19:05. | ||
it isn't the best value. In fact, it works out at �3.49 per kilogram. | :19:05. | :19:13. | |
More expensive than the smaller pack. ASDA are also at it. This big | :19:13. | :19:20. | |
box works out at 14p a sachet, that is dearer than the smaller box. | :19:20. | :19:25. | |
December 2011, I found 17 examples of bigger packs presented as better | :19:25. | :19:35. | |
value when they weren't. Five in Tesco, five in Sainsbury's, four in | :19:35. | :19:40. | |
ASDA and three in Morrisons. And just a few weeks ago, on this | :19:40. | :19:50. | |
:19:50. | :19:50. | ||
programme. This is the better value because it says "big value" on it. | :19:50. | :19:59. | |
�2.32. Against �3.20. This is the value pack, apparently. That is | :19:59. | :20:05. | |
crazy. Confusing. So after the first warning had little or no | :20:05. | :20:08. | |
effect, the OFT is trying a new approach. It's persuaded all the | :20:08. | :20:12. | |
main supermarkets apart from ASDA to sign up to its set of pricing | :20:12. | :20:16. | |
principles. Last week the press hailed it as a new deal for | :20:16. | :20:19. | |
shoppers, an agreement that will ensure offers and promotional | :20:19. | :20:25. | |
claims will be fair, accurate and consistent. But this week, we went | :20:25. | :20:30. | |
shopping again and have a guess what we found. | :20:30. | :20:34. | |
Well, here's the answer. Multiple examples of bigger packs being | :20:34. | :20:36. | |
presented as "better value" when they're not. Two here from | :20:36. | :20:42. | |
Morrison's. These two from Sainsbury's. And these three from | :20:42. | :20:48. | |
Tesco. We also found three examples at ASDA, which - although it hasn't | :20:48. | :20:51. | |
signed up to the new OFT principles - is still bound by Consumer | :20:51. | :20:56. | |
Regulations which forbid misleading offers. Now, in a moment I'll be | :20:56. | :20:59. | |
talking to the OFT about its new agreement and these findings. | :20:59. | :21:05. | |
Before that, how do the supermarkets explain them? | :21:05. | :21:08. | |
All of them told us they're committed to fair and transparent | :21:08. | :21:10. | |
prices, and that value labels are often attached by the manufacturer. | :21:10. | :21:13. | |
Sainsbury's say they've already asked the suppliers of branded | :21:13. | :21:16. | |
goods to remove their better value messages, and say there will be a | :21:16. | :21:20. | |
transition period prior to the new packaging becoming fully available. | :21:20. | :21:23. | |
Tesco says they welcome the OFT's clarity on good practices and will | :21:23. | :21:27. | |
be speaking to the manufacturers about the issues raised. | :21:27. | :21:31. | |
As will Morrisons. Who say the Bigger Pack Better Value principle | :21:31. | :21:34. | |
is the toughest to implement because of the number of products, | :21:34. | :21:38. | |
many of which are on promotions. In the cases we identified this | :21:38. | :21:41. | |
week, they say the promotions were planned months ago and it will take | :21:41. | :21:48. | |
time for all the changes to be introduced. ASDA say honest | :21:48. | :21:53. | |
mistakes can sometimes happen. The claims of Best and Family Value on | :21:53. | :21:57. | |
different pack sizes mean the claims cannot always be justified. | :21:57. | :22:00. | |
Which frustrates them as much as their customers. They have raised | :22:00. | :22:04. | |
their concerns and continue to work with suppliers. They say they are | :22:04. | :22:08. | |
very much engaged with the OFT but whilst they are in favour of three | :22:08. | :22:10. | |
of the approaches, there is one approach that is meant to | :22:10. | :22:15. | |
discourage high low-pricing promotions and they are worried it | :22:15. | :22:21. | |
would encourage it. They are taking the time to consider the proposals. | :22:21. | :22:27. | |
They always focus, they say, on offering low prices. With me is a | :22:27. | :22:30. | |
spokesman from the Office of Fair Trading. You told supermarkets they | :22:30. | :22:34. | |
shouldn't be doing this two years ago. They still are. Why are they | :22:34. | :22:39. | |
going to listen now? We produced a report and on the back of that we | :22:39. | :22:44. | |
did a number of enforcement pieces. This year, we have talked to | :22:44. | :22:47. | |
supermarkets about some of their behaviours. It is a complex | :22:47. | :22:55. | |
business. They have changed thousands of prices each week. | :22:55. | :22:59. | |
did bring it to their attention two years ago, didn't you? It's two | :22:59. | :23:05. | |
years later and it is still happening? It is a complex business. | :23:05. | :23:09. | |
I discovered that there are 11 great seasons each year so defining | :23:09. | :23:13. | |
what is in season out season for grapes is not as straightforward as | :23:13. | :23:18. | |
you might think. We want to move on and develop the principles we | :23:18. | :23:20. | |
established two years ago more specifically for the retail sector | :23:20. | :23:23. | |
and that is what we have done this year working with supermarkets. | :23:23. | :23:29. | |
went this week, we found yet more of these misleading offers, Bigger | :23:29. | :23:34. | |
Pack Better value when they are not. Are the supermarkets going to be be | :23:34. | :23:40. | |
told you have to stop doing this? In our principles, we identified | :23:40. | :23:44. | |
positive things we think supermarkets should do and are good. | :23:44. | :23:47. | |
Those are better than the standard of the law. We identified some | :23:47. | :23:50. | |
things where the law is very clear that you shouldn't do them. For | :23:50. | :23:55. | |
those, we are expecting a speedy reduction in those incidents. I | :23:55. | :24:00. | |
can't promise you 0%, but we expect a significant reduction in those. | :24:00. | :24:05. | |
On the more positive principles like not advertising for longer | :24:05. | :24:08. | |
discount than the original price, the supermarkets are starting to | :24:08. | :24:13. | |
put that into their systems. It can take two to three months before it | :24:13. | :24:18. | |
comes out the other end. You can't expect a zero result in getting rid | :24:18. | :24:22. | |
of these offers? We go out in six months' time, which we will, and | :24:23. | :24:28. | |
find yet more misleading offers, what will you do? We have worked | :24:28. | :24:32. | |
very closely with Trading Standards who are the home authorities for | :24:32. | :24:36. | |
each supermarket to develop these principles, communicate with | :24:36. | :24:39. | |
supermarkets, look through their compliance policies, ask them to | :24:39. | :24:45. | |
make some changes. If we think there is still a problem next year, | :24:45. | :24:50. | |
we would consider enforcement action. What do you mean? Well, we | :24:51. | :24:55. | |
have a range of things we can do. We start with an informal | :24:55. | :25:00. | |
conversation. If we don't feel that is delivering change, that will be | :25:00. | :25:03. | |
our conclusion, then we can seek undertakings from firms where they | :25:03. | :25:09. | |
give us a written undertaken not to do things in the same way and if we | :25:09. | :25:13. | |
then aren't happy with that, we can go to court. If they refuse, we can | :25:13. | :25:17. | |
go to court, too. Trading Standards can prosecute for examples of | :25:17. | :25:22. | |
breaches of the law as well. Why do you think supermarkets have been | :25:22. | :25:26. | |
doing this? Are they making money out of consumers? Is it laziness? | :25:26. | :25:30. | |
Are they not spotting these misleading offers? There is a whole | :25:30. | :25:34. | |
range of things. What I was impressed with - they know there is | :25:35. | :25:39. | |
a trust issue building up here and they want to head that off. I think | :25:39. | :25:43. | |
there was a very constructive level of engagement that I found with the | :25:43. | :25:47. | |
supermarkets. They do want you and me to feel confident when we see an | :25:47. | :25:51. | |
offer that it is an offer. It could go the way of other industries | :25:51. | :25:56. | |
where people lose belief in what is being communicated. There is a | :25:56. | :25:59. | |
different mindset. Supermarkets need to regain customers' trust in | :26:00. | :26:09. | |
the shops. Thank you very much. Lots of you getting in touch about | :26:09. | :26:15. | |
the story on our new car prices. Mark says he visited several | :26:15. | :26:20. | |
showrooms to get the best deal. He ended up getting �2,000 off the | :26:20. | :26:26. | |
list price. Fantastic news! Jen did better when buying a higher-end car. | :26:27. | :26:30. | |
Her discount? �6,500. Remember, we are in the mail room all day today. | :26:30. | :26:36. | |
We are waiting for your messages so get in touch. | :26:36. | :26:38. | |
We're heading back to Salford now where Trading Standards officers | :26:38. | :26:41. | |
are trying to combat a growing problem, posing a potentially huge | :26:41. | :26:43. | |
public health risk. That's the import of unlicensed over-the- | :26:43. | :26:49. | |
counter medicines. Here's Louise again. | :26:49. | :26:54. | |
Yes, in recent years, the amounts of those medicines reaching our | :26:54. | :26:57. | |
shelves have increased. It is vital they are removed from the supply | :26:57. | :27:01. | |
chain as quickly as possible. Officers were told about illegally | :27:01. | :27:05. | |
labelled medicines being made available in one local retail | :27:05. | :27:12. | |
outlet. They swung into action and our cameras where with them. It is | :27:12. | :27:21. | |
the morning of the operation. They are heading out to inspect a small | :27:21. | :27:28. | |
grocery store in the heart of Salford. There may be illegal | :27:28. | :27:33. | |
medicinal products on sale. We are trying to find out what is on sale | :27:33. | :27:39. | |
in Salford and this is one of a series of visits we are making with | :27:39. | :27:43. | |
our partner agencies. If any illegal product is found, that will | :27:43. | :27:49. | |
be bagged and tagged and we will remove it from the property. To | :27:49. | :27:57. | |
date, we have visited 28 premises across Salford and in five of those, | :27:57. | :28:04. | |
we did find illegal medicinal products on sale which have been | :28:04. | :28:10. | |
seized. 750 products were seized in total. A haul so far certainly | :28:10. | :28:17. | |
looks impressive and ranges from antibiotics to skin creams. We are | :28:17. | :28:23. | |
surprised at the variety and volume of products seized from such small | :28:23. | :28:28. | |
corner shops. What we have found in this particular case is a wide | :28:28. | :28:34. | |
range of medicinal products and they can be categorised into three | :28:34. | :28:40. | |
groups. Some of the products that we have seized are prescription- | :28:40. | :28:44. | |
only drugs. Others are products which can only be sold by a | :28:45. | :28:49. | |
pharmacist. And the others are normal types of medicines that you | :28:49. | :28:55. | |
can buy in shops, but the common feature with all these products | :28:55. | :29:00. | |
sold in Eastern European shops is they are not labelled in English. | :29:00. | :29:04. | |
They have not received a product licence. So they are not legal to | :29:04. | :29:11. | |
sell in the UK. The most concerning product that we seized was the skin | :29:11. | :29:15. | |
whitening cream which we found in an Afro-Caribbean shop. This | :29:15. | :29:24. | |
product is not legal to sell in the UK. It contravenes the Cosmetic | :29:24. | :29:29. | |
Products Safety Regulations. Back in the field, the team has been | :29:29. | :29:36. | |
joined by officers from the MHRA. Their knowledge of medical products | :29:36. | :29:40. | |
is essential to establish quickly and reliably which medicines are | :29:40. | :29:44. | |
legal and which are not. Trading Standards. Is the manager around? | :29:44. | :29:54. | |
:29:54. | :29:54. | ||
Or the owner? Are you in charge at the moment? Yes. These two officers | :29:54. | :30:00. | |
are going to look at the stock, medicine stock which you have here. | :30:00. | :30:04. | |
The MHRA officers find a substantial number of products that | :30:04. | :30:09. | |
all the tell-tale signs of illegal medication. These officers have | :30:09. | :30:13. | |
identified some products which they think are illegal medicines so they | :30:13. | :30:16. | |
think they are either foreign labelled or medicines which | :30:16. | :30:20. | |
shouldn't be on sale here. It is not all about seizing the goods. | :30:20. | :30:25. | |
Much of the work involves education. I'm asking the owner to contact | :30:25. | :30:28. | |
Trading Standards for advice. We want to work with him to make sure | :30:28. | :30:34. | |
he is only purchasing stock which he can legally sell. Are we done? | :30:34. | :30:43. | |
Yeah? Excellent. Thank you. Some of the problems come in other | :30:43. | :30:48. | |
countries where you can buy prescription drugs routinely over | :30:48. | :30:56. | |
the counter. With the store cleared of the suspect products, Nigel | :30:56. | :31:06. | |
:31:06. | :31:07. | ||
inspects the morning's haul. That's a fair quantity of what looks to be | :31:07. | :31:10. | |
illegal medicinal products on sale this morning in Salford. I would | :31:10. | :31:16. | |
have to say it is quite difficult to know what some of this stuff is. | :31:16. | :31:22. | |
Unless you can speak the language, we wouldn't know. To be on sale in | :31:22. | :31:29. | |
the UK, it has to be labelled in English. It shows you that you can | :31:29. | :31:35. | |
never let your guard down and the role of Trading Standards is to | :31:35. | :31:45. | |
:31:45. | :31:48. | ||
protect the health of the consumer. This will help in that battle. | :31:48. | :31:53. | |
we saw you in that film. How is the investigation going? Since officers | :31:53. | :31:56. | |
seized these products, we have had the opportunity of interviewing all | :31:56. | :32:00. | |
the owners of the businesses. We have explained the legal | :32:00. | :32:06. | |
responsibilities in relation to the sale of medicines. We will continue | :32:06. | :32:10. | |
to monitor the situation. We have however identified a wholesaler of | :32:10. | :32:15. | |
these products and we will be visiting them in company with the | :32:15. | :32:20. | |
MHRA. What are the actual dangers of buying drugs like this? All of | :32:20. | :32:24. | |
these products come with Eastern European instructions on them. | :32:24. | :32:29. | |
There is no instructions in English so the danger there is that local | :32:29. | :32:33. | |
consumers would not know what would be a safe dose, there is no | :32:33. | :32:37. | |
information available to them on any allergic reactions or special | :32:37. | :32:41. | |
precautions. So it is not safe. What advice would you give people | :32:41. | :32:47. | |
who find foreign-labelled drugs like this in their area? | :32:47. | :32:51. | |
consumers who come across this type of product must report it to the | :32:51. | :32:54. | |
Trading Standards Department. you. | :32:54. | :32:56. | |
Louise Hulland reporting, and later we'll be bringing you up-to-date | :32:56. | :32:59. | |
with some of the other cases the Consumer Cops have been | :32:59. | :33:03. | |
investigating throughout the series. Now though, some news about one of | :33:03. | :33:06. | |
the UK's biggest gas and electricity suppliers. | :33:06. | :33:09. | |
NPower has been fined �60,000 and is to pay compensation to thousands | :33:09. | :33:11. | |
of customers after it breached regulations concerning marketing | :33:11. | :33:17. | |
calls. The telecoms regulator Ofcom found the company had generated | :33:17. | :33:20. | |
automatic calls when there was no one available to speak to those who | :33:20. | :33:28. | |
answered. It also made hundreds of calls where those on the receiving | :33:28. | :33:33. | |
end only heard a recorded marketing message. Ofcom says the breaches | :33:33. | :33:38. | |
occurred on eight days in February and March last year. NPower has | :33:38. | :33:41. | |
apologised, describing these as isolated incidents. | :33:41. | :33:44. | |
It says it's addressed the issues raised by Ofcom, and will send | :33:44. | :33:47. | |
shopping vouchers to more than 3,500 people who received the calls | :33:47. | :33:54. | |
by way of compensation. Right, only two-and-a-half weeks to | :33:54. | :33:57. | |
go, and if you haven't bought your Christmas presents yet, panic may | :33:57. | :34:01. | |
just be starting to descend. Buying gifts is fraught with problems - | :34:01. | :34:04. | |
from deliveries that don't arrive, to those that are damaged when you | :34:04. | :34:07. | |
open them, to the presents you want to return or exchange. But, | :34:07. | :34:17. | |
:34:17. | :34:25. | ||
whatever your problem, we know Christmas shopping. It is a | :34:25. | :34:29. | |
minefield. From choosing what to buy to getting it delivered, there | :34:29. | :34:33. | |
is no end of things that can go wrong. We have some tips to make | :34:33. | :34:37. | |
sure you don't get caught out. Or get stuck with any unwanted | :34:38. | :34:46. | |
Christmas presents! First, you have ordered your present online but it | :34:46. | :34:51. | |
has not shown up. Go back to the company who you bought the goods | :34:51. | :34:55. | |
from. It is their responsibility until you have hated receipt of the | :34:55. | :35:03. | |
goods. You can -- have had receipt of the goods. You can cancel your | :35:03. | :35:07. | |
goods up to seven days after you take receipt of the goods. Certain | :35:07. | :35:15. | |
items aren't included such as CDs and DVDs. Or personalised items. So | :35:15. | :35:19. | |
what happens if you give a gift or receive one that is faulty? The | :35:19. | :35:24. | |
best thing to do is to take it back to the retailer or phone them. You | :35:24. | :35:28. | |
have only got a short period in which you can reject the item and | :35:28. | :35:32. | |
get a full refund. After that, you can ask for an exchange or repair, | :35:32. | :35:37. | |
or a part refund may be possible if the seller is not willing to do | :35:37. | :35:40. | |
either of those. In the first six months, after you get an item, the | :35:40. | :35:46. | |
onus is on the seller to prove it was of satisfactory quality. It is | :35:46. | :35:53. | |
six months from when the item was purchased. What do you do if you | :35:53. | :36:00. | |
get a gift that you are not that keen on? We are all used to | :36:00. | :36:05. | |
returning these goods so do you have a legal right to? Retailers | :36:05. | :36:12. | |
are only legally obliged to accept the return if the good is faulty, | :36:12. | :36:18. | |
"not fit for purpose" or wasn't as described. | :36:18. | :36:28. | |
Many retailers give you 28 days from date of purchase. What about | :36:28. | :36:33. | |
returning that unwanted Christmas present? The contract between the | :36:33. | :36:37. | |
seller and the person who bought the guide so they should take them | :36:37. | :36:42. | |
back. If you have a receipt, most stores will do an exchange, offer a | :36:42. | :36:47. | |
credit note or offer a full refund. If you are lucky, they might do one | :36:47. | :36:51. | |
or all of those if you have a label still on the item you are returning. | :36:51. | :36:56. | |
If you want to make sure something you are giving to someone else can | :36:56. | :36:59. | |
be returned, think about asking for a gift receipt when you are at the | :36:59. | :37:05. | |
till. Then slip it in with the gift before you wrap it up. One last | :37:05. | :37:08. | |
thing. If you receive a gift that was bought in a chain of shops from | :37:08. | :37:12. | |
another part of the country, their returns policy will usually allow | :37:12. | :37:18. | |
you to return it to any of their stores. Happy Christmas! | :37:18. | :37:22. | |
James Daley, Which's money expert there. And for more information on | :37:22. | :37:25. | |
your rights if you want to return a present to the shop, see our | :37:25. | :37:35. | |
:37:35. | :37:38. | ||
website - bbc.co.uk/watchdog. Remember this? We have to go now. | :37:38. | :37:43. | |
You are under arrest! Mate, we've got you. You are under arrest on | :37:43. | :37:53. | |
:37:53. | :38:00. | ||
suspicion of selling and Yes, this was the moment a police | :38:00. | :38:02. | |
and Trading Standards team brought down a suspected counterfeiting | :38:02. | :38:08. | |
ring at a car boot sale in the West Midlands. With seven arrests in | :38:08. | :38:11. | |
just one day, this operation led to the seizure of an estimated | :38:11. | :38:19. | |
�100,000 worth of counterfeit DVDS and non-duty paid tobacco. | :38:19. | :38:23. | |
managed to secure the maximum amount of stock we could. It was a | :38:23. | :38:31. | |
really good job. And one that was to get better. Because after we | :38:31. | :38:34. | |
broadcast that film four weeks ago, officers received a tip-off from a | :38:34. | :38:37. | |
viewer who claimed to know where stock was being kept. So, yesterday | :38:37. | :38:40. | |
the team executed a warrant to search the lock-up that had been | :38:40. | :38:50. | |
:38:50. | :38:54. | ||
identified. And our cameras were We have searched all the containers | :38:54. | :39:04. | |
:39:04. | :39:07. | ||
that are held within the storage unit looking for counterfeit goods. | :39:07. | :39:12. | |
We have identified a number of those units that are containing | :39:12. | :39:15. | |
counterfeit goods and we are in the process of opening those all up and | :39:15. | :39:22. | |
seizing any items that are subject to Trademark Act offences. We've | :39:22. | :39:32. | |
:39:32. | :39:36. | ||
got large quantities of stuff as you can see. A small unit. Fake | :39:36. | :39:46. | |
:39:46. | :39:54. | ||
headsets. Good quality Ugg boots. We found a large quantity of | :39:54. | :39:58. | |
clothing, some DVDs, that sort of things so it links to what we were | :39:59. | :40:04. | |
expecting to find. It is similar to what we found in the initial raid. | :40:04. | :40:10. | |
We have a SuperDry bag as well. That isn't going to be the genuine | :40:10. | :40:14. | |
article on the evidence of what else we have got available to show. | :40:14. | :40:19. | |
This is probably the biggest seizure that we will have been | :40:19. | :40:24. | |
involved with. It turns out it was a huge haul. Seven removal trucks | :40:24. | :40:29. | |
and four vans full of clothing, headphones and watches they believe | :40:29. | :40:34. | |
are counterfeit. Our Consumer Cops have told us that they reckon the | :40:34. | :40:41. | |
headphones alone could have a street value of �7 million to �8 | :40:41. | :40:51. | |
:40:51. | :40:53. | ||
million. That I had has resulted in six more lines of enquiry. And in | :40:53. | :40:56. | |
recent weeks there've also been developments on other stories | :40:56. | :40:58. | |
featuring the Consumer Cops. As legal proceedings may be pending | :40:58. | :41:02. | |
we can't say more. But we can bring you details of another case they've | :41:02. | :41:04. | |
been involved with, one that was first featured on Watchdog and | :41:04. | :41:07. | |
Rogue Traders in April last year. It concerned Jason Butcher from | :41:07. | :41:10. | |
Oaklands Tree Care, also known as Oaklands Tree Services - based in | :41:10. | :41:15. | |
Banbury. Not to be confused with any other company of a similar name. | :41:15. | :41:18. | |
This tree surgeon was a danger to himself and his customers. We | :41:18. | :41:21. | |
caught him falsely claiming that a tree was poisonous, in order to | :41:21. | :41:31. | |
:41:31. | :41:48. | ||
convince our undercover actress to Butcher then went onto suggest we | :41:48. | :41:51. | |
needed more work - eventually charging �2,000 for a job worth | :41:51. | :42:01. | |
:42:01. | :42:07. | ||
just �600. Something you'd think he'd be pleased about. | :42:07. | :42:10. | |
Or perhaps not. Mind you, he'll be even more unhappy now. Because, | :42:11. | :42:13. | |
after our film, and subsequent investigation by Trading Standards | :42:13. | :42:17. | |
officers in Oxfordshire, Butcher was arrested. Two weeks ago he was | :42:17. | :42:20. | |
found guilty of 14 offences, including fraud and theft, and | :42:20. | :42:26. | |
sentenced to 12 months in prison. So another rogue off the streets | :42:26. | :42:30. | |
thanks to our Consumer Cops. And now - out of the Mail Room - here's | :42:31. | :42:40. | |
:42:41. | :42:41. | ||
Rani. We have had a big reaction to that supermarket story. A few of | :42:41. | :42:47. | |
you are a bit sceptical. Clive says he saw a prime example of it | :42:47. | :42:54. | |
yesterday. Carl says, "Every time Watchdog put supermarkets to the | :42:54. | :43:00. | |
test, they get away with it." Thanks, Rani. And that's all we | :43:00. | :43:03. |