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Hello, and welcome to Watchdog Daily. We're with you live for the | :00:28. | :00:33. | |
next 45 minutes. This morning: Groupon and K.G.B: They've been | :00:33. | :00:36. | |
warned about advertising dodgy deals - are they still doing it? | :00:36. | :00:39. | |
John Lewis, Currys and Argos: You have rights when you shop there - | :00:40. | :00:46. | |
pity these staff don't always know them. And Wonga: Straight talking | :00:46. | :00:48. | |
money - taking cash straight out of non-customers' accounts. Also on | :00:48. | :00:52. | |
today's programme: Tricked out of hundreds of pounds. The 90-year-old | :00:52. | :01:01. | |
man targeted by rogue traders. was clear that the person taking | :01:01. | :01:08. | |
him into the bank knew that this gentleman was vulnerable. | :01:08. | :01:12. | |
We start with some of the biggest names in daily deals - Groupon and | :01:12. | :01:14. | |
K.G.B. First, Online sites offering discounts on everything from spa | :01:14. | :01:17. | |
days and weekend breaks to magazine subscriptions. They're hugely | :01:17. | :01:22. | |
popular but controversial too. Back in March, the Office of Fair | :01:22. | :01:23. | |
Trading found Groupon repeatedly breaching consumer protection | :01:23. | :01:29. | |
regulations. And the Advertising Standards Authority banned several | :01:29. | :01:33. | |
of its ads for being misleading. K.G.B has also run into trouble | :01:33. | :01:40. | |
with the advertising regulator. So, have they learned their lessons? | :01:40. | :01:47. | |
Here is Rani. Hand-picked deals, great prices, | :01:47. | :01:53. | |
big discounts. All offered by daily deal companies. Like Groupon. Their | :01:53. | :01:57. | |
promises attracted Andy to register with them. Last month they offered | :01:57. | :02:05. | |
a deal of six month subscription at 50% discount. At just �22.35, but | :02:05. | :02:13. | |
the magazine costs �4.20 an issue, so six months normally costs �25.20. | :02:13. | :02:19. | |
If he subvibed through the magazine website, he could have gotten it | :02:19. | :02:25. | |
for �23. Although Groupon's deal did come | :02:25. | :02:30. | |
with �15 worth of golf vouchers, it was not the discount Andy was | :02:30. | :02:34. | |
promised. When he complained, Groupon said: It is not our | :02:34. | :02:39. | |
intention to mislead anyone. The deal undergoes a price very fiction | :02:39. | :02:43. | |
process. Well, something went wrong here. | :02:43. | :02:48. | |
For Andy, the deal was nowhere near as good as advertised. | :02:48. | :02:54. | |
Seven months after Groupon assured the Office of Fair Trading, that it | :02:54. | :02:57. | |
would publish no more misleading ads. | :02:58. | :03:04. | |
On a budget and a mission... During that time, one of Groupon's daily | :03:05. | :03:11. | |
deals rivals had its own problems, falling foul of the advertising | :03:11. | :03:15. | |
regulator, repeatedly. We heard of cases that started to | :03:15. | :03:21. | |
increase. Complaints went from two last year to 21 this year. That is | :03:21. | :03:24. | |
entirely unacceptable for this type of business, but it is a new | :03:24. | :03:30. | |
business. The level of advertising that they do is prolific. Putting | :03:30. | :03:34. | |
out hundreds of ads every day, but the number of times that they are | :03:34. | :03:38. | |
breaking the advertising codes is unacceptable. | :03:39. | :03:42. | |
The Office of Fair Trading identified claim whereas the | :03:42. | :03:46. | |
company were unable to back up savings. Take this deal. | :03:46. | :03:53. | |
They offered this deal for �9, saying it would normally cost �269. | :03:53. | :03:58. | |
We received a complaint querying that. We went to K.G.B and they | :03:58. | :04:03. | |
were unable to prove to us that the hotel had been on offer for �269. | :04:03. | :04:06. | |
That is the claim that companies should not be making. If they are | :04:06. | :04:10. | |
saying that there is a savings, they must prove that the product | :04:10. | :04:14. | |
has been sold at that level for a significant period of time before | :04:14. | :04:19. | |
making the deal. The regulator found that there were | :04:19. | :04:23. | |
instances where K.G.B described deals inaccurately or left | :04:23. | :04:27. | |
information out. Like this offer for a kite lesson. | :04:27. | :04:31. | |
It failed to mention if you wanted to take advantage of the deal at | :04:31. | :04:35. | |
the weekend, it would cost �100 more than advertised. | :04:35. | :04:40. | |
There is never an excuse for the companies to be breaking consumer | :04:40. | :04:44. | |
protection rules put in place to maintain trust in tiding to ensure | :04:44. | :04:49. | |
that the consumers are not misled. What we expect to see in the future | :04:50. | :04:54. | |
is K.G.B continuing to comply with that. There has been a drop-off in | :04:54. | :04:59. | |
complaints and problems. We are monitoring this. | :04:59. | :05:04. | |
While the AFS -- while the Office of Fair Trading have had a drop off, | :05:04. | :05:10. | |
we continued to receive them. There was a deal that the original | :05:10. | :05:16. | |
price was something like �49.99. I needed one of those. I was going to | :05:16. | :05:23. | |
get them. I saw the offer on K.G.B for �9.99. It would have been a | :05:23. | :05:30. | |
good offer in the product turned up. Flora is still waiting for the | :05:30. | :05:34. | |
product to arrive. I paid the money directly to K.G.B, | :05:34. | :05:38. | |
it is their job to ensure that the deal is honoured. | :05:38. | :05:46. | |
Ashley has been waiting even longer for his order from K.G.B. He paid | :05:46. | :05:50. | |
�64.99 for a Google android games console. Eight weeks on, there is | :05:50. | :05:56. | |
no sign of it. I tried to contact the vendor. Also | :05:56. | :06:01. | |
trying to contact K kfpl K. I am still waiting for the product. | :06:01. | :06:05. | |
K.G.B are responsible for setting up the deal. They liaise with the | :06:05. | :06:08. | |
third parties. They should be fulfilling the promise. I don't | :06:08. | :06:12. | |
feel that happened at all. What we expect is that if a kch makes an | :06:12. | :06:20. | |
offer to members of the public that they fulfil it. The vast majority | :06:20. | :06:23. | |
of deals that you see offered through the companies can be | :06:23. | :06:27. | |
trusted. Whenever a company puts out a promotion, the one thing is | :06:27. | :06:32. | |
does not want is for the members of the public to be disappointed with | :06:32. | :06:36. | |
what they receive. They will not last long if people don't return to | :06:36. | :06:41. | |
continue to buy from them. But judging by the complaints we | :06:41. | :06:45. | |
received some customers have been left disappointed. This one is | :06:45. | :06:50. | |
unlikely to be back. That is it for me. No more K.G.B. | :06:50. | :06:54. | |
Rani is up in the mailroom. What has been the response to that | :06:54. | :06:58. | |
report? Groupon denies misadvertising the six monthly golf | :06:58. | :07:02. | |
deal. They said that the publisher ran its own promotion, but that | :07:02. | :07:08. | |
theirs offered more value and saving. They said as their deal was | :07:08. | :07:13. | |
designed to entice new golfers and the publisher's deal was for | :07:13. | :07:17. | |
existing customers, that the two ons are not comparable. | :07:17. | :07:23. | |
K.G.B said it fulfilled 97% of customer purchases in the last two | :07:23. | :07:28. | |
years and refunds any what experience problems. It says that | :07:28. | :07:34. | |
80% of complaints about advertising are not upheld and no ads published | :07:34. | :07:38. | |
since April have been a subject of complaint. It accepts that the | :07:38. | :07:43. | |
goods of two of our interviewers orderers were not available, but | :07:43. | :07:48. | |
said that they were fully refunded. If you would like to get in touch, | :07:48. | :07:58. | |
:07:58. | :08:06. | ||
we would love to hear from you. The Now, doorstep crime. Across the | :08:06. | :08:09. | |
country there are rogue traders demanding large amounts of money | :08:09. | :08:12. | |
for little or no work, bogus callers and workmen preying on | :08:12. | :08:14. | |
those who aren't always capable of protecting themselves. Taking them | :08:14. | :08:23. | |
on are the Consumer Cops. Here's Rhodri Owen. Yes, welcome to Wales. | :08:23. | :08:29. | |
Now it may be one of the most picturesque parts of the UK with | :08:29. | :08:35. | |
rolling hills and valleys, but like many areas it has its fair share of | :08:35. | :08:39. | |
doorstep criminals. For the officers, tackling the problem is a | :08:39. | :08:44. | |
vital part of their role. Cardiff, in this city there have been 36 | :08:44. | :08:47. | |
doorstep crimes reported in the last year. To catch those | :08:47. | :08:51. | |
responsible, and to stop repeat offences, the officers have a range | :08:51. | :08:55. | |
of methods. Along with investigations and intelligence- | :08:55. | :09:00. | |
gathering exercises, they revisit the victims of crime to offer help | :09:00. | :09:03. | |
and support. So today, Sarah Smith is checking | :09:03. | :09:10. | |
in on a victim, recently conned by a rogue draivway company. | :09:10. | :09:16. | |
-- driveway company. They came along, asked if you | :09:16. | :09:22. | |
wanted a driveway putting in? coffered it with sand and the next | :09:22. | :09:27. | |
day nothing -- covered it with sand and the next day nothing and then | :09:27. | :09:31. | |
this. You can see that here someone has | :09:31. | :09:38. | |
trodden in it. It is uneven, it is not smooth. It is not a standard of | :09:38. | :09:42. | |
driveway that you originally wanted. It is literally appearing to have | :09:42. | :09:49. | |
been thrown down. Gary simmons is disabled and lives | :09:49. | :09:54. | |
with his 7-year-old mother. In January they paid �had 50 to a | :09:54. | :10:00. | |
group of traders for a new drive. Those traders took the money, did | :10:00. | :10:05. | |
some of the work and then disappeared from the job. | :10:05. | :10:10. | |
-- �4 50. What happened? We could tell they | :10:10. | :10:16. | |
were not real builders. No, they were not, but they did | :10:16. | :10:20. | |
promise to come back and finish it but we never saw them after. | :10:20. | :10:26. | |
Did you try to contact them? Yes. You were talking to a boss of some | :10:26. | :10:30. | |
sort? Yes. He said that the fella that done | :10:30. | :10:35. | |
the job was given the sack. So the job was finished as far as he was | :10:35. | :10:39. | |
concerned, but then they wanted another �150. | :10:39. | :10:45. | |
To put it right? Yes, to put it right. I mean, we are pensioners, | :10:45. | :10:49. | |
we have not got money to throw away. We paid enough any way. | :10:49. | :10:53. | |
That is right. We should not have fallen for it, | :10:53. | :10:58. | |
but we were conned and that is it. This is a new set of traders for | :10:58. | :11:00. | |
Sarah Smith and her team to look into. | :11:00. | :11:07. | |
What do I think of people who do this? They are scum! They are worse | :11:07. | :11:13. | |
than scum. Oh,... I mean how many more pensioners have they done this | :11:13. | :11:18. | |
to? I have worked hard all of my life. | :11:18. | :11:24. | |
You get a bit of money, you have your pension. You save a little, | :11:24. | :11:26. | |
then people like that come to rob you. | :11:26. | :11:31. | |
It is really hard to go in and see these consumers that don't | :11:31. | :11:35. | |
necessarily have a lot of money. They have paid in good faith for a | :11:35. | :11:39. | |
job. I find it really hard you cannot bring these people to | :11:39. | :11:43. | |
justice as easily as we could a trader in the High Street. | :11:43. | :11:49. | |
That is the frustration, really. That is what we are working hard to | :11:49. | :11:54. | |
try to ID who these people are in the bigger picture. | :11:54. | :12:01. | |
Seeing the shattered lives that the rogue traders leave behind makes | :12:01. | :12:05. | |
officers like Sarah determined to stop them striking again. Today she | :12:05. | :12:11. | |
and her colleagues are preparing to patrol doorstep crime hotspots. | :12:11. | :12:16. | |
Do we have a list of targets? are about four to five different | :12:16. | :12:21. | |
gangs working in the area. Where should we start? In the Heath, | :12:21. | :12:25. | |
around that area. It is causing a real problem to the | :12:25. | :12:30. | |
residents and to the elderly population in Cardiff. We are not | :12:30. | :12:35. | |
talking here about perhaps a one- off case where a trader, you know, | :12:35. | :12:40. | |
for whatever reason is not aware of the law, we are talking about | :12:40. | :12:43. | |
organised criminals. They know what they are doing. They sell | :12:43. | :12:46. | |
information, they talk to each other. | :12:46. | :12:53. | |
They are operating a system of what is known as rebating. That is where | :12:53. | :12:57. | |
they systematically target a person and they go back time and time | :12:57. | :13:01. | |
again over a period of time taking thousands and thousands of pounds | :13:01. | :13:08. | |
off people in some cases. Sarah and Mike are patrolling the | :13:08. | :13:13. | |
north-east of the city. It is a relatively affluent area, with a | :13:13. | :13:18. | |
large number of elderly householders, prime targets for the | :13:18. | :13:24. | |
doorstep criminals. The first stop is a building site in the | :13:24. | :13:30. | |
residential area here, an unmarked trade van has caught their eye. | :13:30. | :13:37. | |
Good afternoon. We are from Cardiff Trading Stand dardz, is the boss | :13:37. | :13:42. | |
around? Mike is keen to find out who is working on the site. | :13:42. | :13:46. | |
Is this your company vehicle? yes. | :13:46. | :13:50. | |
What we are looking for in particular is people who rip-off | :13:50. | :13:55. | |
the elderly and the vulnerable. What drew us originally was one of | :13:55. | :14:02. | |
the unmarked vehicles. Obviously non-legitimate traders | :14:02. | :14:08. | |
don't tend to have them marked up as such. I don't know about non- | :14:08. | :14:17. | |
legitimate traders it -- they are working fellas who buy a van. | :14:17. | :14:21. | |
Workwise they care about the work that they do. That is the people we | :14:21. | :14:26. | |
have working for us. I mean we are looking for rogue traders. | :14:27. | :14:30. | |
We have not got those people working for us. | :14:30. | :14:35. | |
Not all reactions that Sarah and Mike receive are positive, but this | :14:35. | :14:41. | |
trader seems supportive of their work. If it eliminates the cowboy | :14:41. | :14:44. | |
element of this construction industry, it must abgood thing. | :14:44. | :14:49. | |
As we saw, that particular trader was willing to help the team in | :14:49. | :14:52. | |
their fight against the unscrupulous traders, so nothing to | :14:52. | :14:57. | |
concern the officers yet, but coming up: That vehicle is a prime | :14:57. | :15:00. | |
example of one that we would want to stop. | :15:00. | :15:05. | |
Yes, things get a lot more interesting for the cops cops | :15:05. | :15:09. | |
companies as they continue their patrols and we find out what | :15:09. | :15:16. | |
happened when this blind, 90-year- old man was targeted by rogues. | :15:16. | :15:18. | |
First, buying household appliances can be an expensive business. But | :15:19. | :15:22. | |
if your washing machine or dryer packs up once it's outside the | :15:22. | :15:24. | |
manufacturer's warranty, do you have any recourse with the shop | :15:24. | :15:27. | |
where you bought it? Well, under certain circumstances, the answer | :15:27. | :15:29. | |
is 'yes'. Even though some of our biggest electrical retailers seem | :15:29. | :15:33. | |
to think otherwise. We'll put John Lewis, Currys and Argos to the test | :15:33. | :15:43. | |
:15:43. | :15:54. | ||
in a moment. But first, what exactly are your rights? There is | :15:54. | :15:57. | |
nothing more frustrating than getting a product home to find it | :15:57. | :16:02. | |
does not work. Or, worse still, that it gives up the ghost after a | :16:02. | :16:06. | |
few weeks. Fortunately there are laws under the Sale of Goods Act | :16:06. | :16:10. | |
that mean you can take the product back to the shop for a refund, | :16:10. | :16:16. | |
replacement or a repair. Sundayer the Sale of Goods Act, | :16:16. | :16:21. | |
1979, goods should correspond with a description applied to them, via | :16:21. | :16:24. | |
the satisfactory quality and to be fit for the purpose for which they | :16:24. | :16:27. | |
are used. If your new product is broken or breaks, you should take | :16:28. | :16:32. | |
it back to the retailers and not to the manufactures. It is the | :16:33. | :16:36. | |
retailer with whom you have the contract. | :16:36. | :16:41. | |
You have a certain period of time in which to return faulty goods for | :16:41. | :16:46. | |
refund before it is deemed to be accepted. Once you accepted the | :16:46. | :16:52. | |
goods you can return them to the retailer, but only for repair or | :16:52. | :16:54. | |
replacementment. The law does not specify a reasonable time for | :16:55. | :16:59. | |
accepting the goods, but if you return the faulty goods for a | :16:59. | :17:03. | |
repair, replacement or refund, then for the first six months after the | :17:03. | :17:08. | |
purchase it is up to the retailer to prove that the goods comply with | :17:08. | :17:10. | |
the contract. So that they were not faulty. | :17:10. | :17:14. | |
So, what happens if you have had the product for say, over six | :17:14. | :17:19. | |
months? Then it stops working? Under the Sale of Goods Act you | :17:19. | :17:23. | |
play have a strong case still. That is if you can prove that the item | :17:23. | :17:29. | |
was faulty at the time you purchased it. If you can prove that, | :17:29. | :17:33. | |
the retailer, must either replace it or repair it for free. | :17:33. | :17:37. | |
A few things to point out: The longer the period that lapses over | :17:37. | :17:41. | |
six months, the harder it is to prove that the goods were faulty | :17:41. | :17:44. | |
when you bought them. The amount you paid for them, what the goods | :17:44. | :17:48. | |
are and the level of usage will be things that must be considered too. | :17:48. | :17:53. | |
So, for example it would be reasonable to expect a washing | :17:53. | :18:00. | |
machine costing �1,000, used twice a week, to last longer than one | :18:00. | :18:06. | |
that is costing �300 and used every day. You may need a second opinion | :18:06. | :18:11. | |
if the retailers disagrees. If the retailer will not repair or replace | :18:11. | :18:15. | |
the tement, then you may consider going to court about it. Before you | :18:15. | :18:20. | |
do that, though, get legal advice. One last thing if the product is | :18:20. | :18:26. | |
under a warranty, it fails within the warranty period, then you can | :18:26. | :18:30. | |
send it back to the manufacture, but I have to stress, if it fails | :18:30. | :18:36. | |
in the warranty period is irrelevant. It is the retailers's | :18:36. | :18:39. | |
responsibility under the Sale of Goods Act to ensure that the goods | :18:39. | :18:44. | |
are of a satisfactory quality and fit for purpose at the time you | :18:44. | :18:49. | |
purchased them. If not, they have to put that right. So ensure that | :18:49. | :18:53. | |
you understand your rights and do not take "no" for an answer. | :18:53. | :18:59. | |
Margaret Griffiths knows her stuff. Now you know your rights, but do | :18:59. | :19:09. | |
:19:09. | :19:10. | ||
the retailers? Here are the Mystery Shoppers. | :19:10. | :19:15. | |
We sent our team to three branches of three of the UK's top electrical | :19:15. | :19:20. | |
retailers, John Lewis, Argos and Currys. The question they asked was | :19:20. | :19:26. | |
this: I bought a washing machine from here, it has stopped working. | :19:26. | :19:31. | |
If I turn it on it will not turn on or sometimes the lights flash. I | :19:31. | :19:36. | |
wondered if there is anything you can do? We know there is a lot they | :19:36. | :19:40. | |
can do. Each time they asked, the shoppers made it clear it was a | :19:40. | :19:44. | |
manufacturing fault, not the result of wear and tear. Now a washing | :19:44. | :19:47. | |
machine is an expensive product that should last for a reasonable | :19:47. | :19:52. | |
length of time. Several years. So, under the Sale of Goods Act, if our | :19:52. | :19:58. | |
shoppers were able to prove it was an inherent fault, you expect the | :19:58. | :20:03. | |
retailer to offer a repair or replacement, whether or not it is | :20:03. | :20:11. | |
within the manufacture's warranty. So with these... All nine stores | :20:11. | :20:15. | |
visited said that they could help us if the washing machine was | :20:15. | :20:21. | |
within its warranty. But when asked if they could help | :20:21. | :20:29. | |
outside of the warranty... Over months, we cannot help. | :20:29. | :20:32. | |
We only guarantee a product for 12 years. | :20:32. | :20:36. | |
Eight of the stores visited were less willing to take the | :20:36. | :20:39. | |
responsibility. We would not be in a position to | :20:39. | :20:47. | |
replace that for you. Well, that is ridiculous. It is the | :20:47. | :20:50. | |
retailer's responsibility. The consumer has a contract with the | :20:50. | :20:55. | |
retailer, not with the manufacture. The terms of the contract, well, we | :20:55. | :20:58. | |
have seen the Sale of Goods Act, they must be of a satisfactory | :20:58. | :21:02. | |
quality and filet for the purpose. It is the retailer's job to ensure | :21:02. | :21:06. | |
that is the case. Five of the eight stores said that they could put us | :21:06. | :21:10. | |
in touch with the manufacture or arrange for it to be fixed, but | :21:10. | :21:17. | |
there was a charge. If it was within the manufacture's | :21:17. | :21:22. | |
warranty? We would charge �506789 We would get an engineer, but | :21:22. | :21:26. | |
charge you. Outside of the warranty period, you | :21:26. | :21:31. | |
may pay for it, but recoup the cost of that fixing from the shop that | :21:31. | :21:35. | |
sold it will to you as long as you go back within a reasonable time of | :21:35. | :21:39. | |
buying it. A Currys store suggested it may be cheap tore buy a new | :21:39. | :21:44. | |
machine as a repair could be so expensive. | :21:44. | :21:53. | |
Minimum charge is up to �60. Why not buy a new one? Something | :21:53. | :21:58. | |
for about 200 to 300? This is my personal opinion. | :21:58. | :22:02. | |
But by far the worst performers on the test were the retailers that | :22:02. | :22:06. | |
failed to take responsibility whatsoever and told us to contact | :22:06. | :22:08. | |
the manufacturing of the machine directly. | :22:08. | :22:12. | |
Don't take it back here. It is the manufactures that decide. Even | :22:12. | :22:19. | |
though I bought it from the store? Yeah! There is nothing to do? | :22:19. | :22:24. | |
of the guarantee you have to go direct... There is nothing that | :22:24. | :22:30. | |
Currys can do. It must have the guarantee from the manufacture. | :22:30. | :22:35. | |
That is just wrong. Whether it is want the warranty or outside of it, | :22:35. | :22:40. | |
if it is within are reasonable time of buying it, it is the shop's | :22:40. | :22:43. | |
responsibility to repair the machine. I am not surprised by what | :22:43. | :22:49. | |
I have seen. It would be nice if the shops trained the staff to tell | :22:49. | :22:52. | |
them the difference of the contract that the shop has with the consumer | :22:52. | :22:56. | |
and the relationship that the manufacture has with the shop. | :22:56. | :23:01. | |
Low marks for legal knowledge. So what do the companies say about it? | :23:01. | :23:05. | |
Argos acknowledges that the customers have rights beyond the | :23:05. | :23:08. | |
guaranteed period and accepts that it has a responsibility to give | :23:08. | :23:13. | |
correct guidance. It says when the staff are asked more complex | :23:13. | :23:17. | |
questions concerning consumer law they should refer them up to the | :23:17. | :23:21. | |
store managers. They are sorry that this did not happen. In the light | :23:21. | :23:26. | |
of finding it is is reviewing the staff training. | :23:26. | :23:29. | |
Currys and John Lewis says that the Sale of Goods Act clearly states | :23:29. | :23:33. | |
after six months that the consumer must find the cause of the product | :23:33. | :23:39. | |
fault. John Lewis says that the law does not require retailers to | :23:39. | :23:45. | |
inform customers about their rights. It says that the policies are | :23:46. | :23:49. | |
designed to promote a positive resolution for the customers, but | :23:49. | :23:53. | |
it is disappointed to hear about our findings but say it is | :23:53. | :23:58. | |
difficult to comment accurately without the exact detail of the | :23:58. | :24:01. | |
conversations. Currys says that it takes the customer service | :24:01. | :24:05. | |
seriously. That the staff are focused on serving them with the | :24:05. | :24:09. | |
best interests at heart it is disappointed it was unable to give | :24:09. | :24:14. | |
a higher level of assistance on the individual occasions. | :24:14. | :24:20. | |
For a reminder of the advice given by our expert, Margaret Griffiths, | :24:20. | :24:29. | |
please go to the website at: Now, back to Cardiff where the | :24:29. | :24:34. | |
trading standards teams are patrolling known hotspots for the | :24:34. | :24:38. | |
rogue traders. Let's rejoin Rhodri Owen. | :24:38. | :24:44. | |
Sarah Smith and Mike Pitt have been on patrol for three hours. It a | :24:44. | :24:49. | |
after 4.00pm. Most traders are knocking off. As they turn into the | :24:49. | :24:59. | |
:24:59. | :25:13. | ||
Heath area, Sarah spots a He is coming our way. Let's get the | :25:13. | :25:16. | |
registration number now. That vehicle is a prime example of | :25:16. | :25:26. | |
:25:26. | :25:28. | ||
one that we would want to stop. Rogue traders invariably are never | :25:28. | :25:33. | |
on their own. There are a number of operatives in the cab. | :25:33. | :25:38. | |
The officers have not got the powers to stop the van, but it is | :25:38. | :25:40. | |
important to get as much information as they can about the | :25:40. | :25:48. | |
vehicle and the people in it. This is what we were talking about | :25:48. | :25:54. | |
in intelligence-building. The types of things that lead us to the type | :25:54. | :25:59. | |
of offences that we are looking to detect. It may be that they are | :25:59. | :26:03. | |
just out and about, but this description of that vehicle is very, | :26:03. | :26:10. | |
very typical of the type of offenders that we target. | :26:10. | :26:14. | |
While Sarah records the details of the vehicle and location, Mike goes | :26:14. | :26:21. | |
in for a closer look at the driver. Yeah, I have a good description of | :26:22. | :26:31. | |
him there. Tattoos on the right arm. He has grey hair and a grey | :26:31. | :26:36. | |
moustache. The person driving that had a dis tink i face. If we saw | :26:36. | :26:40. | |
him again, we would know who that person is. | :26:40. | :26:45. | |
Back at the base, Sarah runs the information about the van through | :26:45. | :26:48. | |
the databases. We found out that the van has been | :26:48. | :26:53. | |
linked to a number of occurrences to people that we are aware of, | :26:53. | :26:58. | |
that we are looking at in terms of doorstep crime. So it was a really | :26:58. | :27:04. | |
good result. A good piece of Intel to pick up. We also had two good | :27:04. | :27:11. | |
IDs on the people in the van. That is part of the reason to do the | :27:11. | :27:15. | |
patrols to see who is operating in the hot spot areas. | :27:15. | :27:20. | |
The Government, as well as Trading Standards, rank this type of crime | :27:20. | :27:27. | |
as a top priority N 2009, the Department of Business, Invasion | :27:27. | :27:33. | |
and Skills set up Scam Busters. They target rogue traders | :27:33. | :27:40. | |
throughout Britain. The Welsh team, is headed up by and drew Bertie. | :27:40. | :27:46. | |
We investigate cross-border trading standards type of criminality. | :27:46. | :27:51. | |
There is a recognition that the criminal elements move across the | :27:51. | :27:55. | |
border areas. This team was brought together in order to address that. | :27:55. | :28:00. | |
We use intelligence and other law enforcement partners to formulate | :28:00. | :28:03. | |
operations. Such intelligence gathering and | :28:03. | :28:10. | |
collaboration among the enforcement agencies, helps the Scam Busters to | :28:10. | :28:13. | |
track down this man. A seriously conman. | :28:13. | :28:18. | |
My team was asked to get involved as they are trained to deal with | :28:18. | :28:23. | |
vulnerable adults, really. To illicit the best evidence for court | :28:23. | :28:28. | |
cases. It started with this victim. John | :28:28. | :28:33. | |
Teasedail, a registered blind pensioner living in Caerphilly. | :28:33. | :28:40. | |
He was a 90-year-old gentleman, and he was a gentleman. He had a forces | :28:40. | :28:46. | |
military background. I would say his standards did not erode. That | :28:47. | :28:53. | |
is a compliment to him as a man in his 90s. Staunchly independent, but | :28:53. | :28:59. | |
living with support from Social Services. | :28:59. | :29:05. | |
Mr Teasedail was a repeat victim of doorsteping crime. So in 2010, the | :29:05. | :29:10. | |
police fitted his home with CCTV camera in case he was targeted | :29:10. | :29:16. | |
again. These are the pictures that the cameras captured. Two men tried | :29:16. | :29:19. | |
to convince him that there was something wrong with his roof. They | :29:19. | :29:25. | |
said they could fix it for �280. After that call, they then said | :29:25. | :29:30. | |
there was work needed to the roof. There was no opportunity for him to | :29:31. | :29:37. | |
have a cooling off period. Officers saw serious offences being | :29:37. | :29:45. | |
committed. The two men drove the man to the bank. This CCTV shows a | :29:45. | :29:48. | |
offender standing over him. It was clear that the person taking | :29:48. | :29:52. | |
him into the bank knew that this man was vulnerable and showed me | :29:52. | :29:57. | |
that having told him he needed work to his roof, that there was no | :29:57. | :30:01. | |
possible way that the man could have seen that he needed the work | :30:01. | :30:05. | |
doing and that they realised that he was blind and they were taking | :30:05. | :30:09. | |
advantage of him. The footage from the police and the | :30:09. | :30:13. | |
bank provided Andrew's team with a starting point to the investigation, | :30:13. | :30:18. | |
but there was much work to be done. From the footage we were in | :30:18. | :30:22. | |
possession of, we had a face. Now we had to identify who this person | :30:22. | :30:25. | |
was. A terrible story. We will show you | :30:25. | :30:31. | |
what happens shortly. Before, that Wonga. The pay day learned famed | :30:31. | :30:38. | |
for TV adds, its sponsorship of Football Clubs and APR rates of | :30:39. | :30:44. | |
4,200%! It seems that they had been taking money from people who had | :30:44. | :30:51. | |
never even been customers. I received letters from Wonga, | :30:51. | :30:56. | |
asking me for payment of over �400. I never had heard who they were. | :30:56. | :31:01. | |
Not a clue. I was panicking. I thought, why are they taking this | :31:01. | :31:05. | |
money? They made a mistake. They knew that they had credit-checked | :31:05. | :31:10. | |
me and lent this information to somebody else. Wonga must have | :31:10. | :31:15. | |
things in place to say that this is not right? Rather than just taking | :31:15. | :31:20. | |
money out of people's bank accounts. You should not be able to credit- | :31:20. | :31:24. | |
check me and loan to somebody else. It is a saifrpl, straightforward | :31:24. | :31:30. | |
thing to sort out. So, Wonga should get their act together! It turned | :31:30. | :31:35. | |
out the cases feature Paula Radcliffe victims of card and ID | :31:35. | :31:39. | |
fraud. Wonga admitted that there had been fraud. Where money was | :31:39. | :31:43. | |
answer, they refunded it. It said it was working on ways to tighten | :31:43. | :31:47. | |
the security systems making it harder for those taking out loans | :31:47. | :31:51. | |
to give false names and bank details. | :31:52. | :31:56. | |
We deeply regret the cases shown on the video. If you can imagine you | :31:56. | :32:01. | |
are a victim of fraud, it is deeply traumatic. We understand that. That | :32:01. | :32:07. | |
is why we invested so much energy and focus on combating fraud where | :32:07. | :32:11. | |
it occurs. We work with the leading organisations in the UK. We spend | :32:11. | :32:16. | |
millions in technology and try our hardest to prevent fraud. | :32:16. | :32:22. | |
That what two months ago, but that fraud still seems to be happening. | :32:22. | :32:26. | |
We have had more complaints from viewers saying that they have not | :32:26. | :32:30. | |
been customers of Wonga but had money taken from their accounts or | :32:30. | :32:35. | |
demands for repayments. We have contacted the company again it says | :32:35. | :32:39. | |
that the automated technology is at the cutting-edge of screening out | :32:39. | :32:48. | |
fraud. Less than 0 .1% of approved loans are said to be fraudulent. It | :32:48. | :32:52. | |
says that its approach of kpwading this is far ahead of industry | :32:52. | :32:57. | |
standards. Well, Gillian Guy joins me now if you find there is a large | :32:57. | :33:02. | |
sum of money missing from your bank account, what do you do? Check the | :33:02. | :33:06. | |
bank account and if there is anything unusual get in touch with | :33:06. | :33:09. | |
the bank. They should investigate and get wrong payments back for you. | :33:09. | :33:13. | |
If you are not satisfied you can go to the ombudsman ombudsman | :33:13. | :33:18. | |
ombudsman or indeed, come to the Citizens Advice Bureau to get help. | :33:18. | :33:23. | |
Let's talk about pay day loans, you are worried about them, why? There | :33:23. | :33:28. | |
are so many people taking them up. A survey shows that there will be 5 | :33:28. | :33:33. | |
million in the next six months given out. They tend to be with | :33:33. | :33:37. | |
people who are in financial difficulty. They see it as a quick- | :33:37. | :33:42. | |
fix. We would rather that people came to us or other independent | :33:42. | :33:45. | |
advisers to help with a debt management plan or budgeting. In | :33:45. | :33:50. | |
terms of the loans that they take out, they are targeted at people | :33:50. | :33:54. | |
with debts and cannot afford to repay. The checks are not properly | :33:54. | :33:59. | |
done to ensure that they can repay and they are often aggressively | :33:59. | :34:03. | |
collected. So money may be taken from a bank account and it is | :34:03. | :34:07. | |
difficult to negotiate with the companies to pay back less where | :34:07. | :34:13. | |
the payments cannot be afforded. Give us an example of the trouble | :34:13. | :34:17. | |
that people are getting into? people that we see coming into the | :34:17. | :34:22. | |
bureau have debts. They take a out a pay day loan to pay off other | :34:22. | :34:26. | |
loans. Then they roll them over. There are hidden charges and they | :34:26. | :34:30. | |
get out of control. What that means is that they give the authority to | :34:30. | :34:35. | |
the pay day lenders to take the payments back and then they miss | :34:35. | :34:39. | |
rent. Then people come to us with eviction orders, threatening them | :34:39. | :34:42. | |
that they are going to lose their homes. | :34:42. | :34:48. | |
You want to hear from people having problems? The OFT is looking into | :34:48. | :34:53. | |
the pay day lending. It is overdue. We know there is a new charter for | :34:53. | :34:58. | |
pay day lenders and on Monday we are starting a year-long survey of | :34:58. | :35:02. | |
people to really check out how they are conducting themselves and | :35:02. | :35:06. | |
ensure that they do things properly. Now, lots of you are getting in | :35:06. | :35:11. | |
touch with us this morning. Let's find out what you have been saying. | :35:11. | :35:15. | |
Lots getting in touch about daily deal sites. Many complains that the | :35:15. | :35:19. | |
deals expire before you get a chance to use them. Also about the | :35:19. | :35:25. | |
report on taking back faulty goods. It was said by Jane that the shop | :35:25. | :35:30. | |
told her they could not do anything about her faulty washing machine as | :35:30. | :35:34. | |
it was 18 months ago. She is going back to them again. Keep in touch. | :35:34. | :35:39. | |
We would love to hear from you. Now, time for a final visit to | :35:39. | :35:46. | |
Wales and the case of the 90-year- old blind man targeted by traders | :35:46. | :35:51. | |
who demanded money from him and then stood over him while he | :35:51. | :35:55. | |
withdrew cash from the bank. There was a lot of work to do although | :35:55. | :36:00. | |
they had the CCTV pictures. As a result of the CCTV images, the | :36:00. | :36:04. | |
officers had a good idea of the crime and a clear picture of those | :36:04. | :36:10. | |
who committed it but they needed names. That meant searching for | :36:10. | :36:13. | |
more clues. He was taking a vehicle, we checked | :36:13. | :36:22. | |
with the CCTV, we saw Mr Teasedail in the vehicle. We saw the CCTV | :36:22. | :36:26. | |
footage in the bank that clearly showed that the men that we saw in | :36:26. | :36:31. | |
the vehicle and in the house were on his shoulder, he took the | :36:31. | :36:37. | |
withdrawal of money out and he led him out. The trader that called at | :36:37. | :36:41. | |
the man's home was wearing a jacket. On the rear was a mobile phone | :36:41. | :36:48. | |
number. Also a company name. We did work with that to trace that. | :36:48. | :36:54. | |
The company name on the jacket was Jones and Sons. Not to be confused | :36:54. | :36:57. | |
with other companies of a similar name. As the team continued to | :36:57. | :37:01. | |
follow up the leads, they discovered the same company had | :37:01. | :37:07. | |
targeted another vifpl in the Newport area. A widow, Mrs Richards | :37:07. | :37:11. | |
needed to get her guttering company. She called a company advertised in | :37:11. | :37:15. | |
the local paper, the very same Jones and Sons. | :37:15. | :37:19. | |
The guttering was leaking. So they decided that they will take it down | :37:19. | :37:28. | |
to put it all up new again. Ida paid �980 to the traders, but | :37:28. | :37:31. | |
instead of the job she was expecting, she got this job... | :37:31. | :37:37. | |
is a part of the gutter, it is new, supposed to be, they put it up | :37:37. | :37:47. | |
:37:47. | :37:48. | ||
there... This was there like that, but it has fallen down as it was | :37:48. | :37:52. | |
not put together properly. The leaking guttering was causing | :37:52. | :37:56. | |
damage to the outside of the house. Over time it started to affect the | :37:56. | :38:02. | |
inside as well. The water is from the roof. It | :38:02. | :38:08. | |
causes all of this. It also causes this in the bedroom. | :38:08. | :38:15. | |
We can't stay in leer as water is coming in now and it has severe | :38:15. | :38:20. | |
damp. It affects all of us. These bits here... All of this is wet. It | :38:20. | :38:25. | |
never used to be like. This they didn't come over to me like he was | :38:25. | :38:30. | |
a wicketed guy. I thought he was honest, the way that he speaks. I | :38:30. | :38:34. | |
thought he was honest. The company had struck twice it was | :38:34. | :38:39. | |
paramount for the Scam Busters to take action. Fortunately they were | :38:39. | :38:44. | |
about to make an important discovery. The phone number for | :38:44. | :38:48. | |
Jones and Sons appeared on an advertisement. | :38:48. | :38:56. | |
This number was used to advertise a Fontera 4x4 vehicle. We put a call | :38:56. | :38:58. | |
into the number saying we were interested in the vehicle. The | :38:59. | :39:01. | |
person selling it us gave us his address. | :39:01. | :39:06. | |
When the officers arrived at the address they found a van parked | :39:06. | :39:11. | |
outside. The same van that had taken blind pensioners John to the | :39:11. | :39:14. | |
bank. We were delighted with the van and | :39:14. | :39:18. | |
the address. Then we could liaise with the local police team who | :39:18. | :39:22. | |
provided us with the assistance that we needed to arrest that | :39:22. | :39:27. | |
person. The mystery rogue trader was | :39:27. | :39:34. | |
identified as Cornelius Jones He pleaded guilty to three offences. | :39:34. | :39:44. | |
:39:44. | :39:48. | ||
In relation to his actions towards Mr Teas edale and Mrs Richards. He | :39:48. | :39:52. | |
was given a sentence of 14 months in prison. | :39:52. | :39:58. | |
During that time Mr Teasedail died and it is fair it say that the | :39:58. | :40:02. | |
other victim, was a lady, whose health has been affected by the | :40:02. | :40:07. | |
incident. Well, of course, this is wrong. You | :40:07. | :40:15. | |
don't do that to people. You don't do that to your greatest enemy. | :40:15. | :40:22. | |
Well with me now is Andrew Bertie, the head of the Scam Busters team | :40:22. | :40:27. | |
for Wales. This is a harrowing tale and clearly a worthwhile | :40:27. | :40:32. | |
investigation? Yes. It was it took us time to identify who the person | :40:32. | :40:36. | |
responsible was. Then we were able to identify the other individual | :40:36. | :40:40. | |
wearing the woollen hat. I suggest if anyone has ideas as to who that | :40:40. | :40:47. | |
is, to get in contact with us. We have seen the job that you do to | :40:47. | :40:51. | |
protect the public from rogue traders, what can we do to help | :40:51. | :40:59. | |
ensure we are dealing with traders that are trust worthy? Go to | :40:59. | :41:06. | |
friends and relatives who have had work done and are happy with it and | :41:06. | :41:13. | |
ask them. Go along with quotes, take at least three and take | :41:13. | :41:16. | |
advantage of the seven day cooling off period. | :41:16. | :41:21. | |
Is there is way of spotting a trader that is not trust worthy? | :41:21. | :41:26. | |
results from a cold call at the door. There is urgency for you to | :41:26. | :41:31. | |
make a decision. They normally want paying in cash. There is little | :41:31. | :41:35. | |
paperwork involved. These are the signs to watch out for. If you are | :41:35. | :41:38. | |
getting these and you are suspicious, contact the Citizens | :41:38. | :41:43. | |
Advice Bureau as soon as possible. Or, depending on the circumstances, | :41:43. | :41:48. | |
the local police. You can do that by looking on the | :41:48. | :41:56. | |
website : Thank you very much. It has been great to hear from you | :41:56. | :42:01. | |
this morning. More viewers have been in touch | :42:01. | :42:05. | |
about Wonga, all claiming that they are non-customers. | :42:05. | :42:09. | |
Lots of you e-mailing about your experiences on returning about | :42:09. | :42:13. | |
faulty goods. A few complaining that retailers have even tried to | :42:13. | :42:19. | |
charge you when the item is still under warranty. Lots of you upset | :42:19. | :42:25. | |
about the blind pensioner being conned, well done the Consumer Cops. | :42:26. | :42:32. | |
Tomorrow reare reading out all e- mails, texts and calls. Please keep | :42:32. | :42:39. | |
them coming. It is keeps us busy. Thank you very much, Rani. | :42:39. | :42:42. | |
And that's all we have time for this morning. Tomorrow: Flight | :42:42. | :42:45. | |
delays and cancellations - the new ruling that means you could be | :42:45. | :42:47. | |
entitled to compensation going back years. And Costa, Starbucks and | :42:47. | :42:50. | |
Cafe Nero: Coffee to go? Or drinking inside? You'll be | :42:50. | :42:53. |