:00:12. > :00:17.Switching from British Gas - not worth the trouble. Repairs from PC
:00:17. > :00:22.World - are they worth the hassle? This hotel package from WH Smith -
:00:22. > :00:26.definitely not worth the money. Plus, BT, Shell and then there's
:00:26. > :00:36.the Halifax. They need to mind their language. It's Watchdog, the
:00:36. > :00:52.
:00:52. > :00:57.Hello and good evening. Welcome. We are live as usual from Television
:00:57. > :01:00.Centre. Tonight - fed up with high gas and electricity bills? Wait
:01:01. > :01:04.until you try to switch supplier. They've been charging me for
:01:04. > :01:11.someone else's gas for the last six months, which was absolutely
:01:11. > :01:15.disgusting. Also tonight, Nissan, the diesel engines kind to the
:01:15. > :01:22.environment, but tough on your bank balance. WH Smith, fancy buying
:01:22. > :01:26.these gift cards? There could be less to them than meets the eye.
:01:26. > :01:30.Currys and PC World, same old complaints. Some old stories from
:01:30. > :01:34.me tonight, except they all have exciting new endings. Yeah, we are
:01:34. > :01:38.catching up with some of the rogues we have featured and telling you
:01:38. > :01:44.what happened to them next. They must be delighted to be on TV
:01:44. > :01:49.again! Well, OK, not all of them. This is Nicky Date, fly-tipper
:01:49. > :01:53.extraordinaire, exposed by us and prosecuted by the authorities and
:01:53. > :01:57.here offloading outside Cardiff Magistrates' Court. We'll let you
:01:57. > :02:02.know what happened when he stood up in front of the beak a little later.
:02:02. > :02:06.First, rocketing fuel bills. Huge company profits, confusing tariffs
:02:06. > :02:09.and three reasons why the Government called the big six gas
:02:09. > :02:15.and electricity suppliers to Downing Street this week. The main
:02:15. > :02:18.outcome - Energy Secretary, Chris Huhne, advising if you want a
:02:18. > :02:23.better deal, switch supplier. Easy to say minister. Have you actually
:02:23. > :02:26.tried? The Government's now telling us to switch, but the companies
:02:26. > :02:31.themselves have been saying it for years. There's never been a better
:02:31. > :02:36.time to look around and make sure that you've got the best deal.
:02:36. > :02:41.thing that the viewers need to know, they can make big savings.
:02:41. > :02:45.sounds simple. If only it was. As you've been telling us, switching
:02:45. > :02:48.can be time consuming and annoying. Hopelessly confusing too. Even if
:02:48. > :02:52.you manage to wade through the hundreds of tariffs on offer and
:02:52. > :03:00.find a better deal with another provider. You may just wonder why
:03:00. > :03:08.you bothered. Like these five. Switched-on energy customers, all
:03:08. > :03:13.with nightmares. The first one - cancellation fees. Rod and Glynn
:03:13. > :03:17.Annell decided to switch when their bills rocketed this summer. British
:03:17. > :03:24.Gas increased their prices by an average of 20%. Shortly after I
:03:24. > :03:30.joined them that happened so I decided to switch to EDF. You also
:03:30. > :03:33.decided to switch? Yes. I received e-mail notification from Scottish
:03:33. > :03:39.Power and their prices would have meant a massive increase, so I
:03:39. > :03:43.shopped around for another supplier, which just happened to be EDF.
:03:43. > :03:48.told British Gas he was leaving. And she told Scottish Power the
:03:48. > :03:54.same, but they were both in for a shock. Switching was going to cost
:03:54. > :04:00.them. They told me if I wanted to switch there would be a �60
:04:00. > :04:04.cancellation fee. Glynn, you insisted on an itemised bill?
:04:04. > :04:09.and it's only when I scrutinised them I realised a cancellation of
:04:10. > :04:13.�20 had been applied. Both complained and rightly, because
:04:13. > :04:19.although they can charge exit fees, on these occasions they were in
:04:19. > :04:23.breach of rules drawn up by the industry regulator Ofgem. What the
:04:23. > :04:28.regulations mean for consumers is if you are affected by a price rise
:04:28. > :04:31.you have 30 days to inform your supplier that you want to leave and
:04:32. > :04:36.if a termation fee applies you don't have to pay it. There's no
:04:36. > :04:41.excuse for the suppliers getting this wrong. Ofgem reminded them all
:04:41. > :04:49.about the rules in August. Meanwhile, here's another one that
:04:49. > :04:55.isn't always followed. Paul Millington decided to leave British
:04:55. > :05:00.Gas for EDF last winter. They told me I could switch and I wouldn't
:05:00. > :05:04.incur the increased prices. When I got my final bill guess what was
:05:04. > :05:08.there? The increased prices. They shouldn't have been on Paul's bill,
:05:08. > :05:13.because when he decided to switch his existing payment rate should
:05:13. > :05:21.have been frozen. When he complained, British Gas blamed a
:05:21. > :05:27.computer fault and sent a correct bill and offered �25 compensation.
:05:27. > :05:31.Here's the bill that she sent you? This is the the -- this is the
:05:31. > :05:35.final bill. You'll see the �25 and you'll still see the increased
:05:35. > :05:39.prices. What they've done is offset the increase against what they say
:05:39. > :05:44.is a good-will compensation. I don't think there's much in that.
:05:44. > :05:52.At least Paul managed to switch. Others have been bogged down in
:05:52. > :05:55.delays. Lloyd Bonson's one of them. He notified EDF of his intention to
:05:55. > :06:00.leave earlier this year, but a series of computer errors means
:06:00. > :06:06.he's still on their system. His new chosen supplier can't take him on,
:06:06. > :06:12.even after five months. It should take between six and eight weeks to
:06:12. > :06:16.switch. It's unacceptable for it to take up to five months. It's very
:06:16. > :06:23.frustrating. I'm left in the dark and it's annoying. Which is exactly
:06:23. > :06:33.what it shouldn't be. Since the big six suppliers all signed up to the
:06:33. > :06:36.sew-called peace ov mind guarantee. -- so-called peace-of-mind
:06:36. > :06:42.guarantee. According to the suppliers siching has never been so
:06:42. > :06:49.easy. Tell that to Melissa who switched from Scottish Power to
:06:49. > :06:52.British Gas last year. Five months after that switch, Scottish Power,
:06:52. > :06:57.who she thought she had left, wrote demanding five months' worth of
:06:57. > :07:04.payment. That's because she was still their customer. British Gas
:07:04. > :07:08.had failed to switch her over. But they had been billing her. They've
:07:08. > :07:13.been charging me for somebody else's gas for last six months,
:07:13. > :07:17.which was absolutely disgusting. I don't understand how it at all
:07:17. > :07:20.happened. British Gas have since refunded Melissa, enabling her to
:07:20. > :07:25.settle her outstanding bill with Scottish Power, but that still may
:07:25. > :07:30.not be the end of it. Scottish Power have then passed on my debt
:07:30. > :07:36.to a debt collecting agency and I'm just really worried that my address
:07:37. > :07:39.will be black listed for something which is out of my hands. Five
:07:39. > :07:47.customers - five switching nightmares. Surely the energy
:07:47. > :07:51.companies can make it simpler than this? The Department of Energy and
:07:51. > :07:55.Climate Change says it's aiming to limit the time to takes to switch
:07:55. > :08:00.to three weeks and cut the hassle out of switching with a new method
:08:00. > :08:09.of checking and changing. You can find the advice on this special
:08:09. > :08:13.website: The big six energy companies say they're committing to
:08:13. > :08:17.making switching as easy as possible and agreed to write to 8
:08:17. > :08:25.million customers advising them of the best ways to save money. With
:08:26. > :08:29.me now is Ian Marlee, from off yem. -- Ofgem. So much for the Energy
:08:29. > :08:34.Secretary saying switch. You see what happens if you try. Firstly, I
:08:34. > :08:37.think we should say that sadly your film reinforces some of the
:08:37. > :08:42.concerns that we ourselves have identified and expressed recently,
:08:42. > :08:45.about how the energy companies are failing their consumers. There are
:08:45. > :08:50.definitely good deals out there and we would encourage people to switch,
:08:50. > :08:54.but we know it's not as easy as it could or should be. On your own
:08:54. > :08:58.figures, 85% of people don't even try and switch, do they? That's
:08:58. > :09:03.right. Switching has gone down in the past few years and we think
:09:04. > :09:06.that is for a number of reasons, mainly around things like tariff
:09:06. > :09:11.complexity, which makes it very difficult, but it's important to
:09:11. > :09:17.say that a couple of years ago, we set up the ombudsman to try to deal
:09:17. > :09:20.with the kind of complaints on your film, and really he is there if
:09:20. > :09:26.people are finding that actually the companies aren't dealing
:09:26. > :09:30.properly with their complaints, they can go there. Last year, he
:09:30. > :09:33.dealt with 5,000 complaints, of which the vast majority were found
:09:33. > :09:38.in favour of the consumer and in two out of three cases they
:09:38. > :09:43.received financial compensation. the regulator, 400 different
:09:43. > :09:47.tariffs have grown up in the last four years. Were you sitting by and
:09:47. > :09:50.smiling? You are absolutely right, that the market is too complex.
:09:50. > :09:53.haven't you done anything about it? We have been doing things. Over the
:09:53. > :09:57.last few years, we have done a number of things, where we have
:09:57. > :10:02.identified problems and dealt with them. For example, a couple of
:10:02. > :10:05.years ago we introduced - we found out that the suppliers were
:10:05. > :10:09.charging unjustified price differences to consumers. For
:10:10. > :10:14.example, if they were on prepayment metres. They are some of the most
:10:14. > :10:19.vulnerable consumers and we banned those unfair price differentials.
:10:19. > :10:22.That is locked in about 300 million worth of savings for consumers. The
:10:22. > :10:25.important thing is that the suppliers are still failing
:10:25. > :10:29.consumers and therefore we are about to undertake the most radical
:10:29. > :10:36.reform of the retail market that we have seen in the last ten years.
:10:36. > :10:40.But you have warned them so many times. Surely, if you had done
:10:40. > :10:44.injure job properly, there wouldn't have had to be a summit at Downing
:10:44. > :10:49.Street. The profits increase every year and consumers are being more
:10:49. > :10:53.and more punished, to the point where they can't afford energy?
:10:53. > :10:57.have been dealing with the problems that have been there. What we are
:10:57. > :11:01.now saying - Why aren't you doing it quicker? The tariffs - they've
:11:01. > :11:06.increased by double the amount over the last couple of years. We need
:11:06. > :11:15.to address that and say, look, we threw down the gauntlet to the
:11:15. > :11:19.suppliers and they haven't cleaned up their acts. For 75% of people on
:11:19. > :11:23.standard tariffs, why should there be more than one payment type.
:11:23. > :11:27.soon will we see your efforts in our bills? With the reforms, there
:11:27. > :11:32.will be the radical simplification and we have said to the company -
:11:32. > :11:36.If they don't? They have until spring to respond positively and if
:11:36. > :11:40.they don't, then we have the option of senting them off to the
:11:40. > :11:45.Competition Commission. Thank you. Some company responses to the film.
:11:45. > :11:50.British Gas have apologised to two the customers and blame an
:11:50. > :11:54.administrative error on the mistake on Rod's bill and they say
:11:54. > :11:57.Melissa's name was wrongly entered, meaning they took over the wrong
:11:57. > :11:59.supply and that's been rectified. As for Paul, they say they was
:11:59. > :12:06.charged higher rates because they didn't receive notification from
:12:06. > :12:11.his new supplier. However, they've refunded his �25 as a gesture of
:12:11. > :12:14.goodwill. Scottish Power have apologised to Glynn for applying a
:12:14. > :12:20.cancellation charge. They are compensating her for the time spent
:12:20. > :12:23.rectifying the problem. ED if have apologised for the delay to Lloyd,
:12:23. > :12:27.blaming a system error and have offered him compensation. If you
:12:28. > :12:37.would like to comment on this, or any of toe fight's stories, please
:12:38. > :12:43.
:12:43. > :12:49.e-mail us: Coming up - this WH Smith hotel gift package. Price on
:12:49. > :12:53.the box, �109. Price at the room as little as �60. Nissan, they
:12:53. > :13:00.advertise this model as urban proof, whatever that means. Beware if you
:13:00. > :13:06.are driving it around town. Dear Matt, why don't the rogues you
:13:06. > :13:10.feature ever get arrested at the end of the show? Dear Mr Matt, why
:13:10. > :13:16.go to all that effort catching them only for them to runway? We get a
:13:16. > :13:20.few of these, but you see, it's not our job to bring wrong doers to
:13:20. > :13:24.justice. It's up to the authorities to do the prosecuting and very
:13:24. > :13:27.often they do. Tonight, briefly, you can come away from your key
:13:27. > :13:37.boards because we are going to reveal what happens to some of our
:13:37. > :13:51.
:13:51. > :13:57.Dan and I enjoy the cinema. I am into Korean classics, early French,
:13:57. > :14:03.anything by a Coen brothers. What do you think, down? Pretentious. I
:14:03. > :14:08.prefer the Back To the Future trilogy. OK, wisecracking cool kid
:14:08. > :14:14.with eccentric sidekick. I like it. Also it is fitting because we are
:14:14. > :14:21.about to travel back in time. Hold on, is this a sequel, a
:14:21. > :14:25.prequel, or a third, or something else? OK, what this is, is ask
:14:25. > :14:32.telling people what happened and then Updating them with new
:14:32. > :14:39.information for the nation. terms of Star Wars, where are we?
:14:39. > :14:43.As Luke been born yet? That is how we have to understand it. We are
:14:43. > :14:49.sitting on the Death Star. We are watching old films of the pod race.
:14:49. > :14:57.And we are telling everybody what happened. I have got it. Round the
:14:57. > :15:01.film. Les meet tonight's first leading man, who we met first last
:15:01. > :15:05.September. Nicky Date. He liked to roam the streets of Cardiff
:15:05. > :15:08.collecting people's rubbish. He then roamed the streets of Cardiff
:15:08. > :15:13.looking for somewhere to put it, which was usually on the streets of
:15:13. > :15:18.Cardiff. And for this, he has been jailed in the past. We heard he was
:15:18. > :15:22.back at it and when we called him out he quoted as �80. Not much, but
:15:22. > :15:32.then he did not do much work, either. He even got our research
:15:32. > :15:49.
:15:49. > :15:55.Oh, yeah, it is coming back to me. It is when you wore the outfit you
:15:55. > :15:59.bought from the motorway services. This is our chair, our bed box. Not
:16:00. > :16:02.very nice if he wants to get his car out there. Another chair. You
:16:02. > :16:07.might see things all over the country and think nothing of it,
:16:07. > :16:11.but it is one of those things that makes life a little bit worse. And
:16:11. > :16:17.of course, our council tax goes to pay to clear it up. Thank you,
:16:17. > :16:22.Nicky Date. That is the bit I remember. What happened? We called
:16:22. > :16:28.him back to another job and I brought along some friends. Monkey
:16:28. > :16:33.Helen? Not those kind of friends. The Cardiff Arms male-voice choir.
:16:33. > :16:38.They are not your real friends. Maybe, but they are good men with
:16:38. > :16:48.great voices and lovely sweaters, as Nicky Date found out when we
:16:48. > :16:50.
:16:50. > :16:54.called him back to collect some Hello, Matt Allwright from BBC
:16:54. > :17:00.Rogue Traders. Do you recognise that tune, it is the Ash Grove.
:17:00. > :17:04.With you, it becomes the trash growth, because you fly tip.
:17:04. > :17:08.Unfortunately, the ones that we have seen have ended up in someone
:17:08. > :17:12.else's skipper, or down a back alley like that. That is the ones
:17:12. > :17:17.that we know that you have fly tipped. And you have been convicted
:17:17. > :17:21.for in the past. You are still matted, so many years later. You
:17:21. > :17:29.are a fly Tipper. That is what we gave you and that is where it ended
:17:29. > :17:35.up. You did that, didn't you? It is coming back out. It might as well
:17:35. > :17:45.end up in our front yard, as in someone else's backyard. We are not
:17:45. > :18:06.
:18:06. > :18:12.Do you see what we did there? Nicky Date, one of South Wales' premier
:18:12. > :18:17.fly tippers. Do not give him yours. That is where the story ended and
:18:17. > :18:22.now you're going to give us the epilogue. I would not leave you
:18:22. > :18:26.without an epilogue. On 26th May this year Nicky Date appeared at
:18:26. > :18:31.Cardiff Magistrates Court to get a sentence on two charges of fly-
:18:31. > :18:35.tipping. But these charges were special, because he was tipping oil.
:18:35. > :18:40.Look at that. He could have left it in the container but he has tipped
:18:40. > :18:44.it all over the ground. For this, and the other charge of fly-tipping,
:18:44. > :18:48.he received a six-month suspended sentence, 12 month supervision
:18:48. > :18:53.order, 200 hours of unpaid work and an ASBO MACRO hanging round his
:18:53. > :18:56.neck. This was him arriving at court, before he had even found out
:18:56. > :19:04.what was going to happen. He is about to do a dance with the
:19:04. > :19:08.photographer. Only real men can wear pink. Your footage was used as
:19:08. > :19:12.supplementary evidence which helped to secured a five-year ASBO against
:19:13. > :19:19.him. Fly-tipping is a major problem in Cardiff, costing the city
:19:19. > :19:23.council of to �1 million a year to clear-up. Thank you, Steve. Yes, a
:19:23. > :19:28.good one, but don't go away as there is plenty more real justice
:19:28. > :19:33.to be dished out, including the tasty tale of the TV repairman who
:19:34. > :19:39.overcharged us by hundreds. Do you lack imagination, or do you just
:19:39. > :19:45.like prison food? Can you tell me? I will tell you what happened after
:19:45. > :19:50.that report a bit later. It is delicious! All of that talking
:19:50. > :19:58.about food has made me hungry. How about you and me, dinner for two?
:19:58. > :20:02.Look what I have bought you. �49, Amazing Adventures gift, experience
:20:02. > :20:08.from WH Smith, Restaurant Discovery for Two. How much do you think it
:20:08. > :20:14.is worth? �49. You would have thought so. One viewer received it
:20:14. > :20:22.and was offered a meal worth just �20. Here is another question. A
:20:22. > :20:28.weekend for two? Yes, even more. The price on the box, �109.
:20:28. > :20:34.would expect a room worth �109. but it could be a lot less, like
:20:34. > :20:38.this one, for Tony Artemeo. Recently, some good friends of ours
:20:38. > :20:43.to help us celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary gave us a
:20:43. > :20:46.voucher from WH Smith's for �109 for one night bed-and-breakfast for
:20:46. > :20:50.two people course that I found a suitable bed and breakfast just
:20:50. > :20:56.over an hour from where I live. I phoned the proprietor and he
:20:56. > :20:59.informed me the voucher was not worth �109 but �60. I think this is
:20:59. > :21:05.all full value for money and not something I would recommend to
:21:05. > :21:08.anyone. What is going on? Although the gift experience is sold in WH
:21:08. > :21:13.Smith, it is run by a company called Activity Superstore and they
:21:13. > :21:18.are taking a big slice of the money for themselves. When we called
:21:18. > :21:24.participating hotels to find out what �109 would entitle us to, here
:21:24. > :21:34.is what three of them told us. received a voucher from a friend
:21:34. > :21:46.
:21:46. > :21:56.I was wandering, how much is the Out of interest, how much do they
:21:56. > :22:04.
:22:04. > :22:12.take? And can I ask, how much is We did call another hotel who said
:22:12. > :22:16.we could get �100 roomed with a �109 voucher. And what do Activity
:22:16. > :22:22.Superstore say? They say that over 99% of customers have no complaint
:22:22. > :22:27.and only 0.1% complain about value. Of course. There are 57 hotels to
:22:27. > :22:31.choose from. They say each is Independent with its own pricing
:22:31. > :22:35.structure. In addition, many charge different rates depending on the
:22:35. > :22:38.time of year, day and week, but because the voucher is valid for a
:22:38. > :22:44.year it covers these many different prices and customers can stay at a
:22:44. > :22:51.time convenient to them. What about the �49 restaurant Boucher that was
:22:51. > :22:54.worth less than half? Well, Toby Joyce alerted us to that one. A �20
:22:54. > :22:59.a meal was all that he was offered when he tried to use it because
:22:59. > :23:04.that is what the restaurant said it was worth to them. Activity
:23:04. > :23:07.Superstore say that it should have offered him a tasting menu worth up
:23:07. > :23:11.to �50, and all of the 100 participating restaurants have
:23:11. > :23:15.agreed to do that. They have now offered Toby a free meal as an
:23:15. > :23:20.apology. WH Smith says that it is sorry some customers have been
:23:20. > :23:23.disappointed with the Amazing Adventures packs. It says it will
:23:23. > :23:27.be contacting Activity Superstore about the issues and will support
:23:27. > :23:31.them with selecting the outlets offering the packages to customers.
:23:31. > :23:36.In a nutshell, I could take you away on the cheap, very exciting,
:23:36. > :23:40.even on the cheap, by booking a room director one of the hotels we
:23:40. > :23:45.called for �60 and it is not only exciting but I would be �49 in
:23:45. > :23:50.pocket. Exactly, a bottle of champagne!
:23:50. > :23:54.Up next, Fiat and Nissan, two companies with diesel models
:23:54. > :23:59.perfect for driving around town. Kind to the environment, but not on
:23:59. > :24:03.your wallet. Whether it is doing the school run,
:24:03. > :24:07.commuting, were doing a big shock, a city car seems the perfect
:24:07. > :24:13.solution for the city driver. And they come with tempting incentives,
:24:13. > :24:17.like this baby, the Fiat 500, named city car of the year by Business
:24:17. > :24:22.Car magazine. Low emissions and low tax. And if you choose a diesel,
:24:22. > :24:32.you might save on fuel consumption, too. In that case, I might give it
:24:32. > :24:32.
:24:33. > :24:36.another spin. Damon bought his brand new Fiat 500 two years ago.
:24:36. > :24:41.bought the car as a city runaround. I was looking for something that
:24:41. > :24:44.was compact, easy to drive, especially in town. I wanted
:24:44. > :24:47.something economical and environmentally friendly.
:24:47. > :24:52.within one year, a warning light came on the dashboard and he
:24:52. > :24:55.discovered his little Fiat had a big problem. If I spoke to a
:24:55. > :25:01.mechanic who told me that because it was fitted with the component
:25:01. > :25:07.that is used to control emissions, I would need to take the car out
:25:07. > :25:12.regularly for 20 minutes and drive it constantly for 50 mph for it to
:25:12. > :25:17.function properly. Fiat do mention this part in their manual but Damon
:25:17. > :25:21.says he was not told about it when he bought the car. I went for a
:25:21. > :25:25.test drive and no one mentioned about a diesel perhaps not being
:25:25. > :25:28.appropriate for town or city driving. I am left with a car that
:25:28. > :25:34.I have to take out for longer drives than I normally would do,
:25:34. > :25:39.and I wish I had bought petrol. This is the part in question, the
:25:39. > :25:43.diesel particulate filter, DPF. It is fitted to the exhaust to trap
:25:43. > :25:47.the soot and reduce emissions. But if you were using the car
:25:47. > :25:51.exclusively for city driving, you could be in trouble. The part
:25:51. > :25:55.usually cleans itself when the engine runs at high speed, a
:25:55. > :25:59.process called regeneration. If this has not happened for a while,
:25:59. > :26:02.a warning light indicates the filter has become blocked. It must
:26:02. > :26:08.be clear by driving the car at high revs by a sustained period, easily
:26:08. > :26:13.done on the open road but more difficult around town. And it is
:26:13. > :26:18.not just these cars that have this filter. The part was introduced to
:26:18. > :26:22.bring cars in line with new EU green emissions rules. Most modern
:26:22. > :26:27.diesels are fitted with it. So it could be a problem if you're
:26:27. > :26:33.thinking of buying a so-called urban proof Nissan, as the diesel
:26:33. > :26:37.version could end up costing you. Report hours from our local Nissan
:26:37. > :26:42.dealership. We spoke to the sales man in the dealership and we asked
:26:42. > :26:45.if there were any problems with it. He said you could get an issue with
:26:45. > :26:49.the diesel particulate filter on them, and he asked what type of
:26:49. > :26:54.driving we do. We explained normal day-to-day commuting as well as
:26:54. > :26:59.pulling a caravan. He assured us it would be fine. Five months later,
:26:59. > :27:02.the warning light came on. manual said that what I should do
:27:02. > :27:07.was to take the car to a dual- carriageway, somewhere I could get
:27:07. > :27:11.it above 50 mph, and drive it for 30 minutes, or until the filter
:27:11. > :27:15.light went out. That was what we did. One month later, the light
:27:15. > :27:19.came on again, this time accompanied with the engine
:27:19. > :27:23.management liked. It said to take the car to a local dealership for
:27:23. > :27:29.further investigation. His films are needed to be regenerated, but
:27:29. > :27:33.as a previous owner had already claimed Ford, Nissan charged him
:27:33. > :27:38.nearly �250. They later agreed to a one-off refund. Any more problems,
:27:38. > :27:44.and he is on his own. It is quite likely to happen again, thus
:27:44. > :27:48.costing me another �250 to sort out. I don't think it is urban proof at
:27:48. > :27:53.all. It cannot cope with normal day-to-day commuting and I do not
:27:53. > :27:56.feel confident in it. Watchdog has received over 200 complaints about
:27:56. > :28:00.blocked diesel particulate filter has, a problem affecting diesel
:28:00. > :28:04.cars made by most manufacturers. Some drivers have had to pay
:28:04. > :28:11.hundreds to have them clear, whilst one customer needed a replacement
:28:11. > :28:14.costing over �1,000. Manufacturers should instruct dealers to ask
:28:14. > :28:19.searching questions of potential customers. If the customer says
:28:19. > :28:24.they needed for the urban commuting and not regularly for a run down a
:28:24. > :28:28.motorway, the dealer should say, with this technology, it could be a
:28:28. > :28:32.problem for you. In fact, nearly all diesels built
:28:32. > :28:37.after 2009 have one of these filters. The question any owner
:28:37. > :28:41.will ask is, how do I stop it blocking? Manufacturers advise
:28:41. > :28:46.driving the car at around 40 mph continuously until regeneration is
:28:46. > :28:49.complete and the warning light goes off. It is difficult to do that in
:28:49. > :28:54.built up areas but our expert believes it is more about the revs.
:28:54. > :28:57.You can get the revs up by driving at a good speed in a lower gear
:28:57. > :29:01.than normal. But the Reds have to stay up for about 15 minutes in
:29:01. > :29:11.order for the filter to be cleared, and that is not always easy, as I
:29:11. > :29:12.
:29:12. > :29:15.We are up to 60 and immediately it's below 2,000. That wouldn't
:29:15. > :29:22.generate enough heat to clear the filter. You need to speed up so
:29:22. > :29:27.even at 60 you need to be in one gear below top. I'm a city driver,
:29:28. > :29:37.can I do this at 40? Of course you can. You need to put it into gear
:29:38. > :29:39.
:29:39. > :29:42.to give you 2,500 rpm. What have you got on your 40mph road in town
:29:42. > :29:47.traffic light, round abouts. Every time you stop the process goes
:29:47. > :29:51.right back to the beginning and has to start all over again. OK. Not
:29:51. > :29:54.everyone agrees with that advice. The Society for Motor Manufacturers
:29:54. > :29:58.and Traders says normal driving, even in towns and cities, is
:29:58. > :30:02.usually enough for the filters to regenerate automatically. Fiat, who
:30:02. > :30:06.point out they've never marketed this as a city car, say the
:30:07. > :30:10.regeneration conditions required for that model are not as exacting
:30:10. > :30:16.as we have shown. Their advice is on the website and the information
:30:16. > :30:21.packs and handbooks they give to new owners. You can find it on our
:30:21. > :30:25.website. Nissan say their sales literature explains DPS and they
:30:25. > :30:29.say the staff are trained to help staff make the right purchase
:30:29. > :30:33.choice and very interesting this - they say they would recommend one
:30:33. > :30:37.of their petrol or electric cars for anyone planning to use their
:30:37. > :30:42.vehicle for short journeys only. Next, travel insurance. Although
:30:42. > :30:46.millions of people in the UK buy annual policies covering them for
:30:46. > :30:48.all overseas trips, some travel companies are still adding
:30:48. > :30:54.insurance to your bills automatically. You might not even
:30:54. > :30:58.spot it. Booking a holiday is often an exciting and emotional
:30:58. > :31:05.commitment. When doing it on-line, often you want to skip to the end
:31:05. > :31:08.and just book it. However, hold on. Within the final pages there may
:31:08. > :31:14.lie a whole lot of extra options and with some, if you are not
:31:14. > :31:17.careful, you could end up paying more than you expected, as they
:31:17. > :31:21.pre-select extras. By ticking an option like travel insurance it
:31:21. > :31:25.gets added to your bill. Even though you may already be covered
:31:25. > :31:29.or could find it cheaper or better elsewhere. Luckily, though, there
:31:29. > :31:35.are EU regulations that prevent them doing this. So none of them
:31:35. > :31:38.would still be at it, would they? I've been clicking through a sample
:31:38. > :31:44.of on-line travel sites. The result - big names are costing you big
:31:44. > :31:48.money. By opting you in, unless you check the terms, they'll be jacking
:31:48. > :31:53.up your price. Last month, I searched for a week in Florida for
:31:53. > :31:59.a family of four. Look at this. Expedia. They automatically added
:31:59. > :32:03.travel insurance to the price, putting a massive �127.50 on my
:32:03. > :32:08.bill. They even listed travel insurance as included, so it looks
:32:08. > :32:16.like you are getting a discount for not taking it, but it was never
:32:16. > :32:22.included in the original price, so it's an added extra, and I had to
:32:22. > :32:29.ensure I deselected it, but it's easy to miss. If only it would just
:32:29. > :32:35.-- it were just the one. I found last minute.com at it. It
:32:35. > :32:43.automatically added �99 and opodo. That was �110 for the week. But
:32:43. > :32:47.this isn't just about travel insurance. Thompson and Flybe say
:32:47. > :32:54.baggage is an optional extra. They pre-select this, so how are they
:32:54. > :33:01.all getting away with this? The EU has rules in place to stop
:33:01. > :33:05.companies doing this. It's a clear breach, but these haven't yet been
:33:05. > :33:09.incorporated into British law. It's expected by the end of the year, so
:33:09. > :33:12.there aren't any penalties available for breach. However, the
:33:12. > :33:19.UK's airline industry regulator wants them to follow the EU rules
:33:19. > :33:24.now. The European law on pricing transparency is very clear.
:33:24. > :33:28.Optional extras should be clearly displayed and only offered on an
:33:28. > :33:31.opt-in basis and we are doing work with the Office of Fair Trading to
:33:31. > :33:36.make sure all the tour operators have no doubt they need to comply
:33:36. > :33:40.with this. It's really important that people actively choose to buy
:33:40. > :33:44.these optional extras and that things aren't slipped into their
:33:44. > :33:49.basket without them noticing. can be easy to miss what has been
:33:49. > :33:52.added to the bill and if you fail to opt out, you'll pay. Ending up
:33:52. > :33:58.paying for travel insurance when you already have a policy -
:33:58. > :34:04.unacceptable. Making sure you know how to deal with it - esen sal.
:34:04. > :34:08.Martin's here -- essential. Martin's here now. You have an
:34:08. > :34:12.update? Expedia and Thompson have agreed not to do this any more.
:34:12. > :34:15.There are still many more doing it. Isn't this just a question of your
:34:15. > :34:18.mandatory of reading the small print? You always do that, but some
:34:18. > :34:23.people are in a rush and the whole sites are designed to get you to
:34:23. > :34:28.sign up for the extras. People out there, maybe unfamiliar with the
:34:28. > :34:34.internet, so there are problems, but let me tell you, even Evan
:34:34. > :34:39.Davies, one BBC economics editor, presenter of the Today programme
:34:39. > :34:43.and dragsions' den tweeted he had been caught out by this. It is not
:34:44. > :34:47.acceptable. Did they get his money back? I believe he did. If anyone
:34:47. > :34:51.looks and realises they've gone and signed up for travel insurance they
:34:52. > :34:54.don't need, what do you suggest? Write to the company and it is
:34:54. > :34:59.strong if you have another policy so you really didn't need this one,
:34:59. > :35:02.but I would like to start a mini armchair revolution tonight,
:35:02. > :35:05.because the financial ombudsman has never had a case like this, but it
:35:05. > :35:10.says it would look at it and customers need to be treated fairly.
:35:10. > :35:15.If the company says it won't give you the money back, take it to him.
:35:15. > :35:20.It can award compensation. What we need to do is hit them in their
:35:20. > :35:26.pockets. Wonderful. Thank you. Chris. Thank you very much. A few
:35:26. > :35:30.other company responses to the report. Last minute. Dom say they
:35:31. > :35:40.are concerned that uninsured travellers may not be able to
:35:40. > :35:45.afford issues whilst abroad. Opodo say customers can remove insurance,
:35:45. > :35:50.or on the next page of the booking process before they main. Flybe say
:35:50. > :35:58.they are complieing with all regulations on the way they offer -
:35:58. > :36:01.- come plying with all regulations on the way they are offering extras.
:36:01. > :36:05.Still to come - Shell it claimed the fuel offered drivers big
:36:05. > :36:13.savings. Oh, no, it doesn't. BT - why one of their discount deals
:36:13. > :36:17.could end up costing you more. Back to Rogue Traders II, this time it's
:36:17. > :36:22.personal. The sequel that lets you catch up with some of the people we
:36:22. > :36:25.have exposed over the last couple of years. In one moment, we reveal
:36:25. > :36:30.what happened to a clamping firm in Essex. Before that, the TV repair
:36:30. > :36:38.man who cheated the people of Birmingham. Take your seats. It's
:36:38. > :36:44.about to begin. Salted or sweet? Mixed. Couldn't make my mind up.
:36:44. > :36:51.What is next? Were you not listening to what I just said in
:36:51. > :36:55.the studio? I don't know! Anyway, this is the story of Mr Sharma,
:36:55. > :36:59.until recently, based in Birmingham. In 2006, he was sentenced to 12
:36:59. > :37:04.months after breaching a court order designed to stop him cheating
:37:04. > :37:09.customers and he was served with a further order. By 2009, he was back
:37:09. > :37:13.at it again, making your TV problems disappear. He also made
:37:13. > :37:18.your TV disappear, according to some of his customers. He came and
:37:18. > :37:24.he said it would have to be taken away for repair and I've never seen
:37:24. > :37:31.the television since. TVRC went under many names posing as local.
:37:31. > :37:34.We gave them a TV. Should have done it. Instead, we were told the set
:37:34. > :37:39.was irreparable and offered a replacement. Remind me, what did
:37:39. > :37:45.the telly need? A built of soldering. Taking? Ten minutes,
:37:45. > :37:49.maybe, tops, half an hour. Yeah. We said no at which point the TV was
:37:49. > :37:54.repairable, but it cost more more than double what it should and
:37:54. > :37:58.wasn't really fixed at all. plot is dragging a bit. I'm sorry,
:37:58. > :38:03.but it's essential background. We gave them another one with a
:38:03. > :38:08.nackered switch. Replacement should cost �150, including labour. They
:38:08. > :38:14.charged us �345 to repair it. When I say repair it, it would switch
:38:14. > :38:17.itself off after a couple of hours, so not particularly helpful.
:38:17. > :38:23.doorstep confrontation. In a supermarket car park, somewhere in
:38:23. > :38:30.the Midlands. How are you? The thing I'm wondering is how you can
:38:30. > :38:35.go to prison for running a dodgy TV repair company and yet three years
:38:35. > :38:38.later be doing exactly the same thing. Have you lot your car?
:38:38. > :38:44.Because, that's what you are doing and we have heard from your
:38:44. > :38:50.customer, yes, this one back here, we have heard from your customers
:38:50. > :38:56.who tell us that just like before their TVs are not coming back to
:38:56. > :39:03.them. Have you -- have you lack of imagination or do you like prison
:39:03. > :39:10.tood? Is that what it -- food? Is that what it is? Big fella. In big
:39:10. > :39:15.trouble, because after it aired on the country's favourite show he
:39:15. > :39:21.took time out. He soon returned to his old tricks. Trading Standards
:39:21. > :39:25.decided to prosecute again and he appeared in April in court and
:39:25. > :39:32.jailed for 15 months for breaching that order. He must like the food.
:39:32. > :39:37.Next! Yes, this part is a double- feature with the second film
:39:38. > :39:43.featuring LBS Enforcement Limited, a clamping company who took no
:39:43. > :39:48.prisoners. That's wrong. They took prisoners. They said �150 for clamp
:39:48. > :39:53.releasing as the fee and �200-odd for the truck and I said, well,
:39:53. > :39:57.what do you mean? They said we have deployed a truck to tow your car.
:39:57. > :40:02.Then there was Jenny King. She doesn't deny she parked in the
:40:02. > :40:06.wrong place, but one of several people who was intimidated by the
:40:06. > :40:15.LBS clamper. I was out on Saturday shopping. Came back to my car being
:40:15. > :40:20.clamped to this very big, ugly man. He wanted me to pay �435 there and
:40:20. > :40:24.then. I paid it. I was very frightened and I just paid him.
:40:24. > :40:32.�400 just blown us away. I do work, but I'm a single parent. You can't
:40:32. > :40:37.afford that, can you? I'll say. As ever, we needed to see them at work
:40:37. > :40:47.for ourselves. Our researcher, Hannah, yes, she is back, only
:40:47. > :41:11.
:41:11. > :41:21.stopped for five minutes in this Ben blocked her in and demanded
:41:21. > :41:54.
:41:54. > :41:57.We later caught up with one of the directors of the firm and clamped
:41:57. > :42:05.his car. The good news is since then the authorities have caught up
:42:05. > :42:10.with the company too. Ben Collins, and Edward Lapenna and director
:42:10. > :42:13.Mark Stone have had their licences taken away. They have also been
:42:13. > :42:17.given 13 weeks' suspended jail sentences for using threatening
:42:18. > :42:21.words and behaviour when posing as debt collectors and the Inland
:42:21. > :42:25.Revenue has won an application to have the company wound up for non-
:42:25. > :42:30.payment of taxes, all of which will bring a warm glow to the motorists
:42:31. > :42:37.of es em, not to mention Hannah. -- Essex, not to mention Hannah. She
:42:37. > :42:42.did get out in the end. As for our next rogue - you have sold us a car
:42:42. > :42:49.which has been clocked. As you know, that is against the law. He tried
:42:49. > :42:54.to escape too. He may have got away from me. Straight down the middle
:42:55. > :43:01.there. But he couldn't outrun the courts. Find out what happened to
:43:01. > :43:04.him in about ten minutes. A few e- mails from you about diesel filters.
:43:04. > :43:07.One driver here says, he bought the car to drive around town, but he's
:43:08. > :43:11.had to spent half an hour on the motorway every week to unblock the
:43:11. > :43:17.filter. Lots of you also getting in touch about switching energy
:43:17. > :43:25.supplier too and we'll have an update later on. Next, Currys and
:43:25. > :43:28.PC World and their repairs aftersales team. We featured them
:43:28. > :43:32.last year. They were season standard with repairs and had
:43:32. > :43:35.terrible customer service. They've been relaunched as knowhow and
:43:35. > :43:39.according to Dixons Retail Group, things are very different, but
:43:39. > :43:49.surprise, surprise, according to customers, who have contacted
:43:49. > :43:57.
:43:57. > :44:01.Millions of people are tuning into Strictly. I love nothing more than
:44:01. > :44:06.a Saturday night in front of a corporate video. The board are
:44:06. > :44:10.excited about this and that does not happen often. A have seen the
:44:10. > :44:15.plans and they look exciting. the most excitable thing that has
:44:15. > :44:20.happened to us for a long time. have the opportunity to do
:44:20. > :44:23.something amazing in UK retail. Wow! Thank goodness they are
:44:23. > :44:28.excited because for me there is nothing less tedious them those
:44:28. > :44:33.annoying technical issues. Knowhow not only promise to help you set up
:44:33. > :44:39.in store and repair your laptop, TV or desktop, but they also offer
:44:39. > :44:44.plenty of advice and lots of reassurance. They collected Rob's
:44:44. > :44:48.laptop when his hard drive failed, but then Knowhow themselves failed
:44:48. > :44:51.to send it back. They could not tell me where the laptop was,
:44:51. > :44:55.whether it had gone out for delivery, whether it was in the
:44:55. > :45:01.repair centre, only that the systems they were working from were
:45:01. > :45:04.not agreeing with each other. is reassuring! I was getting a
:45:04. > :45:10.story saying it was at the Despatch Centre and they were looking for it.
:45:10. > :45:15.It was a different story each time. Two weeks on, Knowhow were still
:45:15. > :45:20.searching for the laptop. When I phoned back the next day, they were
:45:20. > :45:25.stating that an entire palette had gone missing. They said it had been
:45:25. > :45:29.sent to the wrong Despatch Centre. Hang on, a palette? Well, they may
:45:30. > :45:35.have told him that originally, but they have since denied losing the
:45:35. > :45:40.palate. His laptop, yes, that had gone missing. But by the time they
:45:40. > :45:44.offered a replacement, he had had enough. After two weeks and hours
:45:44. > :45:49.of phone calls, I was disgusted to the point where I just wanted to
:45:49. > :45:53.separate myself from them. Since the launch of Knowhow in March, we
:45:53. > :45:56.have had over 100 complaints, mainly about the servicing of
:45:56. > :46:03.laptops. But with their state-of- the-art repair Lab, which sounds
:46:03. > :46:07.fancy, surely they have the know- how to fix an obvious fault. Let's
:46:07. > :46:14.hear from Sarah Taylor, whose laptop kept switching itself off.
:46:14. > :46:18.She arranged for Knowhow to repair the fault. They sent it back within
:46:18. > :46:22.seven days. I plugged it in and I was happy, the laptop was back. 15
:46:22. > :46:28.minutes later, it stopped working again. I was straight on the phone
:46:28. > :46:33.to them. Again and again, she sent off her laptop to Knowhow to get it
:46:33. > :46:38.fixed. Frustrating. But at least she could keep up-to-date with
:46:38. > :46:42.repairs thanks to their trains and track system, couldn't she? I wish
:46:42. > :46:45.I could tell you about it but I never had a tracking number. The
:46:45. > :46:48.only number I ever received was a booking reference number, so I
:46:48. > :46:53.cannot tell you how great the service is, because I never
:46:53. > :46:57.received one. After seven attempts, they eventually admitted they did
:46:57. > :47:03.not have the know-how to fix her computer and offered a replacement
:47:03. > :47:07.instead. I feel I have been treated very badly by Knowhow. They are not
:47:07. > :47:10.providing the service they should. They need to make a good impression,
:47:10. > :47:15.provide an efficient service, the repairs will be done. Simply not
:47:15. > :47:21.true. It still, at least she got a new computer for her troubles but
:47:21. > :47:23.things do not always turn out so well. One customer was so tired of
:47:23. > :47:28.waiting for a computer to be repaired that she asked for it back
:47:28. > :47:38.and got a sticky reminder of Knowhow's customer care. And when I
:47:38. > :47:41.
:47:41. > :47:46.say sticky, does anybody know how to get this off? OK, not great so
:47:46. > :47:50.far, but at least you can pay a little extra for their premiere
:47:50. > :47:56.cover. You know, the one that is supposed to give you the best
:47:56. > :48:00.possible cover when things go wrong. Just as they did for Michele Morgan.
:48:00. > :48:04.When I phoned the faults department and said my daughter's laptop was
:48:04. > :48:10.not working properly they were extremely good and I thought, all
:48:10. > :48:15.well and good. Sadly, that was as well and good as it got. Speedy
:48:15. > :48:19.repair service? Weeks later, still no sign of the computer. Every time
:48:19. > :48:24.I phoned, they would give me a different delivery date and then it
:48:24. > :48:27.would not arrive. I phoned the delivery people, I phoned the
:48:27. > :48:33.warehouse where it was being repaired. They could never give me
:48:33. > :48:39.a concrete answer. The good news - after five weeks, Knowhow did
:48:39. > :48:46.deliver a laptop to Michelle. The bad news - it was the wrong one.
:48:46. > :48:51.could not believe what I was seeing. My main concern is, who has got my
:48:51. > :48:56.daughter's laptop? She is a 14- year-old girl. I did not want
:48:56. > :49:02.anybody looking through her computer. Knowhow agreed to replace
:49:02. > :49:06.her daughter's laptop and managed to trace her lost data. And for her
:49:06. > :49:13.troubles they offered �40. I feel, in my heart, that I would never
:49:13. > :49:17.again take out premier club cover with Knowhow. I have no trust
:49:17. > :49:26.whatsoever in the company, in anything they have done. So, new
:49:26. > :49:30.name, new slogans, but for some customers it is the same old story.
:49:30. > :49:34.Dixons Retail Group says that Knowhow has a 99% success rate but
:49:34. > :49:38.human error means they have occasionally let down customers.
:49:38. > :49:41.Any customers having problems should e-mail them direct. The
:49:41. > :49:44.address is on screen. They apologised to every customer we
:49:44. > :49:48.featured, offering repairs, replacements or refunds where
:49:48. > :49:55.appropriate. Thank you to everyone who has been in touch about that
:49:55. > :49:57.story. Here are a few more. Halifax, part of Lloyds Banking
:49:57. > :50:01.Group, committed to building relationships with customers,
:50:01. > :50:05.focussing on and addressing their needs. So why did it tell one
:50:05. > :50:09.potential customer to (ahem) off? The abusive message was scrawled on
:50:09. > :50:12.a letter to Steve Smith, a schools examination officer from Lancaster.
:50:12. > :50:16.The offending F-word, spelled out in full, appeared at the top of an
:50:16. > :50:21.application form for a new Clarity credit card, a card that Steve,
:50:21. > :50:24.unsurprisingly, has decided not to apply for. He says he was stunned
:50:24. > :50:28.by the message and angered by Halifax's response when he
:50:28. > :50:32.complained. An operator brushed it off as the work of someone with a
:50:32. > :50:34.grudge against the company. But now a spokesman has apologised for the
:50:34. > :50:37.distress, saying that "a regrettable error in systems
:50:37. > :50:47.allowed a spurious application to progress beyond initial checking".
:50:47. > :50:47.
:50:47. > :50:52.Looking forward to making big savings with Shell's FuelSave
:50:52. > :50:56.Unleaded? It's not going to happen. The oil giant has been ticked off
:50:56. > :51:01.for bigging up the effects of its petrol in a print and radio ad
:51:01. > :51:04.earlier this year. One featured a man dressed in a lab coat holding a
:51:04. > :51:08.measuring glass with the promise that drivers could save up to one
:51:08. > :51:13.litre per tank at no extra cost. Shell argued that its tests showed
:51:13. > :51:15.that the fuels achieved a 2% saving more than 10% of the time. But the
:51:15. > :51:19.Advertising Standards Authority said it had exaggerated the effects
:51:19. > :51:23.and banned the ads for being misleading. On a brighter note for
:51:23. > :51:27.the company, its second quarter profits were up 77% this year. It
:51:27. > :51:37.made �4.9 billion in just three months, which works out at more
:51:37. > :51:38.
:51:38. > :51:42.than �54 million every day. Ponder BT. If you have a Friends and
:51:42. > :51:45.Family Mobile discount deal you could be paying more than those who
:51:45. > :51:49.haven't. Thousands of customers signed up for the $4.50 per quarter
:51:49. > :51:54.plan, which promised the lowest prices when calling a mobile from a
:51:54. > :51:58.BT landline, just 7p a minute. But BT have since cut the cost of
:51:58. > :52:04.calling mobiles for other customers to just 5.3p a minute during the
:52:04. > :52:08.evenings. So undercutting the Friends and Family plan. But BT
:52:08. > :52:11.says it has no plans to change the terms of the deal, and says
:52:11. > :52:14.customers who are on it can still make big savings when calling
:52:14. > :52:17.mobiles during the day, which hasn't impressed John Matthews
:52:17. > :52:22.who's demanded a refund for both his quarterly fee and the price
:52:22. > :52:32.difference on all the calls he's made. Looks like they've just lost
:52:32. > :52:32.
:52:32. > :52:36.OK, intermission over. It's time for the final act of tonight's
:52:36. > :52:46.Rogue Traders sequel, with one more story in search of an ending, an
:52:46. > :52:50.
:52:50. > :52:55.unhappy ending for the rogues, a And that's because these guys are
:52:55. > :52:59.so bad they gave used-car salesman a bad name, and that is bad. These
:52:59. > :53:05.brothers made a business of selling cars with hugely reduced mileage at
:53:05. > :53:10.massively inflated prices. Tricky, this one. We were fairly sure the
:53:10. > :53:16.cars were clocked, but we needed to get them to clock a car for us.
:53:16. > :53:23.know. I was there. If I remember correctly, the Magic Tree air
:53:23. > :53:26.freshener was sandalwood. First, we had to sell them the car, and then
:53:26. > :53:30.buy it back to prove beyond doubt that they knew what they were
:53:31. > :53:36.selling. The car had 128,000 miles on the clock when we sold it to
:53:36. > :53:44.them, but was showing 47,000 when we went to buy it back, which meant
:53:44. > :53:50.they could ask �6,200, not the 2300 they bought it for. Nice business.
:53:50. > :53:55.Yes, in any illegal way. We organised a test drive, with one of
:53:55. > :53:59.the brothers coming to show us what was what. But what actually was
:53:59. > :54:04.what was that the car was staying away, while he was going to have a
:54:05. > :54:09.chat with me. Matt Allwright, BBC Rogue Traders. When we sold you the
:54:09. > :54:16.car, it had 128,000 miles on the clock. Now you are trying to sell
:54:16. > :54:21.it back to us and it has 47,000. Normally what happens here is that
:54:21. > :54:31.I throw a few questions, the rogue drives off. Today is going to be
:54:31. > :54:35.different because we still have his wheels. Funny! You are running!
:54:35. > :54:40.you familiar with the term clocking? You have sold us a car
:54:40. > :54:44.which has been clocked. As you know, that is against the law. You are
:54:44. > :54:48.dealing with cars which will look younger, fresher than they are, and
:54:48. > :54:53.look like they have done a fewer miles. That means you are conning
:54:53. > :55:02.people, doesn't it? Do you mind if I put this award over your head? I
:55:02. > :55:08.am not touching you. He gets on the phone. We have got you already. He
:55:08. > :55:12.is trying to call in reinforcements, and we need help, too. Our camera
:55:12. > :55:17.crew is struggling to keep up. Who needs a car, to be honest, when you
:55:17. > :55:21.can move like this? And it is another two miles from here to his
:55:21. > :55:25.home. I will tell you what, we are walking down the middle of the road.
:55:25. > :55:32.I would say this constitutes a health and safety hazard so I might
:55:32. > :55:37.leave you to it. There he goes, straight down the middle of a dual
:55:37. > :55:40.carriageways. That his cars, clocking him, turning the clock
:55:40. > :55:50.back on one of our cars and then trying to sell it on, the crucial
:55:50. > :55:59.
:55:59. > :56:02.OK, so what is the update? Both brothers were prosecuted under the
:56:02. > :56:06.Consumer protection from unfair trading regulations 2008 for the
:56:06. > :56:11.supply of clocked cars. They pleaded guilty and got 200 hours'
:56:11. > :56:15.unpaid work as a sentence. They calculated that they took half a
:56:15. > :56:24.million miles of cars in one month. That is the distance from here to
:56:24. > :56:31.the moon and back again. Wow! That is the distance across the Gamma
:56:31. > :56:34.Quadrant. You have Star Wars and Star Trek mixed up. Dangerous!
:56:34. > :56:39.Wildly erratic, let's acknowledge the work of the authorities who
:56:40. > :56:44.caught up with the brothers and Nicky Date and a TV repairman, and
:56:44. > :56:47.the guys from LDS enforcement limited. Let's hope we will not see
:56:47. > :56:51.any of them on a screen near you any time soon.
:56:51. > :56:54.And while we're at it, let's hope we don't see this character again,
:56:54. > :56:57.either. Clive Bramall of Oxford and Abingdon Washing Machine Repairs
:56:57. > :57:04.who conned his customers into handing over money for appliances
:57:04. > :57:08.that didn't turn up. The question we would like the answer to his,
:57:09. > :57:14.where has all the money gone, because you have taken thousands of
:57:14. > :57:24.pounds off different people. Well, earlier this year he was charged
:57:24. > :57:26.
:57:26. > :57:30.with three counts of fraud. He pleaded guilty, received a six-week
:57:30. > :57:33.suspended jail sentence, and was ordered to carry out 250 hours of
:57:33. > :57:36.unpaid work. Which brings us to the end. But before we go, don't
:57:36. > :57:42.confuse any of the companies we featured with those of similar
:57:42. > :57:47.names. Lots of people getting in touch
:57:47. > :57:50.about switching energy supplier. It is a nightmare, says one. One says
:57:50. > :57:55.that nobody warned her her filter would become blocked when she
:57:55. > :57:59.bought her a diesel car. She has just spent �1,000 replacing it.
:57:59. > :58:06.Keep sending your stories and tip- offs. We would read them and follow
:58:06. > :58:09.up while we are off air. Just visit the website.