Episode 8 Watchdog

Switching from British Gas - not worth the trouble. Repairs from PC

World - are they worth the hassle? This hotel package from WH Smith -

definitely not worth the money. Plus, BT, Shell and then there's

the Halifax. They need to mind their language. It's Watchdog, the

Hello and good evening. Welcome. We are live as usual from Television

Centre. Tonight - fed up with high gas and electricity bills? Wait

until you try to switch supplier. They've been charging me for

someone else's gas for the last six months, which was absolutely

disgusting. Also tonight, Nissan, the diesel engines kind to the

environment, but tough on your bank balance. WH Smith, fancy buying

these gift cards? There could be less to them than meets the eye.

Currys and PC World, same old complaints. Some old stories from

me tonight, except they all have exciting new endings. Yeah, we are

catching up with some of the rogues we have featured and telling you

what happened to them next. They must be delighted to be on TV

again! Well, OK, not all of them. This is Nicky Date, fly-tipper

extraordinaire, exposed by us and prosecuted by the authorities and

here offloading outside Cardiff Magistrates' Court. We'll let you

know what happened when he stood up in front of the beak a little later.

First, rocketing fuel bills. Huge company profits, confusing tariffs

and three reasons why the Government called the big six gas

and electricity suppliers to Downing Street this week. The main

outcome - Energy Secretary, Chris Huhne, advising if you want a

better deal, switch supplier. Easy to say minister. Have you actually

tried? The Government's now telling us to switch, but the companies

themselves have been saying it for years. There's never been a better

time to look around and make sure that you've got the best deal.

thing that the viewers need to know, they can make big savings.

sounds simple. If only it was. As you've been telling us, switching

can be time consuming and annoying. Hopelessly confusing too. Even if

you manage to wade through the hundreds of tariffs on offer and

find a better deal with another provider. You may just wonder why

you bothered. Like these five. Switched-on energy customers, all

with nightmares. The first one - cancellation fees. Rod and Glynn

Annell decided to switch when their bills rocketed this summer. British

Gas increased their prices by an average of 20%. Shortly after I

joined them that happened so I decided to switch to EDF. You also

decided to switch? Yes. I received e-mail notification from Scottish

Power and their prices would have meant a massive increase, so I

shopped around for another supplier, which just happened to be EDF.

told British Gas he was leaving. And she told Scottish Power the

same, but they were both in for a shock. Switching was going to cost

them. They told me if I wanted to switch there would be a �60

cancellation fee. Glynn, you insisted on an itemised bill?

and it's only when I scrutinised them I realised a cancellation of

�20 had been applied. Both complained and rightly, because

although they can charge exit fees, on these occasions they were in

breach of rules drawn up by the industry regulator Ofgem. What the

regulations mean for consumers is if you are affected by a price rise

you have 30 days to inform your supplier that you want to leave and

if a termation fee applies you don't have to pay it. There's no

excuse for the suppliers getting this wrong. Ofgem reminded them all

about the rules in August. Meanwhile, here's another one that

isn't always followed. Paul Millington decided to leave British

Gas for EDF last winter. They told me I could switch and I wouldn't

incur the increased prices. When I got my final bill guess what was

there? The increased prices. They shouldn't have been on Paul's bill,

because when he decided to switch his existing payment rate should

have been frozen. When he complained, British Gas blamed a

computer fault and sent a correct bill and offered �25 compensation.

Here's the bill that she sent you? This is the the -- this is the

final bill. You'll see the �25 and you'll still see the increased

prices. What they've done is offset the increase against what they say

is a good-will compensation. I don't think there's much in that.

At least Paul managed to switch. Others have been bogged down in

delays. Lloyd Bonson's one of them. He notified EDF of his intention to

leave earlier this year, but a series of computer errors means

he's still on their system. His new chosen supplier can't take him on,

even after five months. It should take between six and eight weeks to

switch. It's unacceptable for it to take up to five months. It's very

frustrating. I'm left in the dark and it's annoying. Which is exactly

what it shouldn't be. Since the big six suppliers all signed up to the

sew-called peace ov mind guarantee. -- so-called peace-of-mind

guarantee. According to the suppliers siching has never been so

easy. Tell that to Melissa who switched from Scottish Power to

British Gas last year. Five months after that switch, Scottish Power,

who she thought she had left, wrote demanding five months' worth of

payment. That's because she was still their customer. British Gas

had failed to switch her over. But they had been billing her. They've

been charging me for somebody else's gas for last six months,

which was absolutely disgusting. I don't understand how it at all

happened. British Gas have since refunded Melissa, enabling her to

settle her outstanding bill with Scottish Power, but that still may

not be the end of it. Scottish Power have then passed on my debt

to a debt collecting agency and I'm just really worried that my address

will be black listed for something which is out of my hands. Five

customers - five switching nightmares. Surely the energy

companies can make it simpler than this? The Department of Energy and

Climate Change says it's aiming to limit the time to takes to switch

to three weeks and cut the hassle out of switching with a new method

of checking and changing. You can find the advice on this special

website: The big six energy companies say they're committing to

making switching as easy as possible and agreed to write to 8

million customers advising them of the best ways to save money. With

me now is Ian Marlee, from off yem. -- Ofgem. So much for the Energy

Secretary saying switch. You see what happens if you try. Firstly, I

think we should say that sadly your film reinforces some of the

concerns that we ourselves have identified and expressed recently,

about how the energy companies are failing their consumers. There are

definitely good deals out there and we would encourage people to switch,

but we know it's not as easy as it could or should be. On your own

figures, 85% of people don't even try and switch, do they? That's

right. Switching has gone down in the past few years and we think

that is for a number of reasons, mainly around things like tariff

complexity, which makes it very difficult, but it's important to

say that a couple of years ago, we set up the ombudsman to try to deal

with the kind of complaints on your film, and really he is there if

people are finding that actually the companies aren't dealing

properly with their complaints, they can go there. Last year, he

dealt with 5,000 complaints, of which the vast majority were found

in favour of the consumer and in two out of three cases they

received financial compensation. the regulator, 400 different

tariffs have grown up in the last four years. Were you sitting by and

smiling? You are absolutely right, that the market is too complex.

haven't you done anything about it? We have been doing things. Over the

last few years, we have done a number of things, where we have

identified problems and dealt with them. For example, a couple of

years ago we introduced - we found out that the suppliers were

charging unjustified price differences to consumers. For

example, if they were on prepayment metres. They are some of the most

vulnerable consumers and we banned those unfair price differentials.

That is locked in about 300 million worth of savings for consumers. The

important thing is that the suppliers are still failing

consumers and therefore we are about to undertake the most radical

reform of the retail market that we have seen in the last ten years.

But you have warned them so many times. Surely, if you had done

injure job properly, there wouldn't have had to be a summit at Downing

Street. The profits increase every year and consumers are being more

and more punished, to the point where they can't afford energy?

have been dealing with the problems that have been there. What we are

now saying - Why aren't you doing it quicker? The tariffs - they've

increased by double the amount over the last couple of years. We need

to address that and say, look, we threw down the gauntlet to the

suppliers and they haven't cleaned up their acts. For 75% of people on

standard tariffs, why should there be more than one payment type.

soon will we see your efforts in our bills? With the reforms, there

will be the radical simplification and we have said to the company -

If they don't? They have until spring to respond positively and if

they don't, then we have the option of senting them off to the

Competition Commission. Thank you. Some company responses to the film.

British Gas have apologised to two the customers and blame an

administrative error on the mistake on Rod's bill and they say

Melissa's name was wrongly entered, meaning they took over the wrong

supply and that's been rectified. As for Paul, they say they was

charged higher rates because they didn't receive notification from

his new supplier. However, they've refunded his �25 as a gesture of

goodwill. Scottish Power have apologised to Glynn for applying a

cancellation charge. They are compensating her for the time spent

rectifying the problem. ED if have apologised for the delay to Lloyd,

blaming a system error and have offered him compensation. If you

would like to comment on this, or any of toe fight's stories, please

e-mail us: Coming up - this WH Smith hotel gift package. Price on

the box, �109. Price at the room as little as �60. Nissan, they

advertise this model as urban proof, whatever that means. Beware if you

are driving it around town. Dear Matt, why don't the rogues you

feature ever get arrested at the end of the show? Dear Mr Matt, why

go to all that effort catching them only for them to runway? We get a

few of these, but you see, it's not our job to bring wrong doers to

justice. It's up to the authorities to do the prosecuting and very

often they do. Tonight, briefly, you can come away from your key

boards because we are going to reveal what happens to some of our

Dan and I enjoy the cinema. I am into Korean classics, early French,

anything by a Coen brothers. What do you think, down? Pretentious. I

prefer the Back To the Future trilogy. OK, wisecracking cool kid

with eccentric sidekick. I like it. Also it is fitting because we are

about to travel back in time. Hold on, is this a sequel, a

prequel, or a third, or something else? OK, what this is, is ask

telling people what happened and then Updating them with new

information for the nation. terms of Star Wars, where are we?

As Luke been born yet? That is how we have to understand it. We are

sitting on the Death Star. We are watching old films of the pod race.

And we are telling everybody what happened. I have got it. Round the

film. Les meet tonight's first leading man, who we met first last

September. Nicky Date. He liked to roam the streets of Cardiff

collecting people's rubbish. He then roamed the streets of Cardiff

looking for somewhere to put it, which was usually on the streets of

Cardiff. And for this, he has been jailed in the past. We heard he was

back at it and when we called him out he quoted as �80. Not much, but

then he did not do much work, either. He even got our research

Oh, yeah, it is coming back to me. It is when you wore the outfit you

bought from the motorway services. This is our chair, our bed box. Not

very nice if he wants to get his car out there. Another chair. You

might see things all over the country and think nothing of it,

but it is one of those things that makes life a little bit worse. And

of course, our council tax goes to pay to clear it up. Thank you,

Nicky Date. That is the bit I remember. What happened? We called

him back to another job and I brought along some friends. Monkey

Helen? Not those kind of friends. The Cardiff Arms male-voice choir.

They are not your real friends. Maybe, but they are good men with

great voices and lovely sweaters, as Nicky Date found out when we

called him back to collect some Hello, Matt Allwright from BBC

Rogue Traders. Do you recognise that tune, it is the Ash Grove.

With you, it becomes the trash growth, because you fly tip.

Unfortunately, the ones that we have seen have ended up in someone

else's skipper, or down a back alley like that. That is the ones

that we know that you have fly tipped. And you have been convicted

for in the past. You are still matted, so many years later. You

are a fly Tipper. That is what we gave you and that is where it ended

up. You did that, didn't you? It is coming back out. It might as well

end up in our front yard, as in someone else's backyard. We are not

Do you see what we did there? Nicky Date, one of South Wales' premier

fly tippers. Do not give him yours. That is where the story ended and

now you're going to give us the epilogue. I would not leave you

without an epilogue. On 26th May this year Nicky Date appeared at

Cardiff Magistrates Court to get a sentence on two charges of fly-

tipping. But these charges were special, because he was tipping oil.

Look at that. He could have left it in the container but he has tipped

it all over the ground. For this, and the other charge of fly-tipping,

he received a six-month suspended sentence, 12 month supervision

order, 200 hours of unpaid work and an ASBO MACRO hanging round his

neck. This was him arriving at court, before he had even found out

what was going to happen. He is about to do a dance with the

photographer. Only real men can wear pink. Your footage was used as

supplementary evidence which helped to secured a five-year ASBO against

him. Fly-tipping is a major problem in Cardiff, costing the city

council of to �1 million a year to clear-up. Thank you, Steve. Yes, a

good one, but don't go away as there is plenty more real justice

to be dished out, including the tasty tale of the TV repairman who

overcharged us by hundreds. Do you lack imagination, or do you just

like prison food? Can you tell me? I will tell you what happened after

that report a bit later. It is delicious! All of that talking

about food has made me hungry. How about you and me, dinner for two?

Look what I have bought you. �49, Amazing Adventures gift, experience

from WH Smith, Restaurant Discovery for Two. How much do you think it

is worth? �49. You would have thought so. One viewer received it

and was offered a meal worth just �20. Here is another question. A

weekend for two? Yes, even more. The price on the box, �109.

would expect a room worth �109. but it could be a lot less, like

this one, for Tony Artemeo. Recently, some good friends of ours

to help us celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary gave us a

voucher from WH Smith's for �109 for one night bed-and-breakfast for

two people course that I found a suitable bed and breakfast just

over an hour from where I live. I phoned the proprietor and he

informed me the voucher was not worth �109 but �60. I think this is

all full value for money and not something I would recommend to

anyone. What is going on? Although the gift experience is sold in WH

Smith, it is run by a company called Activity Superstore and they

are taking a big slice of the money for themselves. When we called

participating hotels to find out what �109 would entitle us to, here

is what three of them told us. received a voucher from a friend

I was wandering, how much is the Out of interest, how much do they

take? And can I ask, how much is We did call another hotel who said

we could get �100 roomed with a �109 voucher. And what do Activity

Superstore say? They say that over 99% of customers have no complaint

and only 0.1% complain about value. Of course. There are 57 hotels to

choose from. They say each is Independent with its own pricing

structure. In addition, many charge different rates depending on the

time of year, day and week, but because the voucher is valid for a

year it covers these many different prices and customers can stay at a

time convenient to them. What about the �49 restaurant Boucher that was

worth less than half? Well, Toby Joyce alerted us to that one. A �20

a meal was all that he was offered when he tried to use it because

that is what the restaurant said it was worth to them. Activity

Superstore say that it should have offered him a tasting menu worth up

to �50, and all of the 100 participating restaurants have

agreed to do that. They have now offered Toby a free meal as an

apology. WH Smith says that it is sorry some customers have been

disappointed with the Amazing Adventures packs. It says it will

be contacting Activity Superstore about the issues and will support

them with selecting the outlets offering the packages to customers.

In a nutshell, I could take you away on the cheap, very exciting,

even on the cheap, by booking a room director one of the hotels we

called for �60 and it is not only exciting but I would be �49 in

pocket. Exactly, a bottle of champagne!

Up next, Fiat and Nissan, two companies with diesel models

perfect for driving around town. Kind to the environment, but not on

your wallet. Whether it is doing the school run,

commuting, were doing a big shock, a city car seems the perfect

solution for the city driver. And they come with tempting incentives,

like this baby, the Fiat 500, named city car of the year by Business

Car magazine. Low emissions and low tax. And if you choose a diesel,

you might save on fuel consumption, too. In that case, I might give it

another spin. Damon bought his brand new Fiat 500 two years ago.

bought the car as a city runaround. I was looking for something that

was compact, easy to drive, especially in town. I wanted

something economical and environmentally friendly.

within one year, a warning light came on the dashboard and he

discovered his little Fiat had a big problem. If I spoke to a

mechanic who told me that because it was fitted with the component

that is used to control emissions, I would need to take the car out

regularly for 20 minutes and drive it constantly for 50 mph for it to

function properly. Fiat do mention this part in their manual but Damon

says he was not told about it when he bought the car. I went for a

test drive and no one mentioned about a diesel perhaps not being

appropriate for town or city driving. I am left with a car that

I have to take out for longer drives than I normally would do,

and I wish I had bought petrol. This is the part in question, the

diesel particulate filter, DPF. It is fitted to the exhaust to trap

the soot and reduce emissions. But if you were using the car

exclusively for city driving, you could be in trouble. The part

usually cleans itself when the engine runs at high speed, a

process called regeneration. If this has not happened for a while,

a warning light indicates the filter has become blocked. It must

be clear by driving the car at high revs by a sustained period, easily

done on the open road but more difficult around town. And it is

not just these cars that have this filter. The part was introduced to

bring cars in line with new EU green emissions rules. Most modern

diesels are fitted with it. So it could be a problem if you're

thinking of buying a so-called urban proof Nissan, as the diesel

version could end up costing you. Report hours from our local Nissan

dealership. We spoke to the sales man in the dealership and we asked

if there were any problems with it. He said you could get an issue with

the diesel particulate filter on them, and he asked what type of

driving we do. We explained normal day-to-day commuting as well as

pulling a caravan. He assured us it would be fine. Five months later,

the warning light came on. manual said that what I should do

was to take the car to a dual- carriageway, somewhere I could get

it above 50 mph, and drive it for 30 minutes, or until the filter

light went out. That was what we did. One month later, the light

came on again, this time accompanied with the engine

management liked. It said to take the car to a local dealership for

further investigation. His films are needed to be regenerated, but

as a previous owner had already claimed Ford, Nissan charged him

nearly �250. They later agreed to a one-off refund. Any more problems,

and he is on his own. It is quite likely to happen again, thus

costing me another �250 to sort out. I don't think it is urban proof at

all. It cannot cope with normal day-to-day commuting and I do not

feel confident in it. Watchdog has received over 200 complaints about

blocked diesel particulate filter has, a problem affecting diesel

cars made by most manufacturers. Some drivers have had to pay

hundreds to have them clear, whilst one customer needed a replacement

costing over �1,000. Manufacturers should instruct dealers to ask

searching questions of potential customers. If the customer says

they needed for the urban commuting and not regularly for a run down a

motorway, the dealer should say, with this technology, it could be a

problem for you. In fact, nearly all diesels built

after 2009 have one of these filters. The question any owner

will ask is, how do I stop it blocking? Manufacturers advise

driving the car at around 40 mph continuously until regeneration is

complete and the warning light goes off. It is difficult to do that in

built up areas but our expert believes it is more about the revs.

You can get the revs up by driving at a good speed in a lower gear

than normal. But the Reds have to stay up for about 15 minutes in

order for the filter to be cleared, and that is not always easy, as I

We are up to 60 and immediately it's below 2,000. That wouldn't

generate enough heat to clear the filter. You need to speed up so

even at 60 you need to be in one gear below top. I'm a city driver,

can I do this at 40? Of course you can. You need to put it into gear

to give you 2,500 rpm. What have you got on your 40mph road in town

traffic light, round abouts. Every time you stop the process goes

right back to the beginning and has to start all over again. OK. Not

everyone agrees with that advice. The Society for Motor Manufacturers

and Traders says normal driving, even in towns and cities, is

usually enough for the filters to regenerate automatically. Fiat, who

point out they've never marketed this as a city car, say the

regeneration conditions required for that model are not as exacting

as we have shown. Their advice is on the website and the information

packs and handbooks they give to new owners. You can find it on our

website. Nissan say their sales literature explains DPS and they

say the staff are trained to help staff make the right purchase

choice and very interesting this - they say they would recommend one

of their petrol or electric cars for anyone planning to use their

vehicle for short journeys only. Next, travel insurance. Although

millions of people in the UK buy annual policies covering them for

all overseas trips, some travel companies are still adding

insurance to your bills automatically. You might not even

spot it. Booking a holiday is often an exciting and emotional

commitment. When doing it on-line, often you want to skip to the end

and just book it. However, hold on. Within the final pages there may

lie a whole lot of extra options and with some, if you are not

careful, you could end up paying more than you expected, as they

pre-select extras. By ticking an option like travel insurance it

gets added to your bill. Even though you may already be covered

or could find it cheaper or better elsewhere. Luckily, though, there

are EU regulations that prevent them doing this. So none of them

would still be at it, would they? I've been clicking through a sample

of on-line travel sites. The result - big names are costing you big

money. By opting you in, unless you check the terms, they'll be jacking

up your price. Last month, I searched for a week in Florida for

a family of four. Look at this. Expedia. They automatically added

travel insurance to the price, putting a massive �127.50 on my

bill. They even listed travel insurance as included, so it looks

like you are getting a discount for not taking it, but it was never

included in the original price, so it's an added extra, and I had to

ensure I deselected it, but it's easy to miss. If only it would just

-- it were just the one. I found last minute.com at it. It

automatically added �99 and opodo. That was �110 for the week. But

this isn't just about travel insurance. Thompson and Flybe say

baggage is an optional extra. They pre-select this, so how are they

all getting away with this? The EU has rules in place to stop

companies doing this. It's a clear breach, but these haven't yet been

incorporated into British law. It's expected by the end of the year, so

there aren't any penalties available for breach. However, the

UK's airline industry regulator wants them to follow the EU rules

now. The European law on pricing transparency is very clear.

Optional extras should be clearly displayed and only offered on an

opt-in basis and we are doing work with the Office of Fair Trading to

make sure all the tour operators have no doubt they need to comply

with this. It's really important that people actively choose to buy

these optional extras and that things aren't slipped into their

basket without them noticing. can be easy to miss what has been

added to the bill and if you fail to opt out, you'll pay. Ending up

paying for travel insurance when you already have a policy -

unacceptable. Making sure you know how to deal with it - esen sal.

Martin's here -- essential. Martin's here now. You have an

update? Expedia and Thompson have agreed not to do this any more.

There are still many more doing it. Isn't this just a question of your

mandatory of reading the small print? You always do that, but some

people are in a rush and the whole sites are designed to get you to

sign up for the extras. People out there, maybe unfamiliar with the

internet, so there are problems, but let me tell you, even Evan

Davies, one BBC economics editor, presenter of the Today programme

and dragsions' den tweeted he had been caught out by this. It is not

acceptable. Did they get his money back? I believe he did. If anyone

looks and realises they've gone and signed up for travel insurance they

don't need, what do you suggest? Write to the company and it is

strong if you have another policy so you really didn't need this one,

but I would like to start a mini armchair revolution tonight,

because the financial ombudsman has never had a case like this, but it

says it would look at it and customers need to be treated fairly.

If the company says it won't give you the money back, take it to him.

It can award compensation. What we need to do is hit them in their

pockets. Wonderful. Thank you. Chris. Thank you very much. A few

other company responses to the report. Last minute. Dom say they

are concerned that uninsured travellers may not be able to

afford issues whilst abroad. Opodo say customers can remove insurance,

or on the next page of the booking process before they main. Flybe say

they are complieing with all regulations on the way they offer -

- come plying with all regulations on the way they are offering extras.

Still to come - Shell it claimed the fuel offered drivers big

savings. Oh, no, it doesn't. BT - why one of their discount deals

could end up costing you more. Back to Rogue Traders II, this time it's

personal. The sequel that lets you catch up with some of the people we

have exposed over the last couple of years. In one moment, we reveal

what happened to a clamping firm in Essex. Before that, the TV repair

man who cheated the people of Birmingham. Take your seats. It's

about to begin. Salted or sweet? Mixed. Couldn't make my mind up.

What is next? Were you not listening to what I just said in

the studio? I don't know! Anyway, this is the story of Mr Sharma,

until recently, based in Birmingham. In 2006, he was sentenced to 12

months after breaching a court order designed to stop him cheating

customers and he was served with a further order. By 2009, he was back

at it again, making your TV problems disappear. He also made

your TV disappear, according to some of his customers. He came and

he said it would have to be taken away for repair and I've never seen

the television since. TVRC went under many names posing as local.

We gave them a TV. Should have done it. Instead, we were told the set

was irreparable and offered a replacement. Remind me, what did

the telly need? A built of soldering. Taking? Ten minutes,

maybe, tops, half an hour. Yeah. We said no at which point the TV was

repairable, but it cost more more than double what it should and

wasn't really fixed at all. plot is dragging a bit. I'm sorry,

but it's essential background. We gave them another one with a

nackered switch. Replacement should cost �150, including labour. They

charged us �345 to repair it. When I say repair it, it would switch

itself off after a couple of hours, so not particularly helpful.

doorstep confrontation. In a supermarket car park, somewhere in

the Midlands. How are you? The thing I'm wondering is how you can

go to prison for running a dodgy TV repair company and yet three years

later be doing exactly the same thing. Have you lot your car?

Because, that's what you are doing and we have heard from your

customer, yes, this one back here, we have heard from your customers

who tell us that just like before their TVs are not coming back to

them. Have you -- have you lack of imagination or do you like prison

tood? Is that what it -- food? Is that what it is? Big fella. In big

trouble, because after it aired on the country's favourite show he

took time out. He soon returned to his old tricks. Trading Standards

decided to prosecute again and he appeared in April in court and

jailed for 15 months for breaching that order. He must like the food.

Next! Yes, this part is a double- feature with the second film

featuring LBS Enforcement Limited, a clamping company who took no

prisoners. That's wrong. They took prisoners. They said �150 for clamp

releasing as the fee and �200-odd for the truck and I said, well,

what do you mean? They said we have deployed a truck to tow your car.

Then there was Jenny King. She doesn't deny she parked in the

wrong place, but one of several people who was intimidated by the

LBS clamper. I was out on Saturday shopping. Came back to my car being

clamped to this very big, ugly man. He wanted me to pay �435 there and

then. I paid it. I was very frightened and I just paid him.

�400 just blown us away. I do work, but I'm a single parent. You can't

afford that, can you? I'll say. As ever, we needed to see them at work

for ourselves. Our researcher, Hannah, yes, she is back, only

stopped for five minutes in this Ben blocked her in and demanded

We later caught up with one of the directors of the firm and clamped

his car. The good news is since then the authorities have caught up

with the company too. Ben Collins, and Edward Lapenna and director

Mark Stone have had their licences taken away. They have also been

given 13 weeks' suspended jail sentences for using threatening

words and behaviour when posing as debt collectors and the Inland

Revenue has won an application to have the company wound up for non-

payment of taxes, all of which will bring a warm glow to the motorists

of es em, not to mention Hannah. -- Essex, not to mention Hannah. She

did get out in the end. As for our next rogue - you have sold us a car

which has been clocked. As you know, that is against the law. He tried

to escape too. He may have got away from me. Straight down the middle

there. But he couldn't outrun the courts. Find out what happened to

him in about ten minutes. A few e- mails from you about diesel filters.

One driver here says, he bought the car to drive around town, but he's

had to spent half an hour on the motorway every week to unblock the

filter. Lots of you also getting in touch about switching energy

supplier too and we'll have an update later on. Next, Currys and

PC World and their repairs aftersales team. We featured them

last year. They were season standard with repairs and had

terrible customer service. They've been relaunched as knowhow and

according to Dixons Retail Group, things are very different, but

surprise, surprise, according to customers, who have contacted

Millions of people are tuning into Strictly. I love nothing more than

a Saturday night in front of a corporate video. The board are

excited about this and that does not happen often. A have seen the

plans and they look exciting. the most excitable thing that has

happened to us for a long time. have the opportunity to do

something amazing in UK retail. Wow! Thank goodness they are

excited because for me there is nothing less tedious them those

annoying technical issues. Knowhow not only promise to help you set up

in store and repair your laptop, TV or desktop, but they also offer

plenty of advice and lots of reassurance. They collected Rob's

laptop when his hard drive failed, but then Knowhow themselves failed

to send it back. They could not tell me where the laptop was,

whether it had gone out for delivery, whether it was in the

repair centre, only that the systems they were working from were

not agreeing with each other. is reassuring! I was getting a

story saying it was at the Despatch Centre and they were looking for it.

It was a different story each time. Two weeks on, Knowhow were still

searching for the laptop. When I phoned back the next day, they were

stating that an entire palette had gone missing. They said it had been

sent to the wrong Despatch Centre. Hang on, a palette? Well, they may

have told him that originally, but they have since denied losing the

palate. His laptop, yes, that had gone missing. But by the time they

offered a replacement, he had had enough. After two weeks and hours

of phone calls, I was disgusted to the point where I just wanted to

separate myself from them. Since the launch of Knowhow in March, we

have had over 100 complaints, mainly about the servicing of

laptops. But with their state-of- the-art repair Lab, which sounds

fancy, surely they have the know- how to fix an obvious fault. Let's

hear from Sarah Taylor, whose laptop kept switching itself off.

She arranged for Knowhow to repair the fault. They sent it back within

seven days. I plugged it in and I was happy, the laptop was back. 15

minutes later, it stopped working again. I was straight on the phone

to them. Again and again, she sent off her laptop to Knowhow to get it

fixed. Frustrating. But at least she could keep up-to-date with

repairs thanks to their trains and track system, couldn't she? I wish

I could tell you about it but I never had a tracking number. The

only number I ever received was a booking reference number, so I

cannot tell you how great the service is, because I never

received one. After seven attempts, they eventually admitted they did

not have the know-how to fix her computer and offered a replacement

instead. I feel I have been treated very badly by Knowhow. They are not

providing the service they should. They need to make a good impression,

provide an efficient service, the repairs will be done. Simply not

true. It still, at least she got a new computer for her troubles but

things do not always turn out so well. One customer was so tired of

waiting for a computer to be repaired that she asked for it back

and got a sticky reminder of Knowhow's customer care. And when I

say sticky, does anybody know how to get this off? OK, not great so

far, but at least you can pay a little extra for their premiere

cover. You know, the one that is supposed to give you the best

possible cover when things go wrong. Just as they did for Michele Morgan.

When I phoned the faults department and said my daughter's laptop was

not working properly they were extremely good and I thought, all

well and good. Sadly, that was as well and good as it got. Speedy

repair service? Weeks later, still no sign of the computer. Every time

I phoned, they would give me a different delivery date and then it

would not arrive. I phoned the delivery people, I phoned the

warehouse where it was being repaired. They could never give me

a concrete answer. The good news - after five weeks, Knowhow did

deliver a laptop to Michelle. The bad news - it was the wrong one.

could not believe what I was seeing. My main concern is, who has got my

daughter's laptop? She is a 14- year-old girl. I did not want

anybody looking through her computer. Knowhow agreed to replace

her daughter's laptop and managed to trace her lost data. And for her

troubles they offered �40. I feel, in my heart, that I would never

again take out premier club cover with Knowhow. I have no trust

whatsoever in the company, in anything they have done. So, new

name, new slogans, but for some customers it is the same old story.

Dixons Retail Group says that Knowhow has a 99% success rate but

human error means they have occasionally let down customers.

Any customers having problems should e-mail them direct. The

address is on screen. They apologised to every customer we

featured, offering repairs, replacements or refunds where

appropriate. Thank you to everyone who has been in touch about that

story. Here are a few more. Halifax, part of Lloyds Banking

Group, committed to building relationships with customers,

focussing on and addressing their needs. So why did it tell one

potential customer to (ahem) off? The abusive message was scrawled on

a letter to Steve Smith, a schools examination officer from Lancaster.

The offending F-word, spelled out in full, appeared at the top of an

application form for a new Clarity credit card, a card that Steve,

unsurprisingly, has decided not to apply for. He says he was stunned

by the message and angered by Halifax's response when he

complained. An operator brushed it off as the work of someone with a

grudge against the company. But now a spokesman has apologised for the

distress, saying that "a regrettable error in systems

allowed a spurious application to progress beyond initial checking".

Looking forward to making big savings with Shell's FuelSave

Unleaded? It's not going to happen. The oil giant has been ticked off

for bigging up the effects of its petrol in a print and radio ad

earlier this year. One featured a man dressed in a lab coat holding a

measuring glass with the promise that drivers could save up to one

litre per tank at no extra cost. Shell argued that its tests showed

that the fuels achieved a 2% saving more than 10% of the time. But the

Advertising Standards Authority said it had exaggerated the effects

and banned the ads for being misleading. On a brighter note for

the company, its second quarter profits were up 77% this year. It

made �4.9 billion in just three months, which works out at more

than �54 million every day. Ponder BT. If you have a Friends and

Family Mobile discount deal you could be paying more than those who

haven't. Thousands of customers signed up for the $4.50 per quarter

plan, which promised the lowest prices when calling a mobile from a

BT landline, just 7p a minute. But BT have since cut the cost of

calling mobiles for other customers to just 5.3p a minute during the

evenings. So undercutting the Friends and Family plan. But BT

says it has no plans to change the terms of the deal, and says

customers who are on it can still make big savings when calling

mobiles during the day, which hasn't impressed John Matthews

who's demanded a refund for both his quarterly fee and the price

difference on all the calls he's made. Looks like they've just lost

OK, intermission over. It's time for the final act of tonight's

Rogue Traders sequel, with one more story in search of an ending, an

unhappy ending for the rogues, a And that's because these guys are

so bad they gave used-car salesman a bad name, and that is bad. These

brothers made a business of selling cars with hugely reduced mileage at

massively inflated prices. Tricky, this one. We were fairly sure the

cars were clocked, but we needed to get them to clock a car for us.

know. I was there. If I remember correctly, the Magic Tree air

freshener was sandalwood. First, we had to sell them the car, and then

buy it back to prove beyond doubt that they knew what they were

selling. The car had 128,000 miles on the clock when we sold it to

them, but was showing 47,000 when we went to buy it back, which meant

they could ask �6,200, not the 2300 they bought it for. Nice business.

Yes, in any illegal way. We organised a test drive, with one of

the brothers coming to show us what was what. But what actually was

what was that the car was staying away, while he was going to have a

chat with me. Matt Allwright, BBC Rogue Traders. When we sold you the

car, it had 128,000 miles on the clock. Now you are trying to sell

it back to us and it has 47,000. Normally what happens here is that

I throw a few questions, the rogue drives off. Today is going to be

different because we still have his wheels. Funny! You are running!

you familiar with the term clocking? You have sold us a car

which has been clocked. As you know, that is against the law. You are

dealing with cars which will look younger, fresher than they are, and

look like they have done a fewer miles. That means you are conning

people, doesn't it? Do you mind if I put this award over your head? I

am not touching you. He gets on the phone. We have got you already. He

is trying to call in reinforcements, and we need help, too. Our camera

crew is struggling to keep up. Who needs a car, to be honest, when you

can move like this? And it is another two miles from here to his

home. I will tell you what, we are walking down the middle of the road.

I would say this constitutes a health and safety hazard so I might

leave you to it. There he goes, straight down the middle of a dual

carriageways. That his cars, clocking him, turning the clock

back on one of our cars and then trying to sell it on, the crucial

OK, so what is the update? Both brothers were prosecuted under the

Consumer protection from unfair trading regulations 2008 for the

supply of clocked cars. They pleaded guilty and got 200 hours'

unpaid work as a sentence. They calculated that they took half a

million miles of cars in one month. That is the distance from here to

the moon and back again. Wow! That is the distance across the Gamma

Quadrant. You have Star Wars and Star Trek mixed up. Dangerous!

Wildly erratic, let's acknowledge the work of the authorities who

caught up with the brothers and Nicky Date and a TV repairman, and

the guys from LDS enforcement limited. Let's hope we will not see

any of them on a screen near you any time soon.

And while we're at it, let's hope we don't see this character again,

either. Clive Bramall of Oxford and Abingdon Washing Machine Repairs

who conned his customers into handing over money for appliances

that didn't turn up. The question we would like the answer to his,

where has all the money gone, because you have taken thousands of

pounds off different people. Well, earlier this year he was charged

with three counts of fraud. He pleaded guilty, received a six-week

suspended jail sentence, and was ordered to carry out 250 hours of

unpaid work. Which brings us to the end. But before we go, don't

confuse any of the companies we featured with those of similar

names. Lots of people getting in touch

about switching energy supplier. It is a nightmare, says one. One says

that nobody warned her her filter would become blocked when she

bought her a diesel car. She has just spent �1,000 replacing it.

Keep sending your stories and tip- offs. We would read them and follow

up while we are off air. Just visit the website.