Episode 6 Watchdog

British Gas. You won't believe their bills. Harveys furniture. You

won't believe their ads. Claire's Accessories. You won't believe

their cheek. Plus faulty breast implants. Plus, BT, Halfords, and

Pontins, again. It's Watchdog. The Hello and good evening. Welcome to

Watchdog. We're live as usual from Television Centre. Tonight: Breast

implants. Leaking chemicals. No payouts. Is there hope for women

after all? Whatever is in that implant, seriously, was not meant

to be in a human body. I can't believe that they asked me to pay

again to correct it. I can't believe that they've made me pay

twice. British Gas.Trying to charge thousands for work that doesn't

need doing. Harvey's. Old sofa price: �599. New price: �699. And

they call it a sale? Plus, Claire's Accessories, great

jewellery designs. Pity someone else thought of them first. Have

you ever thought of getting someone to dispose of your rubbish? If you

have this fella's worth a swerve. He's dumped. He's dumped. Yes, he

came, he saw and he tipped. All of our rubbish, even this ferocious

and very scary predator, we'll call her Annie. His name is John Ovenell.

His game isn't much fun because if you hire him to get rid of your

waste, it could be you as well as him before the courts. Find out why

later. British Gas, the leading energy

provider in the UK with nearly 16 million customers. But when it

comes to servicing your boiler, it's also number one for complaints

about overcharging and needless work.

Boiler break downs can be shocking... Mum! Without cover, you

can get alarming bills. If you'd like us to come to your rescue,

call us today. A reassuring ad, British Gas promise top quality

service, peace of mind and no surprise when's it comes to paying

your bills. But do those promises match the reality? Well, with the

help of expert plumber Mike Griffin we're going to find out. Sorry I'm

late. First stop loyal customer Lois Brown who's been with British

Gas for many years paying �18.85 on her plan.

The boiler was working fine until it started making strange noises

the morning after its last service. A British Gas engineer came back to

replace a pipe and to deliver some shocking news. They said it could

go on for another five years or it could go tomorrow. He said winter

is coming on. That scared me. He said, it means a new boiler and it

can be costly. It was. British Gas quoted more than �3,600 for a new

boiler. Lois was shocked. She called a local plumber who gave a

different diagnosis and different price. He said this is the cause of

your trouble Mrs Brown. It was the thermostat control. How much did

that cost? �97. �97? So British Gas quote �3,602.65, local engineer,

�97. Mike? Having done an overall check on the boiler visually, to

make sure it's performing safely and cleanly, which it appears to be,

there's no reason for British Gas to say you need a new boiler.

so upset and annoyed. I went straight to the bank and cancelled

the home service insurance premiums. Now we all make mistakes and

identifying the wrong fault is not unheard of. But claiming a part is

obsolete when it's not, now that's unusual. Ask Gareth. We pay for the

home care plan which is �16.35 a month. They come out and fix the

boiler if it breaks, which it did. They had a look at it and told us

that the parts were obsolete. what's this? A gas valve. Is it

common? Yeah you can get them all over the place. According to Gareth

British Gas don't think so, are you sure? I can see it on that website

and that website, over the counter all over the place. British Gas

obviously couldn't see it anywhere. They maintained it wasn't available

any more. But they did offer a rather familiar solution. They sent

a guy out to give us a quote and it was �2,800 for a new boiler. Just

to be on the safe side we phoned a local guy. He came round and said

he could get the parts the next day. It would be �70. He fix today and

it's been fine ever since. British Gas �2,800. Local engineer

- �70. Mike? The gas valve has been changed. It's a replacement. It's

freely available. It's working properly and it's within the safety

requirements. I don't see any reason to change this boiler.

Misdiagnosing and claiming parts are obsolete, when they're readily

available, could it get any worse? Well, yes. You see, British Gas

condemned dorian's boiler even though it was in fine working order

The engineer came round to do a service and he said that the boiler

had to be condemned. The reason was one of the parts, a flew part was

obsolete to. Condemn it he ended up taking parts out of the boiler. He

told my wife you might as well throw them away because they'll be

no good any more. Luckily he got in contact with a local plumber who

discovered that the so-called obsolete part was available and

that the old one didn't even need replacing. So I ended up going out

and getting all the pieces out of the wheelie bin and kept them,

thank goodness. And guess who Mike agrees with? The condition of the

flue they have taken out, there is some corrosion on it, I don't think

it would allow gass to leak out of it because of the way it seals.

There's no good reason to condemn the boiler and change it for a new

one. It could have been cleaned up, resealed and put back together.

British Gas did eventually put it back together again, but only after

being confronted with the plumber's findings. The original engineer

rang me up, very apologetic and said he would be round on the

Monday to fix the problem and it's been fine ever since. With me now

from British Gas, Chris Jansen. British Gas one of the biggest

companies in the UK, you must be very ashamed? Well, I'm very

disappointed when I watch that video. Obviously, we take customer

complaints very, very seriously. I don't want any customer to be upset

with British Gas. As you'd expect, I've looked into these complaints

and spoken to the engineers, while we did make a mistake and I'm sorry

for that, we said some parts were not available, when they were, we

are managing 73,000 parts... mistake, �97 part against a quote

for nearly �3,000. There are two different points here, one is

actually the advice that we gave because we're comparing not really

like for like. We think that those boilers should be replaced. We have

and I'm proud of our engineers, we have 8,000 brilliant engineers and

they give good advice. Let me just ask you, do you think a woman in

her 80s, winter's coming, scaring her off, her local plumber does it

for �97, �3,600? Which would you choose? I spoke to the engineer

today and Gavin went to Mrs Brown's and actually... Did he mean to

scare her? Of course not. Why is he saying to her "winter's coming"?

Because it was. The boiler is 20 years old and it should be replaced.

Tell me this, what we need to understand is what's driving your

engineers? Why do they want to dismantle boilers without telling

people, why do they want to charge �3,600, are they on commission?

engineers are engineers. Are they on commission? You're not answering

me No, they're not. They don't get any reward for selling a boiler?

they do not get reward for selling a boiler. They are there to fix

boilers. They're not in any way benefiting from the boiler, your

people that go in there, there's nothing in it for them whatsoever?

Our engineers are engineers. They fix boilers. We visit seven million

homes a year and actually, 99% of times we fix the boiler. And most

of the time, we fix it first time. In the very rare occasion, it's one

in 100, we cannot fix a boiler, the engineer sits down with the

customer and explains to them the reasons why they should have a new

boiler. Do you think your engineers behaved correctly? I think our

engineers are fantastic. British Gas is a good company. We give good

advice and care for our customers. They have given the right advice.

These boilers are 20 years old. One's only 14 years old. One is 14

years and one is 22 years and the other is 20. We mustn't lose sight

of the important point here, in two cases we said the boiler should be

changed for safety reasons. I stand by that. We mustn't forget that

safety is the most important thing and that's what British Gas cares

about. Thank you very much. If you'd like to comment on that or

any of tonight's stories, here's a reminder of how to do so. For

emails: [email protected] is the address. For texts, dial 83199 and

start your message with the letters WD. And if you want to get involved

in the twitter discussion, our address and hashtag are on your

screens now. Coming up, the breast surgery scandal women denied

payouts for faulty implants, is it all about to change? Plus, when can

you ignore what a judge says? When you're a private parking company,

that's when. Never been up before a judge,

myself. Always kept my nose clean, doing things by the book is no

guarantee of staying out of trouble when you're getting rid of rubbish,

though. If you hire the wrong person to do the job, it could be

# How many kind of sweet flowers grow... #

It's spring, when bikers come alive. It's also a perfect time for

picnics. I'd like the pork pie. Where's a pickle? I packed mustard.

On a mini pork pie? Yeah. Are you some kind of savage? Mustard on a

sausage, pickle on a pork pie. What's wrong with you? You've

spoiled the picnic. It's broken. What's the matter? Picnics across

the country are being ruined not just because of an absence of

pickle. This is the reason: Fly- tipping. You've probably heard all

about it. You may have thought to yourself, what has that got to do

with me? The man from the council has got news for you. He's mad as

hell. He's not going to take it any more. Fly-tipping is unacceptable.

It's a scourge on the environment. And the Environmental Protection

Act section 33 makes it an offence to deposit any waste on land

without an environmental permit. Committing such an offence can

result in a fine of up to �50,000 or imprisonment. You see, he's

furious. Hold on, this bit's worrying. Under section 34 of the

act, anybody who produces, keeps, stores or disposes of waste has a

responsibility for that waste. So a householder who has produced waste

has a responsibility to make sure that whoever they pay to remove the

waste or dispose of it is going to take it to an appropriate site and

deal with it appropriately. Do you hear that? If someone collects your

rubbish and dumps it where they shouldn't, you could enup in court.

Swale Borough Council prosecuted three people for that last year.

Quite scary, isn't it? A chap called John Ovenell went round to

clear. He thought it was all good until Kent County Council called

him saying he found the waste fly tipped. The Council didn't per sue

matters because he had paid someone to take it away. How can I be fined

for someone else fly-tipping my rubbish. You're legally responsible.

You have to check whoever takes your rubbish is entitled to do. So

I'm very careful not to put my address in my rubbish. Yeah, but do

you know another dustbin that contains size 13 fluffy slippers, a

dozen chicken legs and a copy of Grazia? Fair point. It's like your

fingerprint, your dustbin DNA. It gives me an idea. You see, we need

to see Kent based John Ovenell cheaply and cheerfully ruining the

countryside. We get a pile of standard household waste, mattress,

sofya, desk. Then we add a few distinctive items from Rogue

Traders props cupboard to. Make sure we have the right stuff it's

marked with a special UV spray. We plant a tracking device. That way

we can keep an eye on our waste and find out where it ends up.

We've called John Ovenell out to our house where the lovely

homeowner has lumped the waste into a lovely big pile and here comes

He also turns out to be very talkative. He tells us all about

his work and his van and his far. But as for his illegal fly-tipping

he prefers to keep that a dirty little secret. Sorry John, we are

going to bring it right out into the open. Give it about ten minutes.

Before that, faulty breast implants. Nearly 50,000 British women

affected. All received silicone implants containing industrial-

grade chemicals never intended for medical use. In December the French

Government recommended that implants in French patients were

removed free of charge. Because more and more women had chemicals

leaking into their bodies after the implants ruptured. Here women must

prove that it is medically necessary before the NHS or clinics

will act. Worse, the makers of the implants have gone out of business

no-one has been able to get a renund. Those refunds could be --

refund. Those refunds could be worth thousands. But maybe there is

hope after all. The French Government said it will

pay for 30,000 women to have their breast implants removed as a

precautionary measure. When I discovered I had PIP implants and

if French Government recommended they be removed from all ladies in

France, the first thing I thought was I have to have these removed. I

can't live with the worry of what they may be doing inside of me.

Rachel had her left breast partially removed after developing

cancer in 2009. She opted for reconstructive surgery, costing

nearly �6,000. Her surgeon used PIP implants. Seven years on she

discovered the same implants contained a gel not intended for

use in the human body, but for mattresses. I contacted the clinic.

Unfortunately they couldn't help me. I couldn't eat properly. I couldn't

sleep. I had to have a date sorted out for when they were going to be

replaced. Rachel was too late to stop the implants leaking inside

her body. When doctors came to remove them they found a hole the

size of a golf ball. They had already ruptured. My left implants

had ruptured. My surgeon described it as crumbling. Hit ruptured in

several places. Cue see particles of it falling to pieces. I was

horrified. That was leaking into my body. Whatever was in that implant

seriously was not meant to be in the human body. I hadn't gone to

somebody as a breast cancer survivor and having been fully

aware I had breast cancer they promised me the best care. I can't

believe they used PIP implants and then asked me to pay again to

correct it. I can't believe me made me pay twice. Like thousands of PIP

patients Rachel has a strong claim. But the chances of them recovering

their money have looked slip. Although the law says a is

responsible if it sells you a faulty product, this manufacturer

has gone out of business. And as the implants were approved as safe

by the EU the clinics that fitted them have argued that they did

nothing wrong. Let me be dispassionate, I look at this

should not as a health issue but a consumer rights issue, seeing if

the laws that apply to any purchase can bring hope. The answer is yes.

There's a new Avenue to try if they paid on a credit card. One woman in

the Midlands tried to claim back the entire cost of her surgery from

Lloyds TSB. Under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act if you buy

something over �100 and pay for any of it on a credit card, the card

company is jointly lie financial anything goes wrong with the

product. Last month, her claim was successful. Lloyds TSB paid out

�3,700. This doesn't set a precedent. And it needs to be

understood that usually if it has been over six years since you made

your purchase you can't claim. So for women whose implants were

fitted before 2006 connectically the deadline's passed. But, because

of the circumstances of this scandal they may still have a case.

Even those like Rachel whose surgery was eight years ago. The

general rule is you have to bring a claim within six years. However,

this is an exception. And this exception does apply in the case of

the PIP cases. If you suffered a personal injury you can claim

within the last three years from when you had knowledge of the

injury. We all know this the case of PIP that it only really came to

the the public knowledge within the last two years. That means we are

well within the three-year period. For Debbie Brewer it is more clear

cut. Her implants cost �4,000 250. I've had pain in my left breast for

over a year. He a private MRI scan. I had to pay �200 to have this done.

I've heard from my GP that I have gel oozing out of my implants into

my body. I've paid a lot of money for something that clearly isn't

satisfactory. These implants aren't fit for purpose, so I feel that

really I should get my money back. The leak means that Debbie has a

much stronger case when it comes to proving her implants were faulty.

Crucially she underwent her surgery three years ago and she paid for it

on her credit card. How strong is her case? I can't see any reason

why Debbie won't be successful in making a claim. Her implants are

faulty. She had the operation within three years. When you

consider everything together it would be a very good case. Of the

47,000 British women who received PIP implants, nearly 5 00 are

believed to have suffered a rupture. But many whose implants remain

intact want them to be removed in case they burst in future Melanie

has already gone ahead. I decided this year in January to have the

implants removed because I wasn't prepared to take if risk to my

health of them rupturing. It's the best decision I made. This is what

was removed. I'm very pleased I'm holding it on the outside and not

the inside of my body. Melanie's implants may still be in one piece

but as she paid more than �3,000 for them by credit card, does she

have a case for getting her money back? Under the supply of goods and

services Act 1982, it says those implants must be of satisfactory

quality. If they are made from industrial-standard silicone rather

than medical, and we know that that is the case now, they are not of

satisfactory quality. Therefore there's a breach of contract, and

this means there's a claim. If there's a claim you can make it

against the credit card company under Section 57 or the clinic.

Martin, so anyone who has paid on a credit card but only people who've

paid on a credit card have a chance of getting their money back?

have a joint right to go to either the credit card company or the

clinic. You don't have to go toe the clinic first. Credit cards

don't have deeper pockets. Clinics are fighting for their lives now.

You may stand a better chance, because it won't fight as hard.

What if the credit card company says no? This is another advantage,

because the clinic says no, you have to go to court. That could be

expensive and you could have costs awarded against you. But a credit

card company, you can go to the Financial Ombudsman. It can look at

is it fair and standard industry practise? Hay Heathrow, Lloyds TSB

has paid out. That's the start of an industry practise. But that

takes ages? This is PIP, and that tend to be quicker than PPI claims.

As long as you have paid over �100? If something costs �5 ,000 and you

pay even a penny, the card company is liable for the entire amount.

Thank you Martin. Lloyds TSB told us small number of

people affected by faulty implants have made claims under section 57.

They all say they will look at claims on a case by case basis.

Next the British Parking Association, the BPA. It represents

private parking companies in the UK. Importantly only its members can

buy your details from the DVLA, which enables them to chase drivers

for parking charges. And membership of the Association depends on those

parking companies abiding by the BPS's code of practice. We've shown

how it fails to kick out members who breach that code. We ask: how

does the association react when one of its members ignores a judge?

Excel Parking Limited, a BPA- approved operator since 1994. An

Excel car park in Stockport. It was here that Martin pulled up for a

shopping trip in 2010. It looked like a free car parks as so many

are in front of the big stores. I came out and found a parking charge

notice on the windscreen. That's when I realised that of course I

had parked my car at what was a pay and display car park. The average

driver would probably just pay up. But Martin is not your average

driver. I'm research director of a language commission, so part of our

work is to do with clearing up things like poor signs and poor

notices and making sure that instructions for consumer products

are written in a clear and straightforward way. The BPA code

of practice states that car park signs must be clear and visible so

that drivers have a chance to understand the terms and charges

that apply. I went back to the car park entrance to see where the

terms and conditions where. It says on the notice that it is pay and

display, but the words pay and display are very small. They are

only 13mm high. Twock the Peel Centre is much bigger. Inevitably

you think, "That's nice of them, it's a free car park." Martin

appealed against the charge. Excel rejected it and appeared determined

to get their money. There's a string of letters. We call them

threat ograms in the business. I kept saying, "Take me to court, I

will fight you in court" which is what they did. The judge did an

excellent thing, to go out to the car park herself. She looked at the

signs herst and said they weren't adequate or clear and she found in

my favour. So I won the case. the hearing at Stockport County

court the judge dismissed Excel Parking's claim and ordered the

company to pay Martin's expenses. Excel is supposed to be one of the

most professional and reputable companies in the business. So what

did it do to make sure the sim same thing couldn't happen again?

Absolutely nothing. Today the signs are still exactly the safe. Excel

has ignored the judge's comments about the size of the wording. The

company's managing director olve disagreed with the outcome. He

described it as: An embarrassment to the judicial system. He made

some pretty rude remarks about the judge too, describing her as not

fit to serve in civil courts. as for the BPA? Incredibly it

doesn't think the signs needed to change either. That's because the

13mm wording does not break the code of practice rules on clarity

and visibility. It makes you wonder who actually makes those rules? As

a matter of fact they are drawn up by the BPA approved operator board

members, one of whom is Simon Renshaw-Smith, managing director of

Excel Parking Services Limited. If the BPA rules say it is OK, the

signs can stay. If the signage is not clear, it is not

straightforward, honest and decent. Honest signage is the crucial thing

here. In the three years from 2008 to 2011, Excel Parking issued a

total of 11,498 parking tickets to drivers who had parked at the Peel

Centre without paying and displaying. That's a pretty big

figure. Especially when you compare it to this council-run car park in

the centre of town. The car park sit a similar size to the one at

the Peel Centre, but the words Pay and Display are nine times larger.

Compared to Excel Parking's 11-and- a-half ,000 tickets the town centre

issued just 3 ,000 nicts the same period. Lettering nine times small

earn, number of tickets issued nearly four times higher. The BPA

says its code of practice sets the standard for the private parking

industry. But with rules that allow signs like these, isn't it time to

With me now the chief executive of the British Parking Association,

Patrick Troy. A judge says the writing on the signs are too small,

one of the Excel Parking signs and doesn't seem to bother your members

at all. Well, let's get a couple of things clear here. This is

unregulated, the private parking sector in this country. There is no

regulation, therefore there's no regulation of signage. What we try

to do at BPA is establish some form of signage which motorists can

better understand. The difficulty is that for every court case that

goes against an operator on signage, I can show you one which says that

signage is OK. OK, would you blame our viewers watching that if they

thought that's a very crafty way to make money, it's a cash cow that

small writing. No, I don't think it is. Really?! Your reporter missed

the pictogram which clearly shows a bigger hand with a coin in it,

people who are less able to read find that ease tkwror understand.

OK, pay and display, it's less than half an inch, which is what I'm

holding up now, remember a driver is driving past it and so they're

going into the distance with this half an inch, which says "pay and

display". You've had 11,000 penalty charges in the last few years

because people didn't see it and didn't pay and display.

statistic... Wait a minute. Have you got an elderly aunt, would she

see that? I... No, no answer me. haven't got one. You haven't, do

you know somebody elderly who would be happy to see that, half an inch

and they're driving past it? They could see the picture more easily

than words. That's my point. What's more important is that something

like a million people use that car park every year, do you know how

many people pay because they see the signs 99.66%. I think if you

park in a car park and you use that car park for whatever purpose, you

should check out what the terms and conditions are before you leave the

car park. Thank you Mr Troy I have to finish there.

Excel Parking told us the court case we featured was an isolated

incident. They believe it was a draif error of judgment. It's set

no legal precedent. They say the signs exceeded the bfr PA standard

and it benefits from the 99.6% adherence shows the vast majority

of drivers understand it is a pay and display car park.

Till to come: Harveys - a there's a sale on, so why is the price

higher? And Claire's accessories, top mark for this jewellery, no

marks for originality. Time to meet John Ovenell now, the

man who could land you in court simply by getting rid of your waste.

That's because he disposes of it illegally and as far as the law's

concerned, that makes you responsible. So while he advertises

his services as cheap and cheerful, any dealings with him could prove

expensive and miserable. John's come out to our house where

we've marked a load of waste with a special UV spray. Homeowner Nicky

has concealed a GPS tracker among the pile to track its progress.

John is cheerful. And at �45 for this collection, he's also cheap.

But then price isn't the issue here. Disposing of the waste illegally is.

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 48 seconds

Hmmm... You wouldn't be lying would Bexley tip, that would be six miles

south in that direction. It offers full recycling services, including

batteries and motor oil. Whoa there! John is obviously trying to

make out that he's as environmentally responsible as they

come. As well as the green spiel, On the surface, this sounds lick a

tip to avoid identity theft, but of course we know that looking through

paper work is one way the Council can trace your rubbish back to you

Now as he leaves, our trackers begin to work. He doesn't go to

Bexley tip in a southerly direction. Instead he heads for home in

Sittingbourne, Kent, where the rubbish stays outside all afternoon.

Then night falls and an owl makes this noise: OWL HOOTS

Though it could be Dan. We heard this he tends to fly-tip

between 5am and 7am. However, just before 4am he's on the move. Our

team is not too far behind him tracking him all the way. And then,

at 4.40am he dumps the rubbish in Kent.

Not too long afterwards, our team Dawn breaks in the garden of

England. The birds are going chirpy, chirpy, cheep, cheep. And here

comes someone who isn't terribly cheerful. Farmer Mark Chapman runs

the orchard where our waste along with someone else's has ended up. I

take it you turned up to work this morning and discovered this? Yes,

we did. It's not for the first time. You struggle, you suffer a lot from

fly-tipping? We've had it in the past, yes. What's the impact of

this stuff being left here? First thing is the rubbish itself,

followed by the damage to the gate. It's all pushed in, bent, again

it's just another cost for us now. You don't actually know what's in

there. It could be anything. If there are any sharps that my guys

will hurt ourselves on. We'll be here for two, three hours, blocking

up the road, tractors, trailers. All this time you should be

spending growing apples. We feel partially responsible for this

being here. We're going to help you clean it up. It would be a big help.

We struggle sometimes to get it moved on quick enough. Cheers Mark.

This is coming home with me, evidence. Unhappy farmer hey?

would you like it? I wouldn't. But how do you know it's our stuff?

mean apart from the mattress, the chair, the TVs, the desk, the GPS

tracker an the UV spray? Still not convinced. Yeah, well, how about

these. Look at that, burnt Dimbleby pants. They could be anyone's.

ginger wig. That could be Elton John's. This is the clincher, your

picture of Cheggers. No, it's broken. Convinced now? Yes. There's

still rubbish out there. I have journalistic things to do. There's

your high vis, go and get busy. That's really uncool. Yeah, never

Look at all the hassle just one incident of fly-tipping madness has

caused. A skip, three men working flat out, one slightly grumpy

Portuguese man. Why did I have to get this job, Matt? So what have we

learned after that? One, John Ovenell is a fly-tipper. Two, he

does his dirty work when it's dark. Three, he has no respect for

Cheggers. Clearly, this can't be allowed to

continue. I can sense another late night coming on. We need to catch

him in the act. Stay awake and keep watching.

Moon river? Do you like that bit of music? We're going to talk about

jewellery. I think you deserve something special. But not from

Tiffany's? No it's Claire's Accessories. Get real girl. Do you

like the look of them? Ah, yeah. Yeah, you may have seen a recent

stories where they were accused of copying another company's designs.

Tatty Devine sells hand-made jewellery from two bueteebgz in

London. It has a big following in the fashion world and Mary Portas

and Jessie J are fans. They've bb in the news for another reason.

They've threatened Claire's with legal action. This was the reason

why: Look at these pieces here: First the dinosaur necklace was

launched in 2004 selling for �114. It would look nice with that dress.

And very distinctive too at least they thought it was until they went

shopping. We went into the Claire's Accessories and I saw the dinosaur

necklace from across the room and was astounded by its similarity.

One of the most important things about what we do is creating

original design to. See something so similar in a High Street giant

store felt, it really felt quite strange. We've been making the

dinosaur necklace for ten years. You get a very intimate knowledge

of the shapes and the scale of the piece. Then just to see it

completely out of context, it was shocking. There you are, Tatty

Devine version, Claire's Accessories version, what do you

think? It's very suspicious. Yes. It becomes even more so when you

look at a couple of other incredibly similar designs. Take

this one, this is the original fishbone and under the counter,

that's selling for �39... You'd be good at this. Here's one from

good at this. Here's one from Claire's for �5. Then the banana

necklace. Their version on sale for �66 for two years and then there's

the High Street rival selling this one at �5. That's incredible,

especially the banana necklace. How do they get away with it? They

don't as from today. After Tatty Devine's owners discovered the

items, they not only consulted lawyers, they posted the

photographs on the internet leading to loads of publicity and a huge

backing for their fight. Eight weeks later, they've won. They have

given a joint statement to watchdog in which they say the dispute has

been redissolved. The terms of the agreement is confidential. The

banana, dinosaur and fishbone necklaces have been removed from

sale in all Claire's Accessories stores worldwide. They add another

three Claire's necklaces, those featuring a moustache, glasses and

muedsical notes will remain available for purchase. These items

are similar, but Tatty Devine tell us they're satisfied with how the

stkpwuet has been resolved. I'm so glad we cleared thaup.

Crack on. Tesco, TalkTalk, Harveys packing ads with small prints and

disclaimers and all in Rick Wakeman's sights tonight.

Ah, yes, a lie-in, a lazy day ahead an the telly. I do love daytime TV.

an the telly. I do love daytime TV. Apart from stuff like this:

Introducing new Ricky bics, Italian-style cereal. These are

delicious and they're loved by the majority of people and now, there's

50% less salt in some varieties and what's more, buy two and get one

free. Wow! You can even enter our Yeah, wow, it's bad enough having

all those ads interrupting your favourite programmes, even worse is

seeing all those get-out clauses they use. Take Sainsbury's, and

their promise to match the price of branded products that you can find

cheaper elsewhere. They've been banging on about it for months,

which is about as long that's takes to read the list of disclaimers,

just look at them all. You have to spend at least �20. It doesn't

apply online. Or in convenience stores. You have to price match

across your whole basket of brands, not just the ones that are cheaper

elsewhere. Then there are hundreds of products which aren't included

and even then, you can only claim a coupon with a maximum value of

�106789 -- �10. Ads in newspapers use the same trick and you have to

watch out for the dreaded asterisk. Look at this add for talk tag. Half

price and the 3.25 are in massive letters, but read the disclaimer:

Oh, no, yeah, you guessed, it's not �3.25. At least not when you add on

the �30 or �50 connection fee plus the �13.80 a month line rental that

comes with a 12-month contract. Perhaps we've become so used to

seeing all this information, we don't bodger to read it. But

believe me, you really do need to keep paying attention.

Look at this ad from Harveys that appears to offer massive discounts

on sofas. Then have a closer look at that supposedly bargain sale

price of �699. It's actually �100 more than the previous price on the

screen. So, we've had too much information and eyebrow-raising

information. A newer kind of disclaimer concerns questionable

market research. Want to know more? Ask the man from Dell Monte.

jort of people preferred the taste of Dell Monty. He claimed that the

majority of people liked to say yes to his orange juice compared to the

leading brand. The small print show that's boast is based on a survey

of only 144 respondants, 54% of whom preferred Del Monte. That

means 46% of people didn't prefer I suspect most of these disclaimers

are there to stop the companies getting into trouble with the

advertising authorities for making misleading claims. Doesn't always

work, though. Tesco's fell foul of the authority with this press claim

that their British iceberg lettuces go from farm to store within 24

hours. When challenged by the ASA that this might not be true they

said: "Mere puffery, which did not require objective substanciation.

The average consumer would interpret the ad to mean the

lettuce was transported from the field to a customer's salad

quickly." Why not just say that Tesco say their disclaimer was

there to insure that customers understood that in rare

circumstances the product may not arrive into their stores as quickly

as normal. Sainsbury's say millions of people benefit from the brand

match scheme. They state that the exclusion is to avoid customer

disappointment. Harvey's say they have to display previous prices to

comply with regulations. The sofa in the ad was sold at one lower

price, as well as two higher prices. TalkTalk say all phone and

broadband providers advertise and it is clear, with no hidden charges.

Thank you to everyone who has been in touch with that story. Here is a

few more. Water users, that's you and me. Not

only have millions of us got a hosepipe ban to deal with, we've

been buying something we may not need. We spend �100 million on

insurance for pipes each year even though most water companies provide

a subsidised or free repair service. Strange then that nine of them have

been trying too persuade us to buy those sometimes unnecessary third

party protection policies. The Consumers' Association Which? Found

them pushing the insurance via direct mail promotions, sometimes

on their own headed notepaper. Now the industry regulator Ofwat says

it has raised concerns about the practise with the Financial

Services Authority. So, as the drought spreads, don't waste water.

Or your money. BT has been accused of making

misleading claims about the speed of its Infinity broadband service.

They launched it claiming you could share photos and videos at

unbeatable speeds, but it didn't They said they thought the viewers

would understand what the claims were referring to. The Advertising

Standards Authority disagreed. As the company were unable to provide

evidence that their download speeds were unbeatable, they've band their

TV, press and online ads. A holiday at Pontins for a bargain

price in Jubilee week? Who could resist? When this online ad

appeared in January customers couldn't wait to make their

bookings. Seven nights at the resort in Somerset for just � 35

for an apartment. But Pontins has cancelled the bookings and its

website is offering the same week at the end of May for �347. Pontins

say the original ad was a clear cal error. But customers say they were

given no explanation. They were however projectsed a phone call

from Pontins operations manager, Eileen Downey, although they are

still waiting a great shame for all of us. It would have been so nice

to hear from her again. Although they are now writing to

customers. Time's nearly up for Mr John

Ovenell, the fly-tipper who ruthlessly disposed of our waste,

including our photo of Cheggers. How could he? One of the questions

I want to ask him. But first, I need a cunning plan. And the

cunning plan is... It is sort of the same plan as last time. If it

ain't broke... Yep, we've called him out again to dispose of

furniture, marked with a UV spray, and a couple of concealed trackers.

We've also got this lioness, who at first glance is scary and vicious,

but is a pussycat. We'll call her Anne Robinson. And it is time John

Ovenell is here. And right on cue, he is! Once again he's in a chatty

mood. Last time he was keen to tell us how he disposed of waste

responsibly. This time he wants to talk about his qualifications.

asked for my waste licence. I said two seconds. I go in my glove box

and say there is my number there, and they say, "See you later."

nice story, John, but the trouble is you don't actually have a waste

carrier's licence. We pay him the agreed �50 and he is off. Where

would he be heading? We track our rubbish, and off a

couple of detours it ends up outside his house. There it is. And

there it is again a few hours later at dusk. And then the sun sets. It

is the perfect time for a fly- tipper. While this music provides

the perfect soundtrack for following one, it kind of builds

the tension. John Ovenell is on the road making a big Tuesday night of

it. He's heading into London. He's about ten miles from home with his

truck full of rubbish, some of which is ours, and our tracker.

Where he drops it we do not know. It could be your town. John Ovenell

could be coming to your town with our rubbish. Not me though. I'm

heading to his town. I want to be waiting outside his house when he

gets home. The surveillance team follow him tall way to Esher in

Surrey where, at 1.20am... Oh, my God, he's dumped! He's gone and

done it again. This time unloading our rubbish by the side of the road

next to a rugby club. It is definitely ours. Isn't that right,

stuffed Anne Robinson? After that illegal unloading we were expecting

him to come back to his house where I was sat waiting until the early

hours. But we didn't see him. After morning broke we came one a plan

which meant I could finally talk to him. It is now a quarter to one and,

as you can see, I'm in the road traders -- Rogue Traders spring-

summer collection. We are waiting for John Ovenell. We've called him

out again to pick up another load of rubbish. There is no other load.

We are done giving John Ovenell any more things to leave by the side of

roads. All he will find when he gets here is us. And here he is. He

is not happy that our van is parked in his way. I know the grumpy

feeling John. Some of us have been up all night. Hello mate, are you

alright? Sorry, is you couldn't park here could ya? A I've got a

We think we've been rumbled but no, our driver moves to make room for

him. Having repositioned the van, it is then time for me to make my

move. Hi John, Matt alwrite BBC Rogue Traders, how you doing? Can

we talk about fly-tipping, where you've taken rubbish from us and

it's ended up by the side of the road. It wasn't me. You have. We

followed that rubbish as it ended up by the side of the road.

Unfortunately it is you John. That's what you've done on so many

other occasions. See you John, bye- bye.

That's John Ovenell. Advertised himself as cheap and cheerful.

Today it seems just cheap. I'm quite used to rogues doing a runner

without saying much, but I was expecting a bit more from John.

This is the same guy who could chat for Britain when called out for a

job. I've got a field with some horses

on down in Kent. So has the chatty man taken a vow of silence?

Well, no. We've just driven round the corner,

having had a brief conversation with John Ovenell and he's called

Don't lie John. Well, from Mr Cheap and cheerful I would say that's a

bit rich. He has been back in touch to tell

us he doesn't fly-tip. He admits he doesn't have a waste carrier's

licence but does have the forms to apply for one. He's apologised to

the farmer and says he is not going to collect waste any more, even for

�1,000. He did do one last pick-up though. Remember that second lots

of rubbish he dumped? Before we could clear it away he gathered it

up and dumped it back on the driveway of the house we had rented.

But at least that means we got Annie back. There she is. It is a

good photo. It is not as good as this one here. John Ovenell, not to

be confused with anyone else advertising cheap and cheerful

clearance, is the latest face on our rogues' gallery.

Hundreds of you have been getting in touch about the British Gas

story. A lot are claiming to have had the same issues - boilers being

condemned and then told by other engineers that they are no working

order. Chris Jansen said anyone with concerns about advice or

service should contact him drefplt -- drefplt

-- directly. Keep sending us your stories and

tip-offs. Go to our website - bbc.co.uk/watchdog. Click where it

says your story. Or you can write to us.

Next week, Barclays. Has someone raided your account? Good luck

getting your money back. If I at - faulty power steering. Can