Episode 7 Watchdog

NatWest - Are you safe from fraud? Fiat - Are you secure at the wheel?

Tesco - Can you be sure about their latest offers? Plus: Barclays,

Virgin Media, and British Gas - Selling boilers. What's really in

it for their engineers? It's Watchdog. The programme you cannot

afford to miss. Yes, hello and good evening. Welcome to watchdog, we

are live, as usual, from Television Centre. Bank fraud, a customer's

account drained of �18,000. Why would not NatWest pay it back?

gentleman was away on holiday, he could not have done the trangs

actions, therefore the bank has to pay back the money. Can Britain's

Srongest Man get hold of the wheel? Tesco, price on the brochure �169.

Price at the checkout, �1.99. How many other deals don't add up. Plus

car insurance and other charges, �55 to change your address. We did

not get a good deal from the Rogue's tonight, but we got a shot

of them after they ripped us off. There is no hanging their heads in

shame. There is is a smirk. Look, a high-five. Yes, prepare to meet the

boys from Drainsafe Limited of Bexley in Kent. They look happy.

That expression could be about to change.

First, bank and credit card fraud. Every day, 2,500 customers find

that details have been used to buy goods or withdraw money. Proving

fraud is difficult. That is why the Financial Services Authority, the

FSA, have drawn up new rules to make it easier for the customers to

claim refunds so., are the banks following the rules? You decide.

Thieves drain our bank accounts of more than �300 million a year.

There are many ways to do it using lost or stolen cards or card

details to order items over the counter, on the phone or over the

internet. Or even by stealing your identity to take over the entire

account. Criminals may find it easy to

defraud you, but persuading the bank they have done so can be

tougher. The FSA rules say that if you deny authorising a payment, the

bank should give the benefit of the doubt to you, unless they can prove

otherwise, but we found some banks using flimsy excuses to refuse

refunds. Kulvir Kinder, recently went on

holiday to India. While he was away, a fraudster claiming to be him,

called NatWest and managed to alter personal details, changing the

residence from Slough to Nottingham and persuading the bank to send a

new card. When it arrived at the new address, the fraudster

proceeded to empty the account of more than �18,000. Almost �5,000 of

the total was stolen by transferring it into other accounts,

money that NatWest has refunded. The other �13,000 came from ATMs

and cash withdrawal, that is �13,000 that the bank is refusing

to refund. Despite Kulvir Kinder being 4,000 miles away at the time.

NatWest say that the withdrawals could not have been made without

him being present, but is this proof for them to deny the refund?

I have reviewed the case and I draw attention to two transactions worth

�50. Cash withdrawals, done over the count ner branches -- �9506789

Kulvir Kinder was away on holiday. He could not have done the

transactions, therefore the bank must refund the money.

Fraudulent use of the bank card is often obvious. The thief has spent

money in a place you have never been to on goods you have never

bought, but if the card was used for a transaction with a retailer

you have used before, good luck getting a refund from Barclays.

Muqtada Al-Sadr returned from a holiday to find two unauthorised

payments had been made on his card. I contacted Barclays Bank. They

came back to me. I was astounded to find that its with for a card I

don't even own. They were two cars. The two cars, these ones are Ray's,

the others are not. I went to the bank, they decided it

was not fraud due the fact I had used the merchant before.

Yes, if the criminal ues the card to buy something from a retailer

which you have used before, Barclays may not be prepared to

accept that there has been fraud. Why? Because the retailer has your

details and then accidentally debited the account or that this is

in line with theal pattern of spending, but if you are a motorist,

you need a tax disc, there is own the DVLA available.

The regulation says that the firm has to prove that the payment was

authorised. To argue that, simply because the customer made purchases

from the company in the past is a unreasonable argument. All of us

that have cars or driving licences deal with the DVLA.

Despite being able to prove that the cars were not his, Ray could

not get a refund from Barclays. Having taken two months to provide

him with details of the transactions, they gave him ten

days to dispute them. As he was out of the country at the time he

missed the deadline. I feel that Barclays have treated

me shabbily. They don't seem to care.

If thieves want to make a fraudulent telephone or online

purchase, all they need are the card details, using sophisticated

techniques to obtain them, going so far as to hack into retailers'

databases. You can be unaware that a criminal has your details but you

could be held responsible. Dharmadev Trivedi is a junior

doctor and another Barclays customer. Last October, the bank

noticed a number of unusual transactions on the card. One of

which was made at a hotel in Northampton.

At the time, he was on shift 120 miles away in Leeds.

The bank had cancelled my card. They are stopped some of the major

transactions and I was feeling much assured that the money was safe.

However, there was a purchase made from a hotel and some food

purchased from a food website, they redebited that from the account.

Although Barclays refunded the hotel bill, they refused to refund

the money for the food order, using the exact excuse that they had

given Ray, that he had used the retailer before.

The reason was the previous dealing with the merchant. I had ordered

from them before, but many others have as well.

Ray did manage to persuade Barclays to refund the money, despite the

fact they could not prove he made the transactions, they still felt

he was to blame. I read the letter that Barclays

I feel it was a ridiculous statement to make.

This gentleman has protected his card. Somebody has managed to use

his card number that is a very different matter. As card holders,

we are clearly responsible for making sure that we keep our fiscal

cards safe, but lots of people have access to our card details and we

cannot prevent some of those people from miss using those details.

The FSA says that banks have to give customers the benefit of the

doubt if they claim to be victims of fraud unless proven otherwise. A

shame that some banks don't seem to be listening.

The NatWest has investigated Kulvir Kinder's case and agreed to refund

the remaining �13,000 drained from his account. They say that the

investigation was complex and took time. They want to assure him and

all other customers that they continue to develop their antifraud

methods. And Barclays have refunded

Dharmadev Trivedi but admit that they wrongly held him lible for one

of the payments. They are also helping Muqtada Al-Sadr, they have

offered him an extra �50 as a goodwill gesture. Saying that the

security of the customers' money is prar mount. They guarantee to

compensate genuine fraud victims and pay out an 85% of cases. When

they get it wrong they put their hands up and take action to put it

right. If you would like to comment on the stories here is how:

To get involved in the Twitter discussion, the address and hashtag

are on the screens. A huge response to last week's

reports on British Gas and their engineers charges for unnecessary

work. Chris Jansen came on watchdog to deny that the engineers receive

financial incentives to recommend that customers replace the boiler.

No. They do not get rewards for selling a boiler.

So they are not in any way benefiting from the boiler? Your

people that go in there, there is nothing in it for them what soever?

Our engineers are engineers. They fix boilers. We visit 7 million

home as year. 99% of the times we fix the boiler. Most of the time we

fix it the first time. In the rare occasion, it is one in 100 when we

cannot fix the boiler. The engineer sits with the customers to explain

to them the reasons they should get a new boiler.

That is odd. British Gas engineers have been in touch to say that they

are given incentives. Watchdog obtained a letter sent to British

Gas employers, spelling out how engineers can increase earnings.

The company sent this to staff. It gave them guidance on how to answer

customers' questions. In answer to the question, our engineers are

incentivised to encourage customers to have their boilers replaced? It

says no, but where a customer's boiler cannot be fixed or is

reaching the end of its life, our engineers may ask if the customers

would like a quote for a new boiler from a British Gas expert. If so,

the engineer requires �15 for giving the lead.

So there is an incentive? British Gas say this is a nominal payment.

For introducing them to the British Gas new heating team. They say that

the payments are made irrespective of the outcome of a sales process.

It is, they say, not a commission. The full response and contact

details are on our website. Coming up: The Grande Punto,

stylish and safe say Fiat. Try steering it say the owners. How

will Britain's Srongest Man fare behind the wheel? He won?! He must

have beaten me by that much! Mind you, if there was a competition for

Britain's cheekest man, neither would get a look in. We would be a

long way behind one of tonight's # You've got a friend in me... #

Dan and I go way back! We laugh bad that for days... Hello! Hello! We

have stayed pals, mates, bosom buddies... It is one of of the --

written of the moments that I wish that Dan was here. We tell the same

stories all over again. I sent a text message that said

Hello! I don't even know what it means!

# Yeah, you have a friend in me. # Come on! You know, other friends

are not so cuddly. Like the two we meet tonight. They work for Bexley-

based Drainsafe Limited a company specialising in boilers and drains,

imagine! Susanne Black called them out last December when her boiler

went on the blink. It looks like Susanne Black is originally from

Finland. I get a nice man who goes up there

to look at the problem and says this is the part you need or two

parts. He cannot get them for the same day. So we waited until he can

come back the next day. He comes back the next day, what

happens then? He fitted the parts. I was rather happy to have the

heating back on the house. It was cold.

40 minutes later, when he had gone, it all goes off again.

The same guy came back 24 hours later, called the boiler

manufacture and discovered he had not fixed the problem correctly. He

had to start from scratch. I enquired whether it would be

covered by the guarantee. They said no because I had

misdiagnosed the problem. It was not their job to fix if, pay for it.

So, to be clear, as a Drainsafe customer it is you who has to

decide what is wrong with the boiler before you call them?

Apparently so. An expert has said this is a simple

fault for a trained gas fitter and should have been fixed for �220.

Yet Susanne Black was charged a massive �724. From a company that

promises satisfaction guaranteed! They just took my money. They took

almost two weeks to do the work and... Yeah, it was a very

unpleasant experience. So, �724 to fix a problem that

should have cost �220. Not good. There is more, we heard from a

landlord in a flat in south London. This is him. His name is Jas. When

he called the company about a blocked bathroom drain. They said

they would fix it the following morning. They asked him for a

initial payment of �66 from the credit card. They said they would

let him know the final bill. I phoned them. They said that

everything was done. That everything was fine. I said how

much was the charge. They said � 1,056. I was shocked. I said it

can't be that much! Indeed! This job should have cost half of that.

What is worse, Jas said that they took the full payment without his

consent. Time to put on secret cameras and

call Mike Griffin. Mike Griffin! Yes, not literally.

Yes, it is Mike, he is a plumber. He is at the top of his game.

We are in luck! Big builder? No, look here.

We have had it powered through and washed, now we have filled it up

with lots of rice, pasta and topped it off with a bit of broccoli.

Yes, this is not just a blockage, it is a Mike Griffin blockage. Any

plumber should be able to clear it in just under 20 minutes.

Right, we are in position. Homeowner John is showing us his

moves. Twin pistols. Shut up! And Drainsafe are on their way! At

least, we thought they were on their way... I phoned up about an

hour ago. I think they were about 3 minutes away, I was told.

We are still waiting... Another 30 minutes? Any minute now... See what

the time is now... The audience may be getting bored, I will show my

Muppet. That's better. Finally, four hours late, they arrive.

Better late than never. Jason is not alone. He is with his

buddy, BuzzLightyear. Ryan, actually. I wonder what they will

get up to today? Clearing the blockage should take 20 minutes and

cost up to �100, but it turns out that Jason and Ryan have a lot more

time and money on their minds. Next, Fiat, the puntow, the Grande

Punto and the Panda. Three small cars, one big problem. The owners

too scared to drive them. The Fiat Grande Punto. Good looking,

affordable and most importantly, safe. Small. Sheerbgs -- chic, and

Italian. A winning combination. So I hoped, but as for the safety, I'm

not sure. There is a serious problem with power steering on some

Fiats. That is costly to fix and potentially very dangerous. Not so

attractive. Dominic's car was a Fiat puntow. He

bought it second-hand in 2010. I always wanted a Fiat puntow. I

always wanted one. Now I have one, I am happy. I'm in the army, I have

the kit in the boot. They are reliable.

Economical, but less than a year after he bought the car, the

problems with the power steering began.

Something beeped on the dash board. The power steering was a problem.

It made it really hard and heavy to steer.

A problem with the electrics caused the power steering to fail once.

Within week it is went again. According to Dominic it failed 50

times in the space of six months. Scary and costly.

As the car was not under warranty, I had to fork out �654.

But for other Fiat Grande Punto owners it proved even more costly.

This is probably the most unreliable car I have ever had in

my life it can go any time, the power steering. Even on the

motorway. I have lost the confidence in driving the car. So

much so, I have had to take out the highest level of insurance cover.

What does it feel like? It is not like driving a car. It is really

heavy. Of course, cars have not always had

power steering. It is possible to drive without it but the problem

comes when the system fails, it make it is difficult to handle,

even for the strongest motorist. Now I might know the cars, I may

even impress you with a bit of Italian, but if it is brute

strength, don't look at me, look at him.

Meet Eddie Hall. He can shift 160 kilograms of solid stone and drag a

30-tonne truck, but can Eddie drive this obstacle course without power

steering? Yes, it is the strong man's turn to drive Sarah's Fiat

when the power steering cuts out without a warning.

Our car expert has a special device now to de-activate the power

steering on the car with a flick of a switch, but Eddie has no idea

when it will happen. So, here goes. -- looking good at the moment. Look.

Something has gone. Once the system fails, Eddie has to struggle like

mad to steer the wheel. The seat belt even slips off his shoulder.

He is working so hard! He is having to slow right down.

He does not need to go to the gym, I tell you.

So, if the power steering failure can cause struggle for the

Britain's Srongest Man, what hope is there for other Fiat drivers?

Watchdog heard from 132 of them complaining of power steering

problems made between 2000 and 2008. Some are grand grandground and Fiat

owners, others like John, own a Panda.

My father always had Italian cars. When I went to Italy, we loved

looking at Italian cars. I have had 30 Fiats. I have had this car five

years, in the five years I have had three power steering units.

I am fed up with it. It is a safety issue. I'm an

experienced driver. I teach car driving.

It is worrying and expensive. When it went the third time, the

steering column was not under warranty. Fiat said: They don't

accept that the problems that are experienced are a result of the

manufacturing history. So they are basically saying it is not their

fault? Yes, which is rubbish. Watchdog phoned five independent

garages around the UK, they seemed well aware of the issue. In

Scotland, they said that some Fiats have problems and the electric

power steering can pack up. In Lincolnshire, they described the

problem with the puntow as a well- known common fault. Four out of

five garages told us that the power steering can be faulty on either

the Fiat puntow and the Panda. So, what is the problem and should Fiat

be taking responsibility? There is a fault on the electric side. That

causes the loss of power steering. Given the fault lines, I think this

should not happen in the hieftime of the car, I think that Fiat

should be replacing the units. But until Fiat takes the action, it

seems that the owners will have problems. It may be easier for

Eddie to pull the car, rather than drive it. Fiat will not comment on

individual cases but confirmed that a small number of puntow and Panda

models have had power-assisted steering repairs. They say that the

fault is indicated bay warning light. That the car can be driven,

although with increased effort on the wheel. They say that they aim

to give the customers exemplary service and advise people with

problems to call their local dealer and the Fiat customer care team.

Tesco, and the latest so-called bargains. Here is this month's

brochure. Hundreds of price cuts, but getting to the checkout and

some of the goods cost more. So, we went shopping to this Tesco branch

up the road in West London. We found Nestle Shreddies advertised

on sale for �1.34. The price at the checkout, �149. Nestle Cheerios,

the brochure price, �137. The checkout price, �1 43.

And Hellman's, headlines 1.69, the price we paid was �1.99. Reeocka,

�5.99, we were charged �6.49. -- Rioja. They say that they are

printing errors, they have high lighted the correct promotional

prices. After all of that, Annie, no doubt you are tempted to do your

shopping at a 9 p store? Never go anywhere else.

But be careful. It started as a single shop 11

years ago. Now there are more than 150 of them all across the UK.

Generating profits 6 �6 .3 million. What is the secret.

Cheap food and cheap cosmetics. think is good for the money. Money

is tight, you have to look around. Where money is tight, we are bound

to be attracted by promises like this... This... And this... We will

not be beaten on price. Clear and definitive, yes. True? Let's find

out. I wanted to check what you mean by

we will not be beaten by price in your stores? Our researchers are

putting the claim to the test, but let's confirm with a call to one of

the stores that the company stands by the promise.

It means that the product you buy from our store you cannot buy

cheaper in someone else's store. As simple as that? As simple as

that. So, let's buy products. 40 of them.

Chosen at random and purchased over a three week period in March and

April. Using data supplied by My Supermarket, we compared the prices

with the 99p Stores with the big four supermarkets on the same dates.

So, let's see if the claim really stands up to the scrutiny. We

bought this bottle of Carex hand wash from the 99p Stores for guess

how much? Yes, you have it, 99p, but then we bought this from Tesco

and Sainsbury's, the same bottle was some 19 pence cheaper. Then

Coke, at the 99p Stores you can get two pore �180, but ASDA and

Morrisons had an offer, two bottles for �1.50. Finally, Oreos, at the

99p Stores you can get two packets for, 99 pence, but at Tesco, two

packets for 98 pence it does not sound a lot, but it all adds up. So

despite the boost, the 99p Stores clearly can be beaten on price by

the big supermarkets, but what about another of their claims, un

beetable valuable? Well, that does not always stand up -- unbeatable

value? That does not always stand up. Tyke this Right Guard that they

are selling for 99 pence. At Morrisons we can buy a larger can

for 26 pence more. It is Morrisons offering the better value.

And finally, there is Flash, the all-purpose cleaner. We got this

500 millilitre bottle for 9 pence from the 99p Stores but spending 1

pence more at ASDA, you got twice the amount. What was that about

unbeatable value? On at least one occasion, 70 of the 40 -- seven of

the 40 products were cheaper. This store has a we will not be

beaten on price claim. Now that claim is not qualified. There are

no caveats to it. No points to support it. There is nothing so say

if you find it cheaper elsewhere, what do you do, so therefore that

gives the impression and leads consumers to be believing that this

is an absolute promise of value, but what we stpiend that you can

find the goods cheaper elsewhere. It is not as if the 99p Stores

don't know what the prices of the big four supermarkets are charging,

they make their own comparisons instore. Like this one.

The stuffing for 99 pence for three at the 99p Stores, compared to

�1765 at Sainsbury's. -- �1765.

-- �1.65. It sounds good, if only it was accurate. We visited

Sainsbury's. We found that the stuffing was not �1.65 for three as

claimed, but �1.20. Over the course of the trip, we checked out 37 of

their price comparison labels. Incredibly, 27 of them were not

accurate. Sometimes the rival store's prices

were less than claimed, sometimes more. In all 27 cases, 99p Stores

were cheaper, but why the inaccuracies at all? Maybe because

some price comparisons were made months ago, even as far back as

2010. So the general image of the store

is that it is good value, they will not be beaten on price, but not all

goods are the best value on the market, then they are not making

price comparisons that they should Oh, well, after all that hard work,

at least our team could look forward to cheap refreshment,

thanks to this great offer on Coca- Cola. Two bottles for 99 pence, but

at the till they charged us �1780. Wow! OK. With me now is the co-

founder and owner of 99p Stores, which incidentally are 186.

Mr Lilani thank you very much for coming in. The sign says not to be

beaten by value, unbeatable value, that is not true? Well, 82% of the

time we beat the supermarkets. I am sorry that some signs would appear

misleading. We have followed the research and removed the signs that

say unbeatable value. We are to replace them with new signs to show

that they are 82.5% of the time we beat the supermarkets. Those odds

are stacked in the consumers' favour. Whys that taken you until

watchdog got on to this to change which was accurate, which is not

beaten on price and unbeatable value, when it should have been

saying some of the time we are unbeatable on value? Well when the

signs were put up they were unbeatable value, but in today's

retail market, the prices change quickly. With the internet they

change almost every hour. The mistake we made was not to keep

checking the prices, but we have changed the systems now.

You have comparison labels on the shelves, some of them as old as

2010, so two-year-old prices that are not accurate. There were 27 out

of 37 prices were inaccurate? the report acknowledged that

although some were inaccurate, we are still beating the supermarkets.

We are cheaper than the supermarkets.

They are not accurate. We looked at the prices comparing with the

supermarket. 27 out of 37 were inaccurate. That is 100% accurate

research! But each product was cheaper than the supermarket. We

are cheaper than the supermarkets. You are not, it is Carex that is 99

pence at your store, it is 80 pence at Tesco.

Let's take an example. The Flash cleaner, 99 pence for 500 mills at

your store. In ASDA it is �1 for 1,000 mls.

That offer has expired. ASDA has doubled the price.

But when we did the research, there was twice as much value at ASDA

than you do at the 99p Stores? acknowledge that the signage was

inaccurate, some of it. We have taken that on board. Every price

comparison has been removed from the shelves.

I am glad we had a result from you. Thank you very much.

Matt? Back to Bexley-based Drainsafe Limited, now. Not to be

confused with companies of similar names, that is because this one has

form for overcharging. We have asked them to clear a simple

blockage. They sent two lads, Jason and Ryan to deal with it. So, will

they turn out to be friends or foes? John is our stooge. There he

is. His drain is in a jam. Nothing that the two boys should be able to

clear with elbow grease. Mike say it is should be cleared in 20

minutes, maximum. I don't know what is going on down

here. We will work out the paperwork and tell you what is

happening. The paperwork swrbg important, to be clear.

-- the paperwork is important. That is �65 for the first hour and

�55 on the half for the plant. It depends on the nature of the

gravity of the situation. If we have to get the jetter out,

it is a two-man job. Hmm... The trouble is that the

forms he is asking us to sign say something different. He does not

make this clear. On the phone he quoted the labour charge as �65 per

half an hour. What he is not saying is that according to the forms in

very small print we will pay �65 per man, per half an hour. With two

of them on the job, that is a massive hike. Of course, there is

the additional �55 for the jetter. So with charges like that, they

better be good and quick. How long do you rek it will be?

How long do you reckon it will be? We will have a look.

I am worrying! There is no need for the blasting. It should be clearing

the gully, sticking a rod down, job done in a couple of minutes.

Instead of trying the cheap way first. They reach for the expensive

jetter. You have to put the machinery away and get your hands

dirty. Right, time for a look at that gully.

Yeah, yeah, that definitely is a gully! Yeah, yeah, without a doubt,

I would say that is definitely, that definitely is a gully! Right,

now let's clear it up. Let's get on with it. Finally.

Hold on? Are they pushing the stuff that is causing the blockage

together. You have to pull it up, not push it in! Now the jetting

starting up. It seems to have a nasty effect on the van. It is

smoking! After a few moments of jetting. Dr Jason gives the

Drainsafe diagnosis. It is not goofpltd

This is lime scale. It will break under extreme pressure. You have to

blast it to get it back up. That is solid.

That is solid with that stuff. So, what is the plan? Just keep

jetting. When we break through and clear it,

we will let you know. All it is that they are not able to

clear a basic gully. They should have stuck their hands

in, picked out the dirt in there. It is rammed. It is rammed to the

brim. Trying to push it down, but... I

don't think that I can. He is pushing the dirt around the

bend of the trap. He really should be dragging it out,

not pushing it down. They carry on pushing it down which drags the

whole thing out. In fact, in the end it takes two

men a full hour to do the job. Even with the aid of a jetter! It should

have taken one man 20 minutes. Mike? Is he OK?! No wonder our

expert has gone faint. The job should have cost less than �100.

How did they get this figure. I worked it out. See that machine.

Obviously for health and safety reasons it cannot be manned by one

of us. It still does not add up. Call the

Open University! So, working on the basis that X is 65. When X is a

halve hourly charge. Then we have two half hours, two X,

two men they charged us for plus one Y. Times that for the jetter,

it equals � 444. But they charge us two half an

hours, plus two Y so double the charge for the jert, plus the VAT,

it equals �576. Quite different. In other words, they have pulled a

fast one. Exactly. Yes, they have. Although

you would never think it, judging by Jason's expression. Before you

go, guys, tell us again why the job was so complicated.

What it was a build up of lime Hi-five! Actually, they have just

ripped us off! Yes, and rather royally as well. Still, skraison

and Ryan are only the -- Jason and Ryan are own the workers. We have

to find the king of the hill. To see who is pulling their strings

and who is the organ grinders, but before that, Ticketmaster, Virgin

Media, -- Virgin Atlantic, and the Halifax.

Here is Rick. Paperwork, sometimes it feels like

we are drowning in it. Keeping on top of household bills. Or filing

tax returns. Yes it is a pain. There is really only so much admin

one person can do before giving up. Big companies -- companies, though,

they have been an army of people to process paperwork, along with the

best systems and technology. So why when they do admin do we end up

paying through the nose? The big ticket agencies are among the worst

offenders. They have always liked booking fees, but now it has gone

way beyond the nominal charge. Fancy taking in a west end show in

the summer? You're in for a shock. I'm on the website for We Will Rock

You. If I want to book it takes me straight through to Ticketmaster,

when I -- where I can buy a couple of tickets for �6 2. And where I

will be charged an extra �8.25 fee per ticket! That is bad enough, but

what I don't understand is why this company varies the fee, according

to the price of the ticket you are buying. Surely it does not cost

more to process expensive tickets? Why do they charge you more? And

what's this?! Even after making me shell out over �8 on admin fees,

they are now charging me an extra �4 on my order to collect the

tickets from the box office! Or, even to e-mail them to me! In which

case I will have to print them out myself! I'm being charged to do my

own admin! I wonder if it is the same on Broadway as the West End?

Well, I'm planning to go to New York later this year. So let's have

a look at a couple of the main airline carriers and see what they

have to offer. On the lowest fares, well, Virgin Atlantic ticket prices

seem OK, but hold on. If I have to change the day of travel, they will

charge me up to a whopping �120 to do so.

OK. What about British Airways? Well, if you have to alter your day

with them over the phone, the fee is much less, just �30, but hold

up... I've just found out that they will also charge �100 for a penalty

fee for changing the details, so it comes to �130! Perhaps it is just

me, but these admin charges are not only now more expensive, they are

becoming more widespread. There are eye-watering arrangement fees on

mortgages. Unjustified chargess for paying by plastic and huge

penalties for going overdrawn on the bank account. Don't get me

started on cars. Drivers are hammered with the cost of the fuel,

the tax, the servicing, and the parking! As if all of that is not

enough, there is the insurance! Plus the admin fees that they pile

Joe Townsend insures his car with Halifax. When he moved house, they

hit him with a premium as it was a higher risk neighbourhood, but they

slapped on an �25 admin charge, he was told for producing new

documents. That is right, �25 for a couple of letters! Have you had a

similar charge from your car insurer lately? This could be the

reason. Companies can charge what they like as long as the charges

are considered fair. Do you know it is like when buying

a ticket for an airline, you think you have a deal. Then you discover

that you are charged �30 for the baggage, more for the use of the

credit card and lots of extra fees. In other words, some insurers are

looming you in with seemingly low- costs, then hitting you are a range

of additional fees. Yes, it sounds familiar.

When you buy a policy you have to look at the total cost. That is not

just the monthly or annual premium, but the other fees. Go through the

small print. Find out the other charges that could be lumped on you.

There may be reams of terms and conditions, but you have to go

through all of them! Just ask Karen. She called her insurance company to

say she had moved house. In the documents it said to advise

them to contact them with a change of details. So I did. They then

said they would charge a �55 for the change of address. When I first

took out the policy, I looked at the small print. It says an admin

fee for changing or amending, which I believed it would be if I changed

the car or to change the insurance from comprehensive to third party,

but I did not think that changing the address would incur a �55.

�55 to change an address?! You would not catch me being stung like

that. I read everything before going into a deal.

Wait res! This does include service, doesn't it? We asked one call in

United Nations -- we asked One Call Direct about the charge. It says

that the charges are transparent to make clear to customers at the

point of sale. Halifax said that fees were in line with industry

standards. As for the others, Ticketmaster say that the feels are

the sole source of revenue. That they don't set them independently,

that they are agreed with the clients. The charges for We Will

Rock You are not typical. It can only offer the print-tickets-at-

home once the high-level instruction has been installed in

the venue and the flight changes, braise and Virgin Atlantic say that

they explain to customers that there is a price change before the

purchase. Here are a few more stories:

Barcelona versus Chelsea, one of the billingest upsets of recent

times. I am not talking about the result. BSkyB, Go go, -- Sky Go,

suffered technical problems, the fans were prevented logging on

through desktops and hand held twices as John Terry went off and

Chelsea went 2-0 down. Sky acknowledged the problems, but were

hit with complaints at the same time that Ramirez was leading the

fightback. Then Fernando Torres had equalised and the Blues were

through to the Champions League final. Sky apologised and is

investigating. What a Messi! Low Cost Holdiays with dedicated and

experienced customer care. Offering 24/7 advice, but don't ask

geography questions. Jamie O'Neill wanted to know why cheapest flights

that the customer offered Scottish customers were from over the border

in Newcastle. He got this reply: Newcastle is indeed located in

Scotland. It is a city, not a capital. Low Cost Holdiays has

apologised, blaming the error on a call centre trainee in India, which

is, indeed, a country! And Virgin Media, the Avertising Standards

Authority ruled this promotion miss leading as the small print was too

small. It contained key information about availability, costs, contract

lengths, information that the customers have to know. Virgin

claimed that the lettering was larger than industry standard, that

it was not responsible for the poor print quality. The ASA banned the

ad. Very clear. Last call for Drainsafe Limited, of

Bexley in Kent, now, the company that massively overcharged us for a

simple drainage clearance job. The employies, celebrated the fact by

hi-fiving each other. Are they company men? Or just two bad

apples? During the course of the investigation, we called the

company out on two other occasions. Both times one plumber turned up,

we were not overcharged, but we have been ripped off once. So had

the customers in touch with us. We have to know if the instructions

are coming from the top. So So what now? Time to complain to the boss.

A team maybe we will call Claire phoned the manager to see how he

explained the behaviour of the lads. I wanted to give you a ring about

pricing. It seems extortionate. I don't understand how it got so

high? Claire plains that the charges were not made clear. Plus

we were charged twice for the jetter. Stuart councils up with a

new explanation. Our calculations are at �65 for

half an hour. I have just checked. They were on site for hour-and-a-

half. Really? On our calculation it is

would have come to more, they would have given you discount.

He goes on to say that they were there for 1737 minutes.

I can give you a re-worked invoice, but with the correct figures it

will cost you more money. They wanted to charge us more!

is outrageous pricing! I do apologise. I can offer a 10%

discount in the future. Now, there is an offer we can

refuse. As the manager is clearly backing the boys who overcharged us.

We reckon to -- it is time to visit him in Bexley. We are meeting up

with Stuart in Drainsafe Limited to ask him about the crazy amount of

money we had to pay to have the drains unblocked and the hi-five

moment that was beautiful. So, here is Stuart Johnson, any

moment. Fingers crossed. Stuart is here. We are ready to go.

That's him there. He has won... A trophy! I wonder what that is for?

Hi, Stuart, how is it going? Stuart? Stuart? BBC Rogue Traders,

so that we are clear. So you can get in touch with us. I noticed you

were carrying trophies, was that for overcharging? Why can't we talk

now? We are talking about �576 for an hour's work. That is what we are

talking about. That is �576 for one hour's work with a hi-five and a

celebration afterwards. I wonder what the trophies were

for? It is clear that Stuart and his colleagues are not keen to chat.

Stuart says he will talk to us later. I don't quite know what the

problem with talking to us right now is, but there you go.

Drainsafe! As you can see, operating, charging ridiculous

somes of money and at the moment -- charging ridiculous sums of money

and at the moment not willing to talk to us. That may change.

Stuart Johnson did call us later. What about the blatant rip-off that

involved us? The problem is... When we spoke to you afterwards about

that you said in fact that it should have been more. So, we as

the kust mer, we come to you to point that out -- we as the

customer point it out to you, then you say you should be charging more

for us. I must have misunderstood. Stuart

says that the guys are not on commission. So there is no benefit

to them for cheating the customer. We don't rip people off.

Unfortunately, our evidence suggests the opposite.

Matt, I've completed over 1,000 jobs.

In all of that time, mate, I have had maybe ten complaints? That is

not bad. I tell you what, Stuart... On that

note, he says he will look at all of the evidence and get become to

Thank you very much, Stuart. The company now tell us that they

take our allegations seriously and deny they are rogues, they say that

they are open and fair with the pricing. They say that they don't

lie about the scale of the problems and always carry out a drain clean

unless customers specify otherwise. They have offered a partial refund

for the billing mistake. That the boys' high-five was to celebrate

that they completed the job. They say that they went out of their way

to help Susanne Black and they refunded Jas not because they were

in the wrong, but because he complained so much.

Meanwhile, Stuart and the two hi- fiverings are going here on the

Rogue's Gallery. And the power steering problems.

Dan Worthington says his system packs up about once a week. Mike

Lynton says he had the same problem, that he had to pay more than �800

to replace the steering column. And Will Frost has an interesting

idea: Can I charge companies an admin fee for ringing them.

Nice work. I like it. Keep sending your stories and tip-offs. Go to

Or write to us: Coming up next week: Vauxhall, the

fault with the Insignia, is it causing cars to burst into flames?

The Royal Mail about to raise the cost of stamps again. What sort of

service are we getting in return? And ASDA roll-backs, the