Episode 7 Watchdog

British Gas, Npower, prices going British Gas, Npower, prices going

up. Barclays, money going missing. Amazon Kindles, going, going, gone.

Plus T-Mobile, Santander Christian Dior. It's Watchdog, the

Yes, hello and good evening and Yes, hello and good evening and

welcome to Watchdog. We are live as usual from Television Centre.

Tonight: British Gas, Npower, Scottish Power, all increasing your

electricity bills, so how come another provider has just cut them?

I do feel for the families the water who are having these

increases. I certainly wouldn't to be in their position. Also,

Barclays still using cheques, still losing customers' money. Have they

never heard of computers? Plus T-Mobile making you pay for calls

including those you've never made. And the Kindle, the e-reader

freezes and can't be repaired. Our car was easy to fix, it could have

been done very easily and cheaply except we gave

Mike Sawyer, a man who took 27 minutes just to locate a socket.

Can't find the plug. Under the steering column. Beats the hell out

of me. Yes, interesting guy, Mike. As well as his approach to work,

there's his achingly PC opinions about the opposite sex. God invented

females for decoration, procreation and housekeeping. Brains and

remembering things don't come into it. Ladies, control yourselves. You

will be seeing and hearing a lot more of him later. First though,

electricity prices. British Gas, Scottish Power, SSE and Npower have

all just announced big rises, taking the average annual household bill to

�580. The companies blame a sharp rise in wholesale energy costs, but

if that's the case why can providers in one part of the UK afford to

This is a tale of two cities, This is a tale of two cities,

Belfast and Cardiff. Both struggling to emerge from the UK's worst

recession in 50 years. It's also tale of two families. Both

struggling to make ends meet, but where only one can see a happy

ending. That's because the price those families pay for one of life's

essentials is moving in entirely opposite directions. In Cardiff,

like the rest of mainland Britain, electricity is more expensive than

ever before and it's set to go up again. In Belfast, bills are coming

down. Recently, prices have dropped by as much as 14%.

Northern Ireland's biggest energy company, Power NI slashed its

prices, taking the average household bill from �588 a year to 505. Its

two local rivals followed suit. A very welcome surprise for the

McWilliams family. Not very do you get such good news. We were

delighted. The electricity will make a big difference to our

lives. We are quite high electricity users, and we certainly do look at

the amount of electricity that we do use on a daily basis and ration it

where we can. Carly's monthly bills previously topped �100. After Power

NI's cut this will drop to around 86. This will make a big difference

to our weekly and monthly budgets. Certainly putting food on the table,

my weekly shop at the local retailer is increasing all the time and

certainly I do welcome this reduction. Contrast Carly's story

with that of Jackie Robinson, a mother of four from Cardiff.

time last year, Jackie was playing �25 a week on electricity. Last

winter's increase took it to �30. That's more than �120 a month, and

thanks to SSE's latest 9% rise it's going up even more. It was a shock.

It was a shock. Especially the jump that they announced. It's a

worry. Cutting back on food, clothing for the children, so this

now is - it's the last straw, to be honest. Jackie is not alone. A

recent report by price comparison website uSwitch claimed that 9 out

of 10 households in mainland Britain will have to ration energy usage

this winter because of the rising costs. I think they are greedy,

very greedy, not really thinking about their customers, and how much

trouble these people are going to get into. Because everything has

gone up and basically all at once . It's actually crippled me and got

in trouble with my bank. So why prices falling in

and rising in every other the UK? The market in the British

mainland is 25 times bigger. That means people have more suppliers to

choose from than the three available across the Irish Sea. In theory

increased competition should be driving prices down. So what's

wrong? There's not as much competition on price as there

to be. With each of the companies offering broadly similar tariffs,

charges, that's quite a difference from the situation that we saw over

a decade ago when there was greater competition on price, largely

result of the fact that there more suppliers. What we have seen

over the last ten years situation whereby there have been

mergers, takeovers and general consolidation in the industry such

that we have resulted in situation we have now, which is the

big six. And, as a result, the big six suppliers effectively control

the market, seemingly raising prices whenever they see fit. But in

Northern Ireland this simply wouldn't be allowed to happen

because it has its own regulator and the companies who supply electricity

are subject to much regulation. We regulate prices at

all parts of the cost chain, wholesale, transportation and

retail. We have total transparency so we fully understand why our

prices are what they are. GB prices, because it's a competitive

and there isn't the same extent of regulation , it's more difficult to

tell what is causing the price movements. Leaving things to the

market alone probably doesn't adequately protect consumers. There

is a need for regulation as well as promoting competition. In

Ireland the amount of profit electricity companies can make is

capped at 1.7%. In the rest of the UK, where no such cap exists, that

profit margin can be as high as 10%. One of the ways that the regulator

could look to address the issue of tariffs is to regulate directly

the same way as happens in Northern Ireland. However, that would be a

sizable shift from the way in which the market has operated and the

regulator has behaved over few years. Lower wholesale prices

of coal and gas earlier this year led to the recent drop in Northern

Irish bills but despite using the same raw materials, British mainland

companies are pushing prices in the opposite direction at rates far

outstripping inflation, and these rises seem to have prodded

government into action. I can announce, which I am sure he will

welcome, is that we will be legislating so that energy companies

have to give the lowest tariff their customers. Two days later the

British regulator Ofgem announced they would make the market simpler,

clearer and fairer, and would force companies to tell customers what

their cheapest tariffs are, but is this enough? Introducing proposals

like those put forward by Ofgem is a world away from ordering the energy

companies that they must charge a certain amount for energy, so from

that standpoint there won't necessarily be a direct impact on

customers' bills. For the moment, giving the British regulator the

power to set the prices energy companies can charge remains firmly

off the government's agenda, leaving customers in Northern Ireland with

lower bills; and those in the of the UK with nothing but worry. I

do feel for the families across the families with young children, you

know, just like myself. I certainly wouldn't want to be in their

position. I increase it somewhere else.

it's cruel. Sian Williams reporting there. SSE told us that they've

reviewed the account of Jackie Robinson who you saw in our film and

can confirm she doesn't need to increase her payments and may

be able to reduce them. They've written to her with details of their

cheapest tariff and suggested she apply for this

Discount Scheme which may lead to an annual saving of �130.

annual saving of � �130. Thank you, and with me now a representative

from Ofgem. People will be astonish bid that film because where Ofgem is

in charge prices go up, and of the UK where you are not in

charge, prices go down. We need to acknowledge, we recognise that

people are struggling with bills and there are things that

people can do and we urge them to do, for example shopping around

the best deal, but we know that that's more difficult than it

otherwise be, hence our plans to reform the market, to make it

simpler, clearer and fairer consumers. Yes, but what is obvious

from the film is that the utility regulator in Northern Ireland can

actually have a say in capping profits to 1.7%. You don't have that

power on prices, do you? Well, should say that in the last four

years actually Northern Ireland consumers have been paying on

average 10% more for their electricity than those on mainland

Britain. The price changes we see have brought them more into

alignment but you are right, we don't regulate profits and prices.

So are you a bit of a chocolate teapot then really? Absolutely

I mean, we don't regulate prices; are there to make sure the market is

working for consumers, so that can find the best deals, and

actually we already know that there are better deals out there than

Northern Ireland consumers pay. it's not working for consumers, is

it? You were here a year ago, remind you what you said a year ago?

By all means. OK, you said: we about to undertake the most radical

reform of the retail market in ten years. And nothing has happened. You

keep making loud noises but actually the prices aren't affected. The

energy companies go on making huge profits. Well, actually lots has

happened but you are right, we are still pushing forward with those

reforms. They are the most radical reforms in a decade and that's

we've got to get it right. been listening to consumers

consumer groups and in particular addressing some of their concerns

because we were looking at limiting a certain type of tariff. They are

saying: no, we should limit number of tariffs across the market

and therefore we've strengthened our reforms and we are pushing forward

with them. But actually what consumers want is lower prices,

never mind the tariffs, confusing tariffs, they just don't want to pay

as much. Yes, and that's difficult because we were actually the ones

that said a few years ago is increasing pressure on prices. We

know that we have to pay for replacing ageing infrastructure, we

know we have to pay to connect generation and we know that

wholesale prices are pushing up. What consumers need to know

they are going to pay no more than they need to for those changes and

that's why we are reforming the market. But the obvious question

is: why don't you have the powers that utility regulator has

Northern Ireland? Then you could something about it. Well, as I

said, actually Northern Ireland consumers have been paying 10% more

on average than mainland Britain consumers, and also we need

recognise that a third of that 14% decrease is actually because it's

something called a correction and what it means is that

paid more than they needed to in year before, so they are now going

to effectively be recompensed. But Northern Ireland say the

coming down because wholesale prices have come down, and here in

Britain we are being told that wholesale prices have gone up so our

bills have gone up. Actually, the other thing the Northern Ireland

regulator says is that, if you can get effective competition, that

give you better outcomes for consumers than regulation on things

like innovation, price and service. So that's what our reforms are all

about, making the market simpler for consumers, making it clearer

making it fairer, so that consumers are in the driving seat and can find

the best deals. Thank you. Thank you. Chris?

Thanks. Energy UK which represents all the main suppliers in Great

Britain say the fall in Northern Ireland is due to the market there

only recently being open upped to competition. Because customers can

now shop around their average bill is �5 less than for the rest of us.

However, they say the mainland bills are subject to government plans to

promote efficiency and to protect vulnerable customers, like

Home Discount Scheme we just mentioned. They say the profit

margin is �50 a year out of an average bill of �1,300 and that

profit margin of around 5% is similar to other sectors like

supermarkets and telecommunications. They add that �150 billion worth

investment is needed to keep the country's lights on and tackle

climate change and while price climate change and while price rises

are never welcome they urge anyone worried about their bills to

their supplier for advice and to find out if they are eligible for

help. If you would like to on tonight's stories here is how.

Coming up, if you have an account Coming up, if you have an account

with T-Mobile, be careful who you.

A fuse, about 15p. A set of spark A fuse, about 15p. A set of spark

plugs, about �25. A pair of brake pads, about 35 quid. Tonight's

Cars, they've always needed love and Cars, they've always needed love and

attention and fixing them has always been a job for an expert. It takes

skill, you see, dedication and good old-fashioned know-how. Just

you would expect from this guy, Mr Mike Sawyer, a mobile mechanic from

the Wirral on Merseyside. His glossy ad boasts of 40 years' experience of

diagnosing and rectifying faults with your motor. Reassuring and

what Jackie needed when her car failed to start one day last year.

So what did Mike, with all that experience, actually do? He got a

battery booster and he put it on my battery, I tried to turn the key and

nothing happened. So he said the battery is flat and it's going to be

�140 for a new battery. But then points to a part on the engine and

said: there's some oil here. He said that is from your starter motor,

could be a starter motor well. Mike said fixing the starter

motor would cost another �400 and Jackie paid half upfront so he

get the parts. But a few days later, he returned - without them. He turns

up, no battery, no starter motor, not exactly sure what he has come

round to do because he has got no parts or anything. Were your alarm

bells ringing at this point? Yes. I phoned a garage which I've used

the past. They send a couple of guys round and they have the same battery

booster that he had and they connected it up, turned the key, car

starts first time. In other there was nothing wrong with

there was nothing wrong with the starter motor, as Mike had claimed.

200 quid out of pocket, Jackie asked Trading Standards to help her get it

back. They gave him a call and apparently he said "Yes, I hold my

hands up, I've got the money, I never ordered anything but I can't

pay her back because a mortgage payment has come out and all the

money has gone on a mortgage payment". That's got to be filed

under not your problem? Yes, so the money should never have gone into

his account at all. It was for a part. Mmm, I will say. I will also

say it is time we met Mike Sawyer ourselves because Jackie isn't his

only dissatisfied customer so need a car like this Nissan Micra,

Japanese technology, and you know what they say, if it isn't broke

you've got to break it, in nice easy to fix way. Cue all round hero

Beck. There is nothing that cannot do, except fly.

setting two faults is simple. First fault: disconnect the number 4 fuel

injector to stop it firing. Obvious symptom: it's a light on the dash.

Second problem: change the horn fuse for a blown one. Equally obvious

symptom, no beep-beep. Can John us how much it should cost

long it should take? The two faults together should comfortably be

diagnosed and repaired within the hour and I

hour and I wouldn't expect to have to pay more than �85. You

see, I told you. There's nothing he can't do, except fly. Now, it's time

for our usual hidden cameras rather unusual house. It's a

big house in the country. Look, here is our actress Elaine playing lady

of the manor. There is John, watch from the servants' quarters

which is just as well because here comes Mike. Hello. Can you open

your car and spring please? Remember John's words, he

should be able to diagnose and fix the faults within an hour. That's 40

years' experience. Can he open the bonnet? I am sure I've done it

right. Having problems persuading it to release. It's normally a

little lever. I don't believe this. Good start. OK, bonnet open, it's

time to get technical. then? Diagnostic machine, my love,

basically a computer. A very clever computer indeed. A diagnostic

machine is programmed to read the information on a car's control unit

which then identifies the fault which a proper mechanic will use as

a starting point to investigate further. The key phrase there is

"starting point". The machine identifies possible faults

previous ones, so the mechanic has to narrow down the potential

problems even further. Put another way, he needs to know how to

use it properly. You've got about half a dozen faults. Oh my

goodness. So he isn't using it properly. If he was, he would

the car doesn't have half a dozen faults. It has two. He also wouldn't

be coming out with stuff like this. It's like pushing a bike with the

No, you see it is juddering because No, you see it is juddering because

John has disconnected one of the fuel injectors and it would stop

juddering if he plugged it back in. Check the wiring first. We need to

spend a few bob on this. Here we go. According to Mike we need:

It doesn't need these parts at all. It doesn't need these parts at all.

This guy places so much reliance on whatever the diagnostic equipment

tells him that he just accepts that's it. And he goes on to say

will take time to get these parts. I was hoping you could do it today.

I'm sorry, I can't. My name is not God.

Make some calls, find out what these Make some calls, find out what these

Make some calls, find out what these entirely different calls are going

entirely different calls are going entirely different calls are going

Make some calls, to cost. Each? Really?

And a shock to us because with And a shock to us because with

labour the bill for fixing our two small faults would be �1,085. I

would be because we get John to fix them instead. He is much cheaper and

there's nothing he can't do, except fly. As for Mike, on your bike.

Yes, but don't go too far because might want to call you out, see if

you misdiagnose and again. We've seen what he said

our old lady. Just what will he say to a young one? Keep watching and

Thanks, Matt. Now, if you are going Thanks, Matt. Now, if you are going

away this half term you might to warn your friends not to call

you. I wasn't aware of this but you are outside the EU and

leaves a message on your phone, can be charged, even if you don't

pick up the message. How much? much as the operators want because,

believe it or not, the regulators who put no restriction on it,

the law that stopped them from charging you for answer phone

messages within the EU place limits on what you could charge

outside Europe. You know what that is, an outrage. It is, and it gets

worse. Even if whoever is calling you doesn't leave a message, you can

still be charged. All that needs happen is for the call to connect.

That seems to be T-Mobile's policy. Before we went on holiday I did

check and make some calls. I deliberately left my phone in the

safe so calls wouldn't be answered. I noticed that my bill was

significantly higher than it have been. To come home to these

fees was hard to take in. What do T-Mobile say? They currently say

they charge for calls received when customers are outside the EU

they are changing this policy. Meanwhile, they've refunded Tara as

a goodwill gesture. We have been in touch with other networks. Orange,

Vodafone and 3 told us they do not charge; O2, Virgin and Tesco do

they haven't told us what they charge. Their customers will let us

know. Next, ISAs, hugely popular because you don't have to pay tax

the money you save. All banks offer ISAs and you can transfer yours from

one to another which you might be tempted to do because a rival bank

offers a better interest rate, beware, it can be the last you see

of your money for some time. Welcome to the world of modern

banking, our finances fused with technology to allow for instant

access to our cash with trillions transferred through the ether

day. That is unless you have ISA. You see, when it comes to

transferring these savings it's bit like living in the olden days.

Remember these? Cheques. They might Remember these? Cheques. They might

have looked a bit different a hundred years ago but essentially

they did the same thing, moving money from one place to another. You

don't see many these days, largely because those paper transfers take

time, and by using modern electronic techniques instead, money can now be

moved within seconds. So why many banks and building societies

still using them to transfer your ISAs? Pam Wright wants an answer to

that question from Barclays. They used a cheque to transfer her �7,700

ice is a to Santander back in April. It was supposed to take 15 days

maximum; instead, it took six months. Santander couldn't find the

cheque and content looking for it. kept phoning them. In July they

decided that the best thing to do was to re-present the original form

to Barclays and ask Barclays to re-issue the cheque. Barclays

refused to do so because the ISA had been closed, there was no money in

it. Put simply, Pam's money had disappeared. I couldn't get any

access to my money. I was getting concerned because I had some big

purchases coming up. Eventually the cheque came to my account on

October. Watchdog has heard from other viewers with similar

experiences, and in some cases the figures involved have been

higher. John Mecklenvuarg's took weeks to transfer; while Sharon

took 3 months waiting for her ISA transfer from Barclays to Santander.

Why aren't the banks fixing this? What is stopping them from ditching

cheques and using electronic transfers instead? There

primary reasons why the want to do that. It costs a lot of

money to put in a new infrastructure. The

infrastructure developed in the 1970s can't handle everything that

it needs to handle. Banks aren't bothered about the fact that cheques

don't get processed but they are not bothered enough because there are

simply not enough transactions. Let's be clear, the technology does

exist today that we can put into place to make this happen

minutes. However, the costs of doing that could be hundreds of millions

of pounds. As for the second reason, why banks aren't investing in faster

transfer technology? Well, about it. The longer they can keep

your money in the system, the more interest it will earn for them. No

wonder it doesn't feature high on their priority list. In their

this is a tiny problem that isn't worthy of any investment or

attention. Is it a tiny problem? many people are finding their money

going missing, apparently caught up in the archaic system of paper

transfers? Dozens? Scores? Hundreds? Well, how about 91,000? That's the

estimated number of cash ISAs last year that weren't transferred within

the recommended 15 days according to the Office of Fair Trading. And with

the average ISA holding around �8,000 the total figure we are

talking about is �728 million. And the problem isn't going away. The

financial ombudsman who is tasked with sorting out disputes between

customers and financial institutions is receiving 100 complaints about

cash ISAs every month. And whilst Office of Fair Trading study

that matters had improved, with 93% of cash ISAs going through on time,

there's obviously still work to done. It's a significant

improvement, but we would see more. We would like to see

providers consistently meeting the deadlines. So how might they do

that? According to the OFT the greatest number of delays last year

came during the summer months. Why? Well, one thing we thought it might

be was dealing with staff going holiday so we really want providers

to plan ahead for those periods. We think that the appropriate

guidelines are if place now and it's down to providers to make sure they

are following best practice and implementing it consistently. So

hundreds of customers complaining and millions of pounds of their

savings disappearing for months at a time. Where ISAs are concerned,

isn't it time for banks to step of the past and into the

world? The banks should be interested in making the

investment, in modernising the system so we can do away with

cheques and process information electronically. Why? Because

customers are going to be better served and, as a result, the

should be happier because their customers are happier.

Barclays have since apologised to Barclays have since apologised to

Pam saying the six-month delay in transferring her ISA fell short of

their usual high standards. They have now transferred it and

backdated all the interest that accrued. Same is true for Sharon,

whose �10,765 ISA was lost in the system for three months.

Meanwhile, Santander say they an average of two days to transfer

to another bank or building society, well below the industry standard

target. They say they did send a cheque to Nationwide for John's new

ice is a back in April but they were told it never arrived. The

has now happened, they've apologised for the delay and offered a

payment of �100. Both Barclays and Santander say they will be joining

new scheme to enable ISAs to be transferred electronically

the need for cheques. All major banks should be part

by the end of January 2013. Still to come, want lashes

Natalie Portman? You will need more than Christian Dior mascara.

And planning to put your kindle through the airport scanner? Keep

watching. watching. Back to Mike Sawyer now

who has already tried to charge us massively for unnecessary work.

Perhaps he had an off day, perhaps he just got greedy when he saw

lovely big house we called him out to. This time it's a lovely little

house with a lovely little car and what he might call a

lady. Harriet is her name. Undercover research is her game. She

has a 2,002 Mini Cooper, 60,000 miles on the clock, it is a smooth

runner, or it is until he gets his hands on it. Yes, John is on duty

again, this time setting two faults. He disconnects the control of the

exhaust emissions, replaces the ABS fuse with a blown one. Both

lights on the dashboard and raise two big questions, John?

and how long? About 10p for a fuse, about 15/20 minutes to fix, tops.

End of story. What can I say? It's my show, John. Let's not forget it.

Yes, I think I've made my point. We've set the faults, we've called

out Mike and he has a few questions too. Just lynch.

Don't worry, Hattie, Mike will find Don't worry, Hattie, Mike will find

out. He whips out his diagnostic kit, the one he used incorrectly

last time. He is very proud of it. It's only worth 5 grand. It's not so

much the machine, it's the programmes loaded inside it. They

are worth the money. Perhaps Mike and his very expensive equipment

will now identify our very cheap faults. Or is it a case of "All the

gear, no idea"? Step one, plug it in. It shouldn't be too difficult,

should it? But for Mike it's a toughie. Is there something

missing? Can't find the plug. On the steering column. It's

to be right here and it is not. Don't think he has done

research. Beats the hell out of me. He should have plugged it in by

now. Must be hidden somewhere. It's not, but after 17 minutes of

searching he decides to use a lifeline and phone a friend.

You know, he is charging money for You know, he is charging money for

this expertise, real money. This crazy. He is being told where to

look now. 27 minutes after he started he finally gets the machine

plugged in and working and once again this machine means money.

it a big problem when the come on? Yes, my love. It

expense. It seems the trusty machine has identified some

problems. Explain them to us Mike. There's a fault with that little

engine sign standing up is you going: God, I've got a pain in the

chest, time to visit the doctor. good start. Anything stranger?

I think we will leave the metaphors I think we will leave the metaphors

now. What is required? Right. It's not a lamba sensor, it's lambda.

didn't know before today but I don't fix cars for a living, unlike Mike.

He says it's essential we change ours soon. If you drive that with

sensors as they are you do damage to the top of your engine.

It's nonsense, of course. All he needs to do is reconnect the wires.

How about that ABS light? More than likely down to a set of front or

rear pads that needs replacing. Even more nonsense. The

that needs replacing is a fuse. A guy who fails to consider the ABS

properly, quite honestly, is bordering on dangerous. He suggested

that was related to the brake pads wearing out which is

ludicrous. And the cost. John the faults could be fixed for just

�75 call-out fee. But Mike? bits are going to cost you 246, call

it 250, plus VAT which is �300 and labour for both jobs is 180. Whoa,

�480, is he charging for parts, labour and flattery? No big

boyfriend to sort your problems out? No. Really? You are pretty. You

want to go out to nice places in the evening, where there are millions of

nice wine bars, I would take a baseball bat as well with you. Why?

baseball bat as well with you. Why? Because you go around there, all

the eligible fellas, you will be beating them off with a stick.

Lessons in love over, it's time to pay. He is charging �75 for today's

labour and wants �300 upfront for the new parts. Harriet, the "little

love" goes to find her purse just in case her pretty little head

can't count - take the tenners out, count all the 20s together

individual units and then times them by 2 and you will know how

money you've got. OK. All of this and a maths lesson too. A few

later he is back and the mission is to fit the front sensor, do the

service, investigate the light is flashing because it needs a new

fuse and hold even more uncomfortable conversations with our

researcher. Want to come and have a look, baby? Have a look down there,

the brake pad is virtually worn, it's beyond a safe operating

parameters of the ABS system so the warning light comes on. Yours

down to less than a quarter inch so you've worn away 90% of it.

Rubbish. He is talking utter rubbish. How does John know it's

rubbish? Because he checked the brake pads. He found they were

perfectly serviceable and were worn down by about 40%, not 90%. You see,

Meanwhile, Mike is talking more Meanwhile, Mike is talking more

figures, and giving us more pearls of wisdom on what women know about

cars. This is a girl, she puts the key in, starts it, drives it. Do you

even put petrol in or do you get someone else to put that for you?

Of course I put my own petrol in. Well done, 50% improvement!

she can take the fuel cap off and everything, take a bow. OK, he

presented his bill but he says he can't replace the sensor

because it has seized up. He has covered it in oil to loosen

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 97 seconds

I'm losing all sense of self. Every I'm losing all sense of self. Every

atom is concentrating hard on that small, potent powerhouse at the apex

of my - what? Oh come on, what's wrong with this thing?

Has your kindle frozen at the worst possible moment? You are not alone.

We are constantly hearing from owners, all complaining that these

handheld reading devices just keep losing the plot. Consider the sad

tale of romance fan, Saskia. Her husband gave her a Kindle for her

birthday in October 2010 but the love affair began to turn

less than a year. When I received my Kindle after about ten

had used it, there were no issues, and all of a sudden it just stopped

working. As her Kindle was still within the 12-month guarantee Amazon

replaced it for free but this relationship was also destined

fail. So after 11 months I had again issues, so the screen froze, it

wasn't working anymore. So I rang up Amazon and they said "We are really

sorry but you only have a 90-day warranty". Amazon offered another

replacement for �50 but for it was time to move on. She

her back on the older keyboard and opted for a slimmer model, the

Kindle Touch which cost her another �10. She is in a good place now and

hopes that this time it will go the distance.

Her story is one that we are time and time again. The screen on

the Kindle freezes, leaving unable to turn the pages of the book

you are already reading or access to the books you have already

downloaded on the device. Amazon will give you a new one free within

your first 12 months but the warranty outside that first year is

just three months so if after that, you will have to pay.

I use my kinds within lessons, as a I use my kinds within lessons, as a

dictionary and thesaurus for students. I have a sensitivity to

light and I have eye strain if I look at a computer screen for a long

time. That's why I chose a and I'm so reliant on it. Katie's

Kind froze as did the replacement, but as it was after ten

had to pay for a new one. think the warranty is sufficient. I

definitely think should be covered for up to three

years because it is a fault of their own, I haven't done anything but I'm

the one that ultimately has the price. E-books might be

outselling hardbacks these days but this most popular of them

obviously has a problem. This is a copy of last year's annual report

and quite clearly, on page 45, it states it expects its devices to

last on average three years. A limited expectation. The reality is

often even worse. When we rang Amazon posing as new Kindle owners

we asked staff how long they thought devices would last. 7 couldn't tell

us. The 8th told us this: honestly, the way they make these devices

these days they have a these days they have a shelf-life of

about a year. We only have a warranty for a year. So Amazon do

seem to know their Kindles have short shelf-life but don't seem

be doing anything about it. All this from a customer who say they

to be the most customer-centric Earth. What I need is an expert in

photonics and experimental condensed matter physics. Professor Chu

speaking. Fancy that. The Professor works for the University of

Cambridge and just loves experiment. Now, electrical charges

inside the Kindle cause letters to show on the screen but static could

affect the process, forcing the screen to freeze. What I'm going to

do now is use electrostatic discharger to discharge into the

display. Stand back. Wow t went completely black now. Yes. You

arguing that could happen to a normal working Kindle, suddenly an

electrostatic field gets in there and affects the mechanism?

that's what we tried today, that's starting from a perfect Kindle and

that's the end result you've got. Testing out the theory in a lab is

all well and good but what about in the real world? A number of users

have told us their devices froze shortly after passing through

airport scanners. Could there be an explanation here? If you take off

your jumper in a very environment and put your Kindle in

an insulated tray, put your jumper on top of it, it could discharge

into the Kindle. So you are saying the process of the x-ray, taking

my jumper, creating static, creating a field that could affect it?

There's a possibility of that. Whatever the cause of the problems,

Kindle owners want Amazon to get to grips with it. More than 150 have

contacted Watchdog and complaints they have, well,

could write a book. Amazon told us they have ten of

millions of customers around the world including many using earlier

generations of the device daily. The particular model we

third generation one they began shipping more than two years ago.

small number of customers have contacted them about this

but for those who do encounter it they provide a replacement. Yes,

about if that replacement goes wrong it seems it is only covered

three months? Yes, we did put that to them but they didn't respond

further. Thank you Amazon and you everyone who has been in touch

about that story. Here's a few more. Three basic rules for life: you

don't spit into the wind, don't eat the yellow snow and you don't upset

Trekkies. Sadly that's what the organisers of Star Trek Destination

London have boldly gone and done. The weekend event brought together

all five Star Trek captains and Bakula - for the first time, but

instead of being impressed some Trekkies complained of overcrowding,

poor signage and tatty exhibitions. Admission was �29 but there

complaints about the cost of merchandise with one

the organisers like the Ferengis, a race of greedy merchants

planet Ferenginar. Organisers deny overpricing, saying this was

convention aimed at hardcore fans and despite attracting

visitors there were only a handful of complaints. As for the

disgruntled Trekkies, well, they just canno take it anymore.

A new superfast mobile service is on A new superfast mobile service is on

the way but you need to study the deals. EE says its new 4G service,

up to five times faster than 3G, will be available from next week

customers will have to pay up to a month for the privilege of

able to watch TV on the go and download a movie in ten minutes. The

cheapest contract starts at month but if you download data at

new peak speeds you will get through your monthly allowance in just three

minutes and 25 seconds. EE says the �36 plan is for people who browse

and do emails without having to wait. It's not for heavy users.

Downloading your film won't come out of your data allowance and those who

use more data than planned will simply be prompted to buy an

additional bundle from �3. Still, your entire allowance in 3 minutes

and 20 seconds, that's superfast.

Christian Dior promising women fabulous lashes just like Natalie

Portman. According to this ad, you had to do was apply their

mascara to get a spectacular multiplying effect. Alas

to say the photo had been retouched and the Thor actress' lashes had as

much to do with Photoshop technology as the mascara. Dior say it was used

minimally to increase thickness and volume, but

Standards Authority wasn't impressed. It said Dior had

exaggerated the effectiveness of the product. The ad has been banned.

Beaming back to the Wirral now, Beaming back to the Wirral now,

mobile mechanic Mike Sawyer tried to charge us more than �1,000 to fix

non-existent faults on a Nissan Micra. Then he hit us with a �475

bill to repair simple problems a Mini Cooper. Work we are

waiting for him to actually out. Now our researcher Harriet has

already had one or two uncomfortable chats with Mike so this time she has

asked her brother to do the chasing. And this is him, hippy dippy Dan,

aka chilled out Charlie. 1.00 on Friday? Yes, that would be sweet.

He needs to be laid back because he keeps agreeing for dates and then

Mike keeps cancelling. There absolutely nothing I could do today.

Finally, he does turn up to do the work but before starting he wants a

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 97 seconds

Nothing personal, I always count it. Nothing personal, I always count it.

Has he done what he said and earnt his money? No, he lied about

replacing sensors, he failed on basic parts of the service like

checking steering, wipes, the lights, he didn't change the oil

filter but did change the air filter, even though

And that extra 20 quid he tried to And that extra 20 quid he tried to

charge at the end was for wiring he caused through poor workmanship.

Nice touch, Mike. Here we go again, final call-out for our man and

time I'm with John in the hide. We've got a new car along

stooge on the drive and now got Mike. Ooh. Good afternoon.

Hello, how are you? Fine, thank you. This time John has been set

the most straightforward of faults. All Mike has to do is check them

that would be too simple, wouldn't it? So what are you

moment then? What I'm at this moment is to test your

battery. Okey doke. He did this the other day. Then we will plug

the diagnostic to see what it says. Out with that favourite

again. Need a coil unit. Erm, no, we don't. Nor do we need an

which he says we might have replace. We do need to stop

going any further though, right now. Not quite what I expected to

out the front door. You have been Michael but then

honest the way that you deal your customers and what we've seen

from the way you conduct yourself, it's something you may have been

expecting, Matt from BBC Rogue Traders. How are you doing? Fine,

thank you. We've seen you once again misdiagnose a problem with

car in a way that was going to generate for you hundreds

worth of work, and we've seen that happen on two separate occasions

now. OK. Where you've - and I can tell you which ones they are. Just

a sec, come round. OK. Went to the car, right? Yes. The battery

is remaining on. Yes. Three reasons: battery terminal is loose?

No. Loose alternator belt? No. Checked the connections in the back.

No loose connections. Asked the quite clearly: was the light staying

on or was it flickering? If flickering it's a voltage

in the back, checked it and staying on. How much is a new

alternator? I have just been quoted �230. How much is a new fuse? I

haven't checked the fuses. A mini fuse, about 25p. 25p. You haven't

checked them. No. Why not? Because I was offhand about the

alternator. Why did you go for option that's going to cost hundreds

of pounds rather than 25p? I have yet, in the last three years,

found the reason an alternator isn't charging is a fuse. Mike, we've got

two other cases, two other you have come out to see with us.

Again we've ended up with jobs hundreds of pounds instead of your

call-out fee and a minimal repair fee. But until you take it apart -

you didn't have to take it The answer was there under the

cover, in the fuse box. You ignored it, which would have cost us

hundreds, which obviously we are not going to pay. Obviously. We have

complaints from other which follow exactly this pattern.

Work that didn't need doing, faults that have been missed and the

expensive option being chosen. That's what happens with you, Mike,

and we've seen it now on separate occasions. I think I've

explained my actions on particular car. I've no comment on

anything else. You won't comment on the other two? Not without checking

into my records, no. OK. Go and check them then. One more question:

why did you say you changed four brake pads for us? I didn't claim

to change them. You said we change all four. We are going round

in circles. I clearly explained - We are not, we are making

allegations that you are failing answer. I don't agree. As I say, I

fully answered what you have asked about this vehicle. You no longer

want my services, I don't want to spend all day arguing with camera

with you so I will go away, read what you've got and I will be back

in touch with you. Is that fair? OK, thank you very much. Of

it is. Have a nice day.

That's Mike the mobile mechanic, and That's Mike the mobile mechanic, and

that there is 25p. Well, he has had lots of time to

read all the allegations in letter and still hasn't sent a

response, so tonight Mike Sawyer, bit less chatty than you saw him

earlier, becomes the latest face in our rogues' gallery.

Thanks, loads of unhappy owners have been in touch, all

complaining about freezing and in some cases the replacements too.

Energy bills: we don't want simplified tariffs but lower prices.

As for the banks: how come it takes months to transfer an ISA when my

whole account can be transferred in less than a yolk?

less than a week? less than a week?

Thanks, guys, coming up next week, Thanks, guys, coming up next week,

You can, of BUPA and Axa cutting their payouts

no matter what you've paid in. PPI, the banks set aside billions in

compensation but some customers legitimate claims are being turned