Episode 8 Watchdog

BUPA, AXA, payments going down. BUPA, AXA, payments going down.

Indesit washing machines blowing up. Lloyds, Barclays and the PPI

scandal. Why aren't the banks giving refunds? Plus BT Vision, TomTom and

FIFA 13 - it's Watchdog, the programme you

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

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

Tonight: Indesit, what's these washing machines go bang? It's

hard to describe. It sounded basically like a bomb or something

like that, that had exploded. Also, BUPA, AXA, raising patients'

premiums, cutting payouts. Lloyds, it mis-sold PPI, now it's denying

customers compensation. And FIFA 13, best-selling sports computer game,

top of our league for complaints. Tonight's rogues could give them

some competition. Complaints about them go back years, so

are catching up with a few, including this one, Eddie Green,

silver-tongued son of Suffolk, leaves your driveways clean but very

Yes, it turned out cameras were the Yes, it turned out cameras were the

least of his problems because after we exposed him for laying dodgy

driveways the authorities then caught up. We will tell you

happened to him along with other stars of our Rogues' Gallery

later. later.

First Indesit, which sums up its First Indesit, which sums up its

philosophy in two words: simple better. The experience of these

I was actually through in the lounge I was actually through in the lounge

with the children, just playing their toys, keeping them amused and

I suddenly heard this horrendous bang go off in the kitchen.

was the most almighty could ever wish to hear, thinking

half the house was coming down. It's hard to describe. It sounded

basically like a bomb or something like that, that had exploded.

Crashes and explosions like these are normally confined to disaster

movies. You don't expect them your home, and not from

One evening last June Ellie Walton One evening last June Ellie Walton

One evening last June Ellie Walton from Suffolk loaded her Indesit

from Suffolk loaded her Indesit from Suffolk loaded her Indesit

One evening last washing machine, set it running and

went to join her two children in the lounge. I was just doing a normal

weekly wash of our clothes. It was just a normal amount in there. There

was a good space at the top. always make sure that, you know,

it's not overloaded or anything like that. But 20 minutes later, she

heard an almighty bang from her kitchen. BANG. Once I actually

the machine I knew that it something that shouldn't happen. The

top was ripped off it, the door was blown open and the dials had blown

off as well. It had pushed out and the work top out, and taken

off its metal brackets and ripped that apart as well. Her washing

machine had exploded. The floor was covered in broken plastic and inside

the drum had come loose and was left buckled and twisted. The actual

tray where you put your washing liquid and everything in had

completely shattered. When I feeling around obviously to get the

clothes out, I could see that the drum had obviously ripped and then

rotated round on itself. It was very sharp as well. I was so angry, and

livid at the fact that one of could have got injured. Not just

thinking about the kids, but any of us could have been in here and

actually got hurt by it, so - now, on Watchdog we hear about lots of

freak incidents involving household goods and this seemed like another

of those unexplained one-offs. But then we found that the same thing

had happened in another part of country. And it involved the

same machine. Boom. The front of the washing machine, all the plastic

dials and everything, all that plastic had shattered off, so

obviously that's a huge hazard if you've got young

they are the height of that washing machine, and the front where the

dials are. Obviously that is something that could cause

Both Rachel and Ellie had the Both Rachel and Ellie had the

Indesit WIX L13 but the problem isn't limited to that model. Tim

the same experience with the more expensive WIX E167 and the dodge was

even more serious. We came into the kitchen to find it covered with what

can only be described as shrapnel. The work surface mushroomed up

the washing machine was sat there, completely destroyed. Where you have

that concrete balancing block in the back of a washing machine to stop it

rocking and rolling when it's spinning, when the drum split or

whatever happened to the drum, tried to fire this concrete

out of the top of the machine. Had there been no worktop or anything

above it, potentially this concrete block could have gone into the base

of the gas boiler, resulting in quite a bigger bang. In total, we've

heard of around Indesit machines from across the

country exploding. In each there were no warning signals

anything was wrong with them. The owners want answers. Since the

machines seem to explode on their final spin cycle, electrical

engineer Graham Watkinson thinks the problem might be with the drum.

asked him to take a look at the same model that exploded in

Here you can see you've got the Here you can see you've got the

concrete block and this is what keeps it sturdy? Yes, that also

keeps it in balance. What would happen if these washing machines

didn't have a concrete the top? They would

themselves apart. So would be rendered useless straightaway?

Completely. Graham then removes the plastic casing so that we can see

the inner drum. Ricky, I've got the drum out of the machine now.

believe what happens is the seam actually splits open, then what

happen is the actual drum itself will open, just like a can. When it

splits it then hits the outer and breaks through that -

made of plastic. It is, hitting the concrete, and this is the

the top that it's hitting. If the concrete slab actually cracked, the

weight distribution there would be no balance on it

whatsoever and then the thing would start doing exactly the same,

would shake itself to pieces. So this is essentially smashing through

the top of the washing machine and that's what is creating the damage?

Yes. How dangerous would this be it was in your kitchen and it broke

and this kind of damage occurred? Well, as far as actual injury goes

to somebody, it could catastrophic. Since Ellie, Rachel

and Tim's machines exploded, Indesit have apologised and paid for

replacements, but is that enough? I just can't believe that with that

risk in mind, they haven't done anything about it yet. I really

feel that Indesit should feel that Indesit should recall the

washing machines, before somebody gets seriously hurt. Ricky Boleto

reporting there. Indesit say they are sorry some customers have had

problems, but when brought to their attention, they've dealt with them

promptly. They say they are aware a technical issue that could

a very small number of their machines, the models potentially

affected are are as follows. WIX L143 and the WIX E167.

They have been built between May They have been built between May

2007 and June 2009. Under certain operating conditions the drum seam

has fractured, causing damage to the machine. They say this problem does

not affect any Indesit model on today.

OK, but they are surely recalling the two models that are affected?

No, they say they've carried out risk assessment and

the risk is low, so a withdrawal isn't necessary.

Low risk but potentially severe Low risk but potentially severe

consequences? It certainly looks like it. They've asked any concerned

customers to call their customer services.

Thanks, Chris. Coming up: BUPA, AXA, Thanks, Chris. Coming up: BUPA, AXA,

PPP, price of your premiums going up.

close and our gallery is full of a new set of photos. What happens when

we take those pictures down? Some rogues go out of by, some see the

error of their ways and some try to carry on business as before. They

don't always succeed though, as you are about to find out.

# 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 # # 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 #

Yeah, it's update time and out road trip, or even rogue trip.

love all this, the wind in my helmet, trusty steel stallion

between my jeans and I'm off to one of my favourite places. Yorkshire. I

love Yorkshire. The dales, the moors, the bit in between

and the moors, and the love the people. Ee by gum, there's

that lad off Rogue Traders. was that? I have been practising

all night, listening to Emmerdale. Going tut Wool Pack. I hate

Emmerdale! Ah. We are Yorkshire. I mean, we wanted to be,

but it's the end of the series and the budget has gone. In our

imaginations, where travel is free, let's go to Wakefield, to re-visit

gas fitter Brian Lloyd who we did actually travel to meet in 2009.

Now, back then Brian was trading as the Gas House and his speciality was

servicing fires, gas ones funnily enough. That all would have been

fine if he wasn't breaking the law by doing it, because he had

previously been struck previously been struck off the Corgi

register twice and he was being investigated by the

Safety Executive for causing a gas leak at a customer's home and yet we

heard he was still at it. So we called him out to this house to

service this filthy fire. And my 2009 self was waiting to step in the

moment he overstepped the law, ie do anything other than clean the fire.

Yet it didn't take Brian long, and Yet it didn't take Brian long, and

It's really dirty, that was Janie Cooper, by the way,

our gas guru for the day. Sorry, while I remember - my Dad said to

ask for your - what is it? It's not CORGI, gas safe card? Yes, I will

give you that, yes. Great. Go on then, Brian. Is it just a number or

Yes, it was a proper showroom but to Yes, it was a proper showroom but to

be a proper gas fitter he needed have one of these, a proper gas

To show Brian he was behaving like a To show Brian he was behaving like a

gas fitter from 100 years ago we drafted in the help of a Victorian

street urchin who just happened to be passing. And a traditional

Yorkshire brass band, you know?

right? Yes. Those were the bad old days when gas fitters could be just

about anyone, they could be underqualified, not

all. Now, of course, you have to be gas safe registered. You do.

you are not, are you? Yes, I am. No, you are not. I've just got my

papers through. We know that's not the case and in fact you have been

investigated for work you have done recently by Gas Safe

because the house was left unsafe condition. I promise you, we

know what we are talking about. Listen, I've watched this programme,

I've got my papers at home. you haven't got a Gas Safe card with

you, they know nothing about apart from the work that

to investigate to put right. Fine, yeah. You are breaking the law

work that you are doing and claiming to be certified and that you know

what you are doing when, in you are not. Are you? You are not.

MUSIC. Are we going to agree on the fact that you are not gas

registered? You can see my papers. You are dangerous, Brian. MUSIC .

Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Now, Brian never did show us his

papers but his past caught up with him a few months later because in

February 2010 the HSE prosecuted him for causing that gas leak and he was

once again banned from doing work. Thank goodness for that.

That's not the end of the story. Six months later, he had broken the law

again, installing a boiler dangerously. What kind of an

is that? Let me finish. May 2012, this year, he was up in court,

pleading guilty to two offences against the gas safety regulations,

and one charge of breaching a prohibition notice. He was ordered

to do 250 hours' community service and to pay �500 against costs. �500?

That's some monkey. Never did quite get the hang of that Yorkshire

thing, did she? Let's hope she doesn't learn to speak like our next

rogue either, he has a mouth like a sewer. As for his work that's also

shhh-ambolic. Next though, payment protection

insurance or PPI. For more than decade banks routinely

to millions of customers who applied for credit cards. Those banks have

since had to set aside billions in compensation for customers entitled

to refunds, so why are the same banks turning down wholly legitimate

The big five banks, not always The big five banks, not always

popular and, when it comes to judging PPI complaints, not always

right. It took a High Court ruling last year to force them to

compensate millions of customers that were missold the policy,

the amounts they've had to set aside to cover the claims are truly

Santander reckons its compensation Santander reckons its compensation

bill could hit �550 million, but that's nothing compared to

rivals. HSBC expects to pay out just over �1 billion. RBS thinks it needs

1.3 billion to cover the cost of claims, while Barclays reckons

will pay out 2 billion. But the Daddy of them all is Lloyds. It has

put aside a staggering �4.3 billion. So the total bill for the big five?

Just over �9 billion. But although they've committed to use all of this

money for repayments, in reality some banks appear strangely

reluctant to part with it, despite all their promises to compensate

everyone who was missold PPI, actually getting your money back can

be remarkably difficult. This is Nahida Goodchild, from

Ipswich. Unknown to her, Barclays sold her PPI when she took

credit card with them in 1990. I never had a conversation with

anybody to say "This is PPI, this what it's about, what you are

covered for or not covered for". It was only when Nahida saw news

reports and checked to find she had PPI herself. I have been

a long time, more than 20 years, for something I didn't know I had,

whether I wanted it or didn't want it, it was obviously being charged.

So, convinced that she had a case for a refund, Nahida contacted

her bank. Barclays sent me a letter, rejecting my claim, and

implying that I had actually signed up to PPI, which is totally untrue.

They've never given me any other full explanation. There's no

evidence from their side to prove that I signed any paperwork.

Unfortunately for Nahida it came down to her word against Barclays,

but if you find yourself in the same position the bank's word doesn't

have to be final. You can appeal. The Financial Ombudsman Service or

FOS is an independent body which power to overturn bank decisions and

if necessary award compensation. It was set up to adjudicate in all

kinds of disputes but ever since the banks were supposed to be

compensating PPI customers been creaking under the workload.

This is completely unprecedented. Natalie is the chief ombudsman

chief executive of the service. Unfortunately now there are millions

of people out there who have been denied justice for a very long time

and for the ombudsman service we doing one of the biggest cleanups in

financial services history. They are receiving so many complaints

about banks rejecting PPI that they have had to double

number of staff. It has now hit unprecedented volumes. In fact, last

week we received our half millionth complaint about the

subject and now every working day we are getting around 4,000 phone

about PPI misselling and taking in a thousand or more new complaints to

investigate. What is the volume of cases that you have overturned, ie

you've gone back on the bank's decision, overruled it in fact?

Over those cases something three quarters of those customers,

we've awarded compensation. And the worst banks for refusing to pay out?

Lloyds and Barclays. In the first six months of the year, the

ombudsman received 9,500 about Lloyds. 98% of those were

upheld meaning Lloyds had to pay out. In the same period there were a

staggering 19,500 complaints about misselling by Barclays and, of

those, 93% were upheld. I'm totally angry and furious and I don't

I would ever sign up for all with Barclays. I think it's

totally unfair because I don't actually think they've actually

looked into any of the paperwork, because where I've supplied them

with a huge amount of evidence and proof to state my case, I haven't

had anything back but a two-line letter to say they are rejecting my

claim. Critics accuse the banks of using a range of tactics to

customers off or reject their entirely legitimate

According to the ombudsman, some even go as far as saying

customer never had place. We are getting a lot of banks

saying these consumers never had policies, they are trying it on.

When we ask just a few more questions we found that actually a

quarter of consumers did have and then we go

whether or not they were missold. Following the worst misselling

scandal in UK financial history, banks are supposed to be putting

things right. On this evidence, some are failing spectacularly. But this

time the rest of us may not have to pay for their failings. The nice

thing about the ombudsman service we have legally binding powers so

what we decide, the banks have to do, so if people do feel they were

missold of course they've got to look at their bank first but if they

don't think they've got that is what we are here for. Now,

Lloyds says the ombudsman's figures relate to historic processes and

procedures. It says for a short period last year there were problems

in distributing PPI compensation to customers. Whilst these were swiftly

resolved they are likely to have an impact on the ombudsman's figures.

Meanwhile, a result from Barclays. The bank has now apologised

Nahida Goodchild and promised to her back in full. It insists claims

management companies are largely to blame for clogging up the PPI

complaints system and says its own processing time has been cut.

Complaints to the ombudsman are at their lowest for three years. Now,

FIFA 13, the world's best-selling sports computer game, it sold more

than a million units in the UK within days of its launch earlier

this month. We reported complaints about the game freezing and locking

up computers just days after it went on sale and you may

giving us a reassuring statement. Yes, that was probably the one where

they said they were constantly listen to go feedback from fans,

continuing to improve the game and addressing problems so all players

have a good experience? Yes, was the one. Sadly, all the issues

haven't been addressed and a lot players are having an

Goes back, Adam Johnson - I've had Goes back, Adam Johnson - I've had

Goes back, Adam Johnson - I've had invisible players, invisible

invisible players, invisible invisible players, invisible

Goes back, Adam Facebooks. It was quite strange, to

be honest, because I couldn't what I was doing, and it was just

frustrating. I bought FIFA 13 on the day of release. About four days into

the game, it started to play up. As you are progressing through the game

mode and the in-game calendar loads, as you are about to go into the next

match of the season, it just crashes to black screen. At first, the

experience of the game crashing was very frustrating. But now it's just

gone beyond a joke and I've just given up completely trying. Samir

from Suffolk bought FIFA 13 to play the FIFA Ultimate Team mode

you buy, sell and trade players to create your own team. I pre-ordered

the game with my pocket money. I got gold packs, got rare players which

were good. The next day I went on, they all disappeared and overall,

out of the whole �20 which I on FIFA, I've got nothing to show

for it as they all went. As a customer I feel completely ignored,

just a ghost. No response whatsoever. Numerous emails, tried

contacting them through various methods, their forum, Twitter

account, Facebook page, nothing whatsoever. No response. I think EA

have treated me quite badly I have been a customer for them

quite a few years, and you would think by now they would treat you

nicely, but they just don't want know anything if it's bad to do

about their game. I would like it sorted. I would like some kind of -

just acknowledgement. They can't just force us away, just kind

ignore the issue. They've got to sort their issues out. They

shouldn't be selling these games until the issues are sorted out.

OK, games crashing, computers freezing, people losing money, EA

not answering calls. What's on? They have given us a

statement and you can see that on our website. The address is on

screen. They have already addressed issues and in game mode and they are

actively addressing those relating to transactions in the game that

haven't been executed properly as missing coins or FIFA

Ultimate Team items. They claim that since an update on October 19th

they've seen problems drop by more than half. They are aware of rare

occurrences where the ball doesn't appear. They are investigating and

will communicate directly with owners once they have

information. EA have asked fans to follow them on Twitter and Facebook

for latest information and They say: implementing high quality

fixes isn't always simple. They are trying to deliver them so fans don't

experience undue or lengthy network/server outages.

Next, two leading health insurers promising peace of mind should you

fall ill or need surgery. Price the annual premiums? You guessed,

rising. Prices they are prepared to pay for some treatment? Yes,

falling, as veteran BBC reporter Tom Mangold found out.

Here in Malaysia the problem of the Vietnamese Chinese refugees

debt Vietnamese Chinese refugees is the

threat that they pose - My Eyes have seen a lot. For years

took out private medical insurance to get the best possible care

anything go wrong so when I recently developed cataracts I was

I would get the operation I needed from the surgeon and time of my

choice and AXA said yes go ahead, just one small snag, it would cost

�600 on top of the insurance premium per eye. AXA told me they wouldn't

pay my selected surgeon's full fees. What's the point of cover if you are

not covered? I wondered if I was the only one. Turns out I wasn't. When

Gareth Brockle bank was told needed surgery on a prolapsed disk,

AXA agreed to pay in full. Shortly before the operation the pain

subsided so surge are was postponed. Just under a year later the problem

returned and it was decided operation should go ahead. But in

that time, AXA's position changed. A week before the

operation, I had a phone call from AXA, telling me that there was

to be a �800 shortfall in the surgeon's fees. They said it was

because they had capped my surgeon's fees between the last surgery

was supposed to happen year. AXA told Gareth he could have

the operation free only if he went with their suggested surgeon. But as

he wanted the specialist who knew his case best, he received a

bill. I've never missed a payment and this is the only major claim

that I've made with them, and I feel they pulled the rug out

me and I have been left hundreds of pounds left to pay.

BUPA has also cut the are prepared to pay for some routine

surgery. Hernias and hip operations, by around 40%; kidney stone

operations have dropped by 50%. Like AXA, they say patients can

avoid paying extra by going with cheaper surgeons that they

recommend. But in the medical world, doesn't cheaper mean worse? It

doesn't necessarily mean worse, but one of the things that is often the

case in many professions is that, if you have greater experience and

may well be recognised as being somebody that's better, then you

tend to charge more. And what do your patients tell you about this?

They are hopping mad. They have paid a lot of money and they suddenly

find, when they do come to claim, that they are not getting

thought. Like me, BUPA member Jacqui Wigg developed cataracts and,

me, she was referred to a surgeon charging �1,200 an eye. I expected

to have at least a fairly major contribution towards that, but I was

told that there would be a 75% shortfall. And I would only get �289

per eye. If she didn't want to pay, BUPA would cover the cost of her

surgery, but only if she had it done at a standard high street optician,

and this after she had thousands of pounds in premiums over

20 years. I was shocked disappointed. And not what I would

have expected of BUPA. Of there could be a simple explanation

why insurers have reduced are prepared to pay. Maybe some

consultants are charging too much. Consultants like my own? Point

blank, Professor, profiteering? I'm not. I am

charging what I believe is a perfectly reasonable rate for the

length of time I have been practising. When I was

appointed as a consultant around years ago I set my fees at around

�800 so in 18 years those fees crept up to 1200 which I think is

probably not even probably not even in line with

inflation. Is there a danger that, even inadvertently the private

health insurance companies are creating a second tier of

consultants? There is a danger that that may be beginning to evolve in

the sense that some able to pay the difference to

someone who is very experienced, has been around for a very long

time; others will take the insurance company's advice and go to another

consultant, another doctor who is carrying out the surgery. Going to

him because he is cheaper and recommended by

company? Exactly. Which is not same thing as going to

he is the best in the land and most experienced? Yes. What you

dealing with really is an issue of choice. They can't go and see the

doctor that may have been recommended to them by their GP

because he may not be a fee-approved or so-called fee-assured

That is right, which is - you up exactly why I've carried private

health insurance for the last 30 years. And throughout that time the

premiums have gone up and up. In fact, between 2009 and

although the number of people with health insurance fell by 300,000,

the amount spent on premiums increased by nearly �104 million. So

despite paying more for their medical insurance, patients are

being told to expect less for their money. Is private health insurance

itself now on the critical list? AXA PPP says it pays 97% of

submitted to them for treatment in full. When it can't do that, it will

discuss what it can contribute with a patient beforehand. It says a

small number of consultants have, in some cases, inflated their

much that it would be detrimental to the long term benefit of members

it was to pay them unchallenged. It insists there's no published medical

evidence that those consultants, who charge up to three times more than

necessary, provide a better quality of care. BUPA told us that paying

excessive fees for routine operations would cause unnecessary

raises in premiums. It could see no justification in paying �1,200 for a

procedure that takes 15 to 20 minutes. It adds that many surgeons

are happy to pay are happy to

are happy to work at their rate. Still to come, Vue double charging

to see 007. Now back to a catch-up with

past, we have already been to Yorkshire, sort of, so where else

can our imaginations take us? We are in Suffolk! Or at

have lots of library footage of Suffolk, combined with what follows,

a crass assembly of stereotypes about rural East Anglia. As I said,

end of series, money's tight. We need to clip the circlings in the

upper field. And douse the node thees down at the bottom. Sure. If

you think they are being creative with their language, you

don't remember the time that I Eddie Green in Great Yarmouth. Yes,

we know that's actually in Norfolk, but Eddie gets around. He travelled

to meet our actress Sheila in 2009 and told her she could

proper job when it came to pressure washing her driveway. He also

# This is a man's world # # This is a man's world #

Yes, we couldn't find a law that said Eddie had to employ a woman,

not that women aren't brilliant. Eddie obviously liked them. I

they are so good for bossing around. Get the shovel up here, shovel!

Missed a bit there. Well, they finished cleaning our drive in

record time. Look, it's clean to eat off. Ah, well, it was, but

had he done a proper job as promised? Gardening and driveway

expert Mitch was on site to advise us. He has told us he has put some

weedkiller down. He hasn't. No, he hasn't sealed it at all and the

consequences of not doing those two things is that the

will be back pretty quick and within three or four weeks the whole

will be dirty, grubby and covered weeds again. So Eddie's pants

certainly on fire and after pocketing 580 quid it is no wonder

Mitch wasn't too impressed. We weren't too happy either but thought

we would give him a chance to himself by calling him back to the

house by showing off his skills. Other brands are available.

Unsurprisingly these skills weren't much better. It was a very slow

start. What do you give this job so far out of ten? Not on the radar

yet. Not even a zero? No. This is an incredibly slow rate of work.

It's hard to get across to you how slow the work is proceeding here.

# Working 9 to 5 # Followed by a lazy and shoddy job.

The garden roller, it's the trademark of any really not very

good tarmac layer. Yes, it was Mitch's worst nightmare. Eddie and

his men couldn't let this truly terrible

Hi Eddie, how are you doing? Matt Hi Eddie, how are you doing? Matt

from BBC Rogue Traders. Yes. do you think of the job you are

doing here? Do you think it's up to spec, the best sort of job you've

seen, because we would say pretty appalling really.

do you know about it? Well, because we've got an expert who talks

through exactly - all you are is a cameraman, don't know BLEEP

you? No, but I have access to people who do know. I've seen

people before, don't know You should be breaking up this

concrete so the concrete goes down, laying MOT hardcore type 1 and then,

on top of that comes your proper tarmac, which is not what we've got

here, you have led it straight on top of the concrete, which let's

face it, if we go all the to the way that you cleaned the

patio and the concrete at the back, that was supposed to be sealed over

the top which it never was, so only is it a bad job

lied to us about what you were going to provide in the first

would like to make sure that don't do this for anybody else. Get

yourself a proper job, hey? Bag all up. You promised us a proper

job. You got a proper job I am concerned. So what are you

then, Eddie, because - you are not a tarmacker, are you?

then? What I do, Eddie, is I go round and see where people are

spending good money at a time when good money is hard to find,

will appreciate - take the camera away, mate.

If you can explain to me how these If you can explain to me how these

edges - I will tell you one thing, that 580 the other day, for that jet

washing, I BLEEP enjoyed and chips. You had fish and chips

for 580 quid? Yes, I went to Ritz in London, a better restaurant

than you are used to. We all got to do a job, Eddie.

We all enjoy our hobbies, don't we? We all enjoy our hobbies, don't we?

Yeah. Yeah? Ha ha, understand half of that. I think it

was a bit rude. Yes, we checked the tape later, it definitely was. But

this March Eddie finally got a rude awakening of his own. Suffolk

Trading Standards prosecuted him for breaking customer protection laws

and lying about being a limited company. What state will those

be in now? Eddie pleaded guiltied. He received an 18-month conditional

discharge for each offence and had to forfeit his signage and leaflets

and pay �1,000 in costs so no more fish and chips down the Ritz. Are

you thinking what I'm thinking? We need to put our prices up. Yes,

well, let's hope they don't raise them as much as our next set of

rogues, a company that preyed on the elderly and specialised in getting

as much money out of them as they could. The stuff they were

was costly. Now it's the bosses are paying the price. Thanks, Matt.

Looks like the Indesit customer care department will be busy tonight. We

are hearing from lots of you whose washing machines have also exploded.

David Crossley sent us this photo his machine that went bang

year. There it is. What a mess. Quite a few of you have been asking

for those details of how to get in touch with Indesit again, so there

you are, all the details are on your screens.

I also told you we would get a I also told you we would get a

I also told you we would get a statement from EA Sports about FIFA

statement from EA Sports about FIFA statement from EA Sports about FIFA

I also told you we would 13, we will get that on the watchdog

website in around half an hour. Next, BT Vision, the fastest growing

paid TV service in Britain. More than 700,000 customers at the last

count and that figure is expected increase sharply since BT Vision won

the rights to show 38 live Premiership matches next year. The

cost of that football deal? �246 million per season. How much has

been spent of it on existing customers? What do you think?

there. With BT Vision, you won't miss a thing. Great

channels which you can pause, rewind and record with your vision plus

box. Big promises, tempting promises, but according

who have contacted watchdog, are empty promises.

BT Vision may be about to become big BT Vision may be about to become big

players in the world of live sport but their opponents are lining up.

None as fierce as some of viewers they already have. Whistle.

Kicking things off are customers who signed up to BT Vision but actually

found viewing it wasn't as easy they had been told. Like Margaret

who signed up to BT Vision in April of this year. Just one small

problem: the system didn't work. Oh, the screen was making those funny

lines, not quite sure, but we couldn't see a picture on it. There

was no sound and just these horrible lines so to me that's not a picture.

BT Vision eventually sent out engineer to repair the fault but a

couple of days later it broke again. I was just sitting

screen in front of me and when I had the grandchildren come round they

had a blank screen to look at, not very nice. Following several

attempts to resolve the issue, BT eventually let Margaret leave in

August. Five months without a proper service; probably not a sending-off

offence but definitely worth one these. But, what if your problems

with BT Vision last for more year? Sue Bennett had problems with

her on demand services since 2010. Probably every week we were on the

phone to them. On several occasions we were actually on the phone two or

three hours, going through a routine of resetting, restarting the box and

then checking the line and this went on for two and a half years. This

summer, Sue's patience ran out and she demanded things were sorted.

Turns out, she should have had the first place. They said that

had run some more tests on the line and found that our broadband in fact

wasn't fast enough to actually support the Vision service. Like

others who have contacted us, Sue fell foul of BT Vision's habit of

passing customers from one person to another. For weeks on end, without

sorting out their problem. For 18 days I spent around 13 hours on the

phone with this complaint. been about ten people, ten different

people, but the problem is each time I go back, I've got to retrace

history. Which I shouldn't have to do. On the morning we were due to

film, BT film, BT called Joe to say they had

fixed his fault yet when we arrived, this is what came up on the screen.

Good afternoon, my name is Mr McCaffrey, I have an ongoing problem

with my internet Vision. And when Joe called BT

Vision back again, guess what? Yes, he was told he would have to speak

to another department. You are putting me through to someone else

now, are you? And which is this department that I'm going through

to? Ten minutes, two different people, and neither could solve

problem. Their verdict: someone else would have to call him back.

So what if a customer decides there So what if a customer decides there

are just too many problems to navigate through and they just

to leave BT Vision? Can they their goal? Well, Kieran Potter

couldn't. Ooh! He was told he have to pay a �200

first. I ended up having argument with them for the best part

of 13 months, saying to them I want to cancel, I want to leave. By the

time I actually did get them to cancel me they still wanted me to

pay �70, which was July of this year, which I refused. The only

reason that they did cancel me was because I threatened them with

getting in touch with watchdog. Have BT Vision paid any

Not exactly, but they have been Not exactly, but they have been

named and shamed. Earlier this year, the media regulator, Ofcom, revealed

that for every thousand customers the company received four times as

many complaints rivals. And we continue to hear from

customers who are told they will charged to leave. Even though their

service is plagued with problems. Cue the pundit. Consumers have the

right to expect really good service. They are getting it from the

competitors, they need to get it from BT. Customers now are very

fussy. We expect if we are paying significant sums, we expect it

to work and if it doesn't we expect someone to really be there to help

us. WHISTLE. Well done, good Well played.

BT Vision has apologised to all those featured saying it failed to

deliver the excellent and timely service they would expect. Where

problems have occurred made efforts to help customers enjoy

the service at its best and is in the process of agreeing

compensation. Where customers have asked for cancellation,

waived cancellation fees possible. It is offering better

value, lower cost content than its competitors. Hasn't Chris got great

legs? Thanks to everyone who has been in touch about that story.

Here's a few more. Hoping to car jams on the way to work? Then

don't rely on TomTom. The sat nav system's live service which provides

realtime traffic information has now been down for nearly a fortnight,

angering drivers who pay the �45 a year subscription. It has confused

TomTom who have told are investigating but admit there's

currently no solution. They've since told us the problem affects a

limited number of UK they are trying to identify and fix

it. Until ten, hey-hey, you have ideal excuse for being late.

holiday for two in Barbados, and accommodation for just �549?

Good luck finding it. British Airways advertised the break on

which should mean that 10% of holidays are available at that price

but, when challenged, they unable to justify the claim and so

were accused of exaggerating their promiseses by the

Standards Authority. BA Holidays has apologised to customers who couldn't

get the deal and says it takes care to ensure none of its promotions are

misleading but, according to the ASA, this one was.

Skyfall is smashing box office Skyfall is smashing box office

records and the Vue website crashed at the weekend under the weight of

Bond fans trying to buy tickets for the new movie. Some couldn't

through the booking process; others who tried a second time then found

they had been double charged. The cinema chain estimates that 2% of

customers were affected and blames unprecedented website traffic. It

has begun compensating those who paid more than they should, and asks

others who are out of pocket to get in touch with a view to a refund.

You only pay twice. As for us, we You only pay twice. As for us, we

are about to start the third leg Rogue Traders 2012: The Payback

Tour. We have been to Yorkshire, have been to Suffolk, so where

# Robin Hood, Robin Hood, riding # Robin Hood, Robin Hood, riding

through the glen # No, not harrow.

Yes, Nottingham is the home of Virgo Yes, Nottingham is the home of Virgo

health care, providing us with one of our most depressing piece of

footage. Nicking a Mars Bar from a baby. Customer care was the last

things on their mind. All they wanted was their money. We got our

first masterclass in pressure selling when we called out one of

their sales women in 2010. Our actress had asked about mobility

scooters but ended up getting a full rundown of all the company's

products. For the bath lift, would be �2,000. Right. The scooter

is 3,300. Mm-hm. The mattress, that's 1,500. For everything, in

total, it would have worked out �7,000. Right. Take off the 10%

discount, brings it down to just 6,300. And it didn't matter just how

many times our actress said it, the rep wouldn't take no for an answer.

I would but I would like to about it. I would still like to

consult my daughter though. touch with her or she will come

- do you want to give her a ring? No, she will be at work. If

could just leave me - can I that bit of paper and I will show it

to my daughter? Can I just leave it for now? 1,000 then we

guarantee all those prices for you. No, I don't really want to give you

any money today. No, I really, really want the things but I would

rather just - that's the only it is, look, and it will take me two

minutes to do it. If you want to that then I can go. No, I don't

thinkf If you don't fancy writing a cheque we could do it on a debit

card. No. You will probably go to sleep, have a rest and then wish you

had done it, won't you? Do you if you leave me? Yes, that's fine,

I will just leave it. After two hours of pressure selling the rep

finally left empty-handed but was she a rotten apple or was the whole

orchard bad? We sent our own into work there and to catch General

Manager Sam explaining the pricing policy. The second price is what we

recommend which is about over.

So there were two price lists, the So there were two price lists, the

So there were two price lists, the price Virgo were prepared to sell

price Virgo were prepared to sell price Virgo were prepared to sell

So there were out and the prices they wanted to

sell at. How high did they the price? Two weeks ago, went to

this scruffiest smelliest house ever seen, I sold him a dual

Balmoral bed, went back and sold him a scooter which is on there. Which

is that? The 3,200 one. That's �5,200. Wow. Did he ever

the prices? No. So the price was as high as the sales rep

could get away with and when our mole went door-to-door selling with

one of the Virgo reps we heard something more shocking. Last week

I went to see a guy and seven days later he died. Thankfully it's

outside of the cancellation notice. I'm sorry about that, but that's how

it happened so I still have my grand commission coming on that.

Remarkable how God works. ever wanted someone who turn their

toes up having paid a load of dough, this was your guy. Yes, forget

the customer died. Far more important to focus on the fact

the order couldn't be cancelled so you still get your commission.

Thought a lot of his customers, this guy. Here he is celebrating

clinching a sale to a 80-year-old man, having spent two hours

pressuring him. A masterclass of perseverance. Do not leave the

beach. There was I nicking Bar off a baby. We had heard

enough. It was time to confront the company boss, I caught up with him

as he arrived for work in his car. Hello, how are you doing? BBC Rogue

Traders, good to see you. Can I ask you, do you have parents because

find it very difficult to believe that anybody that has parents

their own could run the sort of business that you do, the sort of

business that appears to be based on bullying old people in their own

homes into buying things thousands of pounds . We've seen

your salesmen at work, it's a pretty unpleasant thing. Wow, is this

you are driving these days? So you run a business which has

commission structure like the that yours has, then what you are

going to get is misbehaving salesmen. It's naturally that that's

going to be the product, isn't it? He may have driven away from

he couldn't drive away from the law. After our investigation was

broadcast, he stopped trading as Virgo but continued to sell mobility

products using other business names. Derbyshire Trading Standards

onto him though. When we looking into the business in more

detail, we found that whilst it appeared that they were using

several different business names, was ostensibly the same business,

selling the same goods or supposedly selling the same goods at the same

address, with the same person who we believed to be behind it. And his

new businesses were bringing in the same old complaints. Customers were

paying money but weren't receiving their goods. In January 2011 Trading

Standards raided his home and business premises. We seized tens

of thousands of business documents, computers that we would get

forensically examined for further evidence and also, amongst other

things, we found �34,000 worth of cash in a safe in their home,

we seized. The raid provided them with enough evidence to bring court

proceedings. In August 2011, Amarjit and his wife pleaded guilty to

charges of fraud and the salesman also pleaded guilty to fraud. This

has been one of the biggest, serious cases. They have been

deliberately defrauding some of the most elderly, infirm, vulnerable in

society and we are very pleased have been able to bring this to

successful conclusion. So there you go, it's the end of our rogue trip

and next time you are thinking of writing in to ask "What happens to

the rogues after the programme has been on?", well, remember this

episode and you will know, they often end up going through the

courts, but it can take years. See you next time. I write in to

complain all the time. So do I, those people at the back of the

studio, do you know what, I are not really working at all. And

the music they use, ooh, boom, chi. Well, I don't know about the back

room music but I can tell you this lot are real people and they have

been very busy, logging your emails, texts and tweets, haven't you? Yes.

texts and tweets, haven't you? Yes. Good, like this one from Paul

Birmingham about PPI. He says: they turned down my claim twice but

knew it was right. I want the ombudsman to order them to pay up.

People should not give up. Do send us your stories and tip-offs. We

be off air for a while but still working. You can email us,