:00:06. > :00:15.Orange, T-Mobile, O2, Vodafone and roaming charges. One customer runs
:00:15. > :00:20.off a £42,000 bill. The prams collapsing with baby still inside.
:00:20. > :00:25.Plus, Clydesdale Bank Asghar, and the Hotpoint dishwasher that caught
:00:25. > :00:30.fire seven months after the company discovered a serious. -- a serious
:00:30. > :00:56.fault. It is Watchdog. Hello and good evening. Welcome to
:00:56. > :01:03.Watchdog. We are alive for the next 60 minutes. Tonight, the design and
:01:03. > :01:08.pushchair dangerous with a baby inside. -- designer. I should be
:01:08. > :01:16.able to go out and buy whatever prime is on the market and think is
:01:16. > :01:17.it a danger? Tonight become a halt up its hands.
:01:17. > :01:22.it a danger? Tonight become a halt Also, Vodafone, Orange, T-Mobile,
:01:22. > :01:27.and the huge mark-ups they take when you use your phone abroad. Hotpoint
:01:27. > :01:32.dishwashers are catching fire. The company issued a recall. So why are
:01:32. > :01:44.57,000 machines still out there? And we ask which products are the
:01:44. > :01:48.hardest to open. And if you are going to try to run
:01:48. > :02:06.away as a rogue, you might want to plan your route fast -- first.
:02:06. > :02:13.Dave, AKA Peter, his real name, from Burton Car Hire of Dartford. No
:02:13. > :02:17.wonder I was getting on his nerves. We had just caught him breaking the
:02:17. > :02:22.law and hiring out unroadworthy vehicles to trusting young drivers.
:02:22. > :02:26.We are going on quite a journey tonight. Jump in and built up. The
:02:26. > :02:33.keys are in the ignition. First, Cosatto. It's pushchairs are
:02:33. > :02:40.on sale in major department stores throughout the country. Business is
:02:40. > :02:44.good. The company say it is expanding at wowee speed, whatever
:02:44. > :02:45.that is. It describes itself as the cheekiest baby brand in the
:02:45. > :02:50.universe. This is one of their most cheekiest baby brand in the
:02:50. > :02:56.popular models, the Giggle. Asked what follows isn't the least bit
:02:56. > :03:02.funny. -- but what follows. These two mothers, are both Cosatto
:03:02. > :03:03.customers. two mothers, are both Cosatto
:03:03. > :03:07.But take a close look and you will two mothers, are both Cosatto
:03:07. > :03:13.see that neither is actually using their pram. The reason? Neither
:03:13. > :03:16.would put their child in one ever again. That is because of their
:03:16. > :03:24.experiences with this product, the Giggle. Designed to be converted
:03:24. > :03:30.between a pram and a pushchair, the frame can also be used to hold a car
:03:30. > :03:35.seat. Retailing at over £400, the Giggle is advertised as suitable for
:03:35. > :03:38.newborns and upwards. But as far as these guys are concerned, the pram
:03:38. > :03:49.isn't suitable for children of any age. Who is this little guy? The is
:03:49. > :03:55.Dexter. He is hungry! Who is this lady? How old is she? She is 18
:03:55. > :04:01.weeks. And this, I take it, is who you got the Giggle for.
:04:01. > :04:03.Yes. We shopped around. We liked the design so we went ahead and bought
:04:03. > :04:14.it. Gemma, tell us, when did your body
:04:14. > :04:20.start to let you down? -- buggy. We were walking to a carnival with
:04:20. > :04:25.friends. We were going to the field and the pushchair literally
:04:26. > :04:32.collapsed down to the ground. She must have had a big jolt? Thinking
:04:32. > :04:37.they had put it up incorrectly, Gemma and her partner reassembled
:04:37. > :04:43.the Giggle and carried on. It continues to collapse again and
:04:43. > :04:52.again. Now too scared to put the baby back in, Jimmy -- Gemma carried
:04:52. > :05:00.her. How lucky do you count yourself that nothing was happening? We feel
:05:01. > :05:05.incredibly lucky. Perhaps we were on flat ground. Had we been going down
:05:05. > :05:11.a curb or going down a hill, the situation could have been different.
:05:11. > :05:18.Cosatto say you should expect years of trouble-free performance from
:05:18. > :05:27.their brands. Dexter's lasted just four months. His was an easy and
:05:27. > :05:37.lucky escape. -- and even luckier escape. As I went down a curb, the
:05:37. > :05:44.pram completely snapped. It snapped. We had to drag him out of the road.
:05:44. > :05:49.I just thought, what do we do now? Stranded? Gemma took these photos,
:05:49. > :05:54.furious the Giggle could break so easily and put Dexter at risk. I
:05:54. > :06:01.wasn't doing anything extreme. I can't believe a pram can snapped
:06:01. > :06:07.that badly from hardly any impact. It doesn't bear thinking about what
:06:07. > :06:11.could have happened. What if he was in the other part of it or had been
:06:11. > :06:19.younger? He could have literally come out. These two are not isolated
:06:19. > :06:24.cases. Search forums and other websites and you will find dozens of
:06:24. > :06:27.complaints. And over 20 other viewers have written to us telling
:06:27. > :06:32.us how exactly the same thing happened to them. If you are in any
:06:32. > :06:37.doubt as to the dangers of a collapsing pram, you need look no
:06:37. > :06:46.further than the Giggle's own manual, which states:
:06:46. > :06:56.So what is going wrong? We asked this man to have a look. He helped
:06:57. > :07:02.to set Britain's pram safety standards. He think he has found the
:07:02. > :07:08.root of the problem. The most likely cause is down to this bracket. On
:07:08. > :07:14.some prams, the plastic made be too brittle. On others, it may be too
:07:14. > :07:20.soft, causing the locking mechanism in -- mechanism to disengage. In
:07:20. > :07:24.testing, John discovered the bracket was more likely to fail in higher
:07:24. > :07:30.temperatures. This would make perfect sense in the first case. Her
:07:30. > :07:39.pram collapsed on the 6th of July, one of the hottest days of the year.
:07:39. > :07:43.What is John's overall verdict? Any pram that collapses during
:07:43. > :07:51.spontaneous use is unsuitable. What happens now? Gemma and Gemma
:07:51. > :07:54.got their money back but the product is still on sale. Shouldn't the
:07:54. > :08:01.company be doing more to prevent further risk? Listen to what the
:08:01. > :08:07.website says about the product. It is what we know, we love, we do
:08:07. > :08:11.well. It is our baby, our bag. Well, these guys couldn't disagree
:08:11. > :08:15.more. We have got one of the Giggle
:08:15. > :08:22.pushchairs here. We're going to demonstrate how it can snap. That is
:08:22. > :08:28.how it collapses. Gosh. But tonight, a result. If you own a
:08:28. > :08:31.Giggle, you can return it. Cosatto say it will be fixed with reinforced
:08:31. > :08:37.parts and back to you within three days.
:08:37. > :08:41.The company apologises, saying it takes its concerns seriously. As
:08:41. > :08:46.soon as it found out there was a problem with early batches of the
:08:46. > :08:56.Giggle, it was corrected. It is confident that later prams will not
:08:56. > :09:04.be affected. If you have concerns, contact the company.
:09:04. > :09:09.The company admits that up to 4000 Giggles may have had the problem.
:09:09. > :09:14.How effective is the company at tracking down customers when they
:09:14. > :09:20.discover a dangerous fold? More later. Next, back to the energy
:09:20. > :09:27.companies. I am pleased to say their collars are now being felt. First,
:09:27. > :09:32.Ed Miliband pledged to freeze gas and LH city built for 20 months.
:09:32. > :09:35.Then, a rare moment last Thursday when the Tory Education Secretary
:09:35. > :09:41.said this. I think one thing Ed Miliband did
:09:41. > :09:45.get right, actually, is that energy prices at the moment are too high
:09:45. > :09:49.for a variety of reasons. We might debate them. He is right to draw
:09:49. > :09:53.attention to one of the worst examples of the way in which
:09:53. > :09:58.people's cost of living is under attack. We are still waiting to hear
:09:58. > :10:02.what the likely increases will be this winter.
:10:02. > :10:06.I promise you, they are coming. We asked viewers what questions they
:10:06. > :10:12.would like to put to the bosses and invited the companies to answer
:10:12. > :10:25.them. This man became the CEO in January. He had to appear in front
:10:25. > :10:34.of the House of Commons to explain why NPower had not paid corporation
:10:34. > :10:40.tax. This man received £607,000 in bonuses last year. EDF have turned
:10:40. > :10:46.us down. Apart from being CEO, he is a business ambassador. Last year he
:10:46. > :10:52.earned £1.2 million. The final three have said yes. They, too, all have
:10:52. > :10:57.salaries in the hundreds of thousands. We will bring you our
:10:57. > :11:14.interviews in the next few weeks. We will certainly ask E.ON are
:11:14. > :11:17.retracting one of their deals. If you have a story you would like
:11:17. > :11:33.us to look into, get in touch. Coming up, the ASDA Price guarantee.
:11:33. > :11:41.This pack of crisps cost £1. Why do as the thing two for £3 is a good
:11:41. > :11:44.deal? -- as thou. Young people have a raw deal.
:11:44. > :11:50.When we are not telling them to tidy their bedrooms or having a go for
:11:50. > :11:53.wearing low-slung jeans, complaining about the volume of the music or
:11:53. > :12:00.tatting because they spent too much time playing Grand Theft Auto. But
:12:00. > :12:04.tonight's rogues want to help young people. Only one problem. Their
:12:05. > :12:19.business is a car crash waiting to happen.
:12:19. > :12:26.Remember the excitement of getting your first new car, even if it was
:12:26. > :12:34.lime-green? Yes, overtaking on the open road. Putting the kitchen sink
:12:35. > :12:38.in the back... ? What? Things have changed since then. It is a surprise
:12:38. > :12:43.that anybody under the age of 30 can changed since then. It is a surprise
:12:43. > :12:48.get on the road at all these days. Here is an example. For me, a
:12:48. > :12:55.wizened codger 43, annual insurance is about quid. For Betty, 21, in the
:12:55. > :13:06.back, it is probably equivalent to the GDP of Denmark. It is actually
:13:06. > :13:14.£2500. Seriously? What are you doing? !
:13:14. > :13:20.Enough. We have got work to do. That is enough now, actually. As for car
:13:20. > :13:24.rental, a lot of the car hire firms will not even deal with this lot. If
:13:24. > :13:33.they do, they charge an arm and a leg. Burton Car Hire. They say it is
:13:33. > :13:39.their mission to make hire car is accessible to young drivers. That
:13:39. > :13:44.certainly convinced Olliver Fitske. He wanted to go to a festival with
:13:44. > :13:51.his friends, so he paid for a four-day high hourly Ford Ka. But
:13:51. > :13:57.what he got was not what he imagine. There were scratches, the club
:13:57. > :14:04.department was broken. The passenger door didn't work. The worst part was
:14:04. > :14:07.turning onto the motorway, changing from third to fourth, taking my foot
:14:07. > :14:09.off the clutch and having a complete loss of power.
:14:09. > :14:15.Oliver and his friend survived. When loss of power.
:14:15. > :14:20.he returned the car, Burton claimed there when you scratches on the
:14:20. > :14:25.bodywork. They were saying you had caused damage to the car? Yes. They
:14:25. > :14:31.said they would charge me the full £1507 excess. Was there any
:14:31. > :14:37.difference in your mind between the car you took out and the one you
:14:37. > :14:42.brought back? It was absolutely the same. I am sure.
:14:42. > :14:43.When he refused to pay the access, Burton threatened to
:14:43. > :14:51.When he refused to pay the access, court. He hasn't heard from him
:14:51. > :14:53.since. They have kept the deposit. Your dad's 300 quid is still with
:14:53. > :14:58.them. That doesn't feel right. On top of
:14:58. > :15:06.that, they endangered my life and my passenger's. I still don't have a
:15:06. > :15:16.car. Well, there is a bust up just across the street. Nice to meet you.
:15:16. > :15:18.Good luck. What he did not know is he was dealing with the notorious
:15:18. > :15:22.family. Mother is in jail for he was dealing with the notorious
:15:22. > :15:26.perverting the course of justice and the daughter has convictions for
:15:26. > :15:31.fraud. Along with her husband and son, the hire car business trades
:15:31. > :15:35.under various names, including Burton Hakka are limited -- Burton
:15:35. > :15:39.under various names, including Car Hire Ltd. This sounds juicy. It
:15:39. > :15:41.under various names, including is about time to hit the road. Come
:15:41. > :15:52.on. I was young when the song came out.
:15:52. > :15:58.21-year-old Georgina still is. She visits Burton Car Hire Ltd. For
:15:59. > :16:09.£166, she is rented a car for three days. But it is not just any old
:16:10. > :16:14.car. It is the very same they gave to Ollie. It has been through the
:16:14. > :16:19.wars. Look what fell off on the drive over. We need to take a closer
:16:19. > :16:30.look. There is only one thing for it. Call John. Who is John? Here's
:16:30. > :16:35.an expert. He understands cars. He knows what they do and how they
:16:35. > :16:40.work. He is looking at the Ford and it is immediately clear there are
:16:40. > :16:45.problems. Tell me about this car. We have a brake pad with 1.3
:16:45. > :16:51.millimetres thickness, that is next to nothing. Does that mean it is
:16:51. > :16:54.failing now or likely to soon? If we went to Scotland next weekend,
:16:54. > :16:57.halfway through that journey the brake pads could give out
:16:58. > :17:02.completely. The brake pads are close to the end of their life. What
:17:02. > :17:09.else? The exhaust. A major leak at the front. The flexible section is
:17:09. > :17:14.broken so gas is going everywhere. If you are stationary for a while
:17:14. > :17:18.that could be a problem. It can lead to tiredness and all sorts. Would
:17:18. > :17:25.you let your son or daughter drive this? Without a shadow of a doubt,
:17:25. > :17:30.not. Bad breaks and a dangerous exhaust. This is no longer safe to
:17:30. > :17:36.drive. These should have been picked up by an MOT so why wasn't it?
:17:36. > :17:41.Despite being due the first MOT a year ago, the car has never received
:17:42. > :17:46.one. It should not be on the road. It is illegal, let alone being
:17:46. > :17:50.rented out to young or inexperienced drivers. This is important new
:17:50. > :17:55.evidence. It requires appropriate music.
:17:55. > :18:11.That is good. Our car is not about to rock. It is too dangerous, so it
:18:11. > :18:18.is rolling straight onto a trailer. This KA has been KO'd. Not a great
:18:18. > :18:21.start. We would be breaking the law if we were to actually drive the
:18:21. > :18:26.hire car we have hired. Nothing else for it. We will be filling the tank,
:18:26. > :18:28.checking the glove compartment and returning the motor in a short
:18:28. > :18:38.while. Next, Orange, T Mobile, 02 returning the motor in a short
:18:38. > :18:43.and three. Fighting for business. Offering us calls, texts, and so on.
:18:43. > :18:47.But they do not like to advertise how much they charge to use the
:18:47. > :18:53.mobile abroad. Not surprising. Look at the figures. A 140% mark-up on
:18:53. > :19:01.calls. The only ones getting a good deal are the companies.
:19:01. > :19:06.If you went away this summer, no doubt you to your wallet and your
:19:06. > :19:10.passport, but did you dare take your mobile phone? After all, we have all
:19:10. > :19:17.heard the horror stories. People going on holiday and coming back to
:19:17. > :19:25.staggeringly high bills. The reason is roaming charges. These are the
:19:25. > :19:32.extra fees your operator charges if you want to make a call, send a text
:19:32. > :19:37.or browse the web. Are our bills higher because the companies have to
:19:37. > :19:41.pay to provide this service? Or are they just using your holiday as an
:19:41. > :19:45.opportunity to line your pockets? Laura Cotton is in no doubt. She
:19:45. > :19:49.used her phone to browse the Internet in Turkey two years ago. I
:19:50. > :19:56.had used my phone for things like Facebook and e-mail but nothing
:19:56. > :20:01.major. Four days into her stay, she rang the mobile to see how much
:20:01. > :20:10.using the Internet was costing her. The computer voice said, your phone
:20:10. > :20:15.bill is now £31,000, and I hung up in shock. I called customer services
:20:15. > :20:19.and when I got through, the lady on the line was saying it was correct
:20:19. > :20:27.and overnight it had gone up to 42,000. How had this been
:20:27. > :20:32.calculated? Add her Internet browsing really cost them all that
:20:33. > :20:35.money? It had not. -- did her Internet browsing? When she
:20:35. > :20:43.contested the charges, they dropped the bill from £42,000 to £700. It
:20:43. > :20:49.made me think the charges were false. How can a company just give
:20:49. > :20:53.away £40,000? They cannot. They could lower the bill because her
:20:53. > :20:57.Internet browsing had not actually cost them anything like as much as
:20:57. > :21:03.they were charging. What they were losing out on was extra profit. In
:21:03. > :21:06.the case of extreme bills, when consumers come back to thousands of
:21:06. > :21:11.pounds of charges, operators are quite often willing to negotiate and
:21:11. > :21:16.bring down the cost. The fact they are willing to do this shows there
:21:16. > :21:20.is a significant premium still being made on some of these charges, they
:21:20. > :21:25.would rather get something rather than nothing. Key Mobile has changed
:21:25. > :21:31.roaming tariffs since 2011, but this practice of Auber -- overcharging
:21:31. > :21:40.has been so rife that eventually the authorities were forced to take
:21:40. > :21:43.action. -- T-Mobile. In 2007, the EU decided enough was enough and the
:21:43. > :21:47.amount that can be charged. They have lowered it every year. It
:21:47. > :21:52.should protect you anywhere inside the EU. But even with pricing
:21:52. > :21:57.limitations in place, mobile companies are still making money at
:21:57. > :22:01.our expense. Here's how it works. When you use your phone in a foreign
:22:01. > :22:05.country, your mobile provider has to pay local companies to use their
:22:05. > :22:12.networks. Let's compare what they get charged with what we get
:22:12. > :22:17.charged. Taking calls. The local networks charging UK operators and
:22:17. > :22:24.maximum wholesale price of 10 cents per minute, but they charge you 24
:22:24. > :22:29.cents per minute. That is 140%. For text messages it costs UK operators
:22:29. > :22:36.to cents, but they charge you ate. It is the same story with intranet
:22:36. > :22:44.data. -- two cents but they charge you eight. The price for Internet is
:22:44. > :22:51.three times the amount. Outside the EU, it is even worse. There is even
:22:51. > :22:57.less regulation so it seems networks can charge what they like. For
:22:57. > :23:01.example, travel to Morocco. You could end up paying £3 per minute
:23:01. > :23:07.with three mobile. That is 12 times more than you would pay in the
:23:07. > :23:16.youth. Text messages that cost you 8p in Europe would set you back 50p
:23:16. > :23:25.in Morocco. Data can be a pounds per megabyte. -- £8. By last year, the
:23:25. > :23:30.charges had got so high that the EU felt they needed to step in. They
:23:30. > :23:33.introduced another, limiting the amount of data that any one
:23:33. > :23:39.individual can download when they are overseas. Once you hit 50 euros,
:23:39. > :23:42.individual can download when they the mobile Internet cuts out,
:23:42. > :23:48.eventing you from running up further cost. You should be safe, right? You
:23:48. > :23:52.should be, but guess what, already, some providers have found a way to
:23:52. > :23:59.bypass it and continue to charge exorbitant prices. Orange, for
:23:59. > :24:04.example, when travelling abroad customers can buy a data bundle.
:24:04. > :24:09.When prepaying, you can download at a slightly cheaper rate. It sounded
:24:09. > :24:15.like the perfect deal for Claude Douglas, who knew he would need to
:24:15. > :24:21.check his e-mail is any jet. They said at £10 bundle should cover what
:24:21. > :24:26.I wanted. They reminded me to switch roaming off once I checked my
:24:26. > :24:31.e-mails. I forgot and carried on with my holiday. That proved to be a
:24:31. > :24:40.costly mistake. When you buy a bundle from orange, they remove the
:24:40. > :24:46.data. Unknown to Claude, his data was no longer set at £42. The more
:24:46. > :24:50.data his phone is downloaded, the more orange was able to charge. --
:24:50. > :24:52.the more Orange was able to charge. I got the bill through and it was
:24:52. > :25:05.quite a shock. It was nearly £6,000. Is there a reason why the mobile
:25:05. > :25:09.companies charge so much roaming outside Europe? Is it really that
:25:09. > :25:14.much more expensive for them? The industry is tight-lipped about
:25:14. > :25:22.wholesale costs. The reality is it cannot be that expensive for them
:25:22. > :25:27.because last month, three announced they were scrapping charges. That
:25:27. > :25:31.was in seven countries, including Australia and Hong Kong. If one
:25:31. > :25:37.company can stop, what is stopping the rest? It is not as simple as it
:25:38. > :25:42.should be. Geography does not really matter. The main thing is whether
:25:42. > :25:44.companies own networks in the countries you are travelling to
:25:44. > :25:51.because if they do it should not cost you that much more. Take
:25:51. > :25:56.Vodafone Australia. They offer customers coming to the UK the
:25:56. > :26:02.chance to browse and text on their home tariffs plus $5 per day. They
:26:02. > :26:06.do not offer that to UK customers going the other way, which is
:26:06. > :26:12.frustrating. If there is a company that does not own a network abroad
:26:12. > :26:16.does that make a difference? It should not because they will likely
:26:16. > :26:19.have done a deal. There will be a charge but nothing like the sums of
:26:19. > :26:27.money we are seeing people being charged. What do the companies say?
:26:27. > :26:30.They have been in touch, Orange and T-Mobile recommend that when
:26:30. > :26:38.customers go abroad they should buy a bundle. They say they have a nap
:26:38. > :26:39.to monitor usage. -- an application. Orange said they warn people once
:26:39. > :26:45.the bundle has ended. All networks Orange said they warn people once
:26:45. > :26:49.say costs vary from country to country but they admit that the lack
:26:49. > :26:52.of regulation outside the European Union has seen more expensive
:26:52. > :27:04.wholesale costs passed on to customers. Packaging which is hard
:27:04. > :27:09.to open, as reported last week, Which reported products that were
:27:09. > :27:18.most difficult to get into. This was the worst offender. Not even get
:27:18. > :27:24.into it. -- and Robinson could get into it. We identified a lot of
:27:24. > :27:31.other items, such as Fray Bentos pies. The most popular word tins of
:27:31. > :27:40.corned beef, these light bulbs, and Barbie dolls. Do you use a lot of
:27:41. > :27:45.these? Sadly not. How difficult are these things to open? You might have
:27:45. > :27:50.opened one of these before. Have you ever opened up a can of corned beef?
:27:50. > :27:56.I don't even know where to start. I will give you a clue, there is no
:27:56. > :28:02.lot for that key. I cannot do it. You could start by the time you open
:28:02. > :28:14.it. We do these things, I know how to do it. Done. You can have a shot.
:28:14. > :28:22.My dad can do walnuts. You have got it. It is all your sporty
:28:22. > :28:29.enthusiasm. What is it? It is a light bulb. I want a complete Barbie
:28:29. > :28:37.doll in my house, on you go. I will get all the rubbish. Do you need a
:28:37. > :28:43.screwdriver or a hammer or anything? Have we at last got it? Not yet. We
:28:43. > :28:46.have got to get this done before you get to university. This is
:28:46. > :28:51.unbelievable. Another bit of plastic. There is a bit on the back
:28:51. > :28:58.of her head. Leave her head on. This could be very tricky. That is a
:28:58. > :29:00.complete Barbie. I am going to give you to light bulbs and the daddy of
:29:00. > :29:12.them all, an electric toothbrush. This man has got strength. He has
:29:12. > :29:17.got in. I would like the thing to be in one piece when you open it. We
:29:17. > :29:20.have got success. What have we made from today? Most people say the
:29:21. > :29:26.amount of packaging here is totally unnecessary, but the thing I have
:29:26. > :29:31.learned is if you have enough muscle, unbelievably strong teeth,
:29:31. > :29:37.determination and time, the British public can get into anything. Nobody
:29:37. > :29:44.was hurt making that film. Almost, but nobody. The full responses are
:29:44. > :29:47.on the website. Still to come, recognise any of these? They have
:29:47. > :29:51.all been recalled for safety reasons, but thousands are still out
:29:51. > :29:58.there. What is the point of a recall if companies cannot track down the
:29:58. > :30:03.products? Back to Burton Car Hire Ltd of Dartford. Not to be confused
:30:03. > :30:09.with other car hire companies offering potentially lethal motors
:30:09. > :30:12.to young drivers. The vehicle we rented from them was in such bad
:30:12. > :30:17.condition that it shouldn't have been on the road. It did not have an
:30:18. > :30:25.MOT, which made it illegal. Now it is time to take it back.
:30:25. > :30:30.Our Ford has spent the weekend parked on a driveway. With a little
:30:30. > :30:36.help from the tow truck, Georgina is taking it back. Look who it is.
:30:36. > :30:39.Peter Burmis, who is calling himself Dave. Georgina lets him know our
:30:39. > :31:13.concerns about the car. Peter promises to refund you join's
:31:13. > :31:17.deposit within 14 days. But for the time being, she leaves empty-handed.
:31:17. > :31:21.So Peter doesn't want to admits there are any problems with the car,
:31:21. > :31:26.even though we know there are. But at the very least this gives him the
:31:26. > :31:34.chance to check the car out before he rented to anybody else. Right?
:31:34. > :31:36.Let's find out. It is less than 24 hours later and we have got
:31:36. > :31:42.Let's find out. It is less than 24 young driver. This time, 21-year-old
:31:42. > :31:47.Becky. She has booked the same model of car and is on her way to pick it
:31:47. > :31:53.up. It is Peter again, still calling himself Dave. As Becky hasn't got
:31:53. > :31:59.the paper part of her license, by law, he needs to call the DVLA to
:31:59. > :32:00.check for any penalty points or convictions. If he doesn't come he
:32:00. > :32:02.check for any penalty points or will not know whether she will be
:32:02. > :32:14.covered by the insurance. 15 minutes is a long time to wait to
:32:14. > :32:27.find out whether your drivers are insured. Right. Next, he's outside
:32:27. > :32:33.to look at the car. Guess which one he gives us? Yes, the same fraud we
:32:33. > :32:37.returned yesterday. Unless it has been repaired overnight, it is still
:32:37. > :32:41.under road word in. Nevertheless, we pay the higher feed and £300
:32:41. > :32:46.deposit. Once we are out of sight, we take it to a secure location to
:32:46. > :32:52.check it out. None of the problems have been fixed. Not only do Burton
:32:52. > :32:56.hire out cars which are unsafe and have no MOT, but they are happy to
:32:56. > :32:58.send those cars out with young customers even when they have been
:32:58. > :33:03.explicitly warned about their condition. They have got all the
:33:03. > :33:09.clues they need. And yet they do nothing to protect their customer
:33:09. > :33:13.safety. All of which is illegal. We still need to take the car back, but
:33:13. > :33:18.there's a problem. We have barely driven it. It could look suspicious.
:33:18. > :33:22.Luckily, all of the young people in the office are clever and have come
:33:22. > :33:28.up with a solution - driving in circles around the car park. We
:33:28. > :33:34.managed to rack up 25 miles before returning the car on the low loader.
:33:34. > :33:42.Let's see if it is enough to convince Peter, AKA Dartford Dave.
:33:43. > :33:49.You see? I said we should have done more laps. We have got away with it.
:33:49. > :33:56.Once again come he promises to return our deposit. The young people
:33:56. > :34:01.have given me some words together through the script to give it an
:34:01. > :34:03.authentic feel. Here goes. This Burton whip was dipped from a dead
:34:03. > :34:10.out, but maybe it is a one away. We Burton whip was dipped from a dead
:34:10. > :34:13.have got to get the next thing to find out what is going on. Supplying
:34:13. > :34:16.those words was this girl, another young driver who is picking up a car
:34:16. > :34:33.from Burton. Thanks, Dave. We know the Ford is no
:34:33. > :34:45.good. What other gems does he have available? Exhibit two, Chevrolet
:34:45. > :34:51.Matiz. Sachelle pays £125 for it today hire and places the £300
:34:51. > :35:02.deposit. Let's see if it is in any better nick than the Ford. Ouch.
:35:02. > :35:18.Yes, what do I think? I think it is not the colour that is the problem,
:35:18. > :35:22.Peter. But we take the tiny way. not the colour that is the problem,
:35:22. > :35:28.When we are out of sight, we put it on a trailer and send it to John for
:35:28. > :35:33.a squint. The verdict? This car has got a history.
:35:33. > :35:37.It has been hit in the back end enough to make it a write-off. In
:35:37. > :35:41.other words, the crash was so bad the company didn't think it was
:35:41. > :35:50.worth repairing. Somebody tried to do it anyway, and
:35:50. > :35:56.that somebody did it really badly. The lab at the back is missing. On
:35:56. > :36:04.top of that, we have got an oil plate is not working. -- the lamp.
:36:04. > :36:15.Would you allow your son or daughter to drive this car? I wouldn't dream
:36:15. > :36:19.of it. The road tax ran out months before we hired it and it is
:36:19. > :36:25.uninsured. That is uninsured. A higher cure that has been in a crash
:36:25. > :36:31.would fail its MOT on three counts, has no tax and no insurance. Not
:36:31. > :36:36.just illegal, this is reckless. Stay tuned, though, because we are
:36:36. > :36:41.about to meet the real brains behind the outfit. Richard Blackwood. Or as
:36:41. > :36:47.he calls itself on Facebook, Lord Richard Blackwood. Is he concerned
:36:47. > :36:54.about the cars we have hired from him? Not really.
:36:54. > :36:59.Richard, you have put young people's lives at risk and your
:36:59. > :37:03.first priority is making sure we use a good photo of you?
:37:03. > :37:10.To put his mind at rest, here is a couple we decided not to use. There
:37:10. > :37:13.they are. Nice. Find out which one we did plump for in about ten
:37:13. > :37:22.minutes. Take a look at this lot. We have
:37:22. > :37:30.smoked salmon, watercress, cocktail sausages, and Ikea Critter bed, and
:37:30. > :37:33.they carted. They are just a handful of products
:37:33. > :37:38.that were recalled in the last two months. The names of the others are
:37:38. > :37:44.on your screen. It is a sizeable list. In August and September, there
:37:44. > :37:49.were 79 product recalls. That is almost one a day. With so many
:37:49. > :37:54.products are being recalled, how are you met you find out something you
:37:54. > :38:01.own is dangerous or unfit to eat? And my only likely to find out when
:38:01. > :38:07.it is too late? -- am I only likely. I heard a noise in the kitchen. I
:38:07. > :38:12.heard crackling. I had the fire alarm go off. I jumped up, ran to
:38:12. > :38:20.the door, and I have seen black smoke. My twins were in the house
:38:20. > :38:26.with me. Felt absolute panic, horror.
:38:26. > :38:31.A terrifying experience for the Miller family and one that should
:38:31. > :38:35.have been prevented. The fire that engulfed the kitchen, which put
:38:35. > :38:39.Nicola's life in danger, started in the dishwasher. A dishwasher that
:38:39. > :38:46.the manufacturer, Hotpoint, already knew was faulty.
:38:46. > :38:51.I couldn't believe I was looking at my dishwasher, and it caused the
:38:51. > :39:02.fire. The whole control panel was melted. I had no clue. They could
:39:02. > :39:07.have died in the fire. I could have lost my family. Nicola owns the
:39:07. > :39:14.Hotpoint FT W 20 model. The fire was caused by a faulty
:39:14. > :39:20.elliptical component. It was a known design flaw that affected two other
:39:20. > :39:24.models as well, the FDW60 and the FDW60 five A. Hotpoint had
:39:24. > :39:27.discovered it the previous October but despite the obvious dangers they
:39:27. > :39:32.decided not to go public and issued but despite the obvious dangers they
:39:32. > :39:37.a full recall. Instead -- instead they wrote to owners on file and ask
:39:37. > :39:42.them to get the product repaired. The problem was, they didn't have
:39:42. > :39:50.the details of the vast majority of people who bought them. The result
:39:50. > :39:54.of the 71 machines -- 71,000 machines they sold was that they got
:39:54. > :39:59.of the 71 machines -- 71,000 back just 7000. Hotpoint did nothing
:39:59. > :40:04.for the next six months. It was only after receiving reports of 85
:40:04. > :40:10.incidents that they finally decided to act. In April, they issued a
:40:10. > :40:13.recall to get the faulty components replaced. But that didn't do the
:40:13. > :40:18.trick because Nicola's dishwasher went up in smoke in May. She had
:40:18. > :40:23.heard absolutely nothing about the fire risk.
:40:23. > :40:27.I wasn't aware of any recall notice. Hotpoint should have gone out of
:40:27. > :40:36.their way to make sure that this was common knowledge. What went wrong?
:40:36. > :40:39.As per the law, the notice was printed three times in major
:40:39. > :40:44.newspapers like the Daily Mirror. Here it is come in black and white,
:40:44. > :40:48.hardly eye-catching. No wonder people like Nicola didn't see it.
:40:48. > :40:52.hardly eye-catching. No wonder Was this crucial safety information
:40:52. > :40:58.any more visible on their website? Here we go. Let's see if we can find
:40:58. > :41:03.this notice. Hotpoint. Let's have a good look around. Find out
:41:03. > :41:08.information, error codes, hints, tips, still can't find out what will
:41:08. > :41:14.King four. It is not really standing out so far. -- what we are looking
:41:14. > :41:25.for. A newsletter. Let's go to the search engine. Recall. No products
:41:25. > :41:36.found for recall. No articles found. Need help? I do. An arrow here.
:41:36. > :41:45.Safety notice! I have to say, that was really frustrating. Surely a
:41:45. > :41:52.notice should find me rather than the other way around? It is not just
:41:52. > :41:58.me missing the message. I -- by September Hotpoint had only managed
:41:58. > :42:04.to locate 14,247 of the dangerous dishwashers, leaving almost 57,000
:42:04. > :42:08.still out there, right now. Frankly, that is pretty scary. Hotpoint isn't
:42:09. > :42:14.alone. In fact, these statistics are shockingly normal. The vast majority
:42:14. > :42:19.of people never find out there is a need to return their products. It is
:42:19. > :42:23.thought that at best an average of only 20% of recall products are ever
:42:23. > :42:27.returns to repaired by companies. That means 80% remaining homes
:42:27. > :42:31.today. So what are the authorities doing about it? On something as
:42:31. > :42:36.serious as a recall, you would expect there to be clear rules on
:42:36. > :42:39.what a manufacturer needs to do. There are not. While the law states
:42:39. > :42:43.that companies must use reasonable endeavours to retrieve the product,
:42:43. > :42:47.it doesn't exactly define what that means. Nor does it enforced
:42:47. > :42:50.deadlines or suggest targets. Safety campaigners say the lack of
:42:50. > :42:55.regulation is putting consumers at risk.
:42:55. > :43:01.There are grey areas because manufacturers don't have to act
:43:01. > :43:05.within a timescale. This delay can cause problems for consumers using
:43:05. > :43:10.the products. It puts them at risk. What more should companies do to
:43:10. > :43:13.make sure people like Nicola and her family are not putting unnecessary
:43:13. > :43:17.danger? Companies need to be more resource
:43:17. > :43:21.for using social media. They should use more high profile advertising to
:43:21. > :43:26.national press on TV. The national average for recall is currently
:43:26. > :43:31.10-20%. It should be 100%. Manufacturers need to do more to be
:43:31. > :43:37.encouraging consumers to respond to their notices. Hotpoint say safety
:43:37. > :43:41.is their main priority and there have been no reports of serious
:43:41. > :43:50.injury. They are continuing to try to find the outstanding models. They
:43:51. > :43:52.say the potential fault can be easily fixed and this will be
:43:52. > :43:57.carried out free of charge. Anybody easily fixed and this will be
:43:57. > :44:05.who thinks they may have one can call the customer services line.
:44:05. > :44:14.Good news, too, on the website. They have put a notice on the front page,
:44:14. > :44:20.where it is easier to see. Joining me now is a rumour KP from Recall
:44:20. > :44:24.UK. He advises the manufacturers and the government on recalls. Is
:44:24. > :44:35.anybody listening? -- Barry Mulcahy from Recall UK. I don't think so. It
:44:35. > :44:39.is not in these companies' interest to advertise that they have got a
:44:39. > :44:44.problem with a product. There is certainly a conflict. On
:44:44. > :44:47.the one hand, they want to protect their customers from potentially
:44:47. > :44:51.dangerous products. On the other, they don't want to
:44:52. > :44:58.damage the brand by going out and saying their products are a risk.
:44:58. > :45:02.What should they be doing? They should be more open and honest
:45:02. > :45:08.and judgement in factories on the way they conduct the recall. All
:45:08. > :45:15.manufacturers will have a product record at some stage. Shouldn't they
:45:15. > :45:20.be tweeting and all that stuff? A lot of what goes on today is a bully
:45:20. > :45:27.what would have happened ten years ago. That -- probably what would
:45:27. > :45:34.have happened ten years ago. That affects effectiveness. And the
:45:34. > :45:46.government are not being stringent about it. It is in implementation. A
:45:46. > :45:51.manufacturer is often experienced in managing recalls. The guidance they
:45:51. > :46:04.get from the government is do this, do that. And I should fill in all of
:46:04. > :46:17.the forms? Checking on websites to look for yourself, but can of thing.
:46:17. > :46:22.-- that kind of thing. We have looked at the number of products
:46:22. > :46:24.recalled. Fridge freezers, 37 different models built between 2000
:46:24. > :46:28.and 2006 at an electrical fault different models built between 2000
:46:28. > :46:34.which has caused at least 20 house fires in London alone. Over 500,000
:46:34. > :46:39.were recalled but it is not 90,000 are in homes. This car seat was
:46:39. > :46:41.discovered to have a buckle which meant some children were not being
:46:41. > :48:50.held in place. 2700 have not found deals that were not remotely
:48:50. > :49:00.special. Here are some discovered yesterday. One bottle costs £1 and
:49:00. > :49:03.it is two for £3. What about this one? Three packs for £6 when for
:49:03. > :49:11.that amount you could buy for. This gets. You could get two for £2 50 by
:49:11. > :49:13.buying them separately would cost less. I am not Carol Vorderman but
:49:13. > :49:25.the figures do not add up. BT are to raise most of their
:49:25. > :49:34.homeland broadcast -- broadband packages by 6%. Calls could go up by
:49:34. > :49:43.6%. Previously free services such as voice mail and privacy will cost £1
:49:43. > :49:47.75 per month. Do not want them, tough if you have used either
:49:47. > :49:55.service in the past, you will be automatically opted in. Why are the
:49:55. > :50:00.prices getting hiked? They made £2.3 billion profit last year, and this
:50:00. > :50:06.man, the Chief Executive, is about to leave to become a Tory trade
:50:06. > :50:11.minister. His payoff is £9 million. I hope he can manage.
:50:11. > :50:18.There is a light at the end of the Dartford Tunnel for Burton Car Hire
:50:18. > :50:30.Ltd. First they let us drive off with a Ford Ka with no MOT. Next it
:50:30. > :50:33.was a Chevrolet Matiz with no insurance. That is the one we are
:50:33. > :50:38.going to return. We have had enough excuses and we are going to get them
:50:39. > :50:42.off the road. Our actress is returning the Chevrolet Matiz, the
:50:42. > :50:46.car with no tax or insurance. The man signing it back in is not Peter,
:50:46. > :50:49.it is his stepson, Richard Blackwood. Perhaps he will be able
:50:50. > :51:09.to explain. Yes, weirder or illegal? Well he is
:51:09. > :51:16.here, it is a chance to quiz him about the policy for returning
:51:16. > :51:18.deposits. We have still not had the money back to the last two cars we
:51:18. > :51:32.rented. Why we have to wait 14 days,
:51:32. > :51:37.goodness only knows. What we do know is none of our deposits are returned
:51:37. > :51:41.within the fortnight. Two of the girls did eventually get their
:51:41. > :51:46.deposits be funded. But Becky is still waiting for hers. We have a
:51:46. > :51:50.higher car company that targets younger drivers and is then sending
:51:50. > :51:55.them out in a legal cars and in some cases and safe to drive. We need to
:51:55. > :52:01.talk to the individuals involved and to crack that not, ideally, we need
:52:01. > :52:07.a team of young people eager to defend their age group. -- nut. That
:52:07. > :52:19.is what we have got. As soon as they get off their phones. Let's go. That
:52:19. > :52:30.is more like it. We have got cameras and the kit. We have got forensics
:52:30. > :52:38.suits. We have got a hire car and we are going to pick it up.
:52:38. > :52:46.Here he is. I will show you what I have got.
:52:46. > :52:56.That is the Chevrolet Matiz with no tax or insurance. That is the Ford
:52:56. > :53:05.Ka with no MOT. Still available for hire. I'm calling this one, it's a
:53:05. > :53:11.crime scene, and the observant among you might have noticed we are
:53:11. > :53:17.getting appropriately dressed. Peter has not clocked him and he has not
:53:17. > :53:27.seen this coming. I know who you are. BBC rogue traders. Obviously,
:53:27. > :53:35.is Dave Short for Peter? Is that is your real name. It is not. Europe
:53:35. > :53:41.never heard of Peter? Coming up to the office? Without your camera
:53:41. > :53:44.team. I'm not coming with the camera came here because we make television
:53:44. > :53:51.programmes about people who are dishonest. This is fine. The fact it
:53:51. > :53:55.does not have an MOT, or breaks that are failing? That is what we
:53:55. > :54:00.informed you of and yet he did nothing about that. I did,
:54:00. > :54:06.unfortunately. You did not, you hired it out the next day to us. We
:54:06. > :54:11.are you going? Down here. Where is that? We are now on a dual
:54:12. > :54:16.carriageway. The cars you are hiring are eventually going to fail and
:54:16. > :54:22.take somebody's life or hurt them very seriously. They are not. Why
:54:22. > :54:29.did you change your name? Your name is Peter. You are getting on my
:54:29. > :54:34.nerves. Asking questions about things that are true? Is that
:54:34. > :54:38.annoying you? The fact we have had an unscheduled what down this road?
:54:38. > :54:46.It is certainly a long one but it means there is plenty of time for
:54:46. > :54:52.Peter to get through to his fallen friend -- -- phone-a-friend. Who am
:54:52. > :54:56.I speaking to you? It is his stepson, Richard Blackwood. He is
:54:56. > :55:01.terribly apologetic about the mistakes he has made and he assures
:55:01. > :55:04.me he will put things right. He is promising an improvement but that is
:55:04. > :55:09.not the point. You have got away with it up to now. That is the
:55:09. > :55:15.point. It is not in the past, Richard. It is right now. We were
:55:15. > :55:25.about to hire a car today that has no MOT. Then there is late, £300
:55:25. > :55:29.down and threatened with legal action for £1500. Richard has had a
:55:29. > :55:35.change of heart. So I can be assured from you that money is going back to
:55:36. > :55:39.Oliver, every penny that you know him? All this nonsense about a
:55:39. > :55:46.lawsuit is going to disappear as well? Thank you very much. You are
:55:46. > :55:50.now saying to me that that whole thing was a load of nonsense? It is
:55:50. > :55:57.a result for Oliver, but I'm not sure Richard is taking it seriously.
:55:57. > :56:02.Richard, Richard. You have put young people spot -- Young People's lives
:56:02. > :56:07.at risk and your priority is making sure we use a good photograph of
:56:07. > :56:13.you? That is not a problem. We can see to that. It is as shocking
:56:13. > :56:19.business you are involved with, Peter. It is not. Can I go and get
:56:19. > :56:24.business you are involved with, my breakfast first? I was going to
:56:24. > :56:28.get you one. I have eaten. Meanwhile, back at the office, the
:56:28. > :56:37.crime scene investigators are Meanwhile, back at the office, the
:56:37. > :56:43.wrapping things up. When Dave or Peter gets back, he will know that
:56:43. > :56:52.that car should not be sent out. Not know or not ever. -- not now.
:56:52. > :56:56.Richard Blackwood said he was shocked to find out his cars are
:56:56. > :56:59.illegal to drive. He took a hands-off approach to the business
:56:59. > :57:10.and allowed office staff to run things. He now says he has checked
:57:10. > :57:13.all his cars for roadworthiness and MOT is, and he says he is
:57:13. > :57:20.introducing a new policy to ensure all deposits are repaid.
:57:20. > :57:25.Unfortunately, Oliver has still not had his £300 back. He remains in
:57:25. > :57:32.trouble with his father. As for the picture, this is the one he wants us
:57:32. > :57:38.to use. Here it is. Next to one of his stepfather on the rogues
:57:38. > :57:43.gallery. Just time to talk about big mobile phone bills. This man says he
:57:43. > :57:49.had 14 £2000 and has a result this week, winning a two-year battle. He
:57:49. > :57:53.says you should stick with it. Go to the website with your tips. The
:57:53. > :58:02.address is on your screens right now. Coming up next week, the care
:58:02. > :58:05.plan that promises to protect you, why does it not? Thomas Cook,
:58:05. > :58:11.plan that promises to protect you, fighting flight displays. And how
:58:11. > :58:17.much your discounted bottle of supermarket wine is really worth.
:58:17. > :58:18.That is next Wednesday at 8pm. Until then, good night.