:00:07. > :00:12.NatWest,ed Lloyds, and all the other major banks - another mis-selling
:00:13. > :00:20.scandal. Switching energy suppliers - live tonight. How can we save
:00:21. > :00:26.these four Football Focus viewers? Portion sizes at supermarkets, and
:00:27. > :00:27.O2 doubles the charges for Directory Inquiries. It's Football Focus, the
:00:28. > :00:51.programme you can't afford to miss. Good evening, and welcome to
:00:52. > :00:56.Watchdog. We're live at usual for the next 60 minutes. Tonight: banks
:00:57. > :01:03.at it again with the mis-selling of package deals. Here's the ombudsman.
:01:04. > :01:06.We have to get over this culture in banking where people are sold
:01:07. > :01:11.products they didn't need and couldn't use. We need banking to
:01:12. > :01:16.clean up its act. SSE claims price rises are here to stay. In the next
:01:17. > :01:19.hour, we will investigate if switching suppliers can make a
:01:20. > :01:24.difference to these viewers. Plus, the railways: First Capital
:01:25. > :01:29.Connect, Southern, why do you need a maths degree to work out the cost of
:01:30. > :01:35.a journey. Supermarket food portion sizes are getting out of control
:01:36. > :01:40.warns the British Heart Foundation. If you're a grandma or grand pass,
:01:41. > :01:46.you might want to look away because you won't like what you're about to
:01:47. > :01:55.see. Yes, we fire up our hidden cameras and go under cover to Inter
:01:56. > :02:00.Defence Security Ltd in Manchester. He's going to sound horrible but the
:02:01. > :02:07.best thing to do is to scare the old people. They're a delightful bunch
:02:08. > :02:12.of people as you can see. Prepare to be alarmed and a little while.
:02:13. > :02:17.First, the banks. After PPI, another scandal, this time, package accounts
:02:18. > :02:21.where, for a monthly fee, the banks throw in a host of added extras. The
:02:22. > :02:25.Watchdog investigation shows some customers are not aware they have
:02:26. > :02:31.one of these accounts. So far, the financial ombudsman has found a case
:02:32. > :02:37.of mis-selling in 75 per cent of the complaints received.
:02:38. > :02:41.It used to be that choosing a bank account was simple: you just picked
:02:42. > :02:46.the one with the best interest rates. But nowadays, thanks to the
:02:47. > :02:54.package bank account, there's a lot more to think about. Agree to pay a
:02:55. > :02:58.monthly fee, anything from ?5 to ?25 and your bank will give you a host
:02:59. > :03:04.of special treats. So, for example, in exchange for ?10 a month, one
:03:05. > :03:11.bank will give me a flexible overdraft, plus travel insurance,
:03:12. > :03:13.mobile phone insurance, and even a subscription to a film rental
:03:14. > :03:18.service. The benefits change from account to
:03:19. > :03:23.account, but, on paper, if you can afford the payments, some of these
:03:24. > :03:28.packages can look very attractive. But be warned: appearances can be
:03:29. > :03:33.dereceiving. It is thought as many as one in five package bank accounts
:03:34. > :03:38.may have been mis-sold, with many of the optional extras failing to
:03:39. > :03:42.deliver what was promised. The financial Financial Ombudsman
:03:43. > :03:49.Service says they're receiving more than 70 new cases every week, and
:03:50. > :03:52.numbers are expected to keep going up. They're so concerned about these
:03:53. > :04:03.rising numbers, that they've agreed to talk to us. This is Natalie
:04:04. > :04:07.Seeny. The ombudsman service has been concerned about them for some
:04:08. > :04:11.time for a range of reasons. The regulator, the FCA, took action this
:04:12. > :04:14.year to require all banks to tell customers what they're buying. I
:04:15. > :04:18.think a lot of customers are now looking at what they are buying and
:04:19. > :04:21.saying, "Have I been paying for this for the last five or six years?" As
:04:22. > :04:24.a result, a lot of people are coming to complain saying I don't think
:04:25. > :04:27.this is what I should have been buying. One of the main areas of
:04:28. > :04:31.complaint are the insurance policies that come with the packaged
:04:32. > :04:37.accounts. A lot of the insurance cover may not
:04:38. > :04:40.be as generous as if you bought that policy on its own. Most customers
:04:41. > :04:44.don't understand that. You look at the title and think you know what
:04:45. > :04:50.policy covers. Rebecca James upgraded to a silver
:04:51. > :04:55.account with Lloyds TSB specifically because it offered insurance for her
:04:56. > :04:58.mobile phone. For ?8 a month, she thought she would be covered no
:04:59. > :05:02.matter what happened. When her mobile was stolen, she realised she
:05:03. > :05:06.was wrong. I had a letter back from the bank saying they had rejected my
:05:07. > :05:12.claim. The reasons for rejecting the claim was that my phone had been
:05:13. > :05:16.stolen from a place where people other than my immediate family had
:05:17. > :05:19.access. The insurer pointed to a clause
:05:20. > :05:22.buried deep in her terms and conditions that made clear she
:05:23. > :05:24.wouldn't be covered in these circumstances.
:05:25. > :05:29.But the existence of such clauses wasn't made clear to her when she
:05:30. > :05:36.was sold I insurance by Lloyds, and it was only after she disputed this
:05:37. > :05:40.that she got her pay-out. I do feel that banks such as Lloyds do have a
:05:41. > :05:45.duty to explain to people explicitly what they are not covered for. The
:05:46. > :05:48.ombudsman agrees. There is an obligation on the banks when selling
:05:49. > :05:52.package bank accounts to just explain what the cover is because
:05:53. > :05:56.there may be limitations in the small print, and it actually the
:05:57. > :06:00.obligation of the banks to make sure those customers understand those
:06:01. > :06:04.limitations. Noting able to claim for a stolen mobile phone thing
:06:05. > :06:10.thing; noting able to claim when your health depends on it is another
:06:11. > :06:16.another entirely, because it seems serious errors are being made when
:06:17. > :06:20.banks sign up customers to packages with travel insurance. The ombudsman
:06:21. > :06:23.has seen many such cases. In one, a man with a serious liver condition
:06:24. > :06:27.bought his account specifically because he told he would be covered
:06:28. > :06:29.for travel insurance. It was only when his consultant recommended he
:06:30. > :06:33.check his policy that he discovered not only was he not covered, he
:06:34. > :06:39.hadn't been for a very long time. He went back and checked. Sure enough,
:06:40. > :06:44.the bank said, "Oh, no, our policy never covers liver conditions." Yet
:06:45. > :06:47.the bank gave us no no evidence when we investigated this complaint that
:06:48. > :06:51.they had ever asked him to declare previous medical conditions so he
:06:52. > :06:54.had not been insured for eight years for all his holidays, and he had
:06:55. > :06:58.been looking for a product that covered him. In that case, of
:06:59. > :07:04.course, we found in the consumer's favour. The cases the ombudsman are
:07:05. > :07:07.receiving is not just about the mis-selling of additional extras.
:07:08. > :07:12.Some people say their banks have signed them up for premium package
:07:13. > :07:18.accounts without even telling them. Take David Barnes: he only realised
:07:19. > :07:22.he had one last July when he noticed NatWest had taken ?12.95 from his
:07:23. > :07:29.account. He had no idea they had done the same thing every single
:07:30. > :07:34.month for the pr seven seven years. I have no no idea what it was for. I
:07:35. > :07:37.thought perhaps somebody got into my computer and I looked into it.
:07:38. > :07:40.Actually, it was the bank. When I phoned them, I was astounded when
:07:41. > :07:45.they told me this has happened since 2005, and it was for upgrading my
:07:46. > :07:49.current account. When he complained, NatWest refused his claim. They said
:07:50. > :07:53.he must have been made aware his account had been upgraded, so he
:07:54. > :08:00.took his base to the ombudsman. After one year, they won the case,
:08:01. > :08:03.got all the money back that I had calculated plus interest -- I won
:08:04. > :08:08.the case, and that was ?1 -400. We've found a number of cases where
:08:09. > :08:11.consumers didn't realise they had a package bank account sometimes
:08:12. > :08:14.because it was added to their account, and, in many cases,
:08:15. > :08:17.actually, these charges weren't described very accurately, so you
:08:18. > :08:20.might have had a statement with y, so you might have had a statement
:08:21. > :08:25.with the word "charge". You might assume that's an overdraft charge
:08:26. > :08:29.but it might be your package charge. The financial ombudsman is now
:08:30. > :08:35.settling and favour of the customer in more than 70 per cent of cases.
:08:36. > :08:40.With so many other potential victims out there, we could be on the verge
:08:41. > :08:43.of yet another major scandal for the banks. For some customers, they're
:08:44. > :08:47.quite a good idea because, for a fee, you get a whole range of things
:08:48. > :08:51.that actually might have cost you more than if you'd gone around and
:08:52. > :08:55.shopped around, but the fact we are finding that three-quarters of
:08:56. > :08:58.consumer cases we look at actually there was a problem suggests that
:08:59. > :09:01.something went quite wrong on package bank accounts, and we have
:09:02. > :09:03.to get over this culture in banking where people can be sold products
:09:04. > :09:11.that they didn't need and couldn't use, and we really do need banking
:09:12. > :09:18.to clean up its act. Joining me is the chief executive of the British
:09:19. > :09:20.bankers' socialliation -- Association, Anthony Browne. Good
:09:21. > :09:24.evening. When are the banks going to learn to behave themselveses? The
:09:25. > :09:28.banks have learned the lesson from PPI. It was a very expensive
:09:29. > :09:34.mistake. What they've done is put in a whole load of new rules and
:09:35. > :09:38.processes making sure that mis-selling doesn't happen any more.
:09:39. > :09:41.They have to make sure from April this year, when customers buy
:09:42. > :09:46.packaged accounts they know what the cover is, it's appropriate for them,
:09:47. > :09:51.they know whether they're going to be paying for it or not. All the
:09:52. > :09:54.main banks will will make sure the customers know there are free
:09:55. > :09:57.alternative, and people should know when there is a free alternative
:09:58. > :10:05.available. You say they've learned, but, actually, the figure we gave in
:10:06. > :10:10.the film was the ombudsman had ruled in 75 per cent in favour of the
:10:11. > :10:16.customer and ruled that there was mis-selling. The latest figure that
:10:17. > :10:22.came out yesterday 82 per cent of the complaints received from
:10:23. > :10:26.customers the ombudsman ruled mis-selling. Forgive me, but it
:10:27. > :10:28.doesn't seem as if anyone has learned anything. These complaints
:10:29. > :10:35.were before the new rules came in, but the point is there is no - M
:10:36. > :10:39.Browne - There is no excuse for mis-selling and the banks know that.
:10:40. > :10:41.If people suffer loss as a result of mis-selling, they should get
:10:42. > :10:45.redress. If anyone is concerned they've been mis-sold package bank
:10:46. > :10:48.accounts, if they're concerned about the cover they're getting that's not
:10:49. > :10:53.appropriate for them, if they think they are being charged money they
:10:54. > :10:57.should be charged, then they should go to their banks and get absolute
:10:58. > :11:03.clarity. They should switch. Why has it taken a ruling to come in for the
:11:04. > :11:06.banks to behave correctly? The banks have actually proactively worked
:11:07. > :11:10.with the regulators to bring this these new rulings that, as I say,
:11:11. > :11:14.came in this April, which means that the banks have to make absolutely
:11:15. > :11:19.clear to the customers they are getting. Why you so anxious to sell
:11:20. > :11:23.these policies? Why were they so anxious to sell the packages? Was
:11:24. > :11:27.there an incentive? It is part of the - Was there an incentive for the
:11:28. > :11:31.staff N- absolutely, one of the problems in the industry which
:11:32. > :11:34.relates not just to this but elsewhere is staff were given sales
:11:35. > :11:36.bonuses where they were encouraged to sell more to different people,
:11:37. > :11:40.sometimes inappropriately, so what the banks have done because of the
:11:41. > :11:44.dangers of mis-selling there, is to strip out those sales bonuses which
:11:45. > :11:48.they've done throughout the retail banking sector now. What the front
:11:49. > :11:53.line staff are paid for, the ones you meet, is to improve customer
:11:54. > :11:57.service rather than sell new things. PPI, billions have had to be paid
:11:58. > :12:01.out, there could be millions paid out again with these packages, if
:12:02. > :12:06.they've been mis-sold. You can't have any idea how large the problem
:12:07. > :12:10.is. We're looking at the beginning, the publicity that is coming will
:12:11. > :12:13.surely encourage more and more people to look at what they've been
:12:14. > :12:18.paying and see whether they've been mis-sold? I think the scale of this
:12:19. > :12:22.is far less than PPI. Certainly, in terms of the number of customers, it
:12:23. > :12:24.is smaller. The amounts of money for each customer is smaller, so
:12:25. > :12:28.although for each individual customer any mis-selling is wrong
:12:29. > :12:32.and they have a right to be angry about it and have a right to get
:12:33. > :12:35.redress if they've lost out as a result of it, but it is not on the
:12:36. > :12:40.scale of PPI. The financial ombudsman who you had on earlier,
:12:41. > :12:43.only a tiny fraction of their complaints are about package bank
:12:44. > :12:45.accounts. Not good for the reputation of banks. Anthony Browne,
:12:46. > :12:51.thank you. Lloyds would like to apologise to Ms
:12:52. > :12:54.James of the inconvenience caused. It overturned its decision as soon
:12:55. > :12:58.as more details were provided. It makes no comment on the general
:12:59. > :13:02.subject of mis-selling. NatWest apologised to Mr Barnes for
:13:03. > :13:06.failing to meet his needs. It's now refunded and comment compensated him
:13:07. > :13:13.for the fees and inconvenience. Over the past five years, it's written to
:13:14. > :13:16.all packable bank account customers and encouraging them to review the
:13:17. > :13:21.account to make sure it meets their needs, and approach customers at the
:13:22. > :13:24.age of 70 reminding them they will need to be called for medical
:13:25. > :13:37.screening to be eligible for travel insurance.
:13:38. > :13:42.To get in touch with us: Coming up: we put your questions to
:13:43. > :13:52.energy giant SSE. It claims it had no choice but to bills by eight 8.2
:13:53. > :13:58.per cent. On tonight's rowing traders -- rogue
:13:59. > :14:02.traders, we're talking about salesmen.
:14:03. > :14:07.But there is still a tiny minority much salesmen out there that just
:14:08. > :14:11.don't get it. Rather than accurately describe what they're selling and
:14:12. > :14:15.then tell you the price, they are determined to tell you lies and go
:14:16. > :14:37.for gold. When When I say "tiny minority", I mean about this big.
:14:38. > :14:46.We're carrying out a little experiment. In this this maze, we
:14:47. > :14:50.have a pair of mice who are given a regular allowance of cheese - a
:14:51. > :14:58.wage, if you like. They're alsoing closely monitored by this cat.
:14:59. > :15:06.As a result, they're happy, and they're very well behaved.
:15:07. > :15:11., in this identical maze, the mice receive their cheese as a percentage
:15:12. > :15:16.commission of whatever they sell. Look: there is no-one there to
:15:17. > :15:22.supervise their activities. So how do they behave? Well, before
:15:23. > :15:30.too long, they're telling outlandish lies to sell more cheese and there
:15:31. > :15:34.by ea more and more cash. It's approved by Her Majesty the Queen.
:15:35. > :15:40.They're pressuring people to buy the cheese. You need this product - now!
:15:41. > :15:46.No, we're not really talking about mice or cheese here. We're talking
:15:47. > :15:49.about people and money. When the market they're selling to includes
:15:50. > :15:56.some of the more vulnerable members of society, it seems the temptation
:15:57. > :16:02.to misbehave can be overwhelming. Take Manchester based Group one
:16:03. > :16:08.Security Ltd, trading name of G Solutions Ltd and not to be confused
:16:09. > :16:13.by countries of another name. It is run by John Rigby and Ana
:16:14. > :16:17.Gunasekera. They sell alarms which, when activated, are connected to a
:16:18. > :16:20.receiving centre and in turn contact the emergency services if required.
:16:21. > :16:24.They use cold-calling to find their customers. That's how, last
:16:25. > :16:29.September, their salesmen wound up in the home of these tly lovely
:16:30. > :16:33.ladies, Phyllis and Rita. I won't disclose their ages, but if you add
:16:34. > :16:37.them together and subtract them from 200, you're left with six.
:16:38. > :16:42.I've come to meet Phyllis's granddaughter.
:16:43. > :16:47.Tell me exactly how you found out that something was up? I received a
:16:48. > :16:50.letter and a phone call from my grandmother asking for my help.
:16:51. > :16:55.She'd been visited by two gentlemen from a company called Group One
:16:56. > :16:58.Security that arrived at the house and then proceeded to try to sell
:16:59. > :17:03.her an alarm system. But here's the thing: look, Phyllis
:17:04. > :17:06.already had a fully functioning alarm system from another company.
:17:07. > :17:12.That didn't put them off, though. Oh, no. They then told her that
:17:13. > :17:16.company had gone out of business, and therefore her alarm system was
:17:17. > :17:22.in effect useless. Despite both of these claiming lies, the salesman
:17:23. > :17:28.managed to convince Phyllis to shell out ?3 - 250 for a new alarm which
:17:29. > :17:32.was then installed right next to the perfectly good still functioning old
:17:33. > :17:36.one. Why do you think your grandma went
:17:37. > :17:39.for this? They're of the generation where they absolutely trust people.
:17:40. > :17:44.They've been brought up to believe that when people tell them things
:17:45. > :17:48.that that is the truth. She has since tried and failed to get any of
:17:49. > :17:52.her grandmother's money back. There is at that stage that is done after
:17:53. > :17:57.things like this. Their trust has been shaken. It makes them wary
:17:58. > :18:02.about going to the door or answering calls. Disgraceful. But quite a neat
:18:03. > :18:07.trick. I mean, selling a monitored alarm system to somebody who already
:18:08. > :18:12.has a monitored alarm system. I wonder how they managed it. How
:18:13. > :18:21.convenient: a phone call from a company insider willing to spill the
:18:22. > :18:25.beans on their sales practices. Yes, we've been tipped off. I am
:18:26. > :18:28.going to meet a mysterious figure who says he has some inside
:18:29. > :18:33.information about Group One Security.
:18:34. > :18:58.Moody! Hey? How did he... . HM hmm. There
:18:59. > :19:02.was so much I wanted to ask him. Maybe next time. Anyway, he has
:19:03. > :19:06.given us access to the training manual provided to all staff when
:19:07. > :19:10.they join the company, here in black and white is how all staff are
:19:11. > :19:18.instructed to sell their products. It is vital that you lower the tone
:19:19. > :19:22.of your voice as if you were hypnotising the client. Eye contact
:19:23. > :19:27.is important too. Is it working yet? Bit over the top.
:19:28. > :19:31.Anyway, other tips? Be subtle and do not push the point as they will feel
:19:32. > :19:36.pressurised. No, because you wouldn't want that,
:19:37. > :19:40.would you? Anything else? You explain to the client why we want a
:19:41. > :19:44.decision on the day. Yes, you see, that sounds like
:19:45. > :19:49.pressure to me. But, unfortunately, we don't get the chance to put our
:19:50. > :19:54.Schneider info to the test because we soon learn that Group one
:19:55. > :19:59.Security Ltd has gone into liquidation. However, all is not
:20:00. > :20:07.lost, because the same directors John Rigby, Ana Gunasekera, and a
:20:08. > :20:12.third man who used to work at Group One Security, Nima Rastegar, have
:20:13. > :20:16.set up another company selli monitoring alarm systems called
:20:17. > :20:20.Inter Defence Security as many as based in Manchester. Is this perhaps
:20:21. > :20:27.a chance to start again with a clean sheet and a new improved ethical
:20:28. > :20:30.stance on selling, or are they just using the same pressure selling
:20:31. > :20:34.techniques under a new name? There is only way to find out. We send
:20:35. > :20:42.team member Beckie into the Inter Defence call centre.
:20:43. > :20:46.Straightaway, she's given a script to use when symphony cold-calls
:20:47. > :20:50.customers. It is immediately clear what the Inter Defence tactic is:
:20:51. > :20:55.pretend that wherever the customer lives is an absolute hotbed of
:20:56. > :20:58.crime. It's a call in relation to the campaign launched in the area
:20:59. > :21:06.this week due to recent burglaries. If only we could find a way for me
:21:07. > :21:24.to look at that script. You again! See you back in the
:21:25. > :21:26.office. He's new, you see. They call See you back in the office. He's
:21:27. > :21:30.new, you see. They call themselves "crime awareness advisers". They're
:21:31. > :21:33.saying crime levels are rivalling. 30 burglaries in the six-month
:21:34. > :21:38.period. You may have read about it in the local paper.
:21:39. > :21:42.Really? Well, no, not really, because they're trained to say these
:21:43. > :21:48.types of things on every call, no matter where the person they're
:21:49. > :21:52.speaking to lives. I don't know about you, but my
:21:53. > :21:58.monitored alarm bells are already ringing. Join us for a festival of
:21:59. > :22:01.fibs in 15. Next our energy price campaign:
:22:02. > :22:09.three of the big six have put their prices up in the last fortnight -
:22:10. > :22:12.SSE by eight. 8.2 per cent, British Gas by 9.2 per cent, and Npower
:22:13. > :22:16.topped the lot with 10.4 per cent. The other three have yet to make
:22:17. > :22:21.their move. The government has suggested wearing another jumper or
:22:22. > :22:27.switching suppliers. Yesterday, former Conservative Party John Major
:22:28. > :22:31.weighed in. There are many people this winter who are having to choose
:22:32. > :22:34.between keeping warm and eating. I don't think that is acceptable. We
:22:35. > :22:40.look at switching and a minute. First, Chris, put your questions to
:22:41. > :22:50.SSE's managing director of retail, Will Morris.
:22:51. > :22:56.Why have you put your prices up 8.2 per cent. Elements go up and that's
:22:57. > :23:00.out of our control. The cost of supplying the energy itself on the
:23:01. > :23:02.wholesale market, the costs of actually transporting energy into
:23:03. > :23:07.people's homes, and then most significantly, the bit that's gone
:23:08. > :23:11.up the most proportionately are these government schemes have gone
:23:12. > :23:14.up by 15 per cent. If we break down these costs, you talk about
:23:15. > :23:19.government levies and the taxes, they're a small proportion of that
:23:20. > :23:25.bill. They account for ten per cent of the bill. We can take ?110 off
:23:26. > :23:28.customer's bills tomorrow if the levies weren't there. It is the
:23:29. > :23:32.government's fault? The reality of our system the way we manage energy.
:23:33. > :23:36.Clearly, we play a part in that. I think what we need to do is have an
:23:37. > :23:40.honest debate around energy. The reality is the cost are going to go
:23:41. > :23:45.up. We've got ageing infrastructure. The government rightly is trying to
:23:46. > :23:49.replace that. That has a cost to it. Finally, we've taken this
:23:50. > :23:53.aspiration, almost to be first of the pack to become greener than
:23:54. > :23:58.anybody else. That is fine, but we can't magic that green revolution.
:23:59. > :24:03.We're not in Disneyland. We can't wave a magic wand and pay for it
:24:04. > :24:08.all. Our contention is it's not the right way to stick it straight
:24:09. > :24:13.across everybody's bill irrespective of whether we can pay for it. How
:24:14. > :24:17.can the big s justify their own wages which are in millions of
:24:18. > :24:24.pounds while charge extra amounts of money to those people that are in
:24:25. > :24:31.fuel poverty? I think about 6.3 million in bonuses to executive
:24:32. > :24:36.directors of this company, t CEO ?600,000 in bonuses. All I can tell
:24:37. > :24:40.you in the FTSE-250, the top companies in the UK, we're not lower
:24:41. > :24:46.tranche, the lower third of that, so the salaries are by any comparison
:24:47. > :24:51.good salaries, but they're an awful lot lower of equivalent sized
:24:52. > :25:00.companies across our country. You're not as he'd Miliband said on our Ed
:25:01. > :25:06.Miliband said profiteering? T. I am not. I am disappointed by that
:25:07. > :25:10.stance he has made. We take about a five per cent margin which is less
:25:11. > :25:15.than supermarkets and a lot less than mobile phone companies. How
:25:16. > :25:19.much of those profits is being reinvested for the future. We invest
:25:20. > :25:24.?4 million a day as a group which is slightly more than our group profit
:25:25. > :25:28.was last year, so the simple answer is the vast majority. Unless we
:25:29. > :25:32.actually replace the infrastructure, unless we develop the capacity to
:25:33. > :25:35.actually produce energy in a more efficient way in the future, we're
:25:36. > :25:43.never going to get to the place where we all want to aspire to be
:25:44. > :25:48.which is a much more, because of carbon efficient lower cost cost
:25:49. > :25:52.energy offering. Here is a question from one of our viewers, "Has
:25:53. > :25:57.privatisation of household energy supply helped the customer?" Great
:25:58. > :26:00.question. We have seen a number of positives as a consequence of
:26:01. > :26:06.privatisation. Until in the last few years, we actually saw prices
:26:07. > :26:09.falling for the early 200s, and it is only latterly that they've gone
:26:10. > :26:13.up again. I think in terms of competition, that having that many
:26:14. > :26:22.different suppliers has led to I think a lot more innovation and many
:26:23. > :26:27.improvements, but it's fair to say that privatisation hasn't delivered,
:26:28. > :26:30.and it should have done by now, delivered that feeling of confidence
:26:31. > :26:34.and trust. Is there enough choice do you think or are you all roughly - I
:26:35. > :26:37.know you're not in cahoots - but you're going to roughly offer the
:26:38. > :26:42.same thing. I think there's certainly a bigger choice than we
:26:43. > :26:45.referred to the big six. There are 20 different suppliers out there.
:26:46. > :26:49.There is still a range of tariffs, a choice of different products and
:26:50. > :26:52.services you can choose. You put your prices up. Would you choose
:26:53. > :26:57.your company if you had to choose a bill? Most customers are pretty
:26:58. > :27:01.smart and they know that all we've talked about, the reasons the prices
:27:02. > :27:04.have gone up on the same pressure as the other companies, and as the
:27:05. > :27:10.media reported, it is likely that other people will be raising prices.
:27:11. > :27:13.Why do you put of your prices in the winter when the demand is at its
:27:14. > :27:17.peak. Vulnerable people really do suffer. The simple answer to that is
:27:18. > :27:20.we try and put off any price increase at the last possible
:27:21. > :27:23.moment. Yes, we could have put an increase in earlier, but that would
:27:24. > :27:26.have had a worse effect in a sense because we would have been paying
:27:27. > :27:31.for it earlier. I've got an emotional question to ask. This
:27:32. > :27:35.parent is barely able to afford the cost. We have to limit how often the
:27:36. > :27:40.heating came on. Unfortunately, this resulted in our 11-month-old babying
:27:41. > :27:44.hospitalised for one week after developing a chest infection. Does
:27:45. > :27:49.the owner of your company, your CEO, struggle to keep his babies warm
:27:50. > :27:52.too? I think the sounds to me in that particular example that that
:27:53. > :27:57.person should be qualifying for a number of benefits, including the
:27:58. > :28:01.warm home discount, and probably eco schemes and everything else, and if
:28:02. > :28:05.they're one of our customers, please call us, and we will do our utmost
:28:06. > :28:08.to help them. We have our own fund of about with four million we put
:28:09. > :28:12.together as we go through the winter to help customers who are struggling
:28:13. > :28:16.to pay their bills. The other thing we do, however bad someone's
:28:17. > :28:20.situation gets, we don't cut anybody off at all throughout the six months
:28:21. > :28:24.of the centre. Plenty of blaming laid at the
:28:25. > :28:31.government's door there. We will get its response next week when energy
:28:32. > :28:33.secretary Ed Davey joins us in the studio. As price rises continue,
:28:34. > :28:38.should we follow the Prime Minister's advice and shop around to
:28:39. > :28:44.get a better energy deal in with me is Tom Lion from uSwitch.
:28:45. > :28:47.The number of people incidentally switching from this site has gone up
:28:48. > :28:51.in the last fortnight by a staggering 600 per cent.
:28:52. > :28:55.Tom, is switching worthwhile? Simply it can save you lots of money and
:28:56. > :29:01.protect you from the price rises that we're seeing at the moment.
:29:02. > :29:05.Should you not wait until the six energy companies have all put up
:29:06. > :29:07.there. No, it's a common misconception. The three that
:29:08. > :29:11.haven't are offering you competitive deals that will allow you to fix
:29:12. > :29:13.your prices for anything up to four years in the future. When they
:29:14. > :29:17.announce a price rise, I guarantee that he will be removing a lot of
:29:18. > :29:20.those deals. It is a case of getting them now, this hour, this day. The
:29:21. > :29:24.fixed rate, are they mostly going to be lower, then, than the current
:29:25. > :29:27.rate or higher? If you get them now, actually, the tariffs that are
:29:28. > :29:32.offering you fixed rate for years into the future are mpetitively
:29:33. > :29:36.competitively price as any variable rates. Is it difficult to switch? It
:29:37. > :29:39.is easy. It tak five minutes on a price comparison site like ours to
:29:40. > :29:44.get a comparison of the whole market, five minutes more to give
:29:45. > :29:47.your details and switch, and then everything is managed for you. How
:29:48. > :29:52.do you make your money? We get a small commission when you switch but
:29:53. > :29:55.we are regulated by Ofgem, meaning that has absolutely no impact on the
:29:56. > :29:58.service we provide to you. So it is an unbiased opinion? Completely,
:29:59. > :30:02.completely. You stick to the rules? Absolutely. If we didn't, no-one
:30:03. > :30:06.would use us. Hundreds of thousands of people use us. Enough
:30:07. > :30:10.advertising! How much can a typical consumer expect to save? Over to
:30:11. > :30:15.Chris. We have gotfour Watchdog viewers
:30:16. > :30:19.with us tonight. We will see whether switching is right for them and how
:30:20. > :30:27.much money could they save. First up is Jenny. She is an SSE customer.
:30:28. > :30:31.She lives with her son in her three-bed semi in Derby.
:30:32. > :30:58.Next Thanks for joining us. Jenny, are
:30:59. > :31:02.you worried about the bill? I am very worried. Why is that? My supply
:31:03. > :31:07.has told me they're taking me off the online tariff I've been on since
:31:08. > :31:12.I joined them and putting me on their standard tariff as well as
:31:13. > :31:17.increasing the price of that by nine per cent. Amie-Jo, have you ever
:31:18. > :31:23.switched? Never switched before, no. Why not? Because the kilowatt jargon
:31:24. > :31:27.confuses me. I think you're not alone. Pam and Godfrey? Have you
:31:28. > :31:34.switched before? We have. We switched three times in the past. It
:31:35. > :31:39.worked? It has worked for a short time, but recently utility bills
:31:40. > :31:44.have been going up relentlessly, and they have become a real worry. I can
:31:45. > :31:50.see, Pam, you're worried? Very. Hopefully, Tom will sort it all out.
:31:51. > :31:54.That is Big Tom there. All have different circumstances. It is over
:31:55. > :31:58.to you. We will find out later if switching is the best option.
:31:59. > :32:05.Still to come: some supermarket portions have doubled in the last 20
:32:06. > :32:07.years. Do we realise we'ring super Do we realise we'ring super sized?
:32:08. > :32:12.-- we are being super sized. We know that alarms company Group
:32:13. > :32:20.One Security Ltd of Manchester are history but after they ceased
:32:21. > :32:24.trading, the main players start Inter Defence Security Ltd, not to
:32:25. > :32:27.be confused with companies of a similar name. Group One security Ltd
:32:28. > :32:31.got a reputation for using dodgy sales techniques and even lying to
:32:32. > :32:39.their customers. Will their next company be any different? Team
:32:40. > :32:46.America Beckie is under cover in the call centre of Inter Defence
:32:47. > :32:49.Security. The script she's given to use pretends that crime rates are
:32:50. > :32:55.high in the area she's hoping to sell. The reason they do that? Step
:32:56. > :33:01.forward, Dave. It's going to sound horrible.
:33:02. > :33:11.Yes, that does sound horrible. Your mother must be of so proud, not
:33:12. > :33:16.to mention your grandmother. We know what happens in the call centre, but
:33:17. > :33:22.are these same scare tactics used when the salesmen get face face with
:33:23. > :33:26.potential customers in their homes? We should find out. With not one but
:33:27. > :33:32.two houses. And two old people, or at least two
:33:33. > :33:39.people who act old occasionally. No, look, I said act old. What are
:33:40. > :33:44.you doing? Right on time for this heavy weight
:33:45. > :33:48.bout from Inter Defence Security Ltd comes the salesman - sorry, hold on,
:33:49. > :33:52.salesman - sorry, hold on, I mean "risk assessment advisers". In one
:33:53. > :33:57.corner, we have David; in the other, we have Doug, and refereeing them
:33:58. > :34:04.tonight is security expert Terry Hack. It is round one.
:34:05. > :34:07.Doug wastes no time telling us about criminals running loose in our area.
:34:08. > :34:15.In case you're wondering, it's all nonsense. A lot of it now is done by
:34:16. > :34:19.the eastern bloc countries and organised crime gangs are very good
:34:20. > :34:24.at what they do. The salesman is using scare tactics. This is utter
:34:25. > :34:30.nonsense. It just doesn't happen. They're doing trafficking, drugs,
:34:31. > :34:36.they are doing into everything. Yes, they're all at it, the Poles, the
:34:37. > :34:41.Albanians, Slovenians, Bulgarians - the entire eastern bloc. But they
:34:42. > :34:44.will go and rob any house, and come along here, six to eight weeks, they
:34:45. > :34:53.will monitor the week. That long? Oh, yes. Oh, no! They're in the
:34:54. > :34:58.trees? Look, I can see he has new Freeview box! Yes. Meanwhile, in
:34:59. > :35:03.house number two, David puts his own unique spin on scaremongering.
:35:04. > :35:10.Local crime rates are monitored on the government website police. Uk.
:35:11. > :35:15.According to our man David, you can't trust it. One of our guys
:35:16. > :35:20.three years ago, he was one of the guys who was putting the figures on
:35:21. > :35:23.to the site. His Superintendent was saying to him take 30 per cent off,
:35:24. > :35:28.so they're cooking the books even there. He's making a very serious
:35:29. > :35:35.allegation. You mean the police are cooking the books? Yes. Really? Yes.
:35:36. > :35:40.I am afraid so. Absolutely disgraceful claiming that a police
:35:41. > :35:44.force has been distorting the figures deliberately. Burglary has
:35:45. > :35:49.dropped year on year recently. So not the great start. They
:35:50. > :35:54.softened us up with organised crime gangs and police corruption. Into
:35:55. > :35:58.round two. David tells us that their alarm systems have been awarded a
:35:59. > :36:02.gold certificate. Now, I only managed a bronzed at swimming when I
:36:03. > :36:07.was a kid. I've still got the badge on my trunks, so gold must be a big
:36:08. > :36:11.deal. NSI, gold certificate. That is like the highest commendation you
:36:12. > :36:16.can have. In case you were wondering, the NSI is the National
:36:17. > :36:19.Security Inspectorate. They've assured us that this company doesn't
:36:20. > :36:24.have any such recognition. Yes, that's a lie, then. Unlike my
:36:25. > :36:27.swimming badge. There is good news, though. We're told there is a
:36:28. > :36:30.promotion on. The alarm system is free, and we only pay for the
:36:31. > :36:37.monitoring. However, there's a catch. See if you can guess what it
:36:38. > :36:42.is. I can't hold this system for you. We only have so many to give
:36:43. > :36:45.away in an area. The only way I can hold it for you is if you do the
:36:46. > :36:48.contracts. It is misleading to claim that the systems are free for a
:36:49. > :36:55.limited time only when they're not. It's against the law, fell has.
:36:56. > :37:00.Final round, and it is now getting serious. Will it be a knockout or a
:37:01. > :37:09.points decision? We're going to hear the price? Wow! Was that a good wow
:37:10. > :37:15.or a bad wow? It is definitely a bad wow. A 12-year contract will cost us
:37:16. > :37:20.around 5,500 but only if we sign today, which we won't.
:37:21. > :37:27.David's on the ropes, but he's not giving up. I can try and get some
:37:28. > :37:31.discount for you, say 4,50. I don't know until I've worked it out.
:37:32. > :37:38.That's it, it's all over. Gum shields out, everyone. Doug, Dave?
:37:39. > :37:43.Behave! Frightening the elderly to sell alarms. Well, here's the news,
:37:44. > :37:47.Dave, Doug, and everyone else working at Inter Defence Security
:37:48. > :37:51.Ltd: as you're about to find out, pensioners can be pretty
:37:52. > :37:56.frightening. See what I mean! We've got an
:37:57. > :38:00.appointment at the company HQ. Join us shortly.
:38:01. > :38:04.Time to check back in with our energy switchers. How are we getting
:38:05. > :38:08.on? Let's start with Jenny. If you remember, Tom, she was worried about
:38:09. > :38:11.her energy bills going up. What have you found out? Jenny is with SSE,
:38:12. > :38:15.and they've already announced a price rise. That probably means
:38:16. > :38:21.unless you do something, your bills are going to go up by about ?130, so
:38:22. > :38:27.we want to find a way of protecting you from that. Amie-Jo had a tough
:38:28. > :38:32.time last year that your boy ended up in pneumonia. Yes. We would love
:38:33. > :38:36.to get it right this year. What have you found out about Amie-Jo? She's
:38:37. > :38:39.on atism tariff at the moment but that's running out in two months'
:38:40. > :38:42.time. At that point she will probably be rolled on to E.ON's
:38:43. > :38:47.standard tariff, and it is pretty likely E.ON are going to announce an
:38:48. > :38:51.increase to that standard tariff in the next couple of weeks, so you
:38:52. > :38:56.could be hit by a double whammy and we don't really want that. Pam and
:38:57. > :39:00.Godfrey, your bill went up ?500 last year. That's correct. They don't
:39:01. > :39:04.want to to happen to them again. What have you found out? You guys
:39:05. > :39:09.are on standard tariffs, and that is a pretty good way to spend a lot of
:39:10. > :39:13.money. You might as well just burn tenners to keep warm. So I think we
:39:14. > :39:17.can do something about that. Thank you. It all looks promising, doesn't
:39:18. > :39:21.it? It does. Keep your fingers crossed. Back to you, Annie. Before
:39:22. > :39:24.the end of the show, Tom is going to do his sums to see how much he can
:39:25. > :39:29.save our viewers. Next, remain ways: we already have
:39:30. > :39:32.the most expensive train fares in Europe, but more price rises have
:39:33. > :39:36.been announced for after Christmas. What are we getting for all that
:39:37. > :39:38.money? Not enough, says Rick Wakeman, and that is presumably you
:39:39. > :39:55.can work out the best ticket to buy. There was a time when train travel
:39:56. > :40:00.Windsor Castle Gantt, sophisticated, exciting.
:40:01. > :40:04.The obvious choice for a gent of my stature.
:40:05. > :40:09.Not any more. The closest thing you are get to that these days is on one
:40:10. > :40:13.of these heritage railways. Nowadays, rail travel is something
:40:14. > :40:19.to endure, not enjoy. This isn't real smoke, it is a smoke machine.
:40:20. > :40:23.Look at tickets: price rises have been outstripping inflation for over
:40:24. > :40:28.a decade, and in January, they're going up again by another 4.1 per
:40:29. > :40:31.cent. We're already the most expensive in Europe. Buy a season
:40:32. > :40:36.ticket between Woking and London today, a journey of just over 30
:40:37. > :40:41.miles, and it will cost you almost ?2 - 900.
:40:42. > :40:45.My first house didn't cost much more than that.
:40:46. > :40:49.So it goes without saying that we're all on the lookout for the cheapest
:40:50. > :40:53.fares. Want to buy from the machines? The station? Why bother?
:40:54. > :40:57.Do it on your phone, and you often get a better deal e going from
:40:58. > :41:03.London to Birmingham, book at the machines at the station, and it will
:41:04. > :41:05.cost you ?48. Book it on your smart phone while standing next to the
:41:06. > :41:10.machine, and they will show you an option to get you there for ?21
:41:11. > :41:18.less. If you've decided the internet is the best way to buy, you need to
:41:19. > :41:21.be careful, because use your laptop to book on thetrainline.com instead
:41:22. > :41:27.of your phone, and they will charge you 50 p more. What was wrong with
:41:28. > :41:33.buying a simple ticket for a fixed price at the station?
:41:34. > :41:37.Today's pricing structure routinely leaves passengers baffled.
:41:38. > :41:41.If I want to go to Liverpool, why is it cheaper for me to buy a ticket
:41:42. > :41:45.from London Euston to Milton Keynes, and then another from Milton Keynes
:41:46. > :41:49.to Liverpool Lime Street than it is for me to buy a direct ticket from
:41:50. > :41:53.London to Liverpool when I would be travelling on exactly the same route
:41:54. > :41:57.at exactly the same time? Lunacy. Here is another one: if you
:41:58. > :42:04.want to get from London Victoria to Gatwick Airport, you've got two
:42:05. > :42:07.options: the Southern service or the Gatwick Express. They use the same
:42:08. > :42:11.line. They're run by the same company, yet the Express option is
:42:12. > :42:18.more expensive because it is supposed to be faster. See? Well,
:42:19. > :42:25.how come at certain times for your extra ?7. 7.70, you only end up
:42:26. > :42:34.getting there a minute faster? I've got a better idea. Leave home a
:42:35. > :42:39.minute earlier and save ?8. If you're a regular traveller, don't
:42:40. > :42:43.expect preferential treatment in return for your loyalty. Imagine how
:42:44. > :42:47.you would feel if you discovered your train operator, let's say First
:42:48. > :42:51.Capital Connect, had been overcharging you hundreds of pounds
:42:52. > :42:56.a year. I live in St Alban's, I travel into central London, and I
:42:57. > :43:01.found out that a season ticket from Watford North, which is a longer
:43:02. > :43:06.journey but can be used via St Alban's is ?700 a year cheaper than
:43:07. > :43:09.buying a season ticket from St Alban's into London. Did anyone from
:43:10. > :43:15.First Capital Connect suggest this was possible? Of course not. So when
:43:16. > :43:20.he found out, Andrew sued them and got his money back. How can you find
:43:21. > :43:25.out about these loopholes? By reading this - the national routing
:43:26. > :43:28.guide. It is what ticket inspectors carry to work out to work out which
:43:29. > :43:32.tickets are valid on which routes. A good read for any longer journey.
:43:33. > :43:37.You can find it online. It is so straightforward it only needs a
:43:38. > :43:42.separate 20 pages of instructions on how to use it.
:43:43. > :43:47.How to use it. "There is no routing point common to
:43:48. > :43:52.thereon and Huddersfield. They are both routing points. This is
:43:53. > :43:55.unnecessary to discover if the routing points are appropriate
:43:56. > :43:59.because both are routing points and there is no choice."
:44:00. > :44:09.It's a wonder anyone gets anywhere at all.
:44:10. > :44:12.Oh, we've arrived. And on time. Something of a novelty in this day
:44:13. > :44:17.and age. As many as one in five of all trains
:44:18. > :44:20.in this country don't arrive on time. If you're delayed by more than
:44:21. > :44:25.half an hour, most train operators will refund half the cost of the
:44:26. > :44:30.ticket, but that doesn't mean you'll get your money back. Oh, no. Your
:44:31. > :44:33.refund will be in the form of vouchers you can spend on more train
:44:34. > :44:38.tickets! In stations, not online, so you
:44:39. > :44:43.won't get the best prices. Oh, and you won't get any change.
:44:44. > :44:48.Brilliant. But railway companies will be perfectly reasonable if you
:44:49. > :44:53.need to change your plans, won't they? No, they won't, as it happens.
:44:54. > :44:57.If you ask for a refund for a ticket you no longer need, all but two of
:44:58. > :45:02.the UK's railways will charge you a tenner. Even if your ticket cost way
:45:03. > :45:09.less than ?10 to start with. Charming.
:45:10. > :45:15.Rail travel in the good old days was better in every aspect.
:45:16. > :45:18.Mr Wakeman, we need to discuss payment for your trip. I thought the
:45:19. > :45:27.BBC were organising all of that. I don't think so, Sir. I don't think
:45:28. > :45:34.so. On second thoughts, not everything
:45:35. > :45:39.was better back then. Now, a few responses to get through.
:45:40. > :45:46.ATOC, the Association of Train Operating Companies say the maximum
:45:47. > :45:52.number ?10 fee for changing a ticket covers admin costs. Capital Connect
:45:53. > :45:55.says Mr Myers should not have been sold the cheapest ticket. Because he
:45:56. > :45:58.found this unconventional route he was sold the ticket but it won't be
:45:59. > :46:03.available to anyone else in the future. It stresses no-one has been
:46:04. > :46:07.overcharged from St Alban's City Station. Southern Remain ways say
:46:08. > :46:12.the Gatwick Express is good value because tickets are valid on any
:46:13. > :46:16.service on that line. The cheaper ?10 on the route can only be used on
:46:17. > :46:26.the specific train stated on the ticket. The thetrainline.com confirm
:46:27. > :46:29.it charges a ?1.50 booking fee but only charge ?1 because most people
:46:30. > :46:32.use their mobiles to book shorter journeys and it wants to reflect
:46:33. > :46:37.that in the fee. Sounds like a handy loophole to me.
:46:38. > :46:43.Annie? Keep sending us your stories. In the
:46:44. > :46:48.meantime, here are a few more. Heard the one about the man with the
:46:49. > :46:53.fly in his dinner? David will come from Waltham Abbey wrote to us this
:46:54. > :46:57.week after he found a dead fly in Smedley's Marrowfat Peas. But what
:46:58. > :47:04.horrified him wasn't so much the presence of the fly but the reaction
:47:05. > :47:08.he got when he complained. Althou manufacturers Prince's express
:47:09. > :47:13.concern, it assured him although repugnant to see the presence of an
:47:14. > :47:18.insect and canned food would have no harmful effect as everything in the
:47:19. > :47:22.can is rendered sterile after the manufacturing process. Smedley's
:47:23. > :47:27.Marrowfat Peas - you want flies with that!
:47:28. > :47:29.Supermarket food portions have become super sized and out of
:47:30. > :47:33.control causing potential health hazards says a new report by the
:47:34. > :47:39.British Heart Foundation. Have you noticed it? It took 245 products
:47:40. > :47:43.from Sainsbury's, Tesco, Asda, and Morrisons and worked out how much
:47:44. > :47:47.portions have increased over the last 20 years. Ready meals have
:47:48. > :47:53.grown significantly, some Shepherd pies have doubled from the 210 grams
:47:54. > :47:59.in 1993 to 400 grams today. Chicken Currys are now on average 53 per
:48:00. > :48:06.cent larger, piece Das often twice the -- pizzas twice the size.
:48:07. > :48:10.The British Heart Foundation warns that upsizing is contributing to
:48:11. > :48:15.heart disease and obesity. The supermarket's response: if you make
:48:16. > :48:20.the portions too small, people would just buy two.
:48:21. > :48:23.Ofcom are to launch a review into directory inquiry charges as two
:48:24. > :48:28.major mobile networks announce they're raising the cost of calling
:48:29. > :48:34.118 numbers. From next month, the price of phoning these premium-rate
:48:35. > :48:42.lines on Vodafone will rise from ?3 a minute to ?3. 3.25 O2 customers
:48:43. > :48:47.are facing a higher increase from ?3 to ?5. Both networks argue they
:48:48. > :48:51.offer their own cheaper alternatives but Ofcom will rule all providers in
:48:52. > :48:55.future will have to be open about charges and provide customers with
:48:56. > :48:59.an itemised breakdown of the cost of a call. Surely, it is cheaper to
:49:00. > :49:09.look up a number on the internet for free or even use one of these.
:49:10. > :49:12.Back to Inter Defence Security Ltd of Manchester now. We've seen their
:49:13. > :49:17.staff cold-calling the elderly to scare them into taking a sales
:49:18. > :49:22.visit. Then, during that visit, lying to them in their own front
:49:23. > :49:27.rooms. Those are the worker mice. What about the big cheese?
:49:28. > :49:30.Undercover mole Beckie has managed to get they're colleagues at Inter
:49:31. > :49:33.Defence Security Ltd to come clean about the way they sell alarm
:49:34. > :49:41.systems. Remember what Dave had to tell her: .
:49:42. > :49:55.He wasn't the only one who wanted to open up.
:49:56. > :50:03.So what motivates all this lying to and scaring of the elderly? I know
:50:04. > :50:07.it's horrible but it's making me money at the end of the day. No
:50:08. > :50:11.surprise there. Inter Defence are all about making money at the
:50:12. > :50:16.expense of the elderly, but don't just take Dave's word for it. Here
:50:17. > :50:24.is the big boss, Nima Rastegar. You've got to think yourself, "Why
:50:25. > :50:29.am I here?" So they're in it for the money, not
:50:30. > :50:33.the love. Well, we're in it for the love of our grandparents and our
:50:34. > :50:38.mums and dads who need protecting from people like them. We're going
:50:39. > :50:44.to go and see them, but we're not going alone.
:50:45. > :50:48.In 2001, a crack unit of elderly actors was formed to help catch
:50:49. > :50:52.rogue traders. For 12 years now, they've
:50:53. > :50:56.represented the older generation. If you have a problem, if no-one else
:50:57. > :51:04.can help, and if you can find them, they're probably at Budgens, maybe
:51:05. > :51:20.you can hire Task Force Silver! Let's go!
:51:21. > :51:28.We've come to their call centre to remind staff that OAPs won't be
:51:29. > :51:33.pushed around. Game faces, go! ! Val, Liz, Robert. That is what you
:51:34. > :51:41.call a thousand-yard stare. Let's go.
:51:42. > :51:46.Usually what happens is we get a few faces at the window. But they don't
:51:47. > :51:51.seem too keen to chat to the type of person some would happily lie to.
:51:52. > :51:57.It's funny that, so we decide to leave them a message.
:51:58. > :52:00.Hello, there. We're here to see Inter Defence. We've got some
:52:01. > :52:06.leaflets to give them. Could you take the leaflets for us? Can I run
:52:07. > :52:12.you through what they say? It, "Hello, a message from silver
:52:13. > :52:20.citizens. Please don't like to or try to scare us. We are someone's
:52:21. > :52:25.mums, dads - we could be evil yours." Let's give them a couple and
:52:26. > :52:32.- that's probably enough. No problem. Thanks. Then it went quiet.
:52:33. > :52:38.A bit too quiet. Where have they gone? Can you see
:52:39. > :52:42.anything? They've all run away. Because we are naturally a caring
:52:43. > :52:46.bunch, we were concerned. The thing that really worries me is that we
:52:47. > :52:52.know this is the time they usually come out for their lunch.
:52:53. > :52:56.Good sandwich. You know it's just the right time. I was starting to
:52:57. > :53:00.get peckish. The problem is of course that the people in there,
:53:01. > :53:03.Inter Defence staff, they're on the end of the phone, they never come
:53:04. > :53:12.into contact with the people they're dealing with. It is easy to forget
:53:13. > :53:15.who it is. That's why this. With the people they're dealing
:53:16. > :53:18.with. It is easy to forget who it is. That's why this.
:53:19. > :53:21.# Grandma, we love you. Grandma, we do.
:53:22. > :53:26.I am so angry with these people. They try to treat us like dirt. They
:53:27. > :53:31.think that when you get to a certain age, you don't have a brain. This is
:53:32. > :53:39.the trouble. They think we're stupid, and we're not.
:53:40. > :53:43.# And she's a friend to me. It turns out, in fact, it wasn't the East
:53:44. > :53:49.European criminal gangs we needed to be scared of, it was old people like
:53:50. > :53:57.yourselves. You turned up, they ran away. I am only 6'6"!
:53:58. > :54:06.Unfortunately, we can't stay here for a fortnight and keep staff of
:54:07. > :54:09.Inter Defence confined to their stationary cupboard, we have to go.
:54:10. > :54:13.You can't sell alarms by scaring old people and lying to them and expect
:54:14. > :54:21.to get away with it forever. I will give them another five
:54:22. > :54:24.minutes. Directors of Inter Defence Security
:54:25. > :54:29.Ltd all blame each other for what we've just seen. John Rigby and Ana
:54:30. > :54:35.Gunasekera say they stepped down as directors before we secretly filmed.
:54:36. > :54:39.As a result, it was all the fault of their former partner, Nima Rastegar.
:54:40. > :54:43.Nima Rastegar says although mistakes do happen his staff were trained to
:54:44. > :54:48.the highest standard and he claimed the salesmen you saw lying to and
:54:49. > :54:53.trying to scare our elderly actors uphold the highest levels of
:54:54. > :54:59.professionalism. He said all bad publicity arou the company was
:55:00. > :55:06.caused by Rigby and begun begun. Inter Defence Security Ltd have now
:55:07. > :55:09.ceased trading! But, we know Nima Rastegar has already set up another
:55:10. > :55:11.alarms company, and we wouldn't be surprised if the other two did the
:55:12. > :55:18.same. So, if you come across any of the
:55:19. > :55:23.three selling anything, let us know. One final reminder: here they all
:55:24. > :55:28.are, pride of place in the rogues' gallery. We're nearly at the end of
:55:29. > :55:33.the show. Time to find out how much switching energy suppliers could
:55:34. > :55:36.save our four viewers. Tom, deliver the good news. First of
:55:37. > :55:46.all, hopefully to Jenny, SSE customer. So, Jenny, we could save
:55:47. > :55:51.you ?180 on a variable tariff. We want to save you ?155 a year on a
:55:52. > :55:55.ScottishPower tariff that will fix your energy rates until March 2015,
:55:56. > :56:00.so you save some money, you fix your rates, you avoid that nasty price
:56:01. > :56:07.rise. Thank you. What about this one, Amie-Jo? OK. So, on the same
:56:08. > :56:13.ScottishPower tariff, we could save you ?161 a year and fix your rates
:56:14. > :56:17.to 2015 if you're prepared to pay by direct debit. If you really don't
:56:18. > :56:23.want to, you could still save ?45 a year on a tariff with EDF, fixed
:56:24. > :56:27.also until 2015, and that means that you save a bit of money, but more
:56:28. > :56:30.importantly, it means that you shield yourself from that double
:56:31. > :56:34.whammy of price hikes you're about to get when your tariff comes to an
:56:35. > :56:39.end. That's brilliant. Pam and Godfrey there? OK, guys. Again, that
:56:40. > :56:45.ScottishPower tariff is coming up. You could save ?161 a year with
:56:46. > :56:53.that, that is fixed at your prices up until March 2015. Or, you could
:56:54. > :56:58.save ?128 a year and fix for two months longer with First Utility,
:56:59. > :57:02.meaning you save ?100 a year and it shields you from when EDF announce
:57:03. > :57:08.that price rise. It means you won't get think by that either. They're
:57:09. > :57:12.saving up to nearly ?150 each. Considering switching, right? Most
:57:13. > :57:16.certainly. Tom, a lot of people say to me they don't switch because it's
:57:17. > :57:19.too much hassle. Is it? If you use a website like ours, it takes about
:57:20. > :57:23.five minutes to get a comparison, five more to switch. If you're
:57:24. > :57:26.someone like Wayne Rooney or Miley Cyrus, it's probably not worth that
:57:27. > :57:30.amount of time, if you're anyone else, it probably is. Thank you. For
:57:31. > :57:36.more information on how to switch, go to the website:
:57:37. > :57:39.Click on this link, and if you decide switching is a good option
:57:40. > :57:48.for you, let us know how much money you estimated to save.
:57:49. > :57:54.It's cosy up here tonight. Keep your stories and tip-offs
:57:55. > :58:01.coming in. Thanks, guys. Coming up next week: Openreach, why can't you
:58:02. > :58:06.contact them when things go wrong. Pension funds. Do you know where
:58:07. > :58:10.your money is at this exact moment? One in four of us don't. I will be
:58:11. > :58:18.asking Ed Davy why the government is doing nothing to stop the rise in
:58:19. > :58:24.energy bills. Good night.