:00:38. > :00:43.Tomorrow's weather and another dull, damp start. Sunny skies News.
:00:44. > :00:56.Yes, hello, and good evening, and welcome to Watchdog. We're live as
:00:57. > :01:15.usual foreign the next 60 minutes. Tonight: Santander, RB Barclays -
:01:16. > :01:28.want a 25-year mortgage? Watch out if you're middle-aged. Most people
:01:29. > :01:45.will want to pay the mortgage back before they retire, but for those
:01:46. > :01:54.who can't or don't want to, they're definitelying discriminated against.
:01:55. > :02:01.Pet insurance: premiums now at a record high. Is it cheaper just to
:02:02. > :02:39.pay the vet bill? Our more later in life.
:02:40. > :02:45.But one industry is failing to recognise this trend: the mortgage
:02:46. > :02:55.companies. More and more, if you're of a
:02:56. > :03:09.certain age, they will refuse to lend to you, no matter the
:03:10. > :03:29.Even though these age limits refer to people in their seventies, it is
:03:30. > :03:30.having a major impact on people much younger.
:03:31. > :03:35.People like 48-year-old Carlin MahonY2 years ago, she signed up to
:03:36. > :03:45.a standard mortgage with Santander and was due to have paid it off by
:03:46. > :03:47.the age of 71. When she decided to downsize, she presumed she could
:03:48. > :03:49.take exactly the same mortgage with her. When I spoke to them they made
:03:50. > :03:51.it sound very easy. I thought it would be a paperwork exercise,
:03:52. > :03:57.really. What she didn't know was that since she had taken out her
:03:58. > :04:16.original mortgage, Santander had introduced their new policy, meaning
:04:17. > :04:18.all loans had to be paid off by 75 or retirement age. When they asked
:04:19. > :04:31.her when she planned to stop work, she got a nasty shock.
:04:32. > :04:33.They didn't ask me any questions about my finances, how much I
:04:34. > :04:38.earned, what my pension was, equity in the house - no financial
:04:39. > :04:48.questions at all.. On was, equity in the house - no financial questions
:04:49. > :04:50.at all. .it was just how old are you, and when are you going to
:04:51. > :04:57.retire? And then the whole process was stopped, and they declined me on
:04:58. > :05:03.that question. So why are companies like Santander
:05:04. > :05:04.putting so much emphasis on age and so little on your financial ability
:05:05. > :05:14.to repay? At the start of the credit crunch,
:05:15. > :05:19.lenders suddenly had a lot less money to lend and had to choose
:05:20. > :05:24.where to cut back on electing. Lending to older people was one of
:05:25. > :05:33.the areas where they chose to cut back. Even though lenders now do
:05:34. > :05:36.have more money to lend, they've not got back into this area. The choices
:05:37. > :05:42.are very limited for anybody who wants a mortgage beyond the age of
:05:43. > :05:50.75. The result of this discrimination is
:05:51. > :05:51.a shrinking market and limited choice for anyone over 45 who wants
:05:52. > :06:48.to take out a mortgage of 25 The 51-year-old, the cheapest rate
:06:49. > :06:52.they could get would be ?809. These extra charges really add up.
:06:53. > :07:00.Over the first five years of the mortgage alone, the 51-year-old
:07:01. > :07:07.would pay over ?4,500 more than the 44 more than the 44 ---year Almost
:07:08. > :07:10.?1 000 difference, so purely based on their age? Yes, the only
:07:11. > :07:17.differencing a small difference in age of six or seven years. Riz is
:07:18. > :07:24.here. Carlin, to go back to her, she had answer on the hop, didn't she,
:07:25. > :07:28.she said she was retired. In fact, she was well able to repay that
:07:29. > :07:30.mortgage, even if she did retire at 60, there was money there. Yes,
:07:31. > :07:34.absolutely. She's got a good guaranteed pension, but the point is
:07:35. > :07:40.that she wasn't even asked about that, and that is the flaw in the
:07:41. > :07:43.system. Lenders hear retirement age and an alarm bell goes off. She was
:07:44. > :07:48.rejected before she got the chance to prove that she could pay. It is
:07:49. > :07:54.age discrimination. Why can't they be done for age discrimination? When
:07:55. > :07:57.it comes to banking, mortgage and insurance industries, anti-age
:07:58. > :08:01.discrimination rules don't apply. The frustrating thing here is that
:08:02. > :08:04.it shunt mean that someone who has the ability to pay a mortgage
:08:05. > :08:10.regardless of their age is then penalised. We have persuade the some
:08:11. > :08:14.of these mortgage lenders to be a bit more flexible, haven't we? Yes,
:08:15. > :08:18.we've heard from some of them. Actually, there is no reason why
:08:19. > :08:22.they can't lend to older customers. You know, if they can prove that
:08:23. > :08:26.they can afford the repayments past retirement. I think some lenders are
:08:27. > :08:30.just playing it safe. Of course they are. Some do make exceptions, but it
:08:31. > :08:34.is more work for them because it basically means checking
:08:35. > :08:39.affordability on a case-by-case basis. So you've got to shop around,
:08:40. > :08:43.and a good result for Caro Lynn at the end, yes? Yes, a good result,
:08:44. > :08:48.because Santander has admitted because she wasn't a new customer,
:08:49. > :08:53.she should have been allowed to take her existing mortgage to her new
:08:54. > :08:58.property. It will now be refunding her the ?2,500 it took in early
:08:59. > :09:02.repayment charges and in the fees she spent getting a new mortgage
:09:03. > :09:05.elsewhere. Santander says it ties mortgage terms to an individual's
:09:06. > :09:09.working life as that is where affordability is best served. But,
:09:10. > :09:12.as in this case, it is prepared to make exceptions.
:09:13. > :09:18.If you want to get in touch, our e-mail address is:
:09:19. > :09:22.You can text us too, making sure you start your message with the touch,
:09:23. > :09:25.our e-mail address is: You can text us too, making sure you
:09:26. > :09:28.start your message with the letters "WD". Or join the discussion on
:09:29. > :09:31.Twitter. Coming up: in our final interview with the big six energy
:09:32. > :09:34.companies, Mata puts your questions to Neil Clitheroe, the CEO of
:09:35. > :09:39.ScottishPower. There are many great shames in the
:09:40. > :09:44.world. It's a shame that Lionel Messi wasn't born in England, and it
:09:45. > :09:49.is a shame that Blue and Steps have reformed, but The Smiths won't.
:09:50. > :09:52.Please do! There is one great shame that is greater than all the other
:09:53. > :09:59.great shames put together, and this is this: that we can't know the
:10:00. > :10:02.stuff we find out about our rogues after broadcast the show before we
:10:03. > :10:16.broadcast the show. Tonight, we're going to try to make amends.
:10:17. > :10:26.Hello, and welcome to Rogue Traders. Yes, even though we publicly name
:10:27. > :10:30.and shame the dodgy Daves, Dereks and Deirdres of the world in this
:10:31. > :10:36.programme, there is no guarantee their wrong doing will stop. Once
:10:37. > :10:39.our credits stop, we rely on you lot to inform us what the bad guys do
:10:40. > :10:44.next. Sometimes what you tell us is so interesting, we just can't keep
:10:45. > :10:48.it to ourselves. We're going to share with you what
:10:49. > :10:51.we've learned about some of our rogues since we first told their
:10:52. > :10:55.story. We're taking a trip down memory lane. Then we are turning
:10:56. > :10:58.right, third exit, at the roundabout of dodgy dealing, and after a mile
:10:59. > :11:05.and a half, we will arrive at the car park of come uppance. So, back
:11:06. > :11:10.to 2011 we go when we investigated a company called Head Exchange Ltd
:11:11. > :11:14.based in Richmond, North Yorkshire, run by Chris Whyatt and Katherine
:11:15. > :11:16.Hardwick. Their business was selling and fitting reconditioned engines.
:11:17. > :11:21.One problem: you couldn't trust them. They sold one to William but
:11:22. > :11:25.it didn't work, so he sent it back and asked for it to be swapped for
:11:26. > :11:30.one that did. Fair enough. He promised me a new engine within four
:11:31. > :11:36.days. Four days arrived, no engine. Week and a half, no engine. Fourth
:11:37. > :11:40.week, I said, "What's happening to this his engine?" "Well, it was sent
:11:41. > :11:43.out and it got lost." Well, the engine never arrived and nor did a
:11:44. > :11:47.refund of William's cash so he took the company to court and won.
:11:48. > :11:50.However, when he tried to get his money back, he was told the company
:11:51. > :11:53.had folded and there was nothing he could do.
:11:54. > :11:57.Soon enough, we started getting complaints about a company based
:11:58. > :12:04.just half a mile down the road from Head Exchange, and called Complete
:12:05. > :12:09.Engine Solutions Ltd. Nicola paid them for a reconditioned engine but
:12:10. > :12:14.when her local garage tried to fit it, they found a shocking discovery.
:12:15. > :12:17.The engine didn't work, it had to come out, be taken to pieces, and
:12:18. > :12:22.then they found it was my original engine. We wanted to find out if
:12:23. > :12:26.Chris and Katherine were pulling the strings at this company too. Another
:12:27. > :12:30.man, Christopher Chiltern, was listed as the sole director, but, we
:12:31. > :12:37.decided to head under cover and see if we could link the three of them.
:12:38. > :12:41.The plan was to take in a 1.4 VW Golf and ask for a replacement
:12:42. > :12:47.reconditioned engine. Who do you think should greet us? Only
:12:48. > :12:55.Christopher Whyatt and Katherine Hardwick of course. We handed over
:12:56. > :13:00.?520. The mechanic who took out the old engine didn't fill us with
:13:01. > :13:06.confidence. I don't know what this engine is.
:13:07. > :13:11.After waiting 13 days, we got our car back, supposedly with a new
:13:12. > :13:14.reconditioned engine installed. What did expert John make of it? What you
:13:15. > :13:18.got fell far short of a reconditioned engine. It was an
:13:19. > :13:23.engine that was cobbled together to get it going again. Nothing more
:13:24. > :13:31.than that. In, the same engine we had taken in, with just a few new
:13:32. > :13:36.reconditioned bits. The bobgest of bodged jobs. We sent
:13:37. > :13:42.a me-shaped surprise up their sleeves. This is ridiculous. Don't
:13:43. > :13:47.start using he word "ridiculous". I mean, we're not happy about this. I
:13:48. > :13:51.am going to call rogue traders about this, this is absolutely ridiculous.
:13:52. > :13:55.Can you put me through to the rogue traders' team. Where are you right
:13:56. > :14:03.now? In Yorkshire at a garage with a problem. We will Extremely short
:14:04. > :14:07.moment as it happens, because I was parked just outside, which appeared
:14:08. > :14:14.to come as a bit of a shock to Chris Whyatt.
:14:15. > :14:18.BBC rogue traders. As you probably worked out, they weren't typical
:14:19. > :14:22.customers, they are part of our team. What you've actually promised
:14:23. > :14:27.us, what you sold us in the first place, and what we paid for was a
:14:28. > :14:31.reconditioned engine. What you did was took our engine out, you got it
:14:32. > :14:34.to a level where it was the bare minimum work had been done,
:14:35. > :14:37.serviceable to go out the door by fitting one new piston and a couple
:14:38. > :14:42.of other little things, none of it done very well, to be honest, but
:14:43. > :14:49.you've still charged us as if it were a reconditioned engine. We've
:14:50. > :14:52.given a guarantee. Do you know what happens when your customers
:14:53. > :14:56.typically come back to you with a problem? You to be them off. We have
:14:57. > :15:00.so many customers that are saying that's what's happened. At the end
:15:01. > :15:04.of the day, you can pay ?6,000 for an engine or pay ?2,000 for an
:15:05. > :15:08.engine. You can't expect both engines to do the same job. What you
:15:09. > :15:11.do is say one thing, promise one thing, charge for it, and then do
:15:12. > :15:15.something else. That's a rogue trader. That's what you are. I
:15:16. > :15:19.disagree with you entirely. Well, disagree he might, but having been
:15:20. > :15:25.named and shamed on the show, that, for the time being was the last we
:15:26. > :15:30.heard from Chris Whyatt, Katherine Hardwick and Complete Engine
:15:31. > :15:34.Solutions Ltd until you lot got stuck in. After our broadcast,
:15:35. > :15:38.complaints started to come in about another engine company, the Engine
:15:39. > :15:44.Clinic Ltd. Where do you think they were based? Go on, have a go! Yes.
:15:45. > :15:50.There! Mere coincidence? Perhaps. But then
:15:51. > :15:54.this wouldn't be much of an update show. So had they justified
:15:55. > :15:58.performed their old trick and set up under a different name? Again, there
:15:59. > :16:03.is no mention of either Chris nor Katherine, just Christopher
:16:04. > :16:08.Chiltern, the same man who was listed as the sole director of
:16:09. > :16:14.Complete Engine Solutions. We didn't have to go undercover to make a
:16:15. > :16:22.connection. A customer did it for us. We were contacted by an employee
:16:23. > :16:25.of the old company, and the two old cronies were the ones calling the
:16:26. > :16:30.shots. He doesn't want to be identified but he wants to tell us
:16:31. > :16:35.what his time was like for them. For this to work I don't need to be in
:16:36. > :16:44.silhouette, but I am showing solidarity.
:16:45. > :16:48.That's good! It was Chris and Katherine running the company. If
:16:49. > :16:52.you had problems, you went to see Chris, anything that came into the
:16:53. > :16:55.engine clinic, you would see them opening them, they would order
:16:56. > :16:57.parts, pay the bills, basically all authorisations went through those
:16:58. > :17:04.two. So, repeat offending rogues,
:17:05. > :17:08.rebranded engine companies, a whole heap of complaints, but finally,
:17:09. > :17:14.some good news: in July this year, trading standards took the company
:17:15. > :17:18.to court where the Engine Clinic and its listed director, Christopher
:17:19. > :17:22.Chiltern, were prosecuted for misleading customers and issued with
:17:23. > :17:27.a hefty fine. The company has now ceased trading. A result.
:17:28. > :17:32.So I will cease talking. Right after this bit. One half of
:17:33. > :17:36.our dodgy duo has been in touch. Katherine Hardwick denies she was in
:17:37. > :17:39.a position of authority at the engine clinic. She said she left
:17:40. > :17:42.last year and now works in a different industry, which is great
:17:43. > :17:46.news. But if that first story blew your
:17:47. > :17:52.whistle, the next one will leave you stunned.
:17:53. > :18:01.I want you to meet this fella. This is Chip, and he's an eight-year-old
:18:02. > :18:04.hairy Kholi cross poodle. Isn't he lovely?
:18:05. > :18:07.Anyone with a dog knows you pay anything in vets' fees if they are
:18:08. > :18:11.sick which is why a quarter of us have pet insurance, but the cost of
:18:12. > :18:16.premiums is rocketing. Chip is perfectly healthy and has no
:18:17. > :18:20.pre-existing medical conditions. If I wanted to insure the exact same
:18:21. > :18:27.dog 20 years ago, my premium would have been around ?40 a year. If I
:18:28. > :18:31.wanted to do it right now, it would cost me anywhere between ?300 and
:18:32. > :18:36.?500 a year. The idea is you get peace of mind. If only you start off
:18:37. > :18:47.by paying what seems a fair price, things won't necessarily stay that
:18:48. > :18:52.way. You can't put a price on companion
:18:53. > :19:00.MSP, but you can put a price on good health which is why so many of us
:19:01. > :19:04.turn to pet insurance. Here is how it's supposed to work:
:19:05. > :19:10.you pay a regular sum to the insurer and then they pick up the vet bills
:19:11. > :19:16.if anything should happen to your pet. But this reassurance can come
:19:17. > :19:24.at a significant cost. Although it doesn't always start off
:19:25. > :19:29.that way. Caron Jones took a lifetime policy with Green
:19:30. > :19:34.insurance. She felt her ?235 annual premium was worth it should Bo fall
:19:35. > :19:42.ill. Sadly, five months after signing up to the policy, he did
:19:43. > :19:46.just that. He was taken poorly in December 2011. He had
:19:47. > :19:51.gastrointestinal problems, with sickness and diarrhoea and kept in
:19:52. > :19:57.overnight twice at the vet's on a drip, and obviously huge vet bills
:19:58. > :20:00.because of it. Green Insurance paid out for the vet bills straightaway,
:20:01. > :20:06.but when it was time to renew the policy the following year, they
:20:07. > :20:13.shifted the goalposts dramatically. They raised Karen's premiums from
:20:14. > :20:20.?235 to a whopping ?1,854 a year, that's a rise of about 700 per cent.
:20:21. > :20:25.I expected an increase, but not to that extent. I just think it was
:20:26. > :20:29.very unfair. I felt they had increased the premium by that amount
:20:30. > :20:33.to get their money back. It made me very upset and angry. Green
:20:34. > :20:41.Insurance eventually agreed Karen would only have to pay ?1,236 a
:20:42. > :20:46.year, but that's still ?1,000 more before Bo got sick. Caron had little
:20:47. > :20:50.choice but to pay knowing it was unlikely another company would
:20:51. > :20:57.ensure him, which, frankly, doesn't seem fair. We were left in a
:20:58. > :21:00.position where we either went with them or didn't have insurance cover.
:21:01. > :21:04.Large increases because you've made a claim is one thing, but high
:21:05. > :21:10.prices even though your pet hasn't been ill is quite another.
:21:11. > :21:14.Mark Terry took out insurance for his golden retriever Baxter with
:21:15. > :21:18.Mass Mass. Two and a half years old, and with no ongoing medical
:21:19. > :21:25.conditions, Baxter is a perfectly healthy dog. So why, then, did his
:21:26. > :21:29.premium jump from ?712 in the second year to ?889 in the third? We were
:21:30. > :21:33.very shocked when this year's renewal came through and it had gone
:21:34. > :21:35.up another couple of hundred pounds, effectively. We were really
:21:36. > :21:40.disappointed because we hadn't claimed. What made this harder to
:21:41. > :21:46.take was that had mark been a new customer, the same company would
:21:47. > :21:49.have given him a much cheaper deal. We went online and tried Marks
:21:50. > :21:54.Spencer as a new customer and found that it was coming in at ?2666 which
:21:55. > :21:59.actually was a lot cheaper than it was during our first year, so we
:22:00. > :22:06.ended up going with a new policy from Marks Spencer at ?266. The
:22:07. > :22:09.seemingly arbitrary rises in premiums have become a fixture of
:22:10. > :22:13.the pet insurance industry. Prices are getting so high, many are having
:22:14. > :22:17.to forego insurance completely. The danger with that is that our clients
:22:18. > :22:21.won't have the safety net there and therefore be faced with large bills
:22:22. > :22:23.they may not be able to afford, and that means therefore that our pets
:22:24. > :22:28.might not get the treatment you would hope they would. It makes me
:22:29. > :22:35.feel very angry. As a veterinary surgeon, we have a policy like most
:22:36. > :22:42.surgeries, playing fair with the insurance company, and we expect
:22:43. > :22:46.them to play fair and with us. Insurance comes at a cost, but if
:22:47. > :22:53.you decide to pay the premiums, at least you get a good service -
:22:54. > :22:57.right? Not always. If you pay your ever-increasing premiums, there's no
:22:58. > :23:03.guarantee your sinisterur will keep their side of the bargain. In
:23:04. > :23:08.February, Pet Plan insurance customer found a lump on her dog's
:23:09. > :23:13.head. The vet found five more lumps. The decision was made to remove all
:23:14. > :23:16.six as soon as possible. It was all done in one procedure that took a
:23:17. > :23:21.couple of hours, and the whole thing came to about just in excess of
:23:22. > :23:28.?1,000, which we forwarded to the insurance company.
:23:29. > :23:33.As it was a single operation, Ellen anticipated she would only have to
:23:34. > :23:35.pay one single excess charge. Pet Plan had another idea. After the
:23:36. > :23:39.operation, it was discovered that some of the lumps were of different
:23:40. > :23:45.types, and the company used that to their advantage. Pet Plan decided to
:23:46. > :23:51.apply an excess per the type of lump that was found. The combined excess
:23:52. > :23:55.charges came to ?575, meaning that, on top of her premiums, Ellen would
:23:56. > :24:01.be paying for more than half the cost of the operation herself. After
:24:02. > :24:05.she complained, Pet Plan agreed to reduce her excess bill to ?230, but
:24:06. > :24:09.it was still more than double what she expected to pay. I feel I don't
:24:10. > :24:15.have much choice. I am with Pet Plan, and I just don't think it is
:24:16. > :24:19.going to be any better with any other provider.
:24:20. > :24:24.How do insurers get away with this? They know you have no option. Pay
:24:25. > :24:28.the premiums or pay the potentially hefty vet bills.
:24:29. > :24:33.And more and more people are being caught out. Complaints to the
:24:34. > :24:37.financial ombudsman about pet insurance are up by 50 per cent this
:24:38. > :24:42.year, and in 60 per cent of all cases, they find in the customer's
:24:43. > :24:48.favour. Customers loyally pay their premium, so if their pet falls ill,
:24:49. > :24:52.that he will be looked after. Is it really too much to ask for the pet
:24:53. > :24:58.insurers to be equally loyal and play fair? Dr Dolittle, do you have
:24:59. > :25:04.some responses? I do have some, but I've forgotten them, so I am going
:25:05. > :25:08.to need Chip's help. Go and get the responses, Chip! He tends to go with
:25:09. > :25:15.the treats rather than strict shouting. All you men do! Exactly!
:25:16. > :25:27.Bring us the responses! Goodlad! Well done! Sit!
:25:28. > :25:31.Sit! Stay! Chip! You had better stay because she gets angry!
:25:32. > :25:37.Green Insurance says Karen's premiums went up because of how much
:25:38. > :25:41.they had paid out for Bo's illness. They blamed advances in technology.
:25:42. > :25:48.Now, Marks Spencer say that the rise in their premium was down to
:25:49. > :25:51.vet's bills going up because he was no longerle legible for a new
:25:52. > :25:57.customer discount. He adds any previous conditions or claims for
:25:58. > :26:00.the animal may be excluded. Pet Plan apologised to Ellen. It acknowledges
:26:01. > :26:04.the lumps were caused by two conditions, not five, and that she
:26:05. > :26:07.should only have been billed for two excess charges. It says it will be
:26:08. > :26:11.speaking to her directly to resolve the matter and will be reviewing its
:26:12. > :26:15.complaints procedures as a result. What I love was when ocedures as a
:26:16. > :26:18.result. What I love was when you said "sit" and "stay". Why has the
:26:19. > :26:20.dog left you? All the five people, everyone sat and stayed, didn't
:26:21. > :26:25.they! Next, energy. The start of the
:26:26. > :26:27.series, three of the big six suppliers agreed to be interviewed
:26:28. > :26:32.and answered viewers' questions about the alarming rise in the cost
:26:33. > :26:37.of gas and electricity. We've seen what E.ON and SSE have to say,
:26:38. > :26:43.roughly that price increases are not their fault, they only control a
:26:44. > :26:46.small portion of the bill and the market is dependent on wholesale
:26:47. > :26:51.costs. Tonight, it's the turn of ScottishPower.
:26:52. > :26:58.Two weeks after announcing their 8.6 price rise, I travelled to Fife to
:26:59. > :27:02.talk to ScottishPower CEO Neil Clitheroe.
:27:03. > :27:05.Energy companies were privatised to create competition and ultimately
:27:06. > :27:11.give customers the opportunity to choose the cheapest company. Please
:27:12. > :27:22.explain why there is no competition. Every energy company is impacted by
:27:23. > :27:25.the costs of distribution costs and levees. That's something that occurs
:27:26. > :27:31.in every industry. But the reality is that you control a lot of that
:27:32. > :27:35.chain. You are generators. You operate networks, you're part of
:27:36. > :27:39.distribution, you're also retail, so you're not just the head of the dog,
:27:40. > :27:44.you're the tail as well. I think if you dig deeper into what the bill is
:27:45. > :27:48.made up and understand the drivers for that, so, for example, the
:27:49. > :27:52.networks cost that you talked about earlier, 21 per cent of the bill is
:27:53. > :27:57.made up of that. Hang on, you run the network. We do, and that is a
:27:58. > :28:00.fully regulated return based on the amount we invest by Ofgem. We don't
:28:01. > :28:05.set revenue. You make huge profits from your network. We invest a huge
:28:06. > :28:10.amount as well. So in our networks business, we are investing close to
:28:11. > :28:15.?1 billion a year, making profit of ?600 million a year. Why are you
:28:16. > :28:18.secretive about your dealings on the wholesale market. One of your
:28:19. > :28:22.smaller competitors last week said he doesn't recognise the wholesale
:28:23. > :28:27.market prices that you routinely hide behind. Why is that? What have
:28:28. > :28:36.you got to hide? We've nothing to hide. We publish our what are called
:28:37. > :28:40.are called segmental accounts, and ScottishPower this year put all of
:28:41. > :28:45.it in, our generation business in, our renewables in, and we put our
:28:46. > :28:49.wholesale business in, so it is there as a line very clear for
:28:50. > :28:56.everyone to see. We give as much information as we can in that side.
:28:57. > :29:03.However, do I need to work hard to explain what the gas and and
:29:04. > :29:07.electricity wholesale prices are in the country? I do. We tried to do
:29:08. > :29:10.that. I tried to do it at the select committee last week when I walked
:29:11. > :29:13.through line-by-line why we had moved our prices, and actually went
:29:14. > :29:17.right into the depth of that, and that is something that I just need
:29:18. > :29:22.to continue to do. Once your price rises have been
:29:23. > :29:28.incorporated, the average ScottishPower dual fuel bill will be
:29:29. > :29:31.5.5 per cent of average earnings. How much did you earn last year,
:29:32. > :29:36.including your bonus? I think in terms of what I earn, that's between
:29:37. > :29:39.myself and our HR director. There is a part of your income that's linked
:29:40. > :29:44.to profitable. Why not give up that part of your bonus and actually say
:29:45. > :29:47.what I will do is change it, and I will have a bonus based on the
:29:48. > :29:52.number of people who are in fuel poverty on my watch? Effectively,
:29:53. > :30:00.that's what I have. I have - it's not directly related to that, but,
:30:01. > :30:05.like any company, we get - we get bonus, remuneration based on a set
:30:06. > :30:10.of criteria, and one of them is - Profitability. To do with
:30:11. > :30:18.satisfaction that we have. One of them is the profitability. Money
:30:19. > :30:22.based on profits, yet you have to make a decision about profits which
:30:23. > :30:25.affect people's well being. While that is there I would suggest you're
:30:26. > :30:28.one of the worst people in the country to be setting the price. If
:30:29. > :30:33.I set the price wrong, then people will look at ScottishPower and say
:30:34. > :30:38.that's not a company that I want to join. That's not a company I want to
:30:39. > :30:44.be associated with. If you had to choose between keeping your loved
:30:45. > :30:47.one warm and comfortable, or feeding them good-quality home-wounding
:30:48. > :30:51.meals, whi one would you choose. Heat or eat? Nobody has to make that
:30:52. > :30:56.choice. Somebody clearly is, and then asking you personally - I would
:30:57. > :31:00.- What would you do? I would say to that customer, please, please,
:31:01. > :31:04.please call us, because we can help. We can get people on to cheaper
:31:05. > :31:08.tariffs. We offer debt payment breaks. Is there more that I can do
:31:09. > :31:12.to help these people? You're right, there is. You could give up your
:31:13. > :31:16.bonus, that profitability-related part of your bonus and then people
:31:17. > :31:23.would really believe you. I know I come back to this, but I earn - you
:31:24. > :31:27.know, I - customer satisfaction, fuel poverty, you know, my
:31:28. > :31:31.employees, the 5,000 people work for me. What is their satisfaction like?
:31:32. > :31:36.I get paid on all these things. And I - you know, our company makes
:31:37. > :31:42.money to invest. And that's what we do with it. What are you doing to
:31:43. > :31:45.bring down the cost of domestic energy to ensure actual poverty
:31:46. > :31:48.becomes a think of the past. Can you give me a date that is going to
:31:49. > :31:52.happen because of your investments? It is a really good question,
:31:53. > :31:56.actually. I think it's difficult to given that date because you're
:31:57. > :32:03.looking at these three things of affordable bills, decar Bonnising
:32:04. > :32:07.the -- decarbonising the economy and making sure we keeps the lights on
:32:08. > :32:10.and power the nation. The department of energy have been very clear in
:32:11. > :32:14.terms of the investment that the UK needs and the investment that we
:32:15. > :32:18.need to bring through to try and meet these three things. How will
:32:19. > :32:21.that feed through to customers' bills. It's very difficult to say -
:32:22. > :32:27.very difficult to say. Thank you very much. Thank you. Where are we
:32:28. > :32:30.now? Four of the big six have raised their prices by between eight and
:32:31. > :32:34.ten per cent, M Clitheroe of ScottishPower doesn't think he
:32:35. > :32:38.should give up his bonus. However, Sam laid law, boss of British Gas
:32:39. > :32:43.announced this week he will be giving up his, up to ?2 million. He
:32:44. > :32:47.said he acknowledges there is a lack of trust and transparency - I'll
:32:48. > :32:50.say. Last week on Watchdog, the energy secretary admitted he has no
:32:51. > :32:54.idea of the true pricing structure of the fuel companies, and announced
:32:55. > :32:59.a competition review, in other words an audit. John Major has suggested a
:33:00. > :33:04.windfall tax to the energy companies; Labour said Miliband has
:33:05. > :33:07.said he will freeze energy prices if he gets into power. There's nothing
:33:08. > :33:12.to stop higher bills in the meantime. The earliest we can hope
:33:13. > :33:15.any change is sometime next year when the competition review is
:33:16. > :33:19.complete. At the moment, switching can help to
:33:20. > :33:25.beat price rises. Watchdog can also offer a simple guide on how to save
:33:26. > :33:30.another ?250 on your annual bill with minimal time and effort.
:33:31. > :33:33.A typical family home with typically high energy bills, but big savings
:33:34. > :33:37.could be made with a few simple tricks.
:33:38. > :33:42.Energy expert Scott has worked out how much the misuse of appliances
:33:43. > :33:45.cost us in a year, and where we could make savings. Most people will
:33:46. > :33:49.think there's lots of sacrifices to make. There are lots of easy little
:33:50. > :33:53.ways we can save money in and energy. In the kitchen, Scott has
:33:54. > :33:58.found some savings for you. Using one hob instead of two, using a
:33:59. > :34:04.steamer for your vegetables, we save ?10. Using the microwave instead of
:34:05. > :34:09.the oven is another ?26 saving, using a kettle, filling it with one
:34:10. > :34:13.cup of water rather than filling it up is another ?8 saving. To that,
:34:14. > :34:17.already ?44 saved. What about elsewhere in the house? Most rooms
:34:18. > :34:22.in the house are wasting energy. What is key is knowing where to
:34:23. > :34:29.look. Swap your light bulbs to these new LED ones and you could save ?3
:34:30. > :34:35.per bulb, and that is ?60 per year inage average house. TVs, phone
:34:36. > :34:39.chargers, set-top boxes and routers, these vampire appliances suck your
:34:40. > :34:44.energy and increase your bills. Turn these off when you're not using them
:34:45. > :34:50.and you will save ?50. We've got a tip for you with the washing. Ensure
:34:51. > :34:57.it is a full load. Turn it down to 30 degrees. That's another ?13
:34:58. > :35:00.saving. The total is now ?167. On to your heating: this is the area
:35:01. > :35:05.people fear the most where it is where you can save the most without
:35:06. > :35:08.having to go cold. Get a draft excluder to the front and back
:35:09. > :35:12.doors, closing all doors around the house and making sure there's no
:35:13. > :35:18.drafts makes it possible to turn a thermostat down by that one degree
:35:19. > :35:24.saving a huge ?65 a year. Finally, radiators. Reflective radiator
:35:25. > :35:29.panels increase heat and reduce energy bills by ?5. Bleeding them
:35:30. > :35:36.will save you ?10. So, Scott, what is the total? ?247
:35:37. > :35:39.saved. You barely notice. It just requires a little bit of thought.
:35:40. > :35:51.Plenty of tips there. If you want to watch it again, go to our website.
:35:52. > :35:57.Website. Matt Back in time, going to Abbey Manor Cars Ltd of Yeovil - not
:35:58. > :36:01.to be confused with other abbeys of different names.
:36:02. > :36:10.Some of you will be too young to remember, but, for me, it feels like
:36:11. > :36:16.just Yes, 2007, do you remember? Gordon
:36:17. > :36:20.Brown had just come into power knowing that it would be beginning
:36:21. > :36:23.of a long and illustrious reign because, after all, the economy was
:36:24. > :36:27.going from strength to strength. Meanwhile, in Yeovil, a business
:36:28. > :36:33.called Abbey Manor Cars Ltd was living out its own particular fancy.
:36:34. > :36:36.The company was run by Peter Firth and Gerry White. They sold and hired
:36:37. > :36:40.second-hand vehicles. The only problem was we had heard the cars
:36:41. > :36:45.were so dangerous they deserved to be scrapped.
:36:46. > :36:49.As our investigation began, I went to meet one of their unsatisfied
:36:50. > :36:54.customers, Larry Chapman from Dorset. He had paid Peter Firth and
:36:55. > :36:59.Gerry White over ?1,000 for a motor, but there were issues from the first
:37:00. > :37:02.day. What were the problems when you bought the car? The driver's window
:37:03. > :37:07.kept on pulling down, the steering was a bit iffy. It was any amount of
:37:08. > :37:12.faults. Basically a heap on wheels. What was their attitude like?
:37:13. > :37:16.Anything but helpful. They basically always making excuses, either the
:37:17. > :37:22.mechanic was sick, or in Spain, or they couldn't do it, they're waiting
:37:23. > :37:27.for bits. When the engine packed up, Larry had had enough. He demanded
:37:28. > :37:31.Abbey Manor Cars come and take his car away to put right all the false.
:37:32. > :37:36.When he turned up at the garage to collect it. He couldn't believe what
:37:37. > :37:40.he saw. The boot was open, all the doors were open, my glove
:37:41. > :37:47.compartment was open. They, or someone had stolen everything that
:37:48. > :37:51.was in the boot, all my tools. They just didn't want us to know. It was
:37:52. > :37:55.time for us to get the experience for ourselves. We went to buy the
:37:56. > :38:03.one that looked to be in bad condition. This one? ?500 later, and
:38:04. > :38:08.we had ourselves a Ford Mondeo. It's not like the one in the advert.
:38:09. > :38:13.Martin, dipstick and hand. What do we have here? It's a death trap.
:38:14. > :38:17.There is no lining left on the brake pads. They're metal to meetings. The
:38:18. > :38:21.clutch has totally gone. The seat belts don't unlock properly. If the
:38:22. > :38:24.car was upside-down and a ditch, the driver and passenger would be struck
:38:25. > :38:28.in there. It sounds as though this car shouldn't be driven anywhere. It
:38:29. > :38:34.is far too dangerous. I wouldn't drive it 100 yards. The car was in
:38:35. > :38:37.such bad condition that selling it to us was a criminal offence.
:38:38. > :38:42.That was the sales side of the company. Next we decided to test out
:38:43. > :38:47.the hire car service. They were offering such good deals,
:38:48. > :38:52.you see. ?15 to ?25 a day to hire a car. That kind of set the alarm
:38:53. > :38:55.bells ringing. We went in with two members of the team and out we came
:38:56. > :39:01.with a lovely bluey green Nissan. Cool colour!
:39:02. > :39:05.And a not at all grubby Ford Escort. Actually, that is grubby. What sort
:39:06. > :39:11.of state were they in? As reliable as Charlie Sheen as a free bar. We
:39:12. > :39:17.put them both through an MOT and they both failed. Both these cars
:39:18. > :39:20.have been hired out in an unroad worthy and dangerous condition. If
:39:21. > :39:24.you want a quality car, you don't spend 15 or 25 quid to hire it, do
:39:25. > :39:28.you? You don't have to be driving this car for it to kill you. It
:39:29. > :39:31.could be coming along the other side of the road at you. That's a good
:39:32. > :39:37.point. Thank you, Martin. Yes, and when we showed all three
:39:38. > :39:40.cars to VOA, responsible for vehicle safety, they said all three had to
:39:41. > :39:45.be taken off the road immediately. We wanted answers, so we put the
:39:46. > :39:51.cars on the back of a toe truck and returned them to Abbey Manor Cars.
:39:52. > :39:55.I also wanted the opportunity to confront the owners.
:39:56. > :40:00.I wanted to ask them about the state of the cars without giving the game
:40:01. > :40:06.away. After a little bit of make-up, I was eastern European mechanic
:40:07. > :40:10.Jimmy. Insee you a little later. Goodbye.
:40:11. > :40:13.My disguise meant I could go undercover with the team as we
:40:14. > :40:19.complained about the condition of our cars. Look who came out to talk
:40:20. > :40:24.to us: Bosman Pete Firth. We brought the hire car back, my mate is a
:40:25. > :40:33.mechanic, he had a look at it and he said loads of things are gone with
:40:34. > :40:40.it. Eight If you're a mechanic, mend it.
:40:41. > :40:45.Go Go back to your country. We don't do new cars. It's not safe. Well, I
:40:46. > :40:52.wasn't going to get answers as Jimmy. Cue the cameras, and the real
:40:53. > :40:55.me. Matt from BBC Rogue Traders. It
:40:56. > :40:59.seems everything we have had from out of here is totally unroad
:41:00. > :41:07.worthy. You will be familiar with these, these are VOSA road
:41:08. > :41:12.worthiness prohibition notice. You see, that means they shouldn't be on
:41:13. > :41:16.the road at all. That's why we keeled it up the drive. It's no no
:41:17. > :41:20.wonder that your customers are not very happy with what they either
:41:21. > :41:26.rent or buy from you from this place? I will pack up trading, then.
:41:27. > :41:31.When can you do it? Can you go out of business tomorrow? I can't do it
:41:32. > :41:35.tomorrow, you idiot. You've got a yard full of cars. If you could do
:41:36. > :41:38.it as soon as possible. I will do it as soon as possible. After you've
:41:39. > :41:43.handed the money back to the people. I will not be here tomorrow. Where
:41:44. > :41:48.will you be? Retire, it is very simple. Shake me by the hand because
:41:49. > :41:52.that's the best news I've heard all day. I am packing up. Thank you very
:41:53. > :41:58.much. Excellent result. But despite such
:41:59. > :42:02.encouraging promises from Pete Firth, this wasn't to be the end of
:42:03. > :42:05.the story, nor was it going to be the last time that Abbey Manor Cars
:42:06. > :42:12.were to receive an unannounced visit from a team armed with cam values. A
:42:13. > :42:17.warrant issued by the Crown Court to search these premises. It turned out
:42:18. > :42:20.what was going on was far more serious and sinister than we had
:42:21. > :42:24.ever imagined. It turned out it wasn't just us investigating Abbey
:42:25. > :42:28.Manor Cars Ltd. Trading standards and the police were also on their
:42:29. > :42:35.trail, and that's where the baseball bat, balaclava and Taser comes in.
:42:36. > :42:38.Intrigued? Rogue traders, meet Crimewatch in about ten minutes. Are
:42:39. > :42:43.you fed up with postal deliveries? This might get your blood boiling. I
:42:44. > :42:47.am going to show you a bit of CCTV footage captured by Watchdog viewer
:42:48. > :42:54.Margaret Border on her home security cameras. She was expecting a package
:42:55. > :42:57.from M and was told it would be delivered by City Link. The delivery
:42:58. > :43:02.man has arrived, he's outside the door, and this happens. Here he
:43:03. > :43:07.comes. Will he knock on the door? No. That is shocking. He just chucks
:43:08. > :43:12.it on the floor and walks away. What was in the parcel? Luckily, it
:43:13. > :43:17.wasn't clothes. Let's take another look. I should stay it's nothing
:43:18. > :43:21.fragile, just come clothes that Margaret was waiting for. Just
:43:22. > :43:26.thrown there. If it was clothes, he could probably have put it in the
:43:27. > :43:29.letter-box. But the big question in, was she in? The delivery man will
:43:30. > :43:33.never know because he didn't knock on the door. I can tell you that she
:43:34. > :43:38.wasn't, and you probably saw on the clock it was about ten-to ten in the
:43:39. > :43:41.morning and Margaret didn't get home in the seven o'clock that night, so
:43:42. > :43:50.the parcel was there for about nine hours.
:43:51. > :43:54.What did they say? They thanked us for bringing it to their attention,
:43:55. > :44:00.and written an apology to Margaret. Hopefully delivered by someone else.
:44:01. > :44:03.We've received so many delivery company grumbles, here is you know
:44:04. > :44:08.who. I am a very patient man. Honestly. I
:44:09. > :44:13.am. I wait around all day to see one of
:44:14. > :44:17.nature's most beautiful specimens is a joy.
:44:18. > :44:25.There's a wagtail. But there's one thing I can't stand
:44:26. > :44:32.waiting for, and that is the post. That, unfortunately, is what I have
:44:33. > :44:37.ahead of me today: a long old wait. You see, I am expecting a parcel.
:44:38. > :44:42.It's a gift. It's a surprise. No idea what it is, but I must admit
:44:43. > :44:47.I am relatively excited. But, and there is a big but, I am told it's
:44:48. > :44:52.going to come sometime between 8.00 am and 6.00 pm.
:44:53. > :44:57.Thanks for narrowing that down. Why can't these delivery companies
:44:58. > :45:03.just be more specific? If some of them, like UK Mail or DPD can give
:45:04. > :45:07.you an hour window that he will deliver in, why can't everyone else?
:45:08. > :45:27.Better settle in for the long haul, I suppose.
:45:28. > :45:38.What? It's only ten o'clock. I am so bored! What is more annoying, is
:45:39. > :45:41.that even if you are waiting in all day, your delivery might not
:45:42. > :45:46.actually arrive! I ordered a satellite dish online,
:45:47. > :45:49.and the seller had chosen to use Yodel as the delivery agent. The
:45:50. > :45:54.parcel didn't turn up on the delivery day. I waited around,
:45:55. > :45:58.nobody turned up. Day two, no parcel arrived. Day three, day four - no
:45:59. > :46:03.parcel arrived. It took seven days for the parcel to be delivered, but
:46:04. > :46:07.that was only after numerous phone calls in excess of 20 phone calls,
:46:08. > :46:12.to the Yodel support centre, and an official complaint that I raised
:46:13. > :46:22.with them. You could finish War and Peace in that time. I am only on
:46:23. > :46:26.page two. It's an epic enteal. Tale. It was one man's battle against the
:46:27. > :46:29.Royal Mail, because problems don't just occur when you're waiting for
:46:30. > :46:36.your post, it can be a right pain trying to send stuff too.
:46:37. > :46:40.Roy was trying to post letters and parcels to his daughter. She lives
:46:41. > :46:43.in High Wycombe, Western Australia. Over here, see, on the other side of
:46:44. > :46:49.the world. But, yes, you guessed it, the Royal
:46:50. > :46:54.Mail kept sending them to High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, way back
:46:55. > :46:58.over here! This didn't just happen once, oh,
:46:59. > :47:03.no. This happens more than 30 times over a period of eight years.
:47:04. > :47:07.Sending a message in a bottle to Australia would have been more
:47:08. > :47:13.reliable. Yes, posting letters abroad can be
:47:14. > :47:18.tricky. Don't get me started on what happens in this country. It is the
:47:19. > :47:21.charges, you see. They could be a little ad hoc, shall we say. Take
:47:22. > :47:25.Scotland. Some of the biggest delivery companies charge more to
:47:26. > :47:29.send things to certain parts of Scotland than anywhere else on
:47:30. > :47:34.mainland Britain. They say it's because these places are remote.
:47:35. > :47:39.Now, I know what you're thinking, it's just one or two houses in the
:47:40. > :47:48.middle of nowhere on the top of Ben Nevis. Get over it, Rick. But, no,
:47:49. > :47:51.it's not like that. For example, take Elgin, it's here, between two
:47:52. > :47:55.major cities, Inverness and Aberdeen. According to FedEx, it's
:47:56. > :48:02.remote, and therefore more expensive to deliver to.
:48:03. > :48:07.However, they say neighbouring Rothes just a few miles down the
:48:08. > :48:14.road is not remote. OK, but then DHL feel differently about it. They
:48:15. > :48:19.reckon Rothes is remote, but Elgin is not? Confused? It is madness.
:48:20. > :48:25.We're not talking small change here. That's six miles could cost you an
:48:26. > :48:30.extra ?16 per package. Speaking of packages, where on earth
:48:31. > :48:37.is mine? We didn't film that bit. That's
:48:38. > :48:42.actually a sunset across Amman in Jordan.
:48:43. > :48:45.You get the idea. It's getting on. You get the idea. It's getting on.
:48:46. > :48:52.(doorbell rings). Hang on. Is that it! Finally, my
:48:53. > :49:07.present! No more waiting for me today! Thank you! Yes!
:49:08. > :49:18.Lessons in patience for me! No thanks!
:49:19. > :49:22.Don't need them! Responses from the companies are on
:49:23. > :49:28.our website. Here are a few more stories. There
:49:29. > :49:34.were more grim masses than grins at Alton Towers after wheels broke off
:49:35. > :49:39.a ride hitting passengers. The ?18 million ride has had a chequered
:49:40. > :49:43.history as we reported back in May. Its opening was delayed because of
:49:44. > :49:46.teething problems. Then in July, people had to be rescued after a
:49:47. > :49:50.piece of track fell off before technical issues forced its closure
:49:51. > :49:56.again in August. The latest mishap occurred on Saturday when four
:49:57. > :49:59.plastic guide wheels broke off mid-ride hitting four people in the
:50:00. > :50:03.front carriage. One passenger commented that he thought it was a
:50:04. > :50:08.three D effect until the part struck him in the face.
:50:09. > :50:10.Five days on, and with an investigation ongoing, the ride
:50:11. > :50:21.remains closed. Some would say more Fawlty Towers
:50:22. > :50:25.than Alton Towers. Mary Berry has been criticised by
:50:26. > :50:33.doctors after it was revealed some of her own-brand salad dressing had
:50:34. > :50:37.three times more sugar than cola. Her original salad dressing is a
:50:38. > :50:40.whopping 27 per cent, and it doesn't get any better with her light
:50:41. > :50:44.version. It may have less fat but the sugar levels are exactly the
:50:45. > :50:49.same. We compared this with 20 other rival salad dressings, and the
:50:50. > :50:54.closest we could find was Tesco honey and mustard dressing wit 18.
:50:55. > :50:58.Nine per cent. Her spokesperson told us you should only use a small
:50:59. > :51:04.amount per serving as it's a dressing, not a drink.
:51:05. > :51:09.Watch out if you're thinking of buying a designer or important poppy
:51:10. > :51:13.for Remembrance Day. These sparkly poppies have become a must-have
:51:14. > :51:17.fashion, but people have been telling us they don't realise some
:51:18. > :51:27.shops are passing on very little of the price to the Royal British
:51:28. > :51:33.Legion, so, to clarify. This costs podolskyy five yet only ?1.50 is
:51:34. > :51:41.donated to the charity. This costing ?12 only ?3. 3.60 will
:51:42. > :51:47.be passed. From Chamila.com, only ?4.50 of that
:51:48. > :51:51.ends up to the Poppy Appeal, so if you want to make sure 100 per cent
:51:52. > :51:56.of your money is going to the Royal British Legion, opt for a good
:51:57. > :52:01.old-fashioned paper job. We will tell you the story off the
:52:02. > :52:03.story on Rogue Traders, the bits we couldn't include in the original
:52:04. > :52:08.programme because we didn't know them yet. As stories go, this one
:52:09. > :52:13.took a far more serious twist. When we confronted Abbey Manor Cars
:52:14. > :52:19.Ltd of Yeovil back in 2007 for selling and hiring out illegal
:52:20. > :52:24.unroad worthy vehicles, Peter Firth promised us he would shut up shop.
:52:25. > :52:29.Come back tomorrow, and I will not be here. When we went back to check
:52:30. > :52:32.on their progress a month later, the yard was chock-full of cars.
:52:33. > :52:37.Although Peter was nowhere to be seen, his partner in crime came out
:52:38. > :52:41.to talk. Hello, Gerry, how are you? Good,
:52:42. > :52:46.thanks. We are confused because, last time I was here, I had a chat
:52:47. > :52:49.to Pete, and he assured us that you would be out much business, you
:52:50. > :52:53.would have closed up. What, within a matter of a week? A month, it was,
:52:54. > :52:56.because he actually said a month. Give me a month, and this will be
:52:57. > :53:01.empty. Well, as you can see it's not empty. No. It doesn't earn a vast
:53:02. > :53:05.amount of profit. Why are you trying to put someone like that out of
:53:06. > :53:09.business. Because the three vehicles that we looked at were really
:53:10. > :53:12.dangerous. So many, many customers that are completely happy with what
:53:13. > :53:21.they have had. Three cars we took away. Three cars. Yes. All three of
:53:22. > :53:24.those cars were unroad worth any when -- unroadworthy when supplied
:53:25. > :53:31.to us. I disagree with that. We will be more vigilant. I can't tell you
:53:32. > :53:36.more than that. Bye-bye. And so that was 2007. But, fast forward to
:53:37. > :53:38.February this year when our old friends Peter Firth and Gerry White
:53:39. > :53:42.made another appearance on our screens. This time, though, they
:53:43. > :53:45.were making headlines on the local news.
:53:46. > :53:48.I've got a copy of it here in my collection. I am quite the
:53:49. > :53:54.conoisseur, you know. But only if it is recorded on VHS, I am like that,
:53:55. > :53:58.you see, a traditionaliest. Look! Points West from February earlier
:53:59. > :54:03.this year. You would be amazed how few people
:54:04. > :54:11.accept my invitations to film night! Peter Firth is confronted on camera
:54:12. > :54:17.in 2007 by Rowing Traders. It's me! What are the chances of that! They
:54:18. > :54:25.should have explained I was wearing a disguise.
:54:26. > :54:32.This This footage was film 20 20ten when it was time for the boys in
:54:33. > :54:39.blue to pay a visit. What this they done to warrant the attention of the
:54:40. > :54:44.constabulary? Stephen is from Scam Busters which ran the investigation
:54:45. > :54:49.alongside the police. What did you find out about the way Peter and
:54:50. > :54:52.Gerald were dealing with their customers? They were running the
:54:53. > :54:56.equivalent of a loan-shark business in the car business. The customers
:54:57. > :54:59.seemed to be people who didn't have a lot of money to spend on a car,
:55:00. > :55:05.and they offered to sell them cheap cars with a small deposit, say ?200,
:55:06. > :55:08.and then ?100 a month. It was a sort of credit deal, but they are
:55:09. > :55:12.unlicensed, there was no documentation, nothing on paper. So
:55:13. > :55:16.in actual fact, you don't own the car at all because you never
:55:17. > :55:20.received the documents? That's absolutely right. And it seems Firth
:55:21. > :55:24.and White thought not handing over the documents gave them carte
:55:25. > :55:27.blanche to reclaim the cars whenever they wanted. If there was any
:55:28. > :55:31.suggestion that people were struggling to pay, often for no good
:55:32. > :55:36.reason at all, they simply found the car taken back.
:55:37. > :55:39.Mary brought two vehicles from them and they took both away from her,
:55:40. > :55:44.again, without her knowledge, a van she had taken in to be fixed, and a
:55:45. > :55:50.Ford galaxy taken from her drive at home. We were left basically ?4
:55:51. > :55:56.thousand-plus-out of pocket, no plan, no car, no way of getting
:55:57. > :56:01.around. Mary's complaint along with others led to a raid on their
:56:02. > :56:04.premises. This was the inside of Peter Firth's van. Those are the
:56:05. > :56:09.keys for the vehicles sold or out for hire. They kept a key, and they
:56:10. > :56:12.could drive what you thought was your car away at any time? And they
:56:13. > :56:15.did. But Peter Firth didn't just have
:56:16. > :56:21.keys in his van. He was carrying items that were far more worrying.
:56:22. > :56:29.Baseball bat, for example, and a 12(d) inch knife. A ball chav -- and
:56:30. > :56:35.a 12-inch knife. A couple of mobile phones there. Stun guns and
:56:36. > :56:38.firearms. They're stun guns disguised as mobile phones. That is
:56:39. > :56:42.the sort of thing that you would jab into somebody's leg, make them very
:56:43. > :56:46.unhappy that they ever met you. So I believe. It's not your typical car
:56:47. > :56:52.dealer's kit. I would not not. I would think this must be seen as
:56:53. > :56:55.exceptingal. The judge did describe these two as rogue car dealers, and
:56:56. > :56:58.I think that's undoubtedly what we are talking about. We don't know
:56:59. > :57:02.exactly what they used their weapons for, but you can guess their
:57:03. > :57:09.intentions probably weren't very nice. In the end. Our boys got their
:57:10. > :57:13.day in court. Peter Firth got at that three-year sentence for firearm
:57:14. > :57:18.offences and for engaging in activity without a consumer credit
:57:19. > :57:24.licence. Gerald Gerald white White got 12
:57:25. > :57:27.months,six for having no credit licence and six for fraud charges.
:57:28. > :57:32.That's great news. Nothing makes me happier than finding out what the
:57:33. > :57:35.rogues have been up to since we made the programme. It's all thanks to
:57:36. > :57:39.you, your tip-offs. We wouldn't know about it otherwise. Off you go, tell
:57:40. > :57:43.us what you know, and we will do what we do best.
:57:44. > :57:50.That's how you fete and touch, yes? -- that's how you get in touch.
:57:51. > :57:57.You're still on the sofa! Come on. That's just a toilet!
:57:58. > :58:02.I got out of there eventually! Anyway, it's thanks to you and your
:58:03. > :58:08.vigilance that we can put Chris Whyatt, Katheri Hardwick, Peter
:58:09. > :58:15.Firth and Gerry White right back where they belong - in our rogues'
:58:16. > :58:19.gallery. Watchdog is back in the spring, so keep your stories coming
:58:20. > :58:26.in. Until then from all of us, good night.