Episode 8 Watchdog

Tomorrow's weather and another dull, damp start. Sunny skies News.

Yes, hello, and good evening, and welcome to Watchdog. We're live as

usual foreign the next 60 minutes. Tonight: Santander, RB Barclays -

want a 25-year mortgage? Watch out if you're middle-aged. Most people

will want to pay the mortgage back before they retire, but for those

who can't or don't want to, they're definitelying discriminated against.

Pet insurance: premiums now at a record high. Is it cheaper just to

pay the vet bill? Our more later in life.

But one industry is failing to recognise this trend: the mortgage

companies. More and more, if you're of a

certain age, they will refuse to lend to you, no matter the

Even though these age limits refer to people in their seventies, it is

having a major impact on people much younger.

People like 48-year-old Carlin MahonY2 years ago, she signed up to

a standard mortgage with Santander and was due to have paid it off by

the age of 71. When she decided to downsize, she presumed she could

take exactly the same mortgage with her. When I spoke to them they made

it sound very easy. I thought it would be a paperwork exercise,

really. What she didn't know was that since she had taken out her

original mortgage, Santander had introduced their new policy, meaning

all loans had to be paid off by 75 or retirement age. When they asked

her when she planned to stop work, she got a nasty shock.

They didn't ask me any questions about my finances, how much I

earned, what my pension was, equity in the house - no financial

questions at all.. On was, equity in the house - no financial questions

at all. .it was just how old are you, and when are you going to

retire? And then the whole process was stopped, and they declined me on

that question. So why are companies like Santander

putting so much emphasis on age and so little on your financial ability

to repay? At the start of the credit crunch,

lenders suddenly had a lot less money to lend and had to choose

where to cut back on electing. Lending to older people was one of

the areas where they chose to cut back. Even though lenders now do

have more money to lend, they've not got back into this area. The choices

are very limited for anybody who wants a mortgage beyond the age of

75. The result of this discrimination is

a shrinking market and limited choice for anyone over 45 who wants

to take out a mortgage of 25 The 51-year-old, the cheapest rate

they could get would be ?809. These extra charges really add up.

Over the first five years of the mortgage alone, the 51-year-old

would pay over ?4,500 more than the 44 more than the 44 ---year Almost

?1 000 difference, so purely based on their age? Yes, the only

differencing a small difference in age of six or seven years. Riz is

here. Carlin, to go back to her, she had answer on the hop, didn't she,

she said she was retired. In fact, she was well able to repay that

mortgage, even if she did retire at 60, there was money there. Yes,

absolutely. She's got a good guaranteed pension, but the point is

that she wasn't even asked about that, and that is the flaw in the

system. Lenders hear retirement age and an alarm bell goes off. She was

rejected before she got the chance to prove that she could pay. It is

age discrimination. Why can't they be done for age discrimination? When

it comes to banking, mortgage and insurance industries, anti-age

discrimination rules don't apply. The frustrating thing here is that

it shunt mean that someone who has the ability to pay a mortgage

regardless of their age is then penalised. We have persuade the some

of these mortgage lenders to be a bit more flexible, haven't we? Yes,

we've heard from some of them. Actually, there is no reason why

they can't lend to older customers. You know, if they can prove that

they can afford the repayments past retirement. I think some lenders are

just playing it safe. Of course they are. Some do make exceptions, but it

is more work for them because it basically means checking

affordability on a case-by-case basis. So you've got to shop around,

and a good result for Caro Lynn at the end, yes? Yes, a good result,

because Santander has admitted because she wasn't a new customer,

she should have been allowed to take her existing mortgage to her new

property. It will now be refunding her the ?2,500 it took in early

repayment charges and in the fees she spent getting a new mortgage

elsewhere. Santander says it ties mortgage terms to an individual's

working life as that is where affordability is best served. But,

as in this case, it is prepared to make exceptions.

If you want to get in touch, our e-mail address is:

You can text us too, making sure you start your message with the touch,

our e-mail address is: You can text us too, making sure you

start your message with the letters "WD". Or join the discussion on

Twitter. Coming up: in our final interview with the big six energy

companies, Mata puts your questions to Neil Clitheroe, the CEO of

ScottishPower. There are many great shames in the

world. It's a shame that Lionel Messi wasn't born in England, and it

is a shame that Blue and Steps have reformed, but The Smiths won't.

Please do! There is one great shame that is greater than all the other

great shames put together, and this is this: that we can't know the

stuff we find out about our rogues after broadcast the show before we

broadcast the show. Tonight, we're going to try to make amends.

Hello, and welcome to Rogue Traders. Yes, even though we publicly name

and shame the dodgy Daves, Dereks and Deirdres of the world in this

programme, there is no guarantee their wrong doing will stop. Once

our credits stop, we rely on you lot to inform us what the bad guys do

next. Sometimes what you tell us is so interesting, we just can't keep

it to ourselves. We're going to share with you what

we've learned about some of our rogues since we first told their

story. We're taking a trip down memory lane. Then we are turning

right, third exit, at the roundabout of dodgy dealing, and after a mile

and a half, we will arrive at the car park of come uppance. So, back

to 2011 we go when we investigated a company called Head Exchange Ltd

based in Richmond, North Yorkshire, run by Chris Whyatt and Katherine

Hardwick. Their business was selling and fitting reconditioned engines.

One problem: you couldn't trust them. They sold one to William but

it didn't work, so he sent it back and asked for it to be swapped for

one that did. Fair enough. He promised me a new engine within four

days. Four days arrived, no engine. Week and a half, no engine. Fourth

week, I said, "What's happening to this his engine?" "Well, it was sent

out and it got lost." Well, the engine never arrived and nor did a

refund of William's cash so he took the company to court and won.

However, when he tried to get his money back, he was told the company

had folded and there was nothing he could do.

Soon enough, we started getting complaints about a company based

just half a mile down the road from Head Exchange, and called Complete

Engine Solutions Ltd. Nicola paid them for a reconditioned engine but

when her local garage tried to fit it, they found a shocking discovery.

The engine didn't work, it had to come out, be taken to pieces, and

then they found it was my original engine. We wanted to find out if

Chris and Katherine were pulling the strings at this company too. Another

man, Christopher Chiltern, was listed as the sole director, but, we

decided to head under cover and see if we could link the three of them.

The plan was to take in a 1.4 VW Golf and ask for a replacement

reconditioned engine. Who do you think should greet us? Only

Christopher Whyatt and Katherine Hardwick of course. We handed over

?520. The mechanic who took out the old engine didn't fill us with

confidence. I don't know what this engine is.

After waiting 13 days, we got our car back, supposedly with a new

reconditioned engine installed. What did expert John make of it? What you

got fell far short of a reconditioned engine. It was an

engine that was cobbled together to get it going again. Nothing more

than that. In, the same engine we had taken in, with just a few new

reconditioned bits. The bobgest of bodged jobs. We sent

a me-shaped surprise up their sleeves. This is ridiculous. Don't

start using he word "ridiculous". I mean, we're not happy about this. I

am going to call rogue traders about this, this is absolutely ridiculous.

Can you put me through to the rogue traders' team. Where are you right

now? In Yorkshire at a garage with a problem. We will Extremely short

moment as it happens, because I was parked just outside, which appeared

to come as a bit of a shock to Chris Whyatt.

BBC rogue traders. As you probably worked out, they weren't typical

customers, they are part of our team. What you've actually promised

us, what you sold us in the first place, and what we paid for was a

reconditioned engine. What you did was took our engine out, you got it

to a level where it was the bare minimum work had been done,

serviceable to go out the door by fitting one new piston and a couple

of other little things, none of it done very well, to be honest, but

you've still charged us as if it were a reconditioned engine. We've

given a guarantee. Do you know what happens when your customers

typically come back to you with a problem? You to be them off. We have

so many customers that are saying that's what's happened. At the end

of the day, you can pay ?6,000 for an engine or pay ?2,000 for an

engine. You can't expect both engines to do the same job. What you

do is say one thing, promise one thing, charge for it, and then do

something else. That's a rogue trader. That's what you are. I

disagree with you entirely. Well, disagree he might, but having been

named and shamed on the show, that, for the time being was the last we

heard from Chris Whyatt, Katherine Hardwick and Complete Engine

Solutions Ltd until you lot got stuck in. After our broadcast,

complaints started to come in about another engine company, the Engine

Clinic Ltd. Where do you think they were based? Go on, have a go! Yes.

There! Mere coincidence? Perhaps. But then

this wouldn't be much of an update show. So had they justified

performed their old trick and set up under a different name? Again, there

is no mention of either Chris nor Katherine, just Christopher

Chiltern, the same man who was listed as the sole director of

Complete Engine Solutions. We didn't have to go undercover to make a

connection. A customer did it for us. We were contacted by an employee

of the old company, and the two old cronies were the ones calling the

shots. He doesn't want to be identified but he wants to tell us

what his time was like for them. For this to work I don't need to be in

silhouette, but I am showing solidarity.

That's good! It was Chris and Katherine running the company. If

you had problems, you went to see Chris, anything that came into the

engine clinic, you would see them opening them, they would order

parts, pay the bills, basically all authorisations went through those

two. So, repeat offending rogues,

rebranded engine companies, a whole heap of complaints, but finally,

some good news: in July this year, trading standards took the company

to court where the Engine Clinic and its listed director, Christopher

Chiltern, were prosecuted for misleading customers and issued with

a hefty fine. The company has now ceased trading. A result.

So I will cease talking. Right after this bit. One half of

our dodgy duo has been in touch. Katherine Hardwick denies she was in

a position of authority at the engine clinic. She said she left

last year and now works in a different industry, which is great

news. But if that first story blew your

whistle, the next one will leave you stunned.

I want you to meet this fella. This is Chip, and he's an eight-year-old

hairy Kholi cross poodle. Isn't he lovely?

Anyone with a dog knows you pay anything in vets' fees if they are

sick which is why a quarter of us have pet insurance, but the cost of

premiums is rocketing. Chip is perfectly healthy and has no

pre-existing medical conditions. If I wanted to insure the exact same

dog 20 years ago, my premium would have been around ?40 a year. If I

wanted to do it right now, it would cost me anywhere between ?300 and

?500 a year. The idea is you get peace of mind. If only you start off

by paying what seems a fair price, things won't necessarily stay that

way. You can't put a price on companion

MSP, but you can put a price on good health which is why so many of us

turn to pet insurance. Here is how it's supposed to work:

you pay a regular sum to the insurer and then they pick up the vet bills

if anything should happen to your pet. But this reassurance can come

at a significant cost. Although it doesn't always start off

that way. Caron Jones took a lifetime policy with Green

insurance. She felt her ?235 annual premium was worth it should Bo fall

ill. Sadly, five months after signing up to the policy, he did

just that. He was taken poorly in December 2011. He had

gastrointestinal problems, with sickness and diarrhoea and kept in

overnight twice at the vet's on a drip, and obviously huge vet bills

because of it. Green Insurance paid out for the vet bills straightaway,

but when it was time to renew the policy the following year, they

shifted the goalposts dramatically. They raised Karen's premiums from

?235 to a whopping ?1,854 a year, that's a rise of about 700 per cent.

I expected an increase, but not to that extent. I just think it was

very unfair. I felt they had increased the premium by that amount

to get their money back. It made me very upset and angry. Green

Insurance eventually agreed Karen would only have to pay ?1,236 a

year, but that's still ?1,000 more before Bo got sick. Caron had little

choice but to pay knowing it was unlikely another company would

ensure him, which, frankly, doesn't seem fair. We were left in a

position where we either went with them or didn't have insurance cover.

Large increases because you've made a claim is one thing, but high

prices even though your pet hasn't been ill is quite another.

Mark Terry took out insurance for his golden retriever Baxter with

Mass Mass. Two and a half years old, and with no ongoing medical

conditions, Baxter is a perfectly healthy dog. So why, then, did his

premium jump from ?712 in the second year to ?889 in the third? We were

very shocked when this year's renewal came through and it had gone

up another couple of hundred pounds, effectively. We were really

disappointed because we hadn't claimed. What made this harder to

take was that had mark been a new customer, the same company would

have given him a much cheaper deal. We went online and tried Marks

Spencer as a new customer and found that it was coming in at ?2666 which

actually was a lot cheaper than it was during our first year, so we

ended up going with a new policy from Marks Spencer at ?266. The

seemingly arbitrary rises in premiums have become a fixture of

the pet insurance industry. Prices are getting so high, many are having

to forego insurance completely. The danger with that is that our clients

won't have the safety net there and therefore be faced with large bills

they may not be able to afford, and that means therefore that our pets

might not get the treatment you would hope they would. It makes me

feel very angry. As a veterinary surgeon, we have a policy like most

surgeries, playing fair with the insurance company, and we expect

them to play fair and with us. Insurance comes at a cost, but if

you decide to pay the premiums, at least you get a good service -

right? Not always. If you pay your ever-increasing premiums, there's no

guarantee your sinisterur will keep their side of the bargain. In

February, Pet Plan insurance customer found a lump on her dog's

head. The vet found five more lumps. The decision was made to remove all

six as soon as possible. It was all done in one procedure that took a

couple of hours, and the whole thing came to about just in excess of

?1,000, which we forwarded to the insurance company.

As it was a single operation, Ellen anticipated she would only have to

pay one single excess charge. Pet Plan had another idea. After the

operation, it was discovered that some of the lumps were of different

types, and the company used that to their advantage. Pet Plan decided to

apply an excess per the type of lump that was found. The combined excess

charges came to ?575, meaning that, on top of her premiums, Ellen would

be paying for more than half the cost of the operation herself. After

she complained, Pet Plan agreed to reduce her excess bill to ?230, but

it was still more than double what she expected to pay. I feel I don't

have much choice. I am with Pet Plan, and I just don't think it is

going to be any better with any other provider.

How do insurers get away with this? They know you have no option. Pay

the premiums or pay the potentially hefty vet bills.

And more and more people are being caught out. Complaints to the

financial ombudsman about pet insurance are up by 50 per cent this

year, and in 60 per cent of all cases, they find in the customer's

favour. Customers loyally pay their premium, so if their pet falls ill,

that he will be looked after. Is it really too much to ask for the pet

insurers to be equally loyal and play fair? Dr Dolittle, do you have

some responses? I do have some, but I've forgotten them, so I am going

to need Chip's help. Go and get the responses, Chip! He tends to go with

the treats rather than strict shouting. All you men do! Exactly!

Bring us the responses! Goodlad! Well done! Sit!

Sit! Stay! Chip! You had better stay because she gets angry!

Green Insurance says Karen's premiums went up because of how much

they had paid out for Bo's illness. They blamed advances in technology.

Now, Marks Spencer say that the rise in their premium was down to

vet's bills going up because he was no longerle legible for a new

customer discount. He adds any previous conditions or claims for

the animal may be excluded. Pet Plan apologised to Ellen. It acknowledges

the lumps were caused by two conditions, not five, and that she

should only have been billed for two excess charges. It says it will be

speaking to her directly to resolve the matter and will be reviewing its

complaints procedures as a result. What I love was when ocedures as a

result. What I love was when you said "sit" and "stay". Why has the

dog left you? All the five people, everyone sat and stayed, didn't

they! Next, energy. The start of the

series, three of the big six suppliers agreed to be interviewed

and answered viewers' questions about the alarming rise in the cost

of gas and electricity. We've seen what E.ON and SSE have to say,

roughly that price increases are not their fault, they only control a

small portion of the bill and the market is dependent on wholesale

costs. Tonight, it's the turn of ScottishPower.

Two weeks after announcing their 8.6 price rise, I travelled to Fife to

talk to ScottishPower CEO Neil Clitheroe.

Energy companies were privatised to create competition and ultimately

give customers the opportunity to choose the cheapest company. Please

explain why there is no competition. Every energy company is impacted by

the costs of distribution costs and levees. That's something that occurs

in every industry. But the reality is that you control a lot of that

chain. You are generators. You operate networks, you're part of

distribution, you're also retail, so you're not just the head of the dog,

you're the tail as well. I think if you dig deeper into what the bill is

made up and understand the drivers for that, so, for example, the

networks cost that you talked about earlier, 21 per cent of the bill is

made up of that. Hang on, you run the network. We do, and that is a

fully regulated return based on the amount we invest by Ofgem. We don't

set revenue. You make huge profits from your network. We invest a huge

amount as well. So in our networks business, we are investing close to

?1 billion a year, making profit of ?600 million a year. Why are you

secretive about your dealings on the wholesale market. One of your

smaller competitors last week said he doesn't recognise the wholesale

market prices that you routinely hide behind. Why is that? What have

you got to hide? We've nothing to hide. We publish our what are called

are called segmental accounts, and ScottishPower this year put all of

it in, our generation business in, our renewables in, and we put our

wholesale business in, so it is there as a line very clear for

everyone to see. We give as much information as we can in that side.

However, do I need to work hard to explain what the gas and and

electricity wholesale prices are in the country? I do. We tried to do

that. I tried to do it at the select committee last week when I walked

through line-by-line why we had moved our prices, and actually went

right into the depth of that, and that is something that I just need

to continue to do. Once your price rises have been

incorporated, the average ScottishPower dual fuel bill will be

5.5 per cent of average earnings. How much did you earn last year,

including your bonus? I think in terms of what I earn, that's between

myself and our HR director. There is a part of your income that's linked

to profitable. Why not give up that part of your bonus and actually say

what I will do is change it, and I will have a bonus based on the

number of people who are in fuel poverty on my watch? Effectively,

that's what I have. I have - it's not directly related to that, but,

like any company, we get - we get bonus, remuneration based on a set

of criteria, and one of them is - Profitability. To do with

satisfaction that we have. One of them is the profitability. Money

based on profits, yet you have to make a decision about profits which

affect people's well being. While that is there I would suggest you're

one of the worst people in the country to be setting the price. If

I set the price wrong, then people will look at ScottishPower and say

that's not a company that I want to join. That's not a company I want to

be associated with. If you had to choose between keeping your loved

one warm and comfortable, or feeding them good-quality home-wounding

meals, whi one would you choose. Heat or eat? Nobody has to make that

choice. Somebody clearly is, and then asking you personally - I would

- What would you do? I would say to that customer, please, please,

please call us, because we can help. We can get people on to cheaper

tariffs. We offer debt payment breaks. Is there more that I can do

to help these people? You're right, there is. You could give up your

bonus, that profitability-related part of your bonus and then people

would really believe you. I know I come back to this, but I earn - you

know, I - customer satisfaction, fuel poverty, you know, my

employees, the 5,000 people work for me. What is their satisfaction like?

I get paid on all these things. And I - you know, our company makes

money to invest. And that's what we do with it. What are you doing to

bring down the cost of domestic energy to ensure actual poverty

becomes a think of the past. Can you give me a date that is going to

happen because of your investments? It is a really good question,

actually. I think it's difficult to given that date because you're

looking at these three things of affordable bills, decar Bonnising

the -- decarbonising the economy and making sure we keeps the lights on

and power the nation. The department of energy have been very clear in

terms of the investment that the UK needs and the investment that we

need to bring through to try and meet these three things. How will

that feed through to customers' bills. It's very difficult to say -

very difficult to say. Thank you very much. Thank you. Where are we

now? Four of the big six have raised their prices by between eight and

ten per cent, M Clitheroe of ScottishPower doesn't think he

should give up his bonus. However, Sam laid law, boss of British Gas

announced this week he will be giving up his, up to ?2 million. He

said he acknowledges there is a lack of trust and transparency - I'll

say. Last week on Watchdog, the energy secretary admitted he has no

idea of the true pricing structure of the fuel companies, and announced

a competition review, in other words an audit. John Major has suggested a

windfall tax to the energy companies; Labour said Miliband has

said he will freeze energy prices if he gets into power. There's nothing

to stop higher bills in the meantime. The earliest we can hope

any change is sometime next year when the competition review is

complete. At the moment, switching can help to

beat price rises. Watchdog can also offer a simple guide on how to save

another ?250 on your annual bill with minimal time and effort.

A typical family home with typically high energy bills, but big savings

could be made with a few simple tricks.

Energy expert Scott has worked out how much the misuse of appliances

cost us in a year, and where we could make savings. Most people will

think there's lots of sacrifices to make. There are lots of easy little

ways we can save money in and energy. In the kitchen, Scott has

found some savings for you. Using one hob instead of two, using a

steamer for your vegetables, we save ?10. Using the microwave instead of

the oven is another ?26 saving, using a kettle, filling it with one

cup of water rather than filling it up is another ?8 saving. To that,

already ?44 saved. What about elsewhere in the house? Most rooms

in the house are wasting energy. What is key is knowing where to

look. Swap your light bulbs to these new LED ones and you could save ?3

per bulb, and that is ?60 per year inage average house. TVs, phone

chargers, set-top boxes and routers, these vampire appliances suck your

energy and increase your bills. Turn these off when you're not using them

and you will save ?50. We've got a tip for you with the washing. Ensure

it is a full load. Turn it down to 30 degrees. That's another ?13

saving. The total is now ?167. On to your heating: this is the area

people fear the most where it is where you can save the most without

having to go cold. Get a draft excluder to the front and back

doors, closing all doors around the house and making sure there's no

drafts makes it possible to turn a thermostat down by that one degree

saving a huge ?65 a year. Finally, radiators. Reflective radiator

panels increase heat and reduce energy bills by ?5. Bleeding them

will save you ?10. So, Scott, what is the total? ?247

saved. You barely notice. It just requires a little bit of thought.

Plenty of tips there. If you want to watch it again, go to our website.

Website. Matt Back in time, going to Abbey Manor Cars Ltd of Yeovil - not

to be confused with other abbeys of different names.

Some of you will be too young to remember, but, for me, it feels like

just Yes, 2007, do you remember? Gordon

Brown had just come into power knowing that it would be beginning

of a long and illustrious reign because, after all, the economy was

going from strength to strength. Meanwhile, in Yeovil, a business

called Abbey Manor Cars Ltd was living out its own particular fancy.

The company was run by Peter Firth and Gerry White. They sold and hired

second-hand vehicles. The only problem was we had heard the cars

were so dangerous they deserved to be scrapped.

As our investigation began, I went to meet one of their unsatisfied

customers, Larry Chapman from Dorset. He had paid Peter Firth and

Gerry White over ?1,000 for a motor, but there were issues from the first

day. What were the problems when you bought the car? The driver's window

kept on pulling down, the steering was a bit iffy. It was any amount of

faults. Basically a heap on wheels. What was their attitude like?

Anything but helpful. They basically always making excuses, either the

mechanic was sick, or in Spain, or they couldn't do it, they're waiting

for bits. When the engine packed up, Larry had had enough. He demanded

Abbey Manor Cars come and take his car away to put right all the false.

When he turned up at the garage to collect it. He couldn't believe what

he saw. The boot was open, all the doors were open, my glove

compartment was open. They, or someone had stolen everything that

was in the boot, all my tools. They just didn't want us to know. It was

time for us to get the experience for ourselves. We went to buy the

one that looked to be in bad condition. This one? ?500 later, and

we had ourselves a Ford Mondeo. It's not like the one in the advert.

Martin, dipstick and hand. What do we have here? It's a death trap.

There is no lining left on the brake pads. They're metal to meetings. The

clutch has totally gone. The seat belts don't unlock properly. If the

car was upside-down and a ditch, the driver and passenger would be struck

in there. It sounds as though this car shouldn't be driven anywhere. It

is far too dangerous. I wouldn't drive it 100 yards. The car was in

such bad condition that selling it to us was a criminal offence.

That was the sales side of the company. Next we decided to test out

the hire car service. They were offering such good deals,

you see. ?15 to ?25 a day to hire a car. That kind of set the alarm

bells ringing. We went in with two members of the team and out we came

with a lovely bluey green Nissan. Cool colour!

And a not at all grubby Ford Escort. Actually, that is grubby. What sort

of state were they in? As reliable as Charlie Sheen as a free bar. We

put them both through an MOT and they both failed. Both these cars

have been hired out in an unroad worthy and dangerous condition. If

you want a quality car, you don't spend 15 or 25 quid to hire it, do

you? You don't have to be driving this car for it to kill you. It

could be coming along the other side of the road at you. That's a good

point. Thank you, Martin. Yes, and when we showed all three

cars to VOA, responsible for vehicle safety, they said all three had to

be taken off the road immediately. We wanted answers, so we put the

cars on the back of a toe truck and returned them to Abbey Manor Cars.

I also wanted the opportunity to confront the owners.

I wanted to ask them about the state of the cars without giving the game

away. After a little bit of make-up, I was eastern European mechanic

Jimmy. Insee you a little later. Goodbye.

My disguise meant I could go undercover with the team as we

complained about the condition of our cars. Look who came out to talk

to us: Bosman Pete Firth. We brought the hire car back, my mate is a

mechanic, he had a look at it and he said loads of things are gone with

it. Eight If you're a mechanic, mend it.

Go Go back to your country. We don't do new cars. It's not safe. Well, I

wasn't going to get answers as Jimmy. Cue the cameras, and the real

me. Matt from BBC Rogue Traders. It

seems everything we have had from out of here is totally unroad

worthy. You will be familiar with these, these are VOSA road

worthiness prohibition notice. You see, that means they shouldn't be on

the road at all. That's why we keeled it up the drive. It's no no

wonder that your customers are not very happy with what they either

rent or buy from you from this place? I will pack up trading, then.

When can you do it? Can you go out of business tomorrow? I can't do it

tomorrow, you idiot. You've got a yard full of cars. If you could do

it as soon as possible. I will do it as soon as possible. After you've

handed the money back to the people. I will not be here tomorrow. Where

will you be? Retire, it is very simple. Shake me by the hand because

that's the best news I've heard all day. I am packing up. Thank you very

much. Excellent result. But despite such

encouraging promises from Pete Firth, this wasn't to be the end of

the story, nor was it going to be the last time that Abbey Manor Cars

were to receive an unannounced visit from a team armed with cam values. A

warrant issued by the Crown Court to search these premises. It turned out

what was going on was far more serious and sinister than we had

ever imagined. It turned out it wasn't just us investigating Abbey

Manor Cars Ltd. Trading standards and the police were also on their

trail, and that's where the baseball bat, balaclava and Taser comes in.

Intrigued? Rogue traders, meet Crimewatch in about ten minutes. Are

you fed up with postal deliveries? This might get your blood boiling. I

am going to show you a bit of CCTV footage captured by Watchdog viewer

Margaret Border on her home security cameras. She was expecting a package

from M and was told it would be delivered by City Link. The delivery

man has arrived, he's outside the door, and this happens. Here he

comes. Will he knock on the door? No. That is shocking. He just chucks

it on the floor and walks away. What was in the parcel? Luckily, it

wasn't clothes. Let's take another look. I should stay it's nothing

fragile, just come clothes that Margaret was waiting for. Just

thrown there. If it was clothes, he could probably have put it in the

letter-box. But the big question in, was she in? The delivery man will

never know because he didn't knock on the door. I can tell you that she

wasn't, and you probably saw on the clock it was about ten-to ten in the

morning and Margaret didn't get home in the seven o'clock that night, so

the parcel was there for about nine hours.

What did they say? They thanked us for bringing it to their attention,

and written an apology to Margaret. Hopefully delivered by someone else.

We've received so many delivery company grumbles, here is you know

who. I am a very patient man. Honestly. I

am. I wait around all day to see one of

nature's most beautiful specimens is a joy.

There's a wagtail. But there's one thing I can't stand

waiting for, and that is the post. That, unfortunately, is what I have

ahead of me today: a long old wait. You see, I am expecting a parcel.

It's a gift. It's a surprise. No idea what it is, but I must admit

I am relatively excited. But, and there is a big but, I am told it's

going to come sometime between 8.00 am and 6.00 pm.

Thanks for narrowing that down. Why can't these delivery companies

just be more specific? If some of them, like UK Mail or DPD can give

you an hour window that he will deliver in, why can't everyone else?

Better settle in for the long haul, I suppose.

What? It's only ten o'clock. I am so bored! What is more annoying, is

that even if you are waiting in all day, your delivery might not

actually arrive! I ordered a satellite dish online,

and the seller had chosen to use Yodel as the delivery agent. The

parcel didn't turn up on the delivery day. I waited around,

nobody turned up. Day two, no parcel arrived. Day three, day four - no

parcel arrived. It took seven days for the parcel to be delivered, but

that was only after numerous phone calls in excess of 20 phone calls,

to the Yodel support centre, and an official complaint that I raised

with them. You could finish War and Peace in that time. I am only on

page two. It's an epic enteal. Tale. It was one man's battle against the

Royal Mail, because problems don't just occur when you're waiting for

your post, it can be a right pain trying to send stuff too.

Roy was trying to post letters and parcels to his daughter. She lives

in High Wycombe, Western Australia. Over here, see, on the other side of

the world. But, yes, you guessed it, the Royal

Mail kept sending them to High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, way back

over here! This didn't just happen once, oh,

no. This happens more than 30 times over a period of eight years.

Sending a message in a bottle to Australia would have been more

reliable. Yes, posting letters abroad can be

tricky. Don't get me started on what happens in this country. It is the

charges, you see. They could be a little ad hoc, shall we say. Take

Scotland. Some of the biggest delivery companies charge more to

send things to certain parts of Scotland than anywhere else on

mainland Britain. They say it's because these places are remote.

Now, I know what you're thinking, it's just one or two houses in the

middle of nowhere on the top of Ben Nevis. Get over it, Rick. But, no,

it's not like that. For example, take Elgin, it's here, between two

major cities, Inverness and Aberdeen. According to FedEx, it's

remote, and therefore more expensive to deliver to.

However, they say neighbouring Rothes just a few miles down the

road is not remote. OK, but then DHL feel differently about it. They

reckon Rothes is remote, but Elgin is not? Confused? It is madness.

We're not talking small change here. That's six miles could cost you an

extra ?16 per package. Speaking of packages, where on earth

is mine? We didn't film that bit. That's

actually a sunset across Amman in Jordan.

You get the idea. It's getting on. You get the idea. It's getting on.

(doorbell rings). Hang on. Is that it! Finally, my

present! No more waiting for me today! Thank you! Yes!

Lessons in patience for me! No thanks!

Don't need them! Responses from the companies are on

our website. Here are a few more stories. There

were more grim masses than grins at Alton Towers after wheels broke off

a ride hitting passengers. The ?18 million ride has had a chequered

history as we reported back in May. Its opening was delayed because of

teething problems. Then in July, people had to be rescued after a

piece of track fell off before technical issues forced its closure

again in August. The latest mishap occurred on Saturday when four

plastic guide wheels broke off mid-ride hitting four people in the

front carriage. One passenger commented that he thought it was a

three D effect until the part struck him in the face.

Five days on, and with an investigation ongoing, the ride

remains closed. Some would say more Fawlty Towers

than Alton Towers. Mary Berry has been criticised by

doctors after it was revealed some of her own-brand salad dressing had

three times more sugar than cola. Her original salad dressing is a

whopping 27 per cent, and it doesn't get any better with her light

version. It may have less fat but the sugar levels are exactly the

same. We compared this with 20 other rival salad dressings, and the

closest we could find was Tesco honey and mustard dressing wit 18.

Nine per cent. Her spokesperson told us you should only use a small

amount per serving as it's a dressing, not a drink.

Watch out if you're thinking of buying a designer or important poppy

for Remembrance Day. These sparkly poppies have become a must-have

fashion, but people have been telling us they don't realise some

shops are passing on very little of the price to the Royal British

Legion, so, to clarify. This costs podolskyy five yet only ?1.50 is

donated to the charity. This costing ?12 only ?3. 3.60 will

be passed. From Chamila.com, only ?4.50 of that

ends up to the Poppy Appeal, so if you want to make sure 100 per cent

of your money is going to the Royal British Legion, opt for a good

old-fashioned paper job. We will tell you the story off the

story on Rogue Traders, the bits we couldn't include in the original

programme because we didn't know them yet. As stories go, this one

took a far more serious twist. When we confronted Abbey Manor Cars

Ltd of Yeovil back in 2007 for selling and hiring out illegal

unroad worthy vehicles, Peter Firth promised us he would shut up shop.

Come back tomorrow, and I will not be here. When we went back to check

on their progress a month later, the yard was chock-full of cars.

Although Peter was nowhere to be seen, his partner in crime came out

to talk. Hello, Gerry, how are you? Good,

thanks. We are confused because, last time I was here, I had a chat

to Pete, and he assured us that you would be out much business, you

would have closed up. What, within a matter of a week? A month, it was,

because he actually said a month. Give me a month, and this will be

empty. Well, as you can see it's not empty. No. It doesn't earn a vast

amount of profit. Why are you trying to put someone like that out of

business. Because the three vehicles that we looked at were really

dangerous. So many, many customers that are completely happy with what

they have had. Three cars we took away. Three cars. Yes. All three of

those cars were unroad worth any when -- unroadworthy when supplied

to us. I disagree with that. We will be more vigilant. I can't tell you

more than that. Bye-bye. And so that was 2007. But, fast forward to

February this year when our old friends Peter Firth and Gerry White

made another appearance on our screens. This time, though, they

were making headlines on the local news.

I've got a copy of it here in my collection. I am quite the

conoisseur, you know. But only if it is recorded on VHS, I am like that,

you see, a traditionaliest. Look! Points West from February earlier

this year. You would be amazed how few people

accept my invitations to film night! Peter Firth is confronted on camera

in 2007 by Rowing Traders. It's me! What are the chances of that! They

should have explained I was wearing a disguise.

This This footage was film 20 20ten when it was time for the boys in

blue to pay a visit. What this they done to warrant the attention of the

constabulary? Stephen is from Scam Busters which ran the investigation

alongside the police. What did you find out about the way Peter and

Gerald were dealing with their customers? They were running the

equivalent of a loan-shark business in the car business. The customers

seemed to be people who didn't have a lot of money to spend on a car,

and they offered to sell them cheap cars with a small deposit, say ?200,

and then ?100 a month. It was a sort of credit deal, but they are

unlicensed, there was no documentation, nothing on paper. So

in actual fact, you don't own the car at all because you never

received the documents? That's absolutely right. And it seems Firth

and White thought not handing over the documents gave them carte

blanche to reclaim the cars whenever they wanted. If there was any

suggestion that people were struggling to pay, often for no good

reason at all, they simply found the car taken back.

Mary brought two vehicles from them and they took both away from her,

again, without her knowledge, a van she had taken in to be fixed, and a

Ford galaxy taken from her drive at home. We were left basically ?4

thousand-plus-out of pocket, no plan, no car, no way of getting

around. Mary's complaint along with others led to a raid on their

premises. This was the inside of Peter Firth's van. Those are the

keys for the vehicles sold or out for hire. They kept a key, and they

could drive what you thought was your car away at any time? And they

did. But Peter Firth didn't just have

keys in his van. He was carrying items that were far more worrying.

Baseball bat, for example, and a 12(d) inch knife. A ball chav -- and

a 12-inch knife. A couple of mobile phones there. Stun guns and

firearms. They're stun guns disguised as mobile phones. That is

the sort of thing that you would jab into somebody's leg, make them very

unhappy that they ever met you. So I believe. It's not your typical car

dealer's kit. I would not not. I would think this must be seen as

exceptingal. The judge did describe these two as rogue car dealers, and

I think that's undoubtedly what we are talking about. We don't know

exactly what they used their weapons for, but you can guess their

intentions probably weren't very nice. In the end. Our boys got their

day in court. Peter Firth got at that three-year sentence for firearm

offences and for engaging in activity without a consumer credit

licence. Gerald Gerald white White got 12

months,six for having no credit licence and six for fraud charges.

That's great news. Nothing makes me happier than finding out what the

rogues have been up to since we made the programme. It's all thanks to

you, your tip-offs. We wouldn't know about it otherwise. Off you go, tell

us what you know, and we will do what we do best.

That's how you fete and touch, yes? -- that's how you get in touch.

You're still on the sofa! Come on. That's just a toilet!

I got out of there eventually! Anyway, it's thanks to you and your

vigilance that we can put Chris Whyatt, Katheri Hardwick, Peter

Firth and Gerry White right back where they belong - in our rogues'

gallery. Watchdog is back in the spring, so keep your stories coming

in. Until then from all of us, good night.