:00:09. > :00:14.Tonight - Kwik Fit change 5 million tyres a year but are they inflating
:00:15. > :00:19.bills by charging for thin air? Watchdog finds out.
:00:20. > :00:24.A whistleblower explains how the rip-offs work and why you would not
:00:25. > :00:27.spot it. We went undercover to investigate
:00:28. > :00:48.and employed a special agent. It sounds like a job for Hollins, Chris
:00:49. > :00:53.Hollins. Hello and welcome to Watchdog. We
:00:54. > :00:58.are live for the next hour. Fighting for your rights. What would you do
:00:59. > :01:03.if your pension pot disappeared? With the new pension freedoms in
:01:04. > :01:07.place, a staggering number of you are being targeted by scammers, we
:01:08. > :01:11.will tell you how to ensure you are not one of them.
:01:12. > :01:16.Plus, we help the viewers against the biggest online retailer in the
:01:17. > :01:20.world, Amazon shut their accounts for sending things back.
:01:21. > :01:27.And we are explaining what the Sharm El-Sheikh incident could have on all
:01:28. > :01:30.of our holidays. And also, how bad can a rogue salesman be? This could
:01:31. > :01:49.qualify for a medal position. Yes, God works in mysterious ways.
:01:50. > :01:55.Tonight, she has put that man in jail.
:01:56. > :02:01.Plus, chocolate. Yes, apparently every lady loves
:02:02. > :02:05.Milk Tray. But they will not like the fact that Cadbury's are
:02:06. > :02:11.shrinking the boxes and doing the same to more of your favourites.
:02:12. > :02:19.First, in the week that Spectre has broken the box office, we have been
:02:20. > :02:28.talking about some of the baddies. Gold Finger, Jaws, BlowFelt And
:02:29. > :02:34.Zenia Onatop. And now a rip-off, where Kwik Fit
:02:35. > :02:40.charge you extra for thin air. Magnificent, isn't she? 0 of 06 in
:02:41. > :02:46.2.3 seconds. If there is one thing to rely on in
:02:47. > :02:55.a James Bond film, it is the best cars. And Spectre is no exception as
:02:56. > :02:59.007 gets the keys to this custom built Aston Martin. According to
:03:00. > :03:05.Kwik Fit, if you really want to drive like James Bond, even in a
:03:06. > :03:10.Porsche, instead of filling the tyres are normal air, you must fill
:03:11. > :03:16.them with nitrogen! Yes, air, it is so last decade. Kwik Fit claim by
:03:17. > :03:22.filling the tyres with extra nitrogen, it will improve
:03:23. > :03:26.performance and slow down deflation. Saying as nitrogen escapes slowly,
:03:27. > :03:32.it keeps the tyres inflated for longer. Perfect for high-speed
:03:33. > :03:38.chases and secret missions and collecting the nappies from the
:03:39. > :03:41.supermarket! Kwik Fit are keen for everyone to try nitrogen, that they
:03:42. > :03:46.are determined to give it to the customers, even if they want it or
:03:47. > :03:52.not. We have heard from customers across the country, taking in tyres
:03:53. > :03:58.for replacement, and found to be charged ?1. 50 pertyre for nitrogen
:03:59. > :04:03.inflation, despite never asking for it.
:04:04. > :04:09.I did not ask for it but when I got the bill, it was added to it. They
:04:10. > :04:14.charged me for nitrogen inflation. I was not asked about the service. I
:04:15. > :04:17.am not happy about this. Finding your bill inflated without
:04:18. > :04:24.your knowledge is clearly frustrating. But eye been sent on a
:04:25. > :04:27.top secret mission to meet Paul Hart, who in Southampton was having
:04:28. > :04:31.troubles with his tyres. So you took it to Kwik Fit, what
:04:32. > :04:36.happened? They changed the tyre. They gave me the bill. I looked at
:04:37. > :04:40.the bill, it said nitrogen inflation.
:04:41. > :04:44.Did you ask for it? No. So Paul became a little suspicious
:04:45. > :04:52.about what exactly had been added to his tyre. So he decided to
:04:53. > :04:56.investigate further. So he may not be a pretend Micks agent like me but
:04:57. > :05:02.Paul is not your average Kwik Fit customer.
:05:03. > :05:07.I thought, I'm a diving instructor, I have the equipment to analyse air
:05:08. > :05:11.and gases, so I thought I would analyse them to see if they had
:05:12. > :05:15.actually put in nitrogen. So they picked on the wrong
:05:16. > :05:20.patterned you tested the car. What did you find? It had air in it.
:05:21. > :05:25.Just standard air, no different to the air that we breathe now.
:05:26. > :05:30.What did they say? They were embarrassed. They did not think that
:05:31. > :05:34.anyone would query the fact that there was not nitrogen in the tyres.
:05:35. > :05:39.They didn't have an answer for me, they would give me the money back.
:05:40. > :05:45.It was not about the money. It was the fact that they were lying to me
:05:46. > :05:50.and probably to others as well. So we sent our undercover agents to
:05:51. > :05:57.ten Kwik Fit stores across the UK and asked them to change a tyre.
:05:58. > :06:02.We found that the ?1. 50 for nitrogen inflation automatically
:06:03. > :06:06.added to the bill. Nine out of ten branches charged us, despite the
:06:07. > :06:11.team not requesting it and not being asked if we wanted it. On the nine
:06:12. > :06:16.that did charge us, what exactly were we paying for? We called in
:06:17. > :06:23.Mark Jones, a nitrogen generator expert. Or to you and me, someone
:06:24. > :06:29.who knows a lot about gas. Today he is our very own Q. He is going to
:06:30. > :06:36.test our tyres. First, a quick science lesson. Air
:06:37. > :06:42.is made up of 78% nitrogen. 21% oxygen and 1% other gases. If they
:06:43. > :06:48.had added nitrogen to the tyres, the oxygen percentage should go down.
:06:49. > :06:52.The test equipment takes a sample of air to from the tyres and feeds it
:06:53. > :06:58.into the oxygen content here to measure it. 21% of that is oxygen,
:06:59. > :07:03.that will tell us it is just air. Lower amounts will tell us that
:07:04. > :07:07.nitrogen has been added. Two tyres had been filled with pure
:07:08. > :07:11.nitrogen. So although we had not asked for it, they were giving us
:07:12. > :07:16.what we were charged for. Then it got interesting. The next tyre was
:07:17. > :07:25.mostly air. With just a small amount of extra nitrogen. What about the
:07:26. > :07:29.rest? This is just air in the tyre. That is definitely air? This is
:07:30. > :07:34.definitely an air sample. It is looking like air. 100% air. No
:07:35. > :07:39.nitrogen added. In total of the nine tyres we
:07:40. > :07:43.tested, supposedly filled with nitrogen, six were actually just
:07:44. > :07:48.air. One had only a very small amount of extra nitrogen. So, were
:07:49. > :07:52.we unlucky, or could this be a wider problem? We were contacted by a
:07:53. > :07:57.whistleblower who still works at Kwik Fit and is unhappy with the
:07:58. > :08:04.practices. He agreed to give us the inside story.
:08:05. > :08:08.I have worked in about 10-12 different centres, seeing nitrogen
:08:09. > :08:14.used once or twice. I can guarantee that the nitrogen is added to as
:08:15. > :08:19.many bills. You are given a bonus. You want the bonus at the end of the
:08:20. > :08:24.month. ?1. 50 added to the bill is not a huge amount of money. Bur Kwik
:08:25. > :08:28.Fit changes over 5 million tyres a year. If some customers are charged
:08:29. > :08:34.for nitrogen that they are not getting, it is a money maker. And
:08:35. > :08:37.does nitrogen inflation make that much of a difference to the car? We
:08:38. > :08:44.asked the AA. . There are some applications where
:08:45. > :08:48.the use of nitrogen is beneficial, aircraft tyres, Formula One.
:08:49. > :08:52.Motorsports, the extreme temperatures and lowering of the
:08:53. > :08:58.tyres means that the nitrogen is beneficial. But from our
:08:59. > :09:04.perspective, the use of nitrogen as opposed to air, it does not offer
:09:05. > :09:06.benefits. We find it difficult to justify the investment in nitrogen
:09:07. > :09:12.tyres. So, Kwik Fit, we cannot wait to hear
:09:13. > :09:16.your explanation of this one. In the meantime, I think I might just stick
:09:17. > :09:20.to good old fashioned air in my tyres.
:09:21. > :09:24.Here is the reaction. Kwik Fit apologising and saying:
:09:25. > :09:28.They will retrain staff and review the procedures across the centres.
:09:29. > :09:32.Saying drivers who think that they may have been affected can bring in
:09:33. > :09:39.the receipt and Kwik Fit will refill the tyres with nitrogen and give
:09:40. > :09:43.them a ?5 voucher. The company insists that there are benefits to
:09:44. > :09:47.nitrogen inflation, and it will offer nitrogen inflation free of
:09:48. > :09:55.charge to any Kwik Fit customer. More good news. Two weeks ago, we
:09:56. > :09:59.reported Vauxhall Zafiras bursting into flame, Vauxhall said that they
:10:00. > :10:04.were investigating but stopped short of recalling the cars. Tonight they
:10:05. > :10:08.told us that they are now recalling the Vauxhall Zafira B. It the
:10:09. > :10:15.company does not know the root cause of the fire but will write to all
:10:16. > :10:19.affected owners to recall every one of the 220,000 Vauxhall Zafira Bs on
:10:20. > :10:23.the road to repair and ensure that the cars are safe. Thank you for
:10:24. > :10:29.getting in touch to #e7 help us with the story.
:10:30. > :10:34.E-mail about any stories and go to the website.
:10:35. > :10:43.You can tweet them to us. Or post them on our Facebook page.
:10:44. > :10:46.Jacques Rogge provide us with worries, tears and sometimes
:10:47. > :10:50.laughter but after they leave your screen, there can be a legal process
:10:51. > :10:54.to bring them to justice. We don't have much to do with that it can
:10:55. > :10:59.take years. But we like to hear about it and tell you what has
:11:00. > :11:03.happened so you can throw your slippers at the television all over
:11:04. > :11:25.again. I'm sure that there are no other programmes around that will
:11:26. > :11:29.make you do that. You know, I'm fairly certain when we
:11:30. > :11:33.see the apprentices lining up at the beginning of a series, what they are
:11:34. > :11:39.saying may noting be everything that they are feeling.
:11:40. > :11:44.I'm a corporate panther in a flock of 14506789 ready to do business and
:11:45. > :11:50.put claws in your contract. I'm not a person, I'm a Ferrari but faster
:11:51. > :11:56.and remembered. I am ready to blow your world apart with my ambition
:11:57. > :12:00.bomb. The fuse is lit, now stand back and watch me bang.
:12:01. > :12:04.That is OK. We all need to give ourselves a pep talk from time to
:12:05. > :12:07.time. Just to boost the confidence. Anyway, the show would not be the
:12:08. > :12:15.same if they said what they were really feeling. Imagine? I have not
:12:16. > :12:22.slept a week as I'm so excited and nervous about this. My jacket is a
:12:23. > :12:27.bit tight and I have a mouth ulcer. I bought new shoes, that was a
:12:28. > :12:32.mistake. I hope we only walk on carpets, so I can take them back if
:12:33. > :12:37.I am thrown out. I have not worked in several months
:12:38. > :12:42.as everyone thinks I am too shouty. I really need the loo.
:12:43. > :12:48.I suppose that at the end of the day they are only fooling themselves. We
:12:49. > :12:54.are not fooling anyone, are we, fake Sugar! Can you do the voice? No, OK.
:12:55. > :13:02.Salesmen, well, they are a completely different ball of wax.
:13:03. > :13:06.Yes, you see they have a responsibility to other people, not
:13:07. > :13:09.just themselves. And it is a big responsibility especially when they
:13:10. > :13:16.are dealing with the old or the vulnerable. Back in 2013, we
:13:17. > :13:27.featured an alarm selling company called Inter Defence Security Ltd.
:13:28. > :13:32.Run by this man: Nemar Restaga. He sold overpriced security alarms to
:13:33. > :13:38.people who did not need them. We spent Becky undercover to the
:13:39. > :13:43.call centre to find out if he put the fear into old people wherever
:13:44. > :13:51.they went. Becky was give an script when cold calling customers.
:13:52. > :13:56.It had certain tactics. They called themselves Crime
:13:57. > :14:00.Awareness advisors. Trained to say these types of things on every call,
:14:01. > :14:05.no matter where the person that they are speaking to lives. Don't move
:14:06. > :14:16.me? A few sales from this salesman will change your mind.
:14:17. > :14:21.That does sound horrible and your mother must be proud, not to mention
:14:22. > :14:31.your grandmother! Unfortunately, it was not a one-off.
:14:32. > :14:46.So what motivates this lying to an scaring of the elderly? Yes, no
:14:47. > :14:47.surprise. Inter Defence are about making money at the expense of the
:14:48. > :15:06.elderly. Here is the big boss. To check what happened after the
:15:07. > :15:10.cold calls, we set up two houses with two actors to see what they're
:15:11. > :15:16.travelling salesman or risk assessment advisers would tell us.
:15:17. > :15:26.Here they come. We have security expert Terry listening. The first
:15:27. > :15:27.one wastes no time about telling us about criminals running loose in the
:15:28. > :15:41.area. It is all nonsense. The salesman is using scare tactics.
:15:42. > :15:49.This is nonsense, it just does not happen. Round two. Next we hear
:15:50. > :15:59.their alarm systems have been awarded a gold certificate. In case
:16:00. > :16:04.you were wondering, the NSI is the national security Inspectorate.
:16:05. > :16:08.However... They have assured us this company does not have any such
:16:09. > :16:12.recognition. That is a live then. There is good news, we are told
:16:13. > :16:17.there is a promotion and the system is free and we only pay for
:16:18. > :16:25.monitoring. There is a catch. See if you can guess what it is.
:16:26. > :16:30.Yes it is misleading to claim the system is free for a limited time
:16:31. > :16:35.only when they are not. It is against the law. And they are not
:16:36. > :16:41.cheap. A 12 year contract is around ?5,500. That only it will cost that
:16:42. > :16:48.if we sign today, which. We were not the only ones watching
:16:49. > :16:54.the boss of Inter Defence Security. Colin from the insolvency service
:16:55. > :16:56.had his eyes on him. He was concerned with how quickly Inter
:16:57. > :17:03.Defence would install the alarms after the sales visit.
:17:04. > :17:06.As soon as the customer signed the contract in the home, the alarm
:17:07. > :17:12.system would be fitted within days and certainly within the seven days
:17:13. > :17:17.statutory cooling off period, which would hinder the customer exercising
:17:18. > :17:23.the right to cancel the contract. It was confirmed that the boss was
:17:24. > :17:30.mis-selling monarchs. And he was stopped from being a company
:17:31. > :17:33.director. He was given that because of the serious and objectionable
:17:34. > :17:40.sales practice the company had deployed in persuading people to
:17:41. > :17:47.sign up. We do not know what he is up to now. Maybe you do.
:17:48. > :17:55.You really cannot answer at all, can you?
:17:56. > :17:59.Fake Lord Sugar is left speechless by our rogues, but you do not have
:18:00. > :18:04.to be. If you know what they are up to now, let us know. Even though
:18:05. > :18:09.they may have moved on, we haven't. We never give up.
:18:10. > :18:15.Why? Because rogues who keep on being rogues can leave a devastating
:18:16. > :18:17.trail behind them. Witness the son of one man who never recovered from
:18:18. > :18:23.being caught out. That still haunts me, as to how
:18:24. > :18:31.somebody could do that to an old person. It is something I will never
:18:32. > :18:35.forget. It sticks in my mind and I think about it a lot.
:18:36. > :18:39.Arokia Rajiv is talking about received his sentence today. We will
:18:40. > :18:45.be happy to share that with you in ten.
:18:46. > :18:48.Still to come: When is a returns policy not a returns policy? When
:18:49. > :18:53.you send something back to Amazon and they block your account for
:18:54. > :18:56.doing it. Now, pension freedoms. Six months
:18:57. > :19:00.ago the government brought in new rules that promised the biggest
:19:01. > :19:06.shake-up in almost a century. This is what the Chancellor had to say.
:19:07. > :19:10.Pensioners will have complete freedom to draw down as much or as
:19:11. > :19:16.little of their pension pot as they want. No caps, no drawdown limit. No
:19:17. > :19:22.one will have to buy an annuity. The new rules seemed radical, promising
:19:23. > :19:25.to give savers bank account style access to their pension so they
:19:26. > :19:32.could withdraw what they wanted when they wanted. Six months on, how easy
:19:33. > :19:36.is it to get hold of your pension? It is a well earned reward for
:19:37. > :19:41.decades of hard work, but getting your hands on your pension and using
:19:42. > :19:46.that cashed the way you see fit has historically been like trying to
:19:47. > :19:50.break into a bank vault. The years, millions reaching retirement had to
:19:51. > :19:55.spend most of their pension pot on a product called an annuity. It meant
:19:56. > :20:00.you would get a guaranteed income for the rest of your life.
:20:01. > :20:05.But that would be that, the pension fund would be locked away with no
:20:06. > :20:10.opportunity to withdraw any further cash. So in April, the government
:20:11. > :20:13.introduced new rules to give savers more freedom to get hold of their
:20:14. > :20:20.cash, including bank account style access. It certainly sounds like a
:20:21. > :20:24.fairer system. Complete freedom to access money whenever and however
:20:25. > :20:28.you want to. Except that when it comes to getting
:20:29. > :20:34.your hands on your pension pot, the stories you have told us our wrath
:20:35. > :20:41.delays, chaos and total confusion. The first barrier, but Watchdog
:20:42. > :20:45.viewers have faced is pension companies do not have to follow
:20:46. > :20:50.these new rules and can refuse to let you access your cash the way you
:20:51. > :20:54.want. It seems to be luck, down to whether the pension provider you
:20:55. > :21:01.chose years ago decided to offer the new freedoms or not. 55-year-old
:21:02. > :21:09.Trevor Wilson from Birmingham works for an engineering company and has a
:21:10. > :21:15.pension with Aegon. He asked to take out a ?20,000 lump sum to help with
:21:16. > :21:19.his mortgage. They said they would not be prepared to support the
:21:20. > :21:23.scheme and my only option was to transfer my pension to an
:21:24. > :21:29.alternative provider. Because companies do not have to offer the
:21:30. > :21:35.new freedoms Aegon were free to deny access to the money. I like to think
:21:36. > :21:40.I can make decisions about my own financial future. But that is not
:21:41. > :21:47.the case and I am prone to the whims of individual providers. He will now
:21:48. > :21:51.have to wait if he chooses to transfer his pension to a company
:21:52. > :21:56.that would offer the cash. Being forced to go through pension
:21:57. > :22:00.transfers or put sure plans on hold is not seem to be the pension
:22:01. > :22:05.freedom the government dropped off. But as you have been telling us,
:22:06. > :22:08.even if the company you are with offers the pension freedoms, it does
:22:09. > :22:17.not mean they understand how it works. Chris Carter, a 65-year-old
:22:18. > :22:23.retired manager from Essex heard about the changes. He decided to
:22:24. > :22:28.cash in his ?15,803 pension pot as he thought he could find a better
:22:29. > :22:38.deal elsewhere. He contacted his provider, Phoenix life. But there
:22:39. > :22:41.was a catch. I got a letter saying I would have to see an independent
:22:42. > :22:46.adviser and the quotes were ridiculous for the amount we were
:22:47. > :22:52.talking about. The fund was 15000 and the quotes I was getting was
:22:53. > :22:57.?750 initially, plus ?150 an hour to look at my situation. After that
:22:58. > :23:02.they said without that they could not pay me my money. Why was he
:23:03. > :23:07.being forced to pay so much for advice? Chris's pension plan had
:23:08. > :23:12.guarantees, which meant he could get a yearly payment at a competitive
:23:13. > :23:16.rate. The government put in place new rules that these pensions if
:23:17. > :23:20.they are deemed to be worth ?30,000 or more, you have to pay for
:23:21. > :23:29.financial advice before the money is released. Phoenix decided that his
:23:30. > :23:34.pension could end up being worth over ?30,000 if he lived a long
:23:35. > :23:39.time. But he did not want yearly payments, he wanted his money. Each
:23:40. > :23:43.phone call was about the same thing, no, we cannot because of
:23:44. > :23:49.legislation. It was created every time. In desperation, he called
:23:50. > :23:54.Phoenix Life and tried a final time to get his hands on his money. Their
:23:55. > :23:59.response was not what he expected. I got the call to say it had been
:24:00. > :24:02.decided they would pay the money. I could not believe it had gone on so
:24:03. > :24:11.long without a result, when suddenly it changed. A complete U-turn. The
:24:12. > :24:15.company said they would now not make him take financial advice despite
:24:16. > :24:19.saying the advice was required by law, they said it was based on their
:24:20. > :24:23.interpretation which they have now decided to change. The pension
:24:24. > :24:30.companies who are looking after our money should be taken to task. Chris
:24:31. > :24:37.had a narrow escape, he managed to avoid paying up to ?1000 for advice
:24:38. > :24:42.his company was not sure he needed. And we have heard of a more serious
:24:43. > :24:46.problem. It seems when some of you have tried to access your pension,
:24:47. > :24:56.money has been mysteriously disappearing, with no explanation or
:24:57. > :25:02.warning. 65-year-old Peter Brady is a retired office manager from
:25:03. > :25:06.decided to cash in his ?18,000 plus pension pot to take his family on
:25:07. > :25:14.holiday and cover his future funeral costs. He decided to transfer the
:25:15. > :25:18.pension from Aviva to another provider because he could not cash
:25:19. > :25:25.in the full about. The letter I received from Aviva in February
:25:26. > :25:29.stated that my pension pot was valued at ?18,000 and this would be
:25:30. > :25:34.the minimum I would receive. Peter went ahead with a transfer and
:25:35. > :25:41.received a letter from Aviva saying it was a success, but there was a
:25:42. > :25:45.problem. The final amount transferred was almost ?11,000 less
:25:46. > :25:53.Aviva said the pension was work. I was totally devastated. I had lost
:25:54. > :25:58.?11,000. It seems totally unfair. I feel I have been robbed of my
:25:59. > :26:03.pension. Peter wrote to Aviva asking them where his money was but seven
:26:04. > :26:09.weeks later, Peter still has had no response. I am totally disgusted. I
:26:10. > :26:13.cannot understand why they would want to trick a pension of the way
:26:14. > :26:18.they have -- treat a pension at the way they have treated me. Peter is
:26:19. > :26:21.still waiting to find out where his missing money has gone, all because
:26:22. > :26:27.he was trying to get hold of his cash. Is the pension industry giving
:26:28. > :26:30.us the freedom we were promised, or are the pension vault doors not as
:26:31. > :26:34.open as the government would have you believe?
:26:35. > :26:41.It is apologies all round from the pension providers. Aegon said it was
:26:42. > :26:53.sorry it did not explain more clearly. And an apology to Chris
:26:54. > :26:58.Carter. And Peter Brady, since we got in touch, Aviva has refunded the
:26:59. > :27:03.?11,000, plus interest, and paid in compensation. If you want any
:27:04. > :27:08.advice, our experts are here to answer your pension questions. We
:27:09. > :27:13.will be explaining how to avoid the pension scams.
:27:14. > :27:17.Also coming up later, travel expert Simon is here to talk about how
:27:18. > :27:25.events like the Sharm el-Sheikh air crash could change the way we
:27:26. > :27:29.travel. Cadbury announced yesterday they are
:27:30. > :27:34.altering their fruit and nut bars by adding sultanas to the recipe which
:27:35. > :27:39.before used raisins only. People describe it as cost saving and are
:27:40. > :27:46.complaining. Raisins, sultanas, what is the difference? I have a good
:27:47. > :27:49.dried fruit answer. We contacted the dried fruit trade association who
:27:50. > :27:55.told us that raisins are left to dry on the ground for up to four weeks,
:27:56. > :27:59.whereas sultanas dry for two, three weeks, before being dipped in a
:28:00. > :28:08.solution that fixes the lighter colour. You will know that sultanas
:28:09. > :28:12.have been between five and 10% cheaper in many of the last 20 years
:28:13. > :28:21.and chocolate lovers are saying that Cadbury is putting cost ahead of
:28:22. > :28:27.taste. This year already Roses. Have shrunk. Chocolate fingers. Have
:28:28. > :28:33.shrunk. Here Rose. Have shrunk. And we have a tip-off about another
:28:34. > :28:50.favourite. And if I may say so, the lady loves...
:28:51. > :28:58.And all because the lady loves Milk Tray. I love those advertisements.
:28:59. > :29:02.We are talking about Milk Tray and a viewer, Steve from Staffordshire,
:29:03. > :29:07.has been to Cairo recently. He got in touch to tell us the box of
:29:08. > :29:20.chocolates here have gone from 400 grams, like this, down to 300 grams
:29:21. > :29:24.-- 360 grams. 10% less. The prices -- the price has stayed the same. We
:29:25. > :29:31.counted them. In the old box, 38 chocolates. In the new one, 34. And
:29:32. > :29:39.if you look at the advertisement, 454 grams in those days. And we are
:29:40. > :29:45.down to 360. Cadbury said that they have changed the recipe of fruit and
:29:46. > :29:49.not bars to ensure flexibility of supplied dried fruit. And as the
:29:50. > :29:52.shrinking Milk Tray boxes, they say it is down to rising costs. They are
:29:53. > :30:04.auditioning for a new Milk Tray man. Well, everything is shrinking. Back
:30:05. > :30:09.to Jacques Rogge. Stories of salesman that we have followed long
:30:10. > :30:14.after the wheels have spun and the heated words exchanged. Talking of
:30:15. > :30:23.which, Fake k Lord Sugar is not speaking at the moment. What is up,
:30:24. > :30:29.Al? Cat got your tongu. Go on, do the catchphrase... Yeah.
:30:30. > :30:35.I think I may have a new apprentice for you. It is my old mate Geordie
:30:36. > :30:40.Phil. Phil, come on in.
:30:41. > :30:44.Hello, boys. Lovely to meet you. Listen, before we start, I better
:30:45. > :30:53.explain. I'm not big on hard work, too much hard work.
:30:54. > :30:59.I do a bit of busking at Whitby bay. Why not go down the pub, have a
:31:00. > :31:06.chat, I'll tell you a few jokes, oh, I see you want me to buy the first
:31:07. > :31:11.round. You're hired. You're hired! You're hired! Here is someone you
:31:12. > :31:20.would want to get off the premise as quickly as possible.
:31:21. > :31:28.Yes, a firm you would happily show the door were mam based Virgo
:31:29. > :31:32.healthcare Ltd. We featured them in 2010, after we received complaints
:31:33. > :31:36.by pressure selling and overcharging for products. Our actress called
:31:37. > :31:40.them out for information about a scooter and ended up with a
:31:41. > :31:43.masterclass in the hard sell for just about any product you can think
:31:44. > :31:55.of. The bath lift is ?2,000.
:31:56. > :31:59.The schooler is ?3,300. Now the mattress, that is ?1,500. For
:32:00. > :32:08.everything it would have worked out ?. 000. Taking off the 10% discount,
:32:09. > :32:12.it takes it down to just... And is it did not matter how many times the
:32:13. > :32:16.actress said it, the rep would not say no for an answer.
:32:17. > :32:20.I would like to think about it. I would like to consult my daughter.
:32:21. > :32:25.No, I don't really want to give you any money today.
:32:26. > :32:30.If you don't fancy writing a cheque, it could be done on a debit card.
:32:31. > :32:35.Can you go. I'm feeling bad. That is fine.
:32:36. > :32:43.I think May was saying "no". After two hours of pressure selling, the
:32:44. > :32:50.rep left empty handed. But was she a rotten apple? We sent our man in to
:32:51. > :33:07.work there. And the boss explained the pricing policy.
:33:08. > :33:14.So, there were two priceliests. -- price lists. The price that Virgo
:33:15. > :33:43.were prepared to sell at and what they wanted to sell at. How high did
:33:44. > :33:48.they inflate the price? So, the price was as high as the sales rep
:33:49. > :33:53.thought he could get away with. When our mole went door to door selling
:33:54. > :34:14.with a Virgo rep, we heard something more shock.
:34:15. > :34:19.Yeah, forget that the customer died. Far more important to focus on the
:34:20. > :34:23.fact that the order could not be cancelled so you get your
:34:24. > :34:30.commission. Here this guy is celebrating the
:34:31. > :34:42.sale to an 80-year-old man after two hours of pressurising him.
:34:43. > :34:50.Yeah, what a peach. We confronted the director of Virgo, Amajit Gill.
:34:51. > :34:55.How did he get how far around? Was it an electric scooter? No, it was
:34:56. > :35:00.not. Wow, is this what you are driving? When you run a business
:35:01. > :35:04.with a commission structure like yours has, then what you get is
:35:05. > :35:11.misbehaving salesman. That is the product? We have reported that the
:35:12. > :35:16.man stopped trading at Virgo Healthcare Ltd but continued to sell
:35:17. > :35:21.mobility products under other business names. So the customers
:35:22. > :35:27.were paying money but not receiving goods. In January, 2011, Derbyshire
:35:28. > :35:33.trading standards raided his home and business practices.
:35:34. > :35:37.We seized tens of thousands of business documents and computers to
:35:38. > :35:41.be examined for evidence and amongst other things we found ?34,000 worth
:35:42. > :35:44.of cash in the safe in a home that we seized.
:35:45. > :35:51.The raid provided them with evidence to take four individuals to court,
:35:52. > :35:59.including Ama jishgs t Gill, his wife and the salesman that we met
:36:00. > :36:06.working undercover at Virgo. In August, 2011, Amajit and his wife
:36:07. > :36:14.pleaded guilty to 25. Counts of fraud. Amajit was sentenced to 18
:36:15. > :36:16.months in prison. The other two received suspended sentences and
:36:17. > :36:22.community work. This is one of the most biggest and
:36:23. > :36:26.serious cases we have dealt with. They have been deliberately
:36:27. > :36:29.defrauding some of the most elderly and vulnerable in society. We are
:36:30. > :36:35.pleased to have been able to bring it to a successful conclusion.
:36:36. > :36:44.What about Mark Mars Bar Murphy, I hear you cry? Coming up next, the
:36:45. > :36:48.employee of the month, he is about to find the real meaning of Murphy's
:36:49. > :37:02.Law. It does not look good.
:37:03. > :37:06.Pensions and we are joined by Michelle Crammel and Sarah Penells,
:37:07. > :37:11.welcome to you, we have had many people getting in touch about the
:37:12. > :37:16.new pensions freedoms. Michelle, people have cashed in almost ?5
:37:17. > :37:21.billion. In your view, are the pension freedoms a good or a bad
:37:22. > :37:24.thing? What we hear is that the way that people are retiring is
:37:25. > :37:28.changing. Therefore, having more options about
:37:29. > :37:32.how to access your pension pot, we think it is a good thing.
:37:33. > :37:37.So you can get your hands on the money. Fergus, it is a good thing? I
:37:38. > :37:44.would be more guarded. I think that the system needed to be changed. Too
:37:45. > :37:48.rigid and inflexible. But it is a little too much too soon. There was
:37:49. > :37:52.a political element to the changes made it was about politics and
:37:53. > :37:58.bringing money into the revenue. That ?5 billion you have spoken
:37:59. > :38:06.about has probably brought in about ?5 million in tax to HR BC. But it
:38:07. > :38:10.has been badly explained and people are confused. We need to help people
:38:11. > :38:16.with the options. And Sarah, there is a potential for
:38:17. > :38:21.scams, for fraudsters to target people? Rightly so. And from the
:38:22. > :38:25.moment that this was announced we saw the increase in the scammers.
:38:26. > :38:30.They are taking advantage of people's confuse. In the run-up to
:38:31. > :38:35.the pension freedoms, they were offering people a free government
:38:36. > :38:39.review, as people had heard there was something free, that is how they
:38:40. > :38:42.were falling it. Since the pension freedoms have come in, it is more
:38:43. > :38:47.about getting people to transfer their money in the hopes of getting
:38:48. > :38:50.a better return but in the worst cases the money is disappearing
:38:51. > :38:54.entirely. In research, the figures were
:38:55. > :38:57.something like ?9 million taken in a few months. What kind of calls are
:38:58. > :39:03.you getting from people worried about this? People are getting cold
:39:04. > :39:08.calls, told that moving a pension is a good idea to do. We would say to
:39:09. > :39:12.be wary if you get a cold call, talking about your pension. In
:39:13. > :39:16.particular, like Sarah said, they are hanging on to the Government
:39:17. > :39:20.initiative. The Government Pension Service does not call you unless you
:39:21. > :39:26.have arranged an appointment. If they say that it is a good indicator
:39:27. > :39:32.it is a scam. And the scammers will put pressure on you to sign pipe
:39:33. > :39:36.work, take your time. Don't be put under pressure to sign paperwork.
:39:37. > :39:41.You have time to think about. You can call the pensions advisory
:39:42. > :39:44.service. We can talk you through what to check before signing away
:39:45. > :39:50.details of your pension. Thank you. That is a taste of the advice that
:39:51. > :39:54.we are giving out as the questions and the answers continue on the red
:39:55. > :40:01.Boulton after Watchdog finishes. So keep the questions coming.
:40:02. > :40:05.Now, Amazon opened their first physical book shop in America. How
:40:06. > :40:10.does it work. What a shop? Yeah? You go there,
:40:11. > :40:14.look at things, take them off the shelf, if you like them you buy
:40:15. > :40:18.them. If not, you put them back and leave the shop.
:40:19. > :40:22.Of course, millions of customers online can't do that, if you don't
:40:23. > :40:34.like an item you return it. That's the deal. So why would Amazon
:40:35. > :40:39.cut you off for doing that? When you shop online with Amazon, there are
:40:40. > :40:44.rules that you and the company must obey. Rules such as the consumers
:40:45. > :40:51.right act that allows customer to reject a faulty item for a full
:40:52. > :40:54.refund and Amazon's own terms and conditions, however, it seems that
:40:55. > :41:00.Amazon is playing by another set of rules. Time to play the Amazon game,
:41:01. > :41:05.a game where it appears that the rules are made up as you go along.
:41:06. > :41:11.Sounds like fun. I tell you what, it is impossible to understand.
:41:12. > :41:14.Most of the time buying something online is straightforward. Rolling
:41:15. > :41:20.the dice, and the majority of cases you get what you pay for and the
:41:21. > :41:23.item delivered to your door. But occasionally things go missing,
:41:24. > :41:28.arrive damaged or are not as described. In those situations,
:41:29. > :41:33.Amazon gives a refund or replacement. But if you return too
:41:34. > :41:39.many of the items you order, the odds could be stacked against you.
:41:40. > :41:44.John from Leicester has been a loyal customer for ten years, ordering
:41:45. > :41:50.about 06 item as year. But when several DVDs he ordered turned up
:41:51. > :41:57.damaged he requested replacements. It was more of an inconvenience to
:41:58. > :42:01.me than them. Each time Amazon offered a
:42:02. > :42:06.replacement. Bun then he was warned that the volume of refunds requested
:42:07. > :42:10.was in their opinion high. They said they could not guarantee further
:42:11. > :42:14.replacements and then they threatened to close his account.
:42:15. > :42:20.As far as John was concerned, the message was clear. Carry on sending
:42:21. > :42:25.things back, it would be game over. When I received the e-mail from
:42:26. > :42:29.Amazon, saying I returned too many things, I felt unvalid.
:42:30. > :42:33.Look online, there were many more complaints. So is there anything
:42:34. > :42:38.buried in the terms and the conditions that specifies how many
:42:39. > :42:43.returns you can make? In a word, no. So surely we are within our rights
:42:44. > :42:48.to return things? Amazon has clear rules on returning an item. But the
:42:49. > :42:51.terms and the conditions do not contain a single warning that they
:42:52. > :43:00.may close your account for returning what they decide is too many items.
:43:01. > :43:05.I went to meet consumer lawyer to see if I could be helped to
:43:06. > :43:10.understand this situation. What rights do rehave were returning
:43:11. > :43:14.items? There are regulations in place to allow 14 days in which to
:43:15. > :43:18.return the goods. The point of this is to give the opportunity to look
:43:19. > :43:23.at the goods, to see if they were how they were described, if it was
:43:24. > :43:28.what you were looking for. Amazon, although the consumers have 14 days
:43:29. > :43:33.to return the goods, Amazon have a generous returns policy. But what is
:43:34. > :43:37.the point of having it, if you are saying to people that they are using
:43:38. > :43:43.it too much. While the company allows some
:43:44. > :43:48.customers to play the Amazon game, others are disqualified. This is
:43:49. > :43:58.John Chapman, a retired computer operator. An Amazon customers since
:43:59. > :44:02.2006. He received a warning #50e78 after requesting replacement, for a
:44:03. > :44:06.mattress that had been lost by the courier.
:44:07. > :44:10.I said that everything I had done, every item returned was not my
:44:11. > :44:14.fault. But Amazon were not interested in what I had to say. The
:44:15. > :44:19.implication to me was that they thought that I was committing some
:44:20. > :44:23.sort of fraud. Despite five e-mails explaining what
:44:24. > :44:28.had gone wrong. Amazon ignored the appeals. In July, judging that he
:44:29. > :44:35.had broken the secret limit on returns and blocked the account.
:44:36. > :44:38.It did not matter how many e-mails I sent to Amazon, they ignored any
:44:39. > :44:44.pleas. All that I got was pro forma
:44:45. > :44:51.e-mails, saying that the account was closed, warmest regards, Amazon.
:44:52. > :45:03.By closing his account Amazon blocked John from using gift cards,
:45:04. > :45:07.leaving him ?25 out of pocket. You also lose access to the Amazon
:45:08. > :45:14.Kindle library. James has been shopping with Amazon for years,
:45:15. > :45:17.often buying 20 items a month. It got to a point I was ordering so
:45:18. > :45:21.frequently it was a running joke with the delivery guy, who would
:45:22. > :45:25.bring what I ordered the night before and when he left said, I will
:45:26. > :45:39.see you tomorrow. A couple of times I had to return items. I bought a
:45:40. > :45:45.nick on camera. Despite Nikon admitting people have had problems
:45:46. > :45:51.with the same camera James returned, his account was blocked. It was a
:45:52. > :45:56.blunt, strongly worded e-mail. Not a massive amount of detail. I jumped
:45:57. > :46:01.on the phone. To Alison customer support to be told they could not
:46:02. > :46:06.speak to me. I had basically -- Amazon. I had basically been
:46:07. > :46:13.excommunicated from Amazon. And he also lost his Amazon Prime
:46:14. > :46:20.membership. Despite paying ?79 for the service, he did not get a penny
:46:21. > :46:25.back stop in James' case it seems unduly harsh. Is that fair practice
:46:26. > :46:32.from Amazon? I do not think it is fair. They are living by a hidden
:46:33. > :46:35.set of rules. Amazon then decided to block his brother's account. They
:46:36. > :46:39.live at the same address and Amazon told his brother they were banning
:46:40. > :46:46.him because his account was linked to James 's. I received an e-mail
:46:47. > :46:49.the account had been closed and when I attempted to appeal I was told
:46:50. > :46:54.there was nothing I could do and they decided they would not reopen
:46:55. > :46:59.my count. Despite their attempts to get accounts reopened, John, James
:47:00. > :47:06.and Jerry's accounts are still closed and they still do not
:47:07. > :47:09.understand the rules they have supposedly broken. Millions of
:47:10. > :47:12.people enjoy playing the Amazon game but in this game there is only one
:47:13. > :47:18.winner and that is hardly playing fair, is it?
:47:19. > :47:22.Amazon do not think they were being unfair and said it only closes
:47:23. > :47:26.accounts in a tiny fraction of cases after reviewing them and working
:47:27. > :47:30.with customers to resolve problems. But it says when it identifies what
:47:31. > :47:35.it calls extreme abuse it will shut them down. It stands by its decision
:47:36. > :47:42.to close John Chapman, James and Jerry's accounts.
:47:43. > :47:46.Flights between Sharm el-Sheikh and the UK are on hold with David
:47:47. > :47:51.Cameron saying the Russian airliner was more likely than not downed by a
:47:52. > :47:56.terrorist bomb. It is worrying lots of people. I am joined by Simon who
:47:57. > :48:02.knows as much about the travel industry as anyone I know. Our view
:48:03. > :48:06.Amy in Leighton buzzard is due to travel to Sharm el-Sheikh. Now, like
:48:07. > :48:12.thousands, she does not want to go. What can she do? Her options are
:48:13. > :48:16.limited at this stage. The advice the government put out at 5pm
:48:17. > :48:20.yesterday, I have never seen anything like it. They said they
:48:21. > :48:24.think Sharm el-Sheikh is safe but they do not trust security at the
:48:25. > :48:29.airport and do not want anybody flying in and out. The airlines have
:48:30. > :48:33.been telling me, easyJet are flying in seven planes tomorrow. Monarch
:48:34. > :48:37.airlines flying out another five to bring people back will stop nothing
:48:38. > :48:44.will take people out for another week. If you are booked to travel
:48:45. > :48:48.after that, the companies say normal terms and conditions apply. It seems
:48:49. > :48:52.crazy if there is an incident like this, will they send another team to
:48:53. > :48:57.another airport if that happens? We have never been here before, but
:48:58. > :49:02.there will be people watching now thinking, I went to this airport and
:49:03. > :49:08.it was poor security, so it could multiply. In the, I would sit tight.
:49:09. > :49:13.There are a lot of people booked to booked to travel to Sharm el-Sheikh,
:49:14. > :49:17.Christmas, New Year, February half term, thinking they are not sure.
:49:18. > :49:23.Personally I would go, it is a great destination. Tour operators are
:49:24. > :49:29.likely to change things soon but they do not have too. Passengers
:49:30. > :49:35.returning only bringing back hand luggage. It is unprecedented. What
:49:36. > :49:42.you will have been told, you are allowed to take depending on the
:49:43. > :49:46.airline, one or two bags this size. That is because they do not want to
:49:47. > :49:53.open the hold. They will be sealed on the aircraft when they leave the
:49:54. > :49:57.UK and security staff will make sure they are not opened. It has to
:49:58. > :50:02.contain your valuables. Everything else will be shipped out by the RAF
:50:03. > :50:08.in a week, and then delivered to your house by career. Do you think
:50:09. > :50:13.the way we travel will be affected? I hope it does not mean that people
:50:14. > :50:18.will not go to Egypt, Morocco, Turkey. I think we will find people
:50:19. > :50:23.will not commit so many months in advance, but might leave it a couple
:50:24. > :50:28.of weeks, see what happens. The final reckoning for Virgo health
:50:29. > :50:32.care and their top salesman Mark Murphy. His apprentice is getting
:50:33. > :50:38.all the pearls of wisdom, unfortunately for mark, he does not
:50:39. > :50:42.realise he is getting them like David Bowie, in Sound and vision.
:50:43. > :50:45.Otherwise how would we hear him say this about the honourable customer
:50:46. > :51:03.he just pressured into parting with thousands?
:51:04. > :51:08.And then do this voice... Virgo health care is no more. Mark
:51:09. > :51:12.Murphy soon started working at Gemini Healthcare selling his
:51:13. > :51:16.speciality, mobility products. You can take the salesman out of rogue
:51:17. > :51:23.traders, but you cannot take the road trader out of a salesman.
:51:24. > :51:26.Gemini have used four names in 18 months, switching identities to
:51:27. > :51:31.avoid paying back customers. They were calling themselves Gemini
:51:32. > :51:39.Chairs when Mark Murphy knocked on this door. If I met your dad,
:51:40. > :51:46.described to me what I would have seen. The picture walking into my
:51:47. > :51:50.dad's house, you would have seen a frail old man, mentally and
:51:51. > :51:55.physically. He was almost blind. That would have been evident. As
:51:56. > :51:59.soon as you walked through the door you would see that. Richard found
:52:00. > :52:06.out Mark Murphy sold his dad a new bed at the cost of 2500.
:52:07. > :52:14.The fact that it was perfectly adequate what he got was not old,
:52:15. > :52:19.alarms bells rang. Did you get information about what had taken
:52:20. > :52:23.place from your dad? All I got out of him was he signed the paper, he
:52:24. > :52:29.wanted to get the man out of his house, those were his words. Richard
:52:30. > :52:35.immediately attempted to contact Gemini Chairs to cancel the order. I
:52:36. > :52:41.sent e-mails, I sent them cancellation letters by recorded
:52:42. > :52:46.delivery. I made probably 40, 50 phone calls to the company. The
:52:47. > :52:52.phone was never answered. My e-mails and letters were never acknowledged.
:52:53. > :52:55.George was an elderly man with dementia who was almost blind. Yet
:52:56. > :53:01.Mark Murphy walked away with a cheque apparently written by him.
:53:02. > :53:05.Murphy had actually written the check because my dad was not capable
:53:06. > :53:10.of writing a cheque because of the way he was. I checked through the
:53:11. > :53:16.bank and they cashed the cheque on the same day. What happened with the
:53:17. > :53:24.bed? We never saw the bed, nothing ever arrived. Basically, Murphy took
:53:25. > :53:28.?2500 off my dad and we never got any goods. Crimes like these do not
:53:29. > :53:35.just have a financial effect on the victim. Two years after meeting Mark
:53:36. > :53:40.Murphy, George passed away. Looking back, it was getting towards the end
:53:41. > :53:44.of my father's life and I think it was a serious blow to my dad, being
:53:45. > :53:50.90, having to go through that is, and that still haunts me as to how
:53:51. > :53:57.somebody could do that to an old person. It is something I will never
:53:58. > :54:04.forget, it sticks in my mind. I think about it an awful lot. Mark
:54:05. > :54:11.Murphy's murky dealings did not end there. In August 2014 he was sent to
:54:12. > :54:17.prison for 15 months, the stealing hundreds of pounds elderly and
:54:18. > :54:22.vulnerable women in their own homes. Whilst he was behind bars there was
:54:23. > :54:28.a big investigation going on into Murphy's dealings. It was led by PC
:54:29. > :54:34.Alan Reeves and during his investigation he watched our film.
:54:35. > :54:38.What was it like, watching footage? It was abhorrent. I could not
:54:39. > :54:42.believe what I was watching. It showed me the kind of person he was
:54:43. > :54:54.and how victims in this had no chance. During a raid on Gemini
:54:55. > :54:58.Healthcare offices Alan discovered the company pursue people between 70
:54:59. > :55:03.and 90 years old and he found prompt cards which gave a worrying insight
:55:04. > :55:06.into how vulnerable people were targeted. The card would give the
:55:07. > :55:14.impression, although I would not directly say, they were something to
:55:15. > :55:18.do with social services. So people think somebody is coming to give me
:55:19. > :55:24.something for nothing. That is the impression they wanted to give. When
:55:25. > :55:29.Mr Murphy turns up at the address in a prearranged appointment, half the
:55:30. > :55:34.battle is done. Invariably what Mark Murphy would then do is route around
:55:35. > :55:37.the house. The PC identified two other victims alongside Georgiou had
:55:38. > :55:42.been precious old mobility Aids but never received the goods. He had
:55:43. > :55:46.enough evidence to take Mark Murphy and the proprietor of the company to
:55:47. > :55:51.court. They denied it and at the end of the trial, the jury came back and
:55:52. > :56:01.found them guilty. Three counts of fraud each and what I have never
:56:02. > :56:05.seen before, the jury were out 14 minutes. It vindicated my thoughts
:56:06. > :56:11.around this and obviously the jury has seen through Mr Murphy when he
:56:12. > :56:14.gave evidence. Today Mark Murphy was sentenced to five and a half years
:56:15. > :56:21.in prison and the judge imposed a criminal behaviour order, and also a
:56:22. > :56:25.timetable for a proceeds of crime order to make sure that as much of
:56:26. > :56:29.the money he took from the old and vulnerable is recovered and put to
:56:30. > :56:34.good use. It is not a face you will see for some time. But one you need
:56:35. > :56:40.to commit to memory. In the rogues gallery and also in prison, Mark
:56:41. > :56:45.Mars bar Murphy. Thank you so much for your e-mails
:56:46. > :56:49.and text messages. The Kwik Fit story, our investigation showing
:56:50. > :56:53.some garage is charging us for fitting tyres with nitrogen were
:56:54. > :56:58.filling them with air. Said James I worked for many years at Kwik Fit
:56:59. > :57:03.and nitrogen was always charged but rarely put into the tyres. Keep your
:57:04. > :57:08.receipt and get your money back. And a tweet to say Amazon shutdown my
:57:09. > :57:12.family's account for too many returns with no warning. And people
:57:13. > :57:17.not happy about chocolate. Liz said she is annoyed about Cadbury and
:57:18. > :57:20.their shrinking products. She has noticed more examples of shrinking
:57:21. > :57:25.chocolates and has the wrappers to prove it.
:57:26. > :57:34.Keep sending your story. You can go to the website and write to us. Next
:57:35. > :57:39.time how safe are the camera drones flying around above our heads?
:57:40. > :57:44.Some are crashing. In Rogue Traders, the phone scam providing a
:57:45. > :57:49.life in the sun for its boss. And more advice on the pension scams,
:57:50. > :57:53.missing money and everything involved in pension freedoms. Press
:57:54. > :57:59.the red button and a new screen should pop up. Watchdog will be back
:58:00. > :58:02.in two weeks at 8pm. Until then, good night.