Episode 7 Watchdog

Last week we showed you remote-controlled drones

You've since been in touch with stories

We meet a family who's one-year-old lost an eye.

So why isn't more being done to keep us safe from these devices?

We're live for the next hour, fighting for your rights.

We see evidence of the growing trade in illegal puppies,

which brings sick and dying dogs into our homes in their thousands.

I ask Minister George Eustace what exactly he's doing to stop them.

And Gizmo, our rescue puppy, is now confident enough to join us.

Also, do you take your phone on holiday?

Many firms offer travel packages which claim to save you money,

but you've been telling us how they can actually cost you thousands.

And Black Friday, the one-day sales phenomenon imported from America -

it kicks off tomorow, but before you get that credit card

out, you might want to listen to what I've got to tell you later.

Is it Black Friday or is it "Blag Friday"?

And, in Rogue Traders we catch out a Cardiff car dealer who doesn't

impress this class of nine-year-olds.

It makes me feel like he's a little greedy, that he wants to take things

for himself. And selfish. And like, where's my money. You haven't handed

that money over yet, that's money you said you were going to pay

straight away under contract. You've failed to do that haven't you? They

spotted it quickly didn't they? Now, last week we highlighted

the safety risk posed by the thousands of remote control drones

flying around above our heads. We've seen how do you to pilot or

mechanical error they can fall out of the sky.

Since then, lots of you have been in touch to tell us about damage to

property and potentially dangerous near-miss accidents.

But this week a family contacted us after their son suffered

life-changing injuries. It is hard to belief that just seven

weeks ago Oscar was in an horrific accident which in one instant

changed his life forever. I was told he was hit in the face by a drone. I

can't really remember what I was thinking at the time. I just

remember I was waiting for somebody to come and say that it was OK. But

sadly for Oscar it was far from OK. The toddler had been in the garden

with his dad when their family friend Simon, an experienced drone

operator, decided to test one out. It was up for about 60 seconds. As I

brought it back down to land, it clipped the tree and span around,

and lost control. The next thing I heard my friend was shrieking oh,

God no, and his baby on the floor crying. The drone had caught Oscar

in the face and its propeller sliced through his right eye. He was taken

to hospital in an ambulance. It wasn't until we got to Birmingham he

opened his eye a little bit. What I saw, I can still see it now, what I

thought was the bottom half of his eye. It is the worst thing I've ever

seen. I just hoped and prayed all the way there that what I saw wasn't

true, that it wasn't real. You can't take it in. It's the shock of it

all. It's just too much really. And you treat your friend children like

your own. You love them more if anything else, I think. It gets to

you. You feel the pain. You suffer their pain. Little Oscar underwent

several emergency operations as surgeons desperately tried to save

his eye. They did that it was one of the worst eye incidents they had

seen. It was hard. I cried that much there that even the consultant

brought tears had her face. But after losing his vision, the doctors

made the tough decision to remove his eye. Straight away we knew that

the outlook for the vision long term was extremely poor. I have seen a

lot of ocular injuries and globe ruptures. That said, I've not seen

one in somebody so young. I've also not seen one from a drone. I've not

seen a drone injury. Any instrument that come close to the eye and

within reach of it at high speed can cause devastating injures. I suppose

given that there are so many around now and in frequent use, one may

expect several more injuries of this kind. Before Oscar's accident, his

family, like some of us, were unaware of the potential dangers of

drones. It is an issue that we highlighted on last week's

programme, and after our report Oscar's grandmother, Anita, decided

to contact us. Why did you want to speak to us? Because I watched the

programme on the Thursday about the drones. I went on the website. I was

really shocked at one of the comments where somebody said, my

11-year-old son has got one. It's a toy. They're not toys. They are very

dangerous pieces of equipment. You don't realise the dangers. You don't

expect something so severe to happen from what people call toys. I

wouldn't class them as a toy. It is a terrible lesson that everyone

involved has had to learn the hard way. People need to be aware of how

dangerous they can be. Since the accident's happened now, I haven't

flown once. Every time I look at the drones, it turns my stomach. I feel

sick. Oscar's family are trying to put the traumas of the past few

weeks behind them but they know that this is just the beginning. He faces

more procedures now before he's able to have a prosthetic eye fitted. You

wish you could be there instead of him. He's a baby. He's still a baby.

And everything he's had to go through you go through with him.

Tell me, how is Oscar now? He's doing really well. He's doing a lot

better than what I would expect. I look Atos car and he's a happy

little lad. He's obviously getting lots of love here at home. How are

you dialling with it? I don't really know at the minute. One day I could

be fine, not crying, and I have days where I think it's hit me and I will

cry for hours on end. Every day when you wake up, it is like you've

forgotten about it, until you go into him and you pick him up and

look at him. You just fall back into what's happened. I've had a lot of

nightmares, silly things, him playing football with his friends

and his false eye falls out, and all the treatment he's had and the

trauma he's gone through. Christmas is coming and a lot of people will

consider buying these drones as Christmas presents. What would you

say to them? Read the warnings. There must be a warning in there.

The last thing you want is somebody opening one on Christmas morning,

getting it out and having a quick fly, because it's so exciting.

They've got to be responsible to make sure that they are flown

somewhere big and open. Not risking other people's lives as well as

their own. Whatever it takes to make people aware, if they watch this

programme and see my grandson's face, if that doesn't do it, nothing

will. In the light of what happened,

we asked the Government what they are doing

to protect us from these potentially They told us they are

about to consult on licensing and registration

and will have a strategy in place So, until they make

their minds up about what changes to make, here's something you can do to

make your drone safer - Some come with the drone

when you buy it, like this one. Others you have to buy separately,

like these. These can stop the blades causing

injury if there's an accident. One of these guys could have saved

Oscar's eye. Of course, they won't make

your drone 100% safe, so make sure you always follow the Civil

Aviation Authority's 'Dronecode'. Details of the code come with

your drone in a leaflet like this. If there is one piece of advice we

beg you to take on board, it is please, please don't fly your drones

anywhere near other people. And there's more information

about drone safety on our website. Now, a very special thank you to

Oscar's family for getting Watchdog is based

on your tip-offs and experiences, or go the website and click where

it says 'send us your stories'. And if you want to comment on any

of tonight's reports, you can also tweet us or post

on our Facebook page. And if you think you've come

across Black Friday deals that aren't all that, contact us using

the hashtag #blagfriday. Some stories on Rogue Traders are

complex, requiring me to explain the latest sophisticated scams

involving new laws and guidelines. Some are really basic,

preying on instincts we've had Since the dawn of man, we have had

an innate fascination with a single object. It captivates us. It brings

out primal instincts. We wish to possess it, even if it is at the

expense of others. Cut! The problem is that some people will use the

primal urge we all have to drive and own a car in order to make monkeys

of us. That's lunch. Yes, the car is the thing. We don't just love them

because they get us about faster and more conveniently than a horse, but

because they make our lives easier and sometimes more glamorous too.

For some people that brings them untold happiness. And tonight that

someone is Andrew Williams of Williams motor company and that

somewhere is Cardiff in Wales. Andrew sells, owns and drives a

number of amazing cars, including this Lamborghini. It is a 250,000

quid of daft car and he loves it. Which is fine as long as it is all

the product of honest endeavour, et cetera. The problem starts when your

business model is making a monkey out of other people. Good to see

you. Shall we go down here? People a bit like Will Haynes. Andrew

Williams contacted him in January after he saw he was selling his Audi

online. He offered to sell it for Will in his showroom and guaranteed

he would pay him ?11,500 when the deal was done. What did he say about

payment? He said he would pay as soon as he had agreed a sale and

taken a deposit. So he would pay me before he sold the car on to the

next owner. Will told Andrew he bought the car on finance and that

that debt needed to be cleared when the car was sold on. But that didn't

happen. Andrew went and sold the car on to somebody else with another

finance agreement. You really don't want to do that. You're in debt to

the finance company for what, over ten grand? Yes. And he hasn't paid

that money to them but he sold the car? Yes So he has sold it for free.

It feels like he's robbed me. Eight months later, he's only been

given ?1800, and a cheque, which bounced. Smooth talking Andrew

always seems to have an excuse. He blamed financial difficulties, the

loss of a business parter. The latest is that he is refinancing his

business and awaiting a drawdown. None of these are Will's problems.

Is it worth giving him a ring and giving him another chance to give

you your money? Why not. Hello, Williams Motor Company. Great news,

Andrew tells him the money is on its way. Its imminent. By the end of the

month. Oh, definitely, definitely. Well, the end of the month came and

went and Andrew still hasn't settled up. But at least Will assume some

money, unlike Jessica Martin. She agreed to let Andrew Williams sell

her car in August 2014. Her contract said she would be paid ?7,200 when

it was sold, which she needed to do upper house. Eight months went by

and, despite calling regularly, she was always told there were no buyers

interested in her car. Until... When I got the letter from the DVLA I was

initially quite pleased because my first thought was, my car has been

sold, but that was immediately followed by, hang on, somebody else

has got my car and nobody has told me and where is my money. Andrew

Williams said he tried to contact her to let her know about the sale

and he told her he had done some repair work and he would be paying

her less money. I have never received any proof that he has and,

even if he had, I never agreed to it, so I don't understand why he is

trying to still withhold my money. We are journalists here, not apes.

We have tracked down the person who bought Jessica's car. It turns out

Williams only had it for three weeks before selling it for almost nine

grand last September. Jessica hasn't seen a penny of this money for 14

months. I don't see how anyone can think this is an acceptable way of

treating people, and why you would want to run a business that way. It

sounds like Andrew Williams is taking other people's cars to sell,

selling them and then holding on to the money. That's just too obvious

to be true, isn't it? Is that what's happening? Yeah, that's it. We are

taking this card to Williams Motor Company. We have fitted with a

tracker so we don't lose it and so we know exactly where it has been.

Other trackers are available. And here we are. Hi, I'm after Andrew.

Villa oh, you are the chap with the car. Happy to see us and happy to

see the Mazda. Yes, Andrew Williams likes other people's cars and other

People's money, but will he despite everything we've heard, understand

he has agreed to swap one for the other? You will be amazed when you

see how far he goes to avoid doing that, in about ten minutes. Still to

come, the hidden cost of using your phone abroad. Don't get caught out

like Watchdog fewer Chris Dezille or you could end up with a bill for

?6,000. First, we are looking at the illegal puppy trade. You will

remember our Rogue Traders investigation, when we took on puppy

dealers who had been importing and keeping dogs in appalling

conditions. You will definitely remember Gizmo, who we saved from a

dealer. He is much happier now. Since then, we have had an

incredible response. Plenty of you getting in touch to tell us about

places you suspect are selling dogs in a dishonest and inhumane way. It

is barbaric and worryingly it seemed it is growing every year. Some

viewers may find certain images in this film distressing.

Puppy farming is the mass commercial production of puppies purely for

profit but, until you see the results, it's difficult to imagine

what that means. Dogs born into appalling conditions, separated from

their mothers too young, not that or court -- cared for properly and all

too often riddled with infections. We're not talking about a small

business. It is reckoned that the puppy farming industry is worth ?100

million per year, and right now there could be tens of thousands of

dogs ready for import to the UK to sell in time for Christmas. The

problem is that puppy farmers and dealers don't advertise themselves

as such, and you could have bought a dog from one without ever really

realising you've done so. That is exactly what happened to Lisa and

Roger, who discovered too late that the licensed seller they had bought

their puppy Billy, from was notorious for sourcing animals from

puppy farms. When we found out that the leak came from a puppy farm, we

were shocked because we never ever come if we knew it was from a puppy

farm, we wouldn't have bought a dog from there. Like many dogs brought

up in these conditions, Billy suffered continual health problems.

She never gained weight, she was incontinent and being sick a lot,

and having fits. On a regular basis. By the time Billy was three and a

half, the vets said, that is it, she can't take any more. I rang up the

vet and make an appointment for them to come out and put Billy to sleep.

I broke down in tears about it. The anger that you get dog knowing that

these people are doing this just to make money and they don't realise

the heartbreak they cause to families, really. It is a widespread

problem. Dozens of you have been in touch to say you think your dog may

have been bought from a puppy farmer or dealer. That is a big thing to

admit. It is hard to save you have been duped. But it will make it

easier when you know how many other people are in the same situation. I

went to meet the man responsible for tackling this problem. You can't

underestimate the amount of dogs in this country as a result of this

trade. One in three. And the cost to the dogs themselves? The dogs are

removed from their mothers at an early age and they don't get the

correct start in life. There is disease rife throughout their

establishment. It is spreading from litter to litter. You get cross

contamination. The RSPCA's special operations unit recently conducted a

three-year operation into a dealer trafficking dogs from puppy farms.

Here he is, being arrested. Inside the premises, we found all these

puppies in blue plastic buckets. So there are three, four, five puppies

in each of these blue tops. Yes. All mobile phones are relevant to a

particular breed of dog, so you will have a Yorkshire terrier phone, a

Pomeranian phone dog so they know what dog they are talking about.

Yes, everything is designed to dupe the public into feeling they are

buying from a legitimate dealer. -- breeder. It is estimated the people

running these farmed puppies are making ?35,000 in cash every week.

Those responsible are now behind bars but they will be out in a

couple of months. Luckily, many of the puppies were rescued and given

new homes, like this little Pomeranian, named little dude. He

has a new lease of life with his owner, Emma. Seeing him now, it is

amazing to think he is as well adjusted as he lives. He still

freaks at strange noises but at least now I know he is happy and

safe. It is just great. In the last three years, the RSPCA has rescued

more than 1000 dogs from being trafficked or kept on puppy farms

and sold on puppy farms and sold onto of the many aspects of this

story which is difficult to understand is that it is legal to

run a copy farm in the UK. You can get a license and that license

doesn't limit the number of dogs which can be bred in a single

location. Those dogs can be separated from their mums, in most

parts of the UK, as soon as they are weaned, which can be as early as

four weeks old. It is something charities are working to change. In

September, this MP presented Downing Street with a petition urging the

government to ban the sale of puppies without the mother present.

The issue with licensed and legal puppy farms is it shows clearly how

weak the legislation is. If you can meet the legal requirements while

still running essentially a kind of battery cage outfit for dogs and

puppies, it shows how poor the law is. If you start amending

legislation and making it dog friendly rather than puppy farm

friendly, you start changing the world for dogs. The RSPCA agrees

that the law needs to change. The government recently introduced

legislation around the trade in scrap metal. There are more

regulations for you to scrap your old French than there are for buying

a litter of puppies. -- your old fridge. That can't be right.

I got the chance to answer animal welfare Minister George Eustice some

chances -- some questions. Thank you for coming in. You have seen that

film. One thing we couldn't put in because of the time it is going out

are the pictures of dead puppies. We are also getting a lot of reports

from families watching puppies die in their living rooms in front of

them. This is happening on your watch. What are you doing about it?

We are about to launch a consultation on reviewing the

licensing system for all animal establishments, including puppy

breeding establishments, because there are two problems. One is, and

I suspect those on your programme were illegally imported. It is

already illegal to bring puppies into this country under 15 weeks

old. But there are instances where this is happening, so there is an

enforcement issue. There are examples of backstreet dealers,

irresponsible people who don't know how to look after puppies and are

currently outside of the licensing system, so we are looking at ways of

addressing that, changing the threshold so more people come into

the accreditation system. You talk about what happened at ports, which

is administered by trading standards, local authorities.

Whenever I go to a trading standards department, I see more empty chairs.

Your government has done that. There have obviously been changes with

government finances, and we almost the reasons for that, but I would

say that, in this particular area, as in so many others, we are facing

a real challenge with the growth of the Internet. That is making it much

easier for people to go online and search for puppies. We need

consumers to think more carefully about where they are getting their

animals from. It is not acceptable to blame consumers when it is so

easy to get puppies into this country from overseas. The dog

charities are talking about thousands of dogs coming from

Hungary, Eastern Europe, also Ireland. If there is nobody to check

the ports, they will come in and what happens to them then is on you.

There are trading standards people at reports to check and enforce it.

Not at the weekend. We have had an issue with vets in foreign

countries, other European countries, fraudulently issuing paperwork. We

have written to other authorities in other countries and there have been

prosecutions. We are working hard on this and other countries to make

sure the current rules are abided by, cause it is against the law to

bring puppies into this country under 15 months old. -- weeks old.

The consultation is taking place, so it is a chance to make your feelings

clear to George Eustice and the government about how you feel they

are handling illegal puppy trading. So make it count.

In the meantime, if you are planning to buy a dog, what can you do to

make sure you are not supporting the legal puppy farming trade? I went to

see Helen Bunter, and approved dog breeder, to find out.

Hi, Helen. I've got a lively one. You do! This is mummy? Yes, this is

Ella. She is a wire fox terrier. They are gorgeous. Naturally, any

person is going to fall in love with these dogs. If I turn up and say, I

will take one, how do I know and what sort of things should I be

looking out for? What tells me you are a responsible breeder?

Responsible breeders at the best welfare of the dog at the heart of

everything that they do, so, you know, they're housed in suitable

conditions, they are fed well, their vaccinations are up-to-date, they

are micro-chipped. I am convinced these puppies are great and I want

to one. Do you vex me? Yes, basic things, what's their puppy

experience is, have they had a dog or a puppy before? I wouldn't give

one of my dogs to somebody who had never been a dog owner before

because you need to be quite experienced to have a terrier. You

turn them down? Yes, about 40% of people. Gosh, you have to be on your

toes when they come to you. Yes, and any owner should expect that from a

responsible breeder, because they will want their puppies to go to the

best home. Does the mum come and meet the potential owners? The mum

is always here, and that is something a potential customer

should look for. Mum should always be here.

So if you are thinking about buying a puppy, here are some simple rules

to help you make sure you're buying from a responsible breeder. Always

see the puppy with its mother. Always see the puppy in its natural

environment, where it was born. Never buy a puppy younger than 8

weeks old. Never buy from someone who offers to deliver the puppy or

meet you somewhere, and never buy a puppy because you think you're

saving it. You are making room for more dogs and keeping the seller in

business. There we go, thank you so much, Chris. I'm very pleased to say

we've taken away from the main studio, so it is quieter from him,

but he seems so relaxed. When you compared him to the way he was and

what he had been through on that farm. It was horrific. The long-term

effects of what he had been through and all those other puppies

health-wise and behavioural-wise, it is going to be a long journey, but

we can clearly see the changes. There's positive changes. He is

moving forward. He wouldn't have done this when he first met you. He

wouldn't have been relaxed. We rescued him from that place, but he

is just one dog and it has taken so much evident from you to get him to

this stage really. You think about the number of dogs out there in

people's homes who wouldn't have someone like you on hand. And the

dogs still out there, still in those businesses. We need to stop. Thank

you so much for coming down with Gizmo. It is love live to see him in

such good shape. Before he goes, Gizmo would like to give you this.

It is a thank you card from Gizmo! Thank you so much Gizmo. It is made

by Gizmo. These are his paws. We'll nas on to the rest of the team.

Gizmo, thank you for saving me and finding my new mum. You are my

heroes. Lots of love, Gizmo. Back to the stain studio. Gizmo, I love you.

You're the best. He is very artistic that dog! Well done, Matt. A great

result there. We've had plenty of e-mails about poor old Oscar who was

involved in that drone accident. Laura on Twitter can't believe Oscar

was involved. Can't imagine the pain his mum is in. Katie says she is

devastated about the loss, that poor boy. Drones are not toys, they can

be very dangerous. Linda on Twitter says, such a horrific story. Can't

understand the delay in drone legislation. Coming up: We are

calling it "Blag Friday". Tomorrow's deals that aren't as real as they

might feel. We are asking Andrew Williams of Williams Motor Company

in Cardiff to sell our Mazda for us and then hand over the money. The

records show that he tends to do the first bit then forgets about the

all-important second bit. But surely if he signs a contract with us to

hand over the cash for the Mazda, then he has to. Cardiff and we are

inside Andrew Williams's HQ. Very smiley. It is clear he's a great

lover of cars. We are here to sell our Mazda so

Andrew takes a look and spots a couple of issues.

But these tiny issues don't put him off. After a quick test drive he

likes it. So ?400 worth of cosmetic repairs

and he'll sell our car for us and hand over... That's ?2,850 to sell

our car and we get paid straight away.

That's pretty straightforward then, the car gets sold and straight away

we receive our ?2,850 quid. Once we get a buyer. Yeah, that's a problem.

You see the thing is, we've got to get this whole thing wrapped up by

Part 3, in about 20 minutes. Hm. We could buy the car ourselves? Hold

on, I've had a better idea. We could buy the car ourselves. That's right.

Team members Debs and Calum are going to buy our own car back the

they next day. That way we'll know that Andrew Williams has got our

money. But it is a lovely day. That's why

he's driven his baby blue full-size Lambo in. But you are not here to

buy that one, Debs. What will Andrew tell us about the car?

?4,995? That's over two grand profit in 24 hours.

Now, Andrew told us before that he needed to do ?400 worth of repairs.

Did he get it done? So you're not doing anything,

nothing at all? Hold on, it's just gone up a fiver!

For Andrew's favourite subject... Yes, small talk over, it's time to

close the deal. We don't like handing over this sort

of cash to someone we suspect to be playing the great British public

lick a were you itser organ but it is the only way to find out what's

going on. And we fully intend to get it back. Is the

going on. And we fully intend to get it back. Is -- Wurlitzer. Our car is

back to where it belongs, Chez rogue traders. All we have to do is wait

for Andrew Williams to give us a call to say hey, I've got your cash,

come and collect it. You know, I've never been a car man but there's

something about this Mazda... The first day passes. So does the

following week and still no word from Andrew Williams to say our car

has been told. From from Andrew Williams to say our car

has been told. -- sold. After ten days we send Andrew a text. The

apparently the car's been painted and he has a friend whose wife might

be interested. After 15 days we call him. His friend is still interested

and he's done some repair work. What other company? Remember, we

fitted the car with a tracker and it never left the lot. After four weeks

we call again. This time business is quiet. He reen tried to drop the

price. So, where do we go now? Hm. I'm starting to get the feeling

there might be something missing from this episode of rogue traders.

The experts? Yes, but you don't really need a professional

qualification to spot that what Andrew Williams is doing is wrong.

That's why this week's expert is... Class lilac.

CHEERING. That's right. We think it is so obvious that what Andrew

Williams is doing is wrong we've left it up to these nine-year-olds

to give us their expert opinion. It makes me feel like he's a little

greedy, he always wants to take things for himself. And selfish.

Yes, he is spending other people's money on himself. And not actually

being a proper businessman. He'll just be like, where's my money? When

am I ever going to get it? I don't think it's a very good thing to do

to other people. You should definitely stop it and pay all the

people back. Class lilac, I couldn't agree more. In fact even Gizmo can

see that what Andrew Williams is doing just won't stand. And yet for

some reason he can't. Well, Andy Williams, you are about to get a

wake-up call from your impossible dream in about ten. Now, tomorrow is

Black Friday an American shopping phenomenon. It is a one-day

supersail with supposedly unbeatable deals. Last year there were shocking

scenes as shoppers fought to get their hands on bargains. I can't

believe this but tomorrow we are expected to spend around ?2 billion,

but not all of them are deals will be anywhere near as good as they

seem, so we are calling it "Blag Friday", meaning to get something by

persuasion or guile. In this case it is the shops getting your money.

Last year some of you told us you were very suspicious about some of

Currys PC World deals, so we decided to monitor their prices for the last

three months to see if you are really get being unbeatable deal

this is their Black Tag Event. First up this Miele vacuum cleaner on

offer for ?139.99. An apparent saving of ?190. Really? You only get

that saving if you compare it to the price back in August. However, last

week before the big Black Tag Event the same vacuum was ?149.99, a ?10

saving, not ?199. Next, this Hotpoint fridge is on sale at

?299.99 with the reduction of ?200. But what if I told you that on 6th

January this year, it was on sale at the even lower price of ?269? So

cheaper than the Black Friday event price. Maybe I will wait for the

January sales. And finally, the Beko electric cooker, on for ?299, a

saving of ?250, but in September it only cost ?399.99. That's a saving

of ?100. The price only went up to ?549.99 for the 19 days before the

Black Tag Event. Funny that. It is funny. Currys PC World told us that

they are very clear in their sales price advertising and at the said

the deals on all three items are great value for customers. It says

it has over 3,000 products in its Black Tag Event and 90% are at the

best ever price. If you have spotted a deal from any shop that's not as

good as it seems, let us know using the hash tag "Blag Friday". Next,

another example of something that seems like a good deal but with

catch you out and cost you thousands. Vodafone and their

packages for using your mobile phone abroad.

In days gone by, taking your phone abroad had the potential to ruin

your holiday. That's because of something called data roaming. It's

when your phone uses expensive for networks to download things like

photos, e-mail and software updates. Your phone can do this

automatically without you knowing so holiday-makers often came home to

huge bills. Five years ago, European union decided enough was enough. It

told mobile phone network providers to cut data roaming charges and

introduce a cap. As a result, European citizens shouldn't be

allowed to use any more than 50 euros of data a month unless they

specifically opt out of the regulation. And it's not just

Europe. The cat now applies wherever you travel in the world. Vodafone

set its monthly limit at ?36 39. Once we have used that amount of

data, your phone should stop you accessing the Internet. Great, I got

my phone and my pay monthly Vodafone contract. Time for a worry free mini

break. Fantastic. Except it might not be worry free because lots of

you got in touch to tell us Vodafone is still ruining your holidays. And

here is the first problem. Vodafone's your road traveller deal.

For a few pounds a day, you can take your regular bundle with you on

holiday but go over your allowance and you will be charged at the much

more expensive standard UK rate. What about the cap restricting the

amount of data you use? When you sign up to this, you automatically

opt out of that, which means huge bills without realising it. Take

under Oliver, who went on a family holiday to ten array. When she

signed up to Vodafone's your road traveller deal, she wasn't told that

meant she was opting out of the cost cap. It was hidden in the terms and

conditions so I had no idea. I thought I was protecting myself by

taking out your road traveller but in fact I was signing my rights

away. When Amanda's 's son used all her free data by playing online

games, Vodafone began challenging her the standard UK rate. She says

it didn't warn her she had reached her UK allowance but simply sent her

two bills, one for ?116 and another for ?267. When I spoke to the call

centre she said they sent warnings but they don't get through when you

are abroad, which isn't much use. I was horrified because I couldn't

understand why we had to pay so much when we took out the policy. So it's

possible to spend a few hundred pounds on Vodafone 's deal if you go

over your UK allowance but there must be some sort of system in place

to stop you spending thousands of pounds without knowing it. That

would really ruin your holiday. Really? Yeah, Vodafone customers who

go to countries not covered by its Eurotraveller or world travel deals

need to be very careful. That is anywhere in light green, by the way.

Just ask Chris, who ended up with an eye watering bill during a holiday

to Tunisia. The phones started beeping frenetically and there were

a couple of texts from Vodafone about data usage. The fourth text

said that the account was suspended and I had to phone immediately to

speak to them. Chris had simply left his phone on in the hotel room. He

didn't download any photos or videos but it must have been using data

somehow without him knowing, because he ended up with a bill for over

?6,000, a staggering sum he was forced to pay. To suddenly be told

such an astronomical amount was baffling. Of course, it absolutely

ruined the holiday from that moment on. Because Vodafone doesn't offer

special deals in Tunisia, it charged Chris the full international rate,

but what about the cost cap? Vodafone told Chris he opted out in

2010, which he disputes. And Vodafone had nothing else in place

to protect Chris from wrapping up a huge bill. I don't understand why

there are not more safeguards to protect consumers. Vodafone's main

rivals do put safeguards in place even for customers who have signed

up to special deals. For example, when EE customers go over the limit

the company dramatically slows down the speed of their Internet access

while O2 cat extra spending to ?43 in Europe and ?40 elsewhere. But

should Vodafone customers who go abroad be wary of something else?

Vodafone wouldn't charge them international rates when they get

back home, would they? Surely they can't ruin your holiday back in

Blighty. Oh, come on! Yeah, some Vodafone customers told us they have

been hit with international charges after landing back at home. Among

them, Tristram from Leeds who got a nasty shock when he got back from a

skiing holiday in Switzerland. Time to chat. Tristram, talk me through

what happened. I found a data roaming charge for almost ?100 on my

phone bill, which I thought was odd because I had had data roaming

turned off the whole time. It was odd. Tristram's boarding pass shows

he left Geneva at 2:20pm. After landing, is Vodafone bill shows he

sent a picture message from the UK at 3:24pm but, 20 minutes later,

Vodafone charged him for using data in Switzerland. Initially, the

company didn't accept it made a mistake. So, even though you had

proof, they still thought you were lying. As far as they were

concerned, their systems were infallible and I am capable of the

tasks of Superman. In the end, Tristram got his money back as a

goodwill gesture. Thanks to new legislation, data roaming charges

are being scrapped, at least in Europe. In two years' time, using

your phone on the continent will cost the same as it does at home

but, in the meantime, Vodafone seems to be doing its best to spoil

customers' holidays. I think I need to brush up on my cycling. Vodafone

told us customers only go over data limits when abroad if they

specifically opt out of the cap and go back onto their UK plans. The

company said it once people when they are nearing their limit.

Vodafone insists they texting Amanda but she exceeded allowance so she

was charged. They say, although they are sorry Chris feels he was dealt

with unfairly, it stands with their decision upheld by the ombudsman. It

has not properly apologised to Tristram for billing him incorrectly

and they have issued a full refund. Another warning on how using your

phone abroad can cost you. Watchdog viewer Madeleine Fear has been in

touch. She was charged ?489 for using her mobile on a Mediterranean

cruise. She had signed up to a bundle which was supposed to cap her

charges so she was really shocked with the bill. Although she was in

Europe, she wasn't In Europe. When you are travelling by boat, your

phone can automatically connect to the Maritime satellite network. That

isn't included in the European bundles and is charged at top rate.

It can charge up to ?300 to make a call. If you are travelling by boat

and want to avoid extra charges, switch your phone to aeroplane mode.

On a boat in aeroplane mode was to mark it makes sense! Andrew million

-- Andrew Williams is the director of Williams Motor Company in

Cardiff, who will lead you more broken than before, selling your car

and failing to pass on the proceeds. He has done that to us but on this

occasion there is a slight flaw in his plans because it works on the

basis that the buyer and the seller never meet.

Can you see where we are going with this? I mean, let's say, for

instance, that the buyer of the car and the seller of the car turned up

at the same time. How embarrassing would that be? And then imagine if

we turned up shortly afterwards. That was just be awful, all

brilliant. Hi, Andrew. How are you doing? You sold my car? Have you

sold my car? Is this my car? Not ours? Are you sure? Is somebody

taking it for a test drive? No, although she does work for Rogue

Traders. Isn't it awkward when the person who

has given you the car to sell me to sell meet the person who bought it

and, as a result, you haven't handed that money over yet. That is money

that you said you were going to pay straightaway under contract. You

failed to do that. Lovely Mercedes. That will be about 80 grand's worth.

You are doing this systematically to people. You are taking money for

their cars. That is what you are doing. You have done it to us and we

have heard about other people you are doing it too, as well. That is

how you finance things like this, a silly blue car with doors which go

up. You have managed to pay for this kind of lifestyle by taking money

from people and withholding it when you have sold their cars already.

That is what we have seen. You take their money, take their cars but you

don't hand over the money. You withhold the money. That is what we

have seen, Andrew. You have lied to us systematically about what has

happened to the car. You tried to do it again today. You tried again

today by saying that there was a bit of paperwork. But in fact you said

it was having work done on it all that time but in fact it wasn't, was

it? You've got an incredible collection here. No Lamborghini

today? Decided not to take it in? Where are we going? We are going

backwards and forwards. The truth is, Andrew, you can't answer these

questions, can you? You can't explain the actions that we've seen.

Don't shut the door in my face. We've been backwards and forwards on

this. And you've failed to give us any answers. You have lied to us

about what has happened to our car and that is how you are financing

all of this. That is the way it is working. Can you get out of the

showroom. Can you leave the show room please. Sale? We have left the

showroom. But a lot of our team is still inside. Gentlemen, if you

could come down and leave the show room. Andrew Williams of Andrews

will motor company. It's to show, however fast your car is, if you are

lying to people about their money, eventually it will catch up with

you. Andrew Williams says he has been in business for 25 years and he

has always paid his suppliers however, due to an unfavourable

commercial loan, the business as short-term cash flow problems which

delays some payments. He is sorry to those to whom he owed money but he

has paid back everybody featured in the programme, including our ?5,000.

Unfortunately, too little, too late to keep you, Andrew, from ending up

on our rogues gallery. Lots of you getting in touch about the dangers

of drones. A viewer said, our nephew was hit in the stomach and had to go

to hospital. There should be a licence. Koko on Twitter said that

the story has made her reconsider her purchase. Keep sending us your

stories and tip-offs. Go to the website. You can also write to us.

Next week on Watchdog, planning to buy your Christmas presents at

Argos? Our investigation reveals how their fast track service is as slow

as Santa in a 100 metres sprint. Nikki Fox investigates why going out

isn't all inspired and mulled wine. People. And we put on a Christmas

panto with Sheila Hancock as she takes on unfair insurance renewal

prices. That is next week at 8pm. Until then, from all of us, good

night. Hello, I'm Elaine Dunkley with

your 90 second update. Bombing so-called Islamic State

in Syria will make us safer. That's what David Cameron

told Parliament today.