:00:00. > :00:00.Tonight - Purplebricks, Currys, eBay, we've got a bumper crop of big
:00:07. > :00:11.We're taking on the companies that have let you down.
:00:12. > :00:39.This is Watchdog Live - and on your side.
:00:40. > :00:42.Hello and welcome to Watchdog - live for the last time this series,
:00:43. > :00:44.exposing all sorts of dodgy goings-on at the businesses
:00:45. > :00:47.One of them is Britain's biggest electrical retailer,
:00:48. > :00:49.Currys PC World, where staff have been ripping up
:00:50. > :00:54.We're also looking into ticketing reseller Viagogo.
:00:55. > :00:58.You're furious, and it seems every day you love them less and less.
:00:59. > :01:01.Ricky Wilson from the Kaiser Chiefs and The Voice has been finding out
:01:02. > :01:18.So how many tickets were you buying and how much did they end up
:01:19. > :01:20.costing? For tickets, thousands of pounds.
:01:21. > :01:23.If you like a tune, Ricky's not the only treat in store.
:01:24. > :01:25.Stand by for an unusually musical Rogue Traders.
:01:26. > :01:37.Go away! Go away! Why are you doing that to the camera? You send your
:01:38. > :01:39.guide into people's homes. I know what he needs -
:01:40. > :01:41.a bit of stress relief We've given our crowd
:01:42. > :01:45.here one of this year's But as you'll see in a bit -
:01:46. > :01:50.some of these toys aren't This one, for example,
:01:51. > :01:53.bought on eBay, would actually be As usual, we want to hear from
:01:54. > :01:59.you on all of our stories tonight. The team around me are going
:02:00. > :02:01.through the messages We get tonnes before
:02:02. > :02:10.the show even starts, so thanks for those,
:02:11. > :02:12.and keep them coming. You can email us at
:02:13. > :02:16.watchdog@bbc.co.uk, or we're on Twitter as @bbcwatchdog,
:02:17. > :02:19.and on Facebook too. We'll catch up on some of your
:02:20. > :02:23.comments later in the programme. But first tonight -
:02:24. > :02:26.Purplebricks, the web-based estate agent that's on course to be
:02:27. > :02:31.the biggest in the UK. It says it'll "hold your hand
:02:32. > :02:34.every step of the way", but our secret filming
:02:35. > :02:49.shows they could be leading The process of selling your house
:02:50. > :02:54.has barely changed in the last few decades. You pick a high street
:02:55. > :02:58.agent you trust, they advertise your property, show people around, then
:02:59. > :03:03.take a percentage cut when you sell. It's fair to say the industry hasn't
:03:04. > :03:09.always had the best reputation for honesty. But there is one new
:03:10. > :03:12.company aiming to shake this up. Purplebricks is an online estate
:03:13. > :03:20.agent that promises to revolutionise the market. There are no high street
:03:21. > :03:25.shops, your house is just advertised across property websites, and they
:03:26. > :03:33.don't take a percentage commission. Instead, there is a flat fee of
:03:34. > :03:39.?849, or 1199 am depending on where you live, and you pay that whether
:03:40. > :03:44.you sell or not. There are no charges for things like organising
:03:45. > :03:49.viewers. The company is aiming to become the largest estate agent in
:03:50. > :03:54.the UK in the next few years, but it has already found itself in trouble
:03:55. > :03:59.with regulators. The advertising standards Authority has banned six
:04:00. > :04:08.of its claims in the last year, including a promise that customers
:04:09. > :04:13.could save ?4158 compared to regular estate agents, which the authorities
:04:14. > :04:18.said Purplebricks could not back up. Customers who have contacted us have
:04:19. > :04:21.also said they have felt misled by what they've been told by
:04:22. > :04:26.Purplebricks and its agents. This man chose to sell his house through
:04:27. > :04:31.Purplebricks in January this year because of the savings he thought he
:04:32. > :04:36.would make over a traditional estate agent. The Purplebricks agent
:04:37. > :04:41.explains the fees during the evaluation, giving him the option to
:04:42. > :04:46.pay upfront or later. John decided to defer the payment, which came
:04:47. > :04:52.with a consequence he didn't expect. I received an e-mail saying I had
:04:53. > :05:00.entered into a credit agreement. What was your reaction? First, who
:05:01. > :05:05.are Close cat Matt Brothers? I had entered into an agreement with
:05:06. > :05:11.Purplebricks, and I felt that I had entered into an agreement with
:05:12. > :05:17.someone that I hadn't known about. He had taken out a loan with Close
:05:18. > :05:22.Brothers, an entirely separate company, and he was unhappy when the
:05:23. > :05:26.so-called local property expert actually lived nearly 30 miles away.
:05:27. > :05:31.We have heard from her Purplebricks customers who do not think the
:05:32. > :05:35.company lives up to its claims, including Kate Armstrong, who wanted
:05:36. > :05:42.to sell her house in the Wirral to buy a retirement home in France. She
:05:43. > :05:46.felt she had a complete lack of communication from Purplebricks, who
:05:47. > :05:50.failed to tell her the original buyer had dropped out and had been
:05:51. > :05:59.replaced by somebody with a large chain. She felt this nearly
:06:00. > :06:01.scuppered her chance of getting her dream home, especially when
:06:02. > :06:06.Purplebricks promised to hold her hand all the way through the
:06:07. > :06:10.process. The advert on the television was saying that they
:06:11. > :06:14.would hold my hand, but I'm sitting at home thinking, no, that's not
:06:15. > :06:20.what happens. You don't even phoned me when the offer on the house is no
:06:21. > :06:26.longer a true offer. Kate complained to the property ombudsman, who
:06:27. > :06:30.awarded her ?200. She did manage to move to France using a traditional
:06:31. > :06:37.high Street agent, which she wishes she'd used from the off. I just
:06:38. > :06:41.wanted to scream. I had to keep my cool with the agent over the phone.
:06:42. > :06:45.My feeling was they knew no matter what happened they would get paid.
:06:46. > :06:52.It didn't matter what they did or didn't do. After camp claims from
:06:53. > :06:58.customers and regulators, has Purplebricks learnt its lesson? Our
:06:59. > :07:03.customers now getting clear information? Well, we put them to
:07:04. > :07:07.the test. We rigged up five properties across the country and
:07:08. > :07:12.went undercover, posing as home owners looking to sell. We invited a
:07:13. > :07:19.Purplebricks local property expert to each house. On some things, the
:07:20. > :07:24.agents we met were very clear. They did seem knowledgeable about the
:07:25. > :07:28.local property market and how the online process works. But as a
:07:29. > :07:34.viewing is continued, some of what they said started to raise alarm
:07:35. > :07:37.bells. Two of the agents made claims about the number of houses they had
:07:38. > :07:50.sold which seems to be wildly exaggerated.
:07:51. > :08:01.What is the ratio to sales? It sounds good, but when we checked
:08:02. > :08:05.this out ourselves, it seemed this agent was listing between eight and
:08:06. > :08:10.11 houses each month, half of what he told us. You might expect a
:08:11. > :08:14.little bit of exaggeration from your agent, but when it comes to the
:08:15. > :08:18.financial side of the deal, you should get absolute clarity of what
:08:19. > :08:24.you are signing up to. But when our agents signed... Explained the
:08:25. > :08:30.financial aspects, three of the five failed to tell us that if we chose
:08:31. > :08:36.to defer payments, we would take up the credit agreement with an
:08:37. > :08:40.entirely separate financial institution. How important is it for
:08:41. > :08:45.a state agents to be upfront about the fees and financial agreements
:08:46. > :08:49.you would have with them? Critically important, because fees and
:08:50. > :08:53.financial arrangements are one of the key factors people take into
:08:54. > :09:01.account when deciding which agent to sign up with. If they are not
:09:02. > :09:06.upfront about it, they are at risk of being in breach with consumer
:09:07. > :09:13.protection information. Under the consumer protection from unfair
:09:14. > :09:17.trading regulations, certain trading practices are prohibited, and one of
:09:18. > :09:22.those prohibited practices is misleading information. We also took
:09:23. > :09:33.a closer look at what Purplebricks was claiming online. In an e-mail
:09:34. > :09:39.sent to us, we spotted that claim of saving ?4158, which the ASA banned
:09:40. > :09:44.as likely to mislead. Purplebricks proudly posts that on its website,
:09:45. > :09:51.meaning that all agents are required to follow its regulation, including
:09:52. > :09:59.its agents. Does it sound like they are breaking this code of practice?
:10:00. > :10:03.Quite probably, because this code of practice imposes obligations on
:10:04. > :10:08.estate agents to comply with the law. Some of the things we have
:10:09. > :10:12.talked about are potentially breaches of the consumer protection
:10:13. > :10:18.regulations, and therefore, de facto, they are a breach of the code
:10:19. > :10:22.of practice. So, come on, Purplebricks, if you want to be the
:10:23. > :10:27.country's leading estate agent, you need to make sure all your agent is
:10:28. > :10:32.played by the rules. With us now is the CEO of
:10:33. > :10:37.Purplebricks. Looking at that film, we have seen agents exaggerating
:10:38. > :10:41.sales, you not being upfront about loans customers are taking on, and
:10:42. > :10:47.you are still using misleading information that has been banned.
:10:48. > :10:51.When my brother and I founded Purplebricks, we founded it to give
:10:52. > :10:56.consumers a better choice, and we wanted to give them something much
:10:57. > :11:00.more transparent, convenient and cost-effective. We accept those that
:11:01. > :11:05.along that journey there will be cases where there are obstacles, and
:11:06. > :11:11.where we get things wrong. But if we look at what was said in your film,
:11:12. > :11:16.about what the ASA said at the start of your film, it was clear that the
:11:17. > :11:21.ASA didn't say we were saving customers thousands of pounds. They
:11:22. > :11:26.said it was a different level... They said you couldn't back up that
:11:27. > :11:32.figure. They said we couldn't back up that figure in every area of the
:11:33. > :11:37.UK. We did take it down from over 1000 locations, and we found there
:11:38. > :11:41.was one location that you quite rightfully pointed out to us. One
:11:42. > :11:46.location that was the template for lots of other e-mails being sent. I
:11:47. > :11:51.accept it would have been distributed to customers, but the
:11:52. > :11:56.moment it was brought to my attention, it was taken down within
:11:57. > :12:02.an hour. Six times you have had misleading information banned by the
:12:03. > :12:08.ASA. You keep getting it wrong. Purplebricks is the most positively
:12:09. > :12:13.reviewed agent in the UK. We accept, though, that we will get it wrong on
:12:14. > :12:18.occasion. On occasion? We are getting loads of complaints from
:12:19. > :12:22.your customers. This is why we followed it up. Whenever you enter
:12:23. > :12:27.into an arrangement with Purplebricks, we lead the way in
:12:28. > :12:32.terms of transparency on fees. Try going to any other agency. But when
:12:33. > :12:37.people defer payment, they are taking out a loan, but you are not
:12:38. > :12:48.telling them that. Where do you say that? Your agents do not tell people
:12:49. > :12:50.and it's not on the website. When a customer goes to instruct
:12:51. > :12:54.Purplebricks, it is absolutely clear they are entering into an agreement
:12:55. > :13:01.with Close Brothers. It is not. The e-mail you sent us does not say it
:13:02. > :13:05.anywhere. It is a facility agreement, but, if the difference is
:13:06. > :13:10.how it's described, I'm very happy to sit down with our partners, Close
:13:11. > :13:17.Brothers, and look at how best... So you admit you could be more
:13:18. > :13:21.transparent about it? I accept that if customers are saying that we need
:13:22. > :13:27.to be more transparent in any way, I give you and them a guarantee that
:13:28. > :13:30.we will work harder in order to be more transparent. What about
:13:31. > :13:37.apologising all of those customers who have complained to us? I
:13:38. > :13:42.apologise to anyone who does not get 100% of the service they require
:13:43. > :13:51.from Purplebricks. We are the most positively reviewed agent, but we do
:13:52. > :13:54.accept that along the journey, as we grow very fast, because there is a
:13:55. > :13:58.seismic change from the traditional agency to Purplebricks, that there
:13:59. > :14:00.will be occasions where we get it wrong. Thank you very much for your
:14:01. > :14:02.time. Tonight, we're looking
:14:03. > :14:05.at a nationwide aerial company, If something isn't working the way
:14:06. > :14:09.it should, the answer is simple. But the merry-go-round at the centre
:14:10. > :14:33.of tonight's company The Television Aerial Company
:14:34. > :14:38.Limited, based in Whyteleafe Surrey, go buy a few different names, like
:14:39. > :14:46.aerial fours and aerials and satellites. Are you still with us?
:14:47. > :14:52.We featured them before, back in 2011, when they oversold items to us
:14:53. > :14:58.that we needed as much as a chocolate ironing board. We put them
:14:59. > :15:01.to the test three times, Miss aligning to satellite dishes and
:15:02. > :15:08.damaging a connecting cable. Our dishes needed to be realigned and
:15:09. > :15:17.the cable needed to be repaired, but each time the engineer told us we
:15:18. > :15:24.needed something we didn't. I caught up with the boss at the time, sort
:15:25. > :15:35.of. I say sort of, because I don't think it was my best effort. Let's
:15:36. > :15:45.put a clock on the face time. Three engineers, all three of them miss
:15:46. > :15:51.diagnosed... That's just wasn't long enough. We, as a team, I think we
:15:52. > :15:56.can do better. I'm not looking at anyone in particular.
:15:57. > :16:03.Whatever we did in 2011 it might have had some effect because in
:16:04. > :16:05.January 2012 the director removed himself from the Television Aerial
:16:06. > :16:10.Company limited, and that everything is better! Like when Roy Hodgson
:16:11. > :16:21.resigned and Sam Allardyce took over the England team. That kind of
:16:22. > :16:26.better. Andy Nash called the Television Aerial Company when he
:16:27. > :16:31.got a new FISA enabled TV Burp could not get it working and the engineer
:16:32. > :16:34.discovered quickly that the issue was a faulty HDMI cable but before
:16:35. > :16:40.he left he claimed and he might have a further problem. As he finished
:16:41. > :16:44.the job he said only 2-mac of your four channels are working at 100%
:16:45. > :16:50.and he said shall I have a look at your dish? Despite Andy never having
:16:51. > :16:55.had any trouble with his satellite signal, the engineer came back with
:16:56. > :17:00.some alarming news. He hit me with the immortal line, have to tell you
:17:01. > :17:03.your satellite dish is almost at the end of its life, it's terribly
:17:04. > :17:07.rusted through and he said the only answer was a replacement dish. And
:17:08. > :17:14.the agreed and paid the Television Aerial Company a total of ?238.20.
:17:15. > :17:19.The following day the dish was put on the ground and I looked at it and
:17:20. > :17:24.immediately realised I had made a huge mistake. Andy found that
:17:25. > :17:28.although his dish was showing superficial signs of rust it was far
:17:29. > :17:32.from rusted through and we have since had it tested and found it to
:17:33. > :17:39.be in perfect working order. He had taken advantage of me and I had
:17:40. > :17:42.fallen for it. I trusted him, and I regret that now. This is one of
:17:43. > :17:46.those stories that had everything on all the makings of a great country
:17:47. > :18:43.and western song. Funny you should say that because I've written one.
:18:44. > :18:52.So, if the previous director is no longer involved, who is in charge
:18:53. > :18:59.now? It is Gary and Paddy Manning. It is time we put them to the test.
:19:00. > :19:04.And that is exactly what we do, you know how it works, a little camera,
:19:05. > :19:10.an actor and an expert. Over to you, Ian. What we had to do is set a
:19:11. > :19:16.fault on the input cable to the box, cutting a small piece of cable, and
:19:17. > :19:20.we plug it back into the back of the box and it's that simple. It is so
:19:21. > :19:24.simple and aerial engineer should be up to find and fix the problem in
:19:25. > :19:28.five minutes. The job should only cost us the diagnostic fee, ?59 99
:19:29. > :19:50.plus VAT. Hello. Please pay attention. The LNB is the
:19:51. > :19:54.low noise block which sits on the front of the dish and ours is
:19:55. > :20:01.working fine. It is not long before Nathan finds our broken cable.
:20:02. > :20:07.And he fixes it. Then he plugged the connector back in ultimate soap is
:20:08. > :20:09.the problem solved? Well, it should be,
:20:10. > :20:11.but when you call out of Whyteleafe, Surrey,
:20:12. > :20:15.also trading as Aerialforce, And remember, despite their long
:20:16. > :20:20.name, they could still be confused with other companies
:20:21. > :20:22.who have similar names. There was a huge response to our
:20:23. > :20:46.swab mob report on train hygiene. Lots of you made the same
:20:47. > :20:48.point as Richard Crake, "It's a poor state when for our high
:20:49. > :20:56.fares we can't get a clean service." But Bruce Hughes tweeted us,
:20:57. > :20:59.and then he tweeted the train He says he'd like to see train
:21:00. > :21:02.companies provide anti-bacterial Some rail operators replied saying
:21:03. > :21:08.that's a great suggestion. But keep sending your suggestions
:21:09. > :21:20.of where you'd like us to check out Also last week, we reported on fires
:21:21. > :21:24.some of you have had after having a smart meter installed
:21:25. > :21:38.in your home. First it was gas leaks and trouble
:21:39. > :21:42.with fuse board and then we started hearing about much more serious
:21:43. > :21:45.problems people are having after a smart meter installations. Fires
:21:46. > :21:50.that have meant old properties have been gutted. We were standing there
:21:51. > :21:57.with the fire officer when the gas operated said, I'm sorry, I burn
:21:58. > :22:01.your house up. As well as the two fires we featured last week we have
:22:02. > :22:05.also heard from Ian and Christine Duckworth who believe a fire at
:22:06. > :22:08.their property in Blackpool was the result of having their smart meter
:22:09. > :22:15.installed. They were not home at the time of the fire but Ian's
:22:16. > :22:19.91-year-old mother Mary was. She was asleep in the house. Luckily
:22:20. > :22:28.neighbours Roger and Joe spotted the fire and called 999. I think we were
:22:29. > :22:32.lucky that Roger and Joe were in because if they had not been... I
:22:33. > :22:38.wouldn't have known. I knew there was a fire somewhere. It's not
:22:39. > :22:44.knowing, isn't it. The rest is unthinkable. The Fire Service report
:22:45. > :22:47.confirmed the fire originated in the meter box where British Gas had
:22:48. > :22:56.installed a new smart meter the year before. The fire started at the
:22:57. > :23:01.smart meter which was located in the cupboard, it burned through the
:23:02. > :23:05.Cabinet and the window unit, came inside, up the cabling to the main
:23:06. > :23:10.cable box and destroyed two boilers, one that was here and another one
:23:11. > :23:15.that was located over there. As you can see, completely redecorated this
:23:16. > :23:20.room in Black as opposed to white. An electrician who went to the house
:23:21. > :23:24.after the fire told them he believes the mains tales were tightened
:23:25. > :23:27.properly in the installation of the smart meter. Whatever the
:23:28. > :23:35.explanation, the experience has left him worried about the roll-out of
:23:36. > :23:39.the meters. Since the incident, I have totally lost any competent in
:23:40. > :23:44.smart meters regarding the safety aspect and I would take a lot of
:23:45. > :23:49.persuading to convince me otherwise -- lost any confidence. While there
:23:50. > :23:51.could be mistakes made during any installation, over the last few
:23:52. > :23:56.months the number of people in the industry have raised concerns that
:23:57. > :24:00.the speed and sheer scale of the smart meter roll-out is putting
:24:01. > :24:04.safety at risk. One reason is because so many new engineers who
:24:05. > :24:09.have never worked with gas or electricity needs to be employed and
:24:10. > :24:14.trained to meet the 2020 deadline. This week we have spoken to an
:24:15. > :24:18.installer for one of the major gas and actress at the suppliers who
:24:19. > :24:22.believes the timescale had led to a huge amount of pressure on existing
:24:23. > :24:28.installers to the point where safety is being compromised. He told us
:24:29. > :24:33.that the target number of meters to be installed in working hours are
:24:34. > :24:37.too high and corners are being cut as a result. They told Watchdog that
:24:38. > :24:42.unless the deadline is pushed back and they have time to do their job
:24:43. > :24:47.properly, they consider that their safety and the safety of customers
:24:48. > :24:51.is at risk. Last week on Watchdog the government admitted it was aware
:24:52. > :24:56.of 18 installation incidents in the first six months of this year alone
:24:57. > :24:59.and all of this had led Shadow energy minister Alan Whitehead to
:25:00. > :25:06.call on the government to reconsider the roll-out deadline. I think it is
:25:07. > :25:11.time to have and look at how those issues can be resolved, with real
:25:12. > :25:13.concerns about safety properly addressed.
:25:14. > :25:16.British Gas says it's been helping Ian and Christine Duckworth
:25:17. > :25:19.since their fire, but points out it happened a year after the meter
:25:20. > :25:22.was put in, and that the official fire report doesn't specifically say
:25:23. > :25:24.the meter or the installation were at fault.
:25:25. > :25:28.It's reiterated its fittings are safe and industry-leading.
:25:29. > :25:31.Some of you were outraged by what the government told us last
:25:32. > :25:34.week about how, in the first six months of this year, there have only
:25:35. > :25:40.On our Facebook, page Sue Young objected to the government's
:25:41. > :25:43.As she says, "what if that included you?"
:25:44. > :25:46.And other people also told us they think 18 fires
:25:47. > :25:49.But not enough, it seems, for the government to look again
:25:50. > :25:53.Once again, we asked Greg Clark - the minister
:25:54. > :26:04.And his department are sticking to the line that safety is the number-1
:26:05. > :26:07.priority and they have seen no evidence of increasing risks. It is
:26:08. > :26:10.engineers undergo extensive training and the Robert is a chance to
:26:11. > :26:12.identify potential safety issues in people's homes.
:26:13. > :26:15.We're off air for a bit after tonight, but do keep
:26:16. > :26:18.updating us on the stories we've covered this series.
:26:19. > :26:25.Still to come, Currys PC World and the strange case of customers
:26:26. > :26:33.Next tonight, a subject about which you contact
:26:34. > :26:40.One company in particular gets the lion's share of your fury.
:26:41. > :26:43.Ricky Wilson from the Kaiser Chiefs has been finding out why
:26:44. > :26:52.so many of you say 'no, no, Viagogo'.
:26:53. > :26:59.In 2004 are banned from Leeds predicted a riot and 13 years later
:27:00. > :27:03.for some music found that prediction might become a reality. Things to
:27:04. > :27:08.one website that has been getting a lot of unwanted attention. -- thanks
:27:09. > :27:15.to. For one night only, headlining for all the wrong reasons, Viagogo.
:27:16. > :27:25.By Gogo is what is known as a secondary ticketing site or resale
:27:26. > :27:29.site. -- Viagogo. The idea is that if one fan has a spare ticket to go
:27:30. > :27:34.to a gig or an event they can't make it to, they can sell it to another
:27:35. > :27:38.fan through the site. Over the last few months the Watchdog team as seen
:27:39. > :27:41.a huge spike in complaints, especially about their putting feeds
:27:42. > :27:47.which many if you say has got completely out of hand. -- booking
:27:48. > :27:54.fee. Jill Evans bought ten tickets to see Tonga -- Don Jones but when
:27:55. > :27:58.she got to the checkout she could not believe how much had been added.
:27:59. > :28:03.I went on the site and put in the details and when the final amount
:28:04. > :28:08.came through it was ?1700. I felt sick because I could not work out
:28:09. > :28:14.why there was a disparity between what I thought it was going to be
:28:15. > :28:20.and what was, ?120 a ticket but ?500 admin fees. Viagogo did not explain
:28:21. > :28:24.why the charge was so high or how it was cut related and what's more the
:28:25. > :28:27.way the site is set up means you only see the total you will be
:28:28. > :28:31.charged at the end of the booking process, as you are about to pay and
:28:32. > :28:35.when you're getting pressured to book fast. I panicked because I did
:28:36. > :28:39.not want to miss the opportunity to go. Normally I would have waited
:28:40. > :28:42.until I got home but because I felt that they were telling me the
:28:43. > :28:47.tickets were going down, I wanted to do it there and then. A quick look
:28:48. > :28:52.at the Viagogo website shows that almost every stage of the booking
:28:53. > :28:57.process comes with simulated queues, countdown clocks and warnings to buy
:28:58. > :29:05.now. I have got to see this for myself. Kaiser Chiefs tickets.
:29:06. > :29:10.Straight up, Viagogo, second one down. Already there is a red banner
:29:11. > :29:15.flashing up saying 29 other people are viewing it which makes you
:29:16. > :29:21.think, I better get buying. I can easily get in free because I'm the
:29:22. > :29:25.singer! But everything on the website is making you feel as if you
:29:26. > :29:30.are going to miss out unless you buy it now. I can definitely see how,
:29:31. > :29:34.when fans get to the checkout, they can feel real pressure to page
:29:35. > :29:38.whatever fee they add. No wonder this consumer behaviour expert is so
:29:39. > :29:43.concerned. I see this as aggressive marketing, it is foot in the door
:29:44. > :29:48.salesman type marketing which we don't actually see very much now.
:29:49. > :29:55.The problem is that people do want the tickets, but they don't want to
:29:56. > :29:59.be sold to in this way. And it gets worse. After spending hundreds or
:30:00. > :30:04.even thousands of pounds some of you are left with nothing more than a
:30:05. > :30:08.piece of paper. Earlier this year Ed Sheeran publicly stated that ticket
:30:09. > :30:13.sold through retail sites like Viagogo would not be valid for his
:30:14. > :30:20.gig. As you would hope the other three big secondary ticketing site
:30:21. > :30:24.stopped selling them but Viagogo still allows tabs to sell these on
:30:25. > :30:27.their site. There is no warning to fund and the company seems more than
:30:28. > :30:31.happy to pocket the big booking fee. I'm meeting some Ed Sheeran fans who
:30:32. > :30:36.discovered too late that their tickets were worthless. How many
:30:37. > :30:48.were you buying and how did they cost? For tickets, ?1046. Four
:30:49. > :30:52.ticket and it was ?446. Four ticket, ?2832. You would want him to come to
:30:53. > :30:55.your house for that! Do you feel you were purposely misled by the
:30:56. > :30:59.website? Without a doubt, they are selling the tickets which they know
:31:00. > :31:05.they can't sell because Ed Sheeran has said they are void. And they are
:31:06. > :31:10.selling tickets which don't exist. What is happening now? I have gone
:31:11. > :31:14.through my bank and they advise you to go to the event did you get
:31:15. > :31:18.turned away, apparently the promoters will stamp your ticket and
:31:19. > :31:22.you can claim your money back but I'm not prepared to take Mike two
:31:23. > :31:27.young children to the concert, get there and be turned away. I'm sorry,
:31:28. > :31:30.I'm a bit emotional. Is the fact that other people are in the same
:31:31. > :31:31.position and it's so infuriating when you see they are selling
:31:32. > :31:48.tickets. To find out why Ed Sheron's
:31:49. > :31:55.manager... It is making sure that the genuine fans are there to see
:31:56. > :31:59.Ed, so an incredible amount of effort is going on on your part, but
:32:00. > :32:04.what happens to the fans who have bought these tickets? We are
:32:05. > :32:09.approaching these fans and going through a process where we can try
:32:10. > :32:16.to offer them legitimate -- legitimate tickets. That is going on
:32:17. > :32:21.every day. We think that this process is abhorrent. Why isn't more
:32:22. > :32:26.done to stop fans being caught out on these sites? The Department of
:32:27. > :32:32.culture, media and sport select committee launched an investigation
:32:33. > :32:37.into secondary ticket sites, and called an enquiry. Viagogo was the
:32:38. > :32:41.only one who refused to send anyone to answer questions. We are
:32:42. > :32:46.disappointed that Viagogo have decided not to send a
:32:47. > :32:52.representative. The government investigation is ongoing, and
:32:53. > :32:55.secondary ticketing sites are also under investigation by the
:32:56. > :32:58.Competition Markets Authority. The advertising Standards Authority have
:32:59. > :33:04.confirmed Viagogo and other ticketing site are on its radar. So
:33:05. > :33:08.it doesn't seem that the authorities are looking to crack down on its
:33:09. > :33:14.practices, but fans cannot relax yet. There's a lot of people very
:33:15. > :33:18.angry about this, but unless there is more action to rend people in, we
:33:19. > :33:24.are long way from it being completely risk-free to buy a ticket
:33:25. > :33:28.to a gig. So it is up to us to kick up a fuss to make sure that next
:33:29. > :33:31.time we buy one of these, it is a ticket to a great night out.
:33:32. > :33:34.Well, Viagogo has told us it clearly displays the full and final price -
:33:35. > :33:36.including all booking fees - before customers
:33:37. > :33:40.It says it's legal to resell tickets in the UK for any concert,
:33:41. > :33:42.including Ed Sheeran's, and it says you can be
:33:43. > :33:44.confident you'll get in, despite, as you saw in the film,
:33:45. > :33:46.Ed Sheeran's management saying you won't.
:33:47. > :33:48.Viagogo also says any 'event organiser' telling its customers
:33:49. > :33:51.they won't gain entry to events is making false claims,
:33:52. > :33:53.because consumer protection legislation makes it illegal
:33:54. > :33:55.for event organisers to unfairly cancel tickets
:33:56. > :34:00.But we put that to Trading Stadards who told us Viagogo's
:34:01. > :34:07.interpretation of the law is incorrect.
:34:08. > :34:09.So, if you're buying tickets tonight, the
:34:10. > :34:11.question is very simple. Who should you trust more,
:34:12. > :34:23.Viagogo or Ed Sheeran? so Shelley, you bought tickets for
:34:24. > :34:30.the first time. Where are you act now? I brought tickets and realised
:34:31. > :34:35.I'd been overcharged for them, and within 24 hours, the tickets were
:34:36. > :34:42.void. I have been in touch with Viagogo dozens of times, and just
:34:43. > :34:44.got generic messages back. We are talking ?319 for two tickets.
:34:45. > :34:47.Well, Shelley, you need to speak to Claire Turnham.
:34:48. > :34:51.After her experience with Viagogo, she started helping other others
:34:52. > :34:54.in the same position and so far has managed to get back ?92,000
:34:55. > :35:09.Three things immediately. The first thing is to go to our website.
:35:10. > :35:13.Everything you need for the refund process is there. The first step is
:35:14. > :35:20.to write to the go-go and to state your reasons why you should have a
:35:21. > :35:26.refund. They may reply and say that they don't issue refunds. You could
:35:27. > :35:31.reply to that, and if they advise you to resell your ticket, I would
:35:32. > :35:36.advise you not to do that, because you will immediately pay more fees.
:35:37. > :35:41.Social media as well. Connect with other people. Find support from
:35:42. > :35:44.other people on social media, and then take all the evidence together
:35:45. > :35:49.you gather up, and take it to the bank. It is a good start. We can put
:35:50. > :35:53.you guys together and you can talk. But back now to Rogue Traders,
:35:54. > :35:56.and the Television Aerial Company Ltd based in Whyteleafe, Surrey
:35:57. > :35:58.who also trade as Aerialforce. Our aerial oppo Nathan
:35:59. > :36:00.is in our house attempting And it looks like he
:36:01. > :36:13.may have fixed it. Yes, he has. There's a picture. But
:36:14. > :36:18.hang on. What is he doing now? He's turning the box off. Surely he's
:36:19. > :36:25.about to break the good news to a stooge. No, he's about to look at
:36:26. > :36:29.the satellite dish from a distance, which he knows is fine.
:36:30. > :37:14.OK, we will go with the new thing. Nathan seems to have forgotten that
:37:15. > :37:23.our TV is in perfect working order. He gets to work switching the LMB.
:37:24. > :37:32.So here we are, 2017, and what has happened? He has lied to us to sell
:37:33. > :37:36.an extra part we don't need for an extra ?58. He also tried to tell us
:37:37. > :37:45.it was game over for our satellite dish, which it wasn't. That would
:37:46. > :37:50.have cost us an extra ?160. Not so different from 2011. That could mean
:37:51. > :37:53.a number of things, first, that the same operatives there are
:37:54. > :38:01.misbehaving, but the new operatives know nothing about it. War, that
:38:02. > :38:07.they do know about it and they could be incentivising them, because it
:38:08. > :38:15.makes more money. So option one, or option to? If only there were in a
:38:16. > :38:20.way to find out which? Lucky for us, the Television Aerial Company are
:38:21. > :38:30.hiring new engineers. Or is it sales people? Lets get an application in
:38:31. > :38:36.any way! Hello. You got the interview? Well done. Brilliant. You
:38:37. > :38:38.are going to boot camp. Get your version of wind beneath my wings
:38:39. > :38:54.ready. Good stuff. How is this going to work? In goes
:38:55. > :39:00.Paul, undercover to meet manager J. He seems particularly interested in
:39:01. > :39:13.our stooge's ability to sell. What selling have you done?
:39:14. > :39:26.Hangs on, wait. Oh, you are not telling us to rip people off? In a
:39:27. > :39:31.funny way, it almost sounds like you are. Our stooge is told his salary
:39:32. > :39:38.will be based heavily on commission, and he needs to meet a huge daily
:39:39. > :40:01.target of ?901 to meet any of those bonuses.
:40:02. > :40:08.We showed our footage to business lawyer Mark Weston. If you are a
:40:09. > :40:12.consumer calling out an engineer you expect the problem to be fixed, to
:40:13. > :40:17.be told the truth and have the engineers at thing in your best
:40:18. > :40:21.interest. This advice encourages engineers to act against the
:40:22. > :40:26.customer's best interest. It is almost as if the company is geared
:40:27. > :40:31.around selling, which can be an ethical and even illegal. Despite
:40:32. > :40:35.being based in Surrey, the Television Aerial Company, who also
:40:36. > :40:46.use the name Aerialforce, operate around the country. And they have
:40:47. > :40:53.caused cyber confusion. They have paid a bit more to bump the adds up
:40:54. > :41:00.the Google search list. If I live in Plymouth and I type in the Plymouth
:41:01. > :41:08.aerials, it comes up with a company called Plymouth aerials, but it is
:41:09. > :41:14.actually the Television Aerial Company, who are based all the way
:41:15. > :41:19.over in Surrey. So it is time to put the Television Aerial Company to the
:41:20. > :41:26.test one more time. So we have ourselves another house, and
:41:27. > :41:32.actress, and expert Ian is back to terminate our signal again. We will
:41:33. > :41:36.just give it a lot of twisting, and stretch the cable, just to make
:41:37. > :41:48.sure, which breaks the conductor inside the cable. This job should
:41:49. > :41:52.cost ?74 all in. The Television Aerial Company limited arrives in
:41:53. > :41:58.one of their Aerialforce vans. But it appears they have lost an
:41:59. > :42:03.important part of their kit. A signal meter is a piece of essential
:42:04. > :42:04.equipment for a job where the his lack of signal. Surely he can't
:42:05. > :42:20.carry on without that? He is going to carry on regardless.
:42:21. > :42:25.This should be interesting. How much face time can I get with the company
:42:26. > :42:28.director? Hopefully more than I did last time. Get ready for a car park
:42:29. > :42:31.song and dance. Meanwhile, Nikki, lots of people
:42:32. > :42:46.contacting us again tonight We have had a big reaction to our
:42:47. > :42:49.Purplebricks story. More from people who say that Purplebricks did not
:42:50. > :42:55.explain that if you defer your payment you are effectively taking
:42:56. > :43:03.out a loan. Rita says she had no idea it was unknown until too late.
:43:04. > :43:06.Moving onto Viagogo. Many unhappy customers. A number with Ed Sheeran
:43:07. > :43:11.tickets who are now worried that their tickets are worthless. One
:43:12. > :43:13.that brought tickets for ?1400, and is desperate to get her money back.
:43:14. > :43:19.One says Viagogo is via no-no. Now, one of the biggest names
:43:20. > :43:22.on the high street that's doing something sneaky and it's messing
:43:23. > :43:34.with your rights as a shopper. When David Simpson bought a new TV
:43:35. > :43:38.from his local Currys PC World, it should have been a straightforward
:43:39. > :43:42.purchase. But when he took it back to the store for a price match, he
:43:43. > :43:47.realised something really strange had happened. For some reason, he'd
:43:48. > :43:52.been signed up as a business customer, even though he absolutely
:43:53. > :43:56.isn't. They looked at my receipt, looked at the details, and said,
:43:57. > :44:01.this is a business account. If you want to refund it or do anything
:44:02. > :44:10.with the transaction, you need to speak to a business personnel. They
:44:11. > :44:13.said, you must have signed up as a business account. I was really
:44:14. > :44:16.confused. Why does it matter? There is actually a massive difference as
:44:17. > :44:21.how you are treated as a regular shopper and a business customer. You
:44:22. > :44:26.have very different rights. Instead of getting an instant refund, it can
:44:27. > :44:32.take much longer to get your money back. In David's case, it led to a
:44:33. > :44:37.series of mix-ups which meant he had to wait seven months. That led him
:44:38. > :44:41.to a question. How many people have they done this to? It is ludicrous.
:44:42. > :44:55.We have heard from several other Currys PC
:44:56. > :44:57.World customers who have told us they have also ended up in this
:44:58. > :44:59.situation, signed up to a business account without agreeing to it.
:45:00. > :45:02.Including Stuart in Cambridgeshire and Wendy near Edinburgh. We dug
:45:03. > :45:07.into the Currys PC world's terms and conditions and found key differences
:45:08. > :45:14.between business customers and other customers. Some are found their
:45:15. > :45:18.warranty is not valid as a business customer. Peter Hill from Kent
:45:19. > :45:22.discovered he'd been signed up to a business account without asking
:45:23. > :45:27.after buying a TV. When he checked online to see what this meant, he
:45:28. > :45:32.was worried to see that business accounts come with a 30 day credit
:45:33. > :45:36.facility, which he felt might impact his mortgage application. We didn't
:45:37. > :45:41.sleep for two days. We had the risk of losing the home we had built up
:45:42. > :45:46.to for six months. It didn't affect the sale in the end, that Peter is
:45:47. > :45:50.angry he was put in this situation. It made me feel cheated that we were
:45:51. > :45:55.misled into taking out a business account that we didn't want. Why
:45:56. > :45:59.could this be happening? We were contacted by a former member of
:46:00. > :46:11.staff who has asked to remain anonymous. He claimed staff members
:46:12. > :46:13.were purposefully opening business accounts without customers'
:46:14. > :46:19.knowledge, due to targets they were expected to hit. A typical day was
:46:20. > :46:22.to go in and ask what the targets were on the business side, and then
:46:23. > :46:27.I would go to the TV department, because that is where the expensive
:46:28. > :46:33.items are. I was told by the managers that this was how to do it.
:46:34. > :46:34.Is this breaking the law? This commercial lawyer advises businesses
:46:35. > :46:45.on their sales policies. Usually treated as a consumer not a
:46:46. > :46:48.business. If you sign somebody up as a business customer the law says you
:46:49. > :46:53.have hidden information from them and have also behaved in a way that
:46:54. > :46:58.is misleading and his illegal under the consumer protection from unfair
:46:59. > :47:01.trading regulations. Over to you, Terry 's PC World. Why is this
:47:02. > :47:03.happening? -- Currys PC World. Currys PC World has told us
:47:04. > :47:06.the cases we've heard were "processing errors" and it's
:47:07. > :47:07.contacted the customers concerned to apologise,
:47:08. > :47:10.and ensure their accounts are closed It says staff have absolutely no
:47:11. > :47:15.targets, incentives or benefits It's providing additional training
:47:16. > :47:21.in the stores involved to prevent And it's said it's sad
:47:22. > :47:29.that our whistleblower Now, if you've got kids,
:47:30. > :47:34.you'll probably have come across one of these things,
:47:35. > :47:37.it's a fidget spinner. most of them harmless fun -
:47:38. > :47:44.but you've been contacting us with concerns about the safety
:47:45. > :47:46.of some of the spinners You bought a fidget
:47:47. > :48:03.spinner for your son I was fiddling with it after I
:48:04. > :48:06.received it and I felt that it was rough on the edges and I felt
:48:07. > :48:11.something into my thumb and I looked closely and noticed there was a
:48:12. > :48:17.sharp metal shard coming away from it. You can see it here and you
:48:18. > :48:23.contacted the company to complain, what happened? They just told me to
:48:24. > :48:27.throw it away. That is why I made the decision to contact you guys and
:48:28. > :48:30.hand the problem over. We are very glad you did.
:48:31. > :48:33.We sent this to toy safety expert David Ellerington
:48:34. > :48:34.at the British Standards Institute, who examined the spinner,
:48:35. > :48:37.and he said there are clearly safety issues with the sharp edges.
:48:38. > :48:40.We asked studio.co.uk what they had to say on this.
:48:41. > :48:43.But it started us thinking - how dangerous can
:48:44. > :48:48.We bought three fidget spinners from eBay.
:48:49. > :48:54.All marketed as toys suitable for children.
:48:55. > :48:59.Professor Sarah Hainsworth is qualified to asses how
:49:00. > :49:22.We looked at the sharpness of the points on them. We stabbed them into
:49:23. > :49:26.tomato, which is a relatively soft material and the sort of thing that
:49:27. > :49:33.mimics the strength of an eyeball for example. We found with all three
:49:34. > :49:35.of them that you could stab the tomato with very moderate force and
:49:36. > :49:44.they could cause a significant injury. We also wanted to see if
:49:45. > :49:50.they could damage skin. We used some pork skin which is an analogue for
:49:51. > :49:55.human skin. It is slightly tougher but it is a good material we use a
:49:56. > :49:59.lot for looking at the sharpness of implements. We found with two of
:50:00. > :50:06.them we could also stab into the skin. One of them did not. It needed
:50:07. > :50:11.a bit more force than with the tomato skin but it demonstrated that
:50:12. > :50:15.these were capable of treating injury. An ingenious way of testing
:50:16. > :50:17.but it sounds like they can be very dangerous indeed.
:50:18. > :50:20.We also spoke to weapons expert David Dyson who told us these items
:50:21. > :50:24.would be classed as a throwing star or shuriken, and as such would be
:50:25. > :50:33.classed as an offensive weapon in the UK.
:50:34. > :50:35.But, until we told them they were readily available on eBay,
:50:36. > :50:39.Despite that eBay has a strict policy not to sell weapons,
:50:40. > :50:41.so we asked the company why they were on sale.
:50:42. > :50:44.eBay told us these items are absolutely not permitted
:50:45. > :50:45.and it's immediately removed them from the site.
:50:46. > :50:48.It's thanked us for bringing them to its attention.
:50:49. > :50:49.We'll be passing these onto Trading Standards.
:50:50. > :50:53.First, always look for the CE mark on packaging.
:50:54. > :51:00.Even if you do, still give it a thorough examination before
:51:01. > :51:06.and not for children under three as even the safe ones might have
:51:07. > :51:13.small parts that could present a choke hazard to children.
:51:14. > :51:17.Time now for our last chapter of Rogue Traders where our second
:51:18. > :51:19.aerial oppo is chanelling all his energy into
:51:20. > :51:24.One customer has already written a protest song about the company.
:51:25. > :51:37.The Television Aerial Company's engineer Darren has been at our
:51:38. > :51:41.house for 20 minutes and because he left his signal meet at a previous
:51:42. > :51:44.job, fixing the fault is proving tricky. You tried a couple of
:51:45. > :51:55.different options but seems to be making it worse. -- he tried.
:51:56. > :51:59.Could it be that the guy who has been called out to fix the problem
:52:00. > :52:22.has created another one? It's not the only way round it
:52:23. > :52:27.because there is nothing wrong with the aerial but this is a great
:52:28. > :52:31.opportunity to charge us ?130 for something we don't need so off he
:52:32. > :52:37.goes to the wet and slippery roof and he is taking the no ladder
:52:38. > :52:43.approach which is not recommended at all. Careful, Darren! Eventually he
:52:44. > :52:50.does make it to the top and on goes the new, totally unnecessary aerial.
:52:51. > :52:56.No, it's not, it only looks like it because he has put it on the channel
:52:57. > :53:01.with the strongest signal but this engineer does not seem to care and
:53:02. > :53:10.the trots with our ?213 for a job that should have cost 75. -- wrap
:53:11. > :53:16.and off he trots. This is worse than it was before. In fact he did such a
:53:17. > :53:18.bad job that we had to have the whole installation replaced and that
:53:19. > :53:25.along with everything else is not good enough so we are back in
:53:26. > :53:33.Whyteleafe in Surrey to speak to Gary Orr Tabby about Aerial Force,
:53:34. > :53:40.or TV aerial company limited, as they are also known. We are in a
:53:41. > :53:43.very small car! After spending a very sweaty 40 minutes in the car we
:53:44. > :53:51.spot Gary Manning across the car park. Gary, BBC Rogue Traders, how
:53:52. > :53:58.are you? We have asked for an interview. Go away. Go away. What I
:53:59. > :54:02.do doing that to the camera? I'm trying to ask you the questions
:54:03. > :54:05.about the business you have been running, you have been lying to
:54:06. > :54:12.customers, Aerial Force customers, about what they need. You send your
:54:13. > :54:18.guys into peoples homes. Don't touch the camera please. You're supposed
:54:19. > :54:23.to be in here. Please don't hit the camera, Gary, there is no need to.
:54:24. > :54:27.Go away then. We are asking you questions, all we are doing is
:54:28. > :54:32.asking you questions. Go away from me. I'm asking you questions about
:54:33. > :54:34.the business that you run that rips people in the own homes when it
:54:35. > :54:46.comes to selling them aerial parts they don't need. Out. That was Gary
:54:47. > :54:50.Manning, one of the directors of Aerial Force, also known as the
:54:51. > :54:54.Television Aerial Company. We got to talk to him and he had nothing to
:54:55. > :54:58.say. As we are leaving, the guy that interviewed us for the job stands
:54:59. > :55:02.next to the car to make sure we are on our way and what is really weird
:55:03. > :55:08.is that he follows is for two miles to make sure we have gone.
:55:09. > :55:12.Eventually he gives up and our security team advise as to leave the
:55:13. > :55:18.area which means we don't get a chance to bring in our big screen
:55:19. > :55:21.which is a shame because we wrote a song! Because we believe in the
:55:22. > :56:42.redeeming nature of country music and it is a very good song.
:56:43. > :56:49.In the meantime Gary Manning has written to us
:56:50. > :56:52.saying our allegations are false and denying that the company sells
:56:53. > :56:56.unnecessary parts or works against customers' best interests.
:56:57. > :56:59.He says they employ highly skilled and knowledgeable engineers,
:57:00. > :57:02.and it's a natural part of their duties to recommend
:57:03. > :57:04.to clients other products, repairs and upgrades.
:57:05. > :57:07.And that there is nothing wrong with how they incentivise.
:57:08. > :57:10.He also told us the company regularly carries out random audits
:57:11. > :57:13.on installations to ensure clients receive the best level of service.
:57:14. > :57:16.He went on to say the company takes health and safety very seriously
:57:17. > :57:18.and all employees are equipped with the necessary personal
:57:19. > :57:20.protection equipment to ensure they can work at height safely.
:57:21. > :57:22.Remember all our stories come from you.
:57:23. > :57:25.So do please keep telling us about Rogue Traders or any business
:57:26. > :57:29.And our team can start looking into them ready for the next series.
:57:30. > :57:32.Details of how to get in touch are on your screen now.
:57:33. > :57:36.Thanks again to everyone who's been in touch tonight.
:57:37. > :57:50.Apart from laughing at the singing! All of the stories have struck a
:57:51. > :57:58.chord, so many e-mails and comments, thank you so much. Craig says, with
:57:59. > :58:01.the Smart meter deadline back, these incidents regarding the
:58:02. > :58:09.installations are a disgrace. And fidget spinners, they have got you
:58:10. > :58:14.in a spin. Vicky says her kids spin it lasted a week before it came
:58:15. > :58:18.apart. One said that a spinner was horrific and you could lose a
:58:19. > :58:21.finger. One said that Viagogo booking fees are ridiculous and you
:58:22. > :58:27.don't see them until they are too late. And the bumpers of art if that
:58:28. > :58:30.was really using ink! We are available for weddings -- you
:58:31. > :58:31.singing. Thanks for all your comments
:58:32. > :58:35.and stories this series. We'll be back on your
:58:36. > :58:37.screens before too long. But until then, from everyone here,
:58:38. > :58:40.bye!