Episode 6 X-Ray

I'm Rhodri Owen. I'm Lucy Owen. You're Watching X-Ray.

Tonight - who's ringing you up with This couple wanted a holiday in the

sun. They ended up with a timeshare they couldn't get rid of.

And we get horse mad Hannah back on Hello. Tonight we are in Port

Talbot. Being as it is the last programme of the series, we should

send a postcard back to the Office. The Dodhia. Should we send it first

or second class. Later in the programme we will be asking about

these first and second-class stamps. We will put the Post Office to

their paces. First, it is a problem that has been plaguing Wales and it

has put a lot of people out of pocket. Rhodri is investigating the

cold-calling companies. Mary Lloyd has Alzheimer's and was signed up

by five satellite companies. And pensioner Bryant paid out more than

�6,000 to a compensation company. The problem started with a colt

called. When you pick up the phone, you do not know who is on the other

end. Kizzy Ayling got a call from a woman claiming to be from Microsoft.

She said there was a virus on her computer. She said she could fix it

for me if I allowed access into the computer. The next thing I saw was

files downloading. As it was doing it, I tried to stop it, but it

would not let me. Then she asked for my bank details. The woman

wanted payment for anti-virus software. Kizzy rely she was been

scant. I asked for the company telephone number so I could call

her back. She hung up the phone. Kizzy have been speaking to a

criminal gang who planted a virus on her laptop. She paid �60 to get

it removed. She is not the only victim. It's is a huge problem

because fraudsters prey on the lack of technical knowledge of the

victim. If you get a phone call from someone purporting to be a IT

engineer, do not engage with them. Hang up. Kizzy was targeted by it a

criminal gang, but most cold callers are licensed and regulated.

We have had plenty of horror stories about these companies as

well. Gareth Pugh it got a call from a Swansea-based company called

Consortium Reclaim. He said he was told that his credit card debt

could be wiped out. I paid over �600. I thought they were

legitimate. Months went by and he called the company to find out what

was going on, but there was no news until February this year. I had a

letter from another firm and they were saying they wanted another

�150 to take my case further. By then, up I saw red because I

realised I was being scanned. adviser Sorcha has helped thousands

of people to deal with their debt. What are your thoughts over what

has happened cigarette. It is sad, but it is typical of what happens

when people are contacted by a claim management firms. He was a

Roslea bombarded by a jargon. the debt is unenforceable, baby --

the court will not make you pay it, but you are still liable. Your

account could go into default and it will affect your credit rating.

So wiping out to a debt is not as simple as it sounds. Consortium

Reclaim says it has many satisfied customers, but Gallup is not one of

them. They eventually be funded his money. Gareth is one of the lucky

ones. You have been telling us how companies may also also promises on

the phone, but once you have signed up, you cannot prove what they have

said. But we caught one firm red- handed when they made a mistake of

calling our office. In fact, it was two companies. Elucidate Contractor

Services called us and then transferred us to PPI Claimline. We

recorded beat conversations and then play them to aware debt expert.

Other researcher was then put through to a supervisor, who

coached him on what to say to PPI It seems they are putting words

into his mouth, telling him misleading things to say because he

You would not get that in that time frame. It would take a long time

for even a letter to get through. He it is fair to say that scenario

is unrealistic? Yes. When aware researcher was transferred to PPI

Claimline, he did not say what he was told to say, so they hung up.

That is terrible. He is almost been told off for not saying the right

thing. It is really shocking. sent those recordings to the

Ministry of Justice who have the power to take away their licences.

They have launched an investigation and we will keep you posted.

Cold-calling is a worry to so many people, but at least the Ministry

of Justice is investigating that last case. And we have been doing

some investigating of the companies that they are aware of this.

Claimline say that their staff did nothing wrong and they blamed the

marketing firm Elucidate Contractor Services, or ECS for the calls.

They say there was Miss conduct and they have dismissed stop. By up as

-- but that does not explain why we received another call from ECS.

They use the same methods as they did in May. ECS has denied that

last call came from them. So it is not set to pick up the phone yet?

It isn't. The best way to deal with cold callers is to just hang up.

you do get caught out by then, do get in contact with us. The thing

you have been getting in touch with us this week about is how flood

victims could face a huge rise in One man had his premium rise by

�7,000. Do it set his insurance was an extra �800 a year because he was

apparently in a flood area. -- Derek said. Now, how many times do

you have to clean up a rented house before you move out? It seen some

landlords are never satisfied. Renting a house used to be a bit of

a lottery. You could hand over a huge deposit to a landlord with no

guarantee of whether or not you would get it back. But five years

ago most private tenants got new rights. Money is kept safe in

deposit protection schemes. Independent adjudicators decide

whether anything gets taken away for damage or cleaning when you

move out. So Angharad and Rachel should not have had any problems

when they moved out of their students flak. The problem is, they

didn't pay a deposit at all. What did you think when you saw the

house? We thought it was great because student houses are usually

grubby. We thought we were lucky. The home furnishings and paintings

look brilliant. The a got a house through letting agent Campbell

Property. We have to pay �220 for the set-up fee and that no deposit

was needed. So when you came to leave the property then, what was

the procedure? Well, they told us we could have professional cleaners

or have them direct. With them, it was an extra few hundred pounds, so

we thought we would get our own. They said if we provided it

receives and it was done to a good standard, it would be fine. So how

did the house look after you had it professionally cleaned? It was fine.

We were really happy. But a few months later when the girls had a

look at their online accounts,, -- accounts, they found money had been

taken out of their account. What we been charged for? We were being

charged for dust and the windows in dirty. They charge for the outside

of the windows. If I thought I was in the wrong, I would give them the

money, but I don't feel it is justified. The company invoice also

includes cleaning the cooker, microwave and carpets. Now, it is

not just the former residents of number 22 Glenroy Street that have

had problems with Campbell Property because just across the road...

Here at the 31 Glenroy Street, another house full of students have

very similar problems with the company after they moved out last

summer. Angela and her six friends were offered a supervised cleaning

day - a cheaper alternative to a professional clean. We played �11

each for someone to come round to basically supervise us while we

cleaned. After this supervised effort, or Campbell Property still

demanded a professional clean, and even that was not enough. A at the

end of August, the start of September, they e-mailed all of us

and said hour ended tenancy costs were up on the board outside. I was

shocked by the amount. She had been charged more than �170 to repaint

her room and �50 for further cleaning. So what sort of things

were they charging you for? Little things like dust and light bulbs,

which are minimal things. The girls have been caught up in a long-

running dispute with Campbell Property. If they have paid a

deposit, they would have a legal right to independent adjudication.

If the landlord is claiming the cleaning has not been done and it

is not left in a satisfactory condition, they are in a difficult

situation because they do not have third-party adjudication. So the

former tenants who asked for refusing to play could be facing

court action. I am still getting e- mails from them. There was one

period when they were bringing the house, ringing my mobile, sending

threatening e-mails. The last I heard from them, they were

threatening me with papers being served at Swindon County Council.

Those girls have had a stressful time. Anne Campbell property are

not apologising. They say they take great pride in the service they

keep their tenants. They say they have investigated these complaints

and the students were treated fairly. They say their policies

have been approved by the National Landlords Association.

Now, first class stamps have gone up, but is it worth it. We asked

people outside his post office in Do you buy first class stamps?

Second. Why do you buy second? They're cheaper. I don't think

there's much difference in the time that they actually arrive. Have you

noticed any difference in the speed between first and second class?

really, no. I haven't posted anything for ages, I use the

computer now. Would you buy first or second? First. Why? Should get

there quicker, I would have thought. There are some things you need

first class. Why do you think you need first class? Hopefully it gets

there quicker. Some mixed views there. But in the interests of

saving you money, we have taken a There's been lots of publicity

about the rise in the price of stamps recently. Now it costs 60p

to post a letter first class. And 50 for second class.

But we wanted to know if you get value for money when you use the

mail. So we have done a little experiment. Over the last few weeks

when we have been out and about across Wales. We have been posting

letters. One first class. second class. And we have been

checking when they get back at the office to see if it's worth using

first class post any more. Surprisingly, one second class

letter posted in in Wrexham arrived a day earlier than the first class

letter which was posted at the same On nine occasions first and second

class letters we posted the same time arrived the same day. That's

more than half the letters we posted.

Five times the second class letters arrived one day later than the

first class. Only twice it took at least two

days longer for the second class letters to arrive. Are second class

stamps the best deal? Probably not really worth paying that extra

money for a first class stamp. If you know you are going to be

posting something and plan ahead and pay for second class, you are

going to get better value for money. Good advice there. We have spoken

to Royal Mail and they say that the first class post is performing

ahead of targets. The second class post that seems to be providing a

particularly fast service at the moment, which is why the letters

are arriving at the same time as first class. We have had tweets

about this. Lesley Evans says she thinks post is arriving quicker at

the moment. Kev the cabby and Tom both tweeted to say they think a

stamp is stale good deal. -- still a good deal. Thank you for your

comments. Next, Lucy is On The Case. Horse mad Hannah was hopping mad

when it took months to fix her new Hi, Lucy, I crashed my car and the

repairs took ages. Once they were, they were poor. Please help. I am

on the case. Hannah drives a Hyundai but she's

been driven around the bend by her insurance company, Aviva. A three-

month wait for a new part left her severely out of pocket and when she

got the car back the repairs weren't up to much either.

Hannah, this is where the accident happened. This junction. Tell me

what happened. I was coming across the junction here. I was going to

visit my grandmother who lives up the road. As the car came into this

junction it got hit by the side and back passenger wheel. Were you

hurt? Everyone was OK, it was just the shock of the accident really

and how the car just came out from nowhere really. It was a brand new

car. Only �5 -- 500 miles on the clock. Was there much damage?

of damage, the whole back axel and suspension had gone. Well, it's

never nice having a bump but you were insured, were you? Yes, with

Aviva. They were very helpful to begin with. And very sympathetic.

But obviously when everything started to go wrong, they didn't

want to know. I am taking it that the repairs didn't go well? No, it

didn't. It took nearly three, four months for it to be fixed and then

when it was fixed it wasn't done correctly. How are you coping

without your car? It was just a lot of hassle and a lot of relying on

people and putting people out of their way really to try and help me.

Were you offered a courtesy car? Not from Aviva, because I didn't

have it on my policy, I couldn't have a courtesy car. For two months

Hannah had to grab lifts to work and pay someone to look after her

horse, as she couldn't always get to the stables. Eventually, at the

start of June Hyundai agreed to supply a hire car. Aviva insured it

for one week but after that she had to pay. Finally the part arrived.

Until the car arrived back with me, and I saw the works weren't done

and it was just shocking. There was mud in the paintwork or bits of

dirt. One of the panels hadn't been fitted correctly and it was rubbing

up against the rear light. Aviva agreed to fix the problems but more

delays for Hannah. What would you like me to do? I would like to you

get my car fixed so the standard that it should be fixed. I am on

the case. Now, I know it can seem like a lot of hassle but it's a

really good idea to read the small print on your insurance policy to

check whether extras like hire cars are included. If you really depend

on a car, then hiring and insuring a replacement can be very expensive.

In this case, Aviva was entirely responsible for the repairs to

Hannah's car and for the quality of the workmanship. When we got in

touch they apologised but said the delays were out of their control.

However, they have now arranged for the repairs to be put right and

they've given Hannah �300 in compensation. Hi, Lucy. The car

looks great and the cheque is on the way to me. Thank you very much.

That's another case closed! Great to hear that Hannah's back on

the road and has cash taorbgs. Great news. That's not the only

result we have had this week. Do you remember the investigation into

Harvey's said head oils were to blame for the leather peeling on

Graham Walter's sofa. An expert blamed the quality of the leather

saying it hadn't been properly sealed. Maybe they should supply

one of these with their sofas, any ideas what this is? I have a

feeling you are going to tell me. It's a nana Doyly, it helps prevent

hair oils getting on to head rests. Harvey's have come up with a better

solution, they're planning to fix Graham's sofa.

That's really great news. There's more, do you remember John and

Jenny Day, they were unhappy with their sofa. Well, they're going now

get a full refund of more than �2,500. Absolutely brilliant.

Next, Rachel's been to meet one couple who couldn't get rid of a

time share they signed up to on holiday.

The British summer is enough to make anyone leave the country.

Paul and Ruth Griffey love their holidays. They've been to Vietnam

and Cambodia. And, at the end of last year, they

booked another holiday after having a rough few months.

Back in June I got made redundant from Bosch when they closed the

plant here and it takes a few months to find another job, so I

just heard I have another job, and it was obviously good news, so we

decided to go before we start working again, let's go away, a

little holiday and see what we can get. The couple went to Malta and

were taking a relaxing stroll when they were persuaded to go to a

timeshare presentation in a nearby hotel. I wasn't too worried about

going, yeah, we will go and have a look and see what the hotel was

like. They were taken to a luxury poolside room by a woman called

Julie and given free drinks. They were very nice people in the

beginning. They made an effort to find out about our family and our

life. They made us feel that we could trust them. I think it's very

clever that they break down your fears. The one thing they told us,

it was very different from a normal sort of timeshare holiday and she

explained this in some detail. It almost sounded too good to be true.

I did start asking questions about this, but everyone Julie seemed to

answer. Paul and Ruth liked what they were being told and decided to

sign up at the cost of almost �7,000, plus an annual fee of

around �300. We went back to the hotel room. We suddenly started to

realise that a lot of the things they had told you actually they

weren't contained anywhere in writing in the contract. I thought,

I don't feel comfortable, this is stupid. We'll cancel. Because one

of the things that they also tell su you have 14 days to cancel.

and Ruth went back to see jewel throeu cancel the agreement, but it

wasn't that easy. They say, well what you are feeling is quite

natural. Everybody feels this. Go home, read it over again. Sleep on

it a bit more. Spend a bit of time. If you still want to cancel, let us

know. But they didn't change their minds and wrote a letter of

cancellation. Paul and Ruth left the letter with

the receptionist who reassured them that she would pass it on to the

right person and the next day they headed home. From here on in, the

story gets murky. Because this was a timeshare they just couldn't

shake off. Back home, Paul and Ruth followed

up the letter with an e-mail to confirm the cancellation. But a few

weeks later Paul received a phone call telling him there had been

some confusion and they had cancelled incorrectly. Then they

started getting demands for the money they owed. And the threat

that if they didn't pay the �6650 by the 2nd December, then the debt

would be handed to a collection agency. Unsurprisingly, Paul and

Ruth paid up. Ever since, they've been trying to

get their money back but who exactly should they be speaking to?

It was really unclear who works for who, and what all their function

was. We have done a bit of digging and

this is what we found. Paul and Ruth attended a sales

pitch by Hallmark Holidays, a marketing company based in Malta.

Then there's First National Trustee Company Limited in the Isle of Man.

Their contract is actually with skaf evergreen Travel, it turns out

they're based in the British Virgin Islands. And they are a bit of a

mystery. Companies based in the British

Virgin Islands are notoriously difficult to investigate because

they don't have to file accounts or list directors.

It turns out that this was the company who had Paul and Ruth's

money. Didn't know what to do, didn't know who to turn to. You

just just think how can people do that and get away with it?

looked like Paul and Ruth were getting nowhere. We contacted all

the companies involved and did get a response from Hallmark Holidays.

They say their contract is kphraoer to cancel and -- clear to cancel

and dispute Paul and Ruth's account of how they went about it.

continued to press and we got a result. �6650 has now landed in

their account, they have their money back. Fantastic result. What

a brilliant way to end this series of X-ray. That means we have won

refunds totalling �23,000 over the last six weeks. All of that goes

into the pockets of people who have rung us or written to us. If there

is anything you want us to contact details so we can get back

to you. You can keep up with us and the latest consumers news by

following us on Twitter. Frbgt. While we are off air doesn't meaner