Episode 2 X-Ray

You're watching X-Ray. On tonight's programme:

Five star or fake? Rhod the builder finds out how much we should trust

the reviews on ratings sites. These customers thought they were

joining the government's Green Deal, but ended up paying money for

nothing. And the council workers who asked

X-Ray for help when their hotel cancelled their Beatles trip at the

Hello, and welcome to X-Ray. We're in Pontypridd this week with lots

of great stories for you! First tonight, Rachel's been

looking into the Cardiff company which claims to sign you up to a

government energy-saving scheme. But instead of joining the Green

Deal, some customers say they've had a reaw deal.

We've had a fair share of tricky companies on X-Ray over the years.

You know the type, they'll find clever ways to conjure up something

that looks like a bargain. And all too often you hand over your hard

earned cash. And it mysteriously disappears!

And that's exactly what happened to Lesley Moule from Cardiff in

January. I was cold-called by someone who

said they were doing this scheme for the government and that I

basically I could have double glazing done at no cost.

And Cardiff-based Becoming Green UK Ltd certainly seemed to have the

best of intentions. The firm says it's dedicated to making all of its

customers financially and environmentally richer, with the

aim of making the world a better But it seems their main aim is to

line their own pockets, for a service you can set up yourself,

for free. What did they tell you about how much it would cost you up

front? �299 as a joining up fee for the Government scheme. The money

was perfectly safe. The cheque wouldn't be cashed for 14 days. An

assessor would be out during that time, within a couple of days he

said. It made it sound as though you couldn't lose basically.

So what is the Green Deal? Well, it's a Government backed scheme

which allows you take out a loan to pay for home improvements like

solar panels and double glazing. The money you save on your energy

bills is then used to repay that loan. To take up the Green Deal, a

Government-approved assessor has to check out your house. Becoming

Green UK Ltd aren't qualified to do that.

So they say they'll put you in touch with someone who is. But it

seems they don't always stick to their side of the deal. So did the

assessor come? No. I was getting really really suspicious so I went

to the bank and discovered the cheque had already been taken out.

I started phoning the company and could never ever get through. And I

was beginning to wonder whether a real company existed.

And it seems the company's been very busy pulling the same trick on

customers all over Wales Gillian and Gwyn Jones from Tonyrefail had

a visit from a Becoming Green salesman in February. Just like

Lesley, they were asked to pay up front. If we give him a cheque for

�164, when the assessor came out if we, or he, decides that the Green

Deal isn't for us, we have the cheque back and we could just rip

it up. 100% gain! And he said that the assessor would be out in about

two weeks time. But soon after the salesman's visit, Gillian and Gwyn

had a nasty surprise. The cheque was cashed but no surveyor ever

turned up. And once again, getting hold of Becoming Green was an

impossible feat. So this pair of determined

pensioners took matters into their own hands. Armed with their buses

passes, and a steely resolve, they headed to Cardiff. Becoming Green's

headquarters are at this Cardiff office block, and when Gillian and

Gwyn came here they demanded to speak to the man in charge.

But instead of giving them their money back, the head of operations

had the cheek to ask for even more cash! He said, so if you give me a

cheque for �135, we'll arrange now for the assessor to come out. And

Gwyn said, no way we've come for our money back.

Their visit did the trick and the firm soon coughed up the money.

But take a look at the company records and it's not hard to see

why director Abdul Muhith may be reluctant to give customers their

money back. We've discovered that Abdul Muhith

has more than �34,000 worth of unpaid county court judgements

against him, plus a whopping �61,000 against another company he

owns. Trading Standards say they're concerned too, and are

investigating lots of complaints from people who say they've been

deceived by the company. And Becoming Green customer Lesley

fears she'll never see her money again.

I feel really ripped off and very aggrieved.

So what's going on? Well, Becoming Green UK Ltd insist that they offer

a unique and valuable service. But Lesley, Gillian and Gwyn don't

agree! We put their complaints to the company and they blamed

financial problems and rogue sales people, who they've now sacked. The

firm has now given our viewers all their money back, though about time

too! We'll be keeping a close eye too! We'll be keeping a close eye

too! We'll be keeping a close eye too! We'll be keeping a close eye

on this story too. So if you've had a similar experience, let us know.

Or if there's anything else you'd Or if there's anything else you'd

like us to look into, get in touch. Lots of you did get in touch after

seeing our report on dishwasher fires last week. In case you missed

it, here's a reminder. When the Gittins family from

Llanfyllin turned on their dishwasher one morning in March,

they could never have imagined what was about to happen. 16-year-old

Zoe was the first to return home. I went to the door and it was dark

and black so I opened the door carefully and you just got hit with

this horrible smell of smoke and stuff.

Zoe rang and she just blurted out, Mum you've got to come home, the

dishwasher's exploded and the dogs have died. The fire, which

devastated the kitchen and killed the family's two dogs, was caused

by a faulty control panel in the Bosch dishwasher. It wasn't a one

off, other fires had already led Bosch to recall more than 600,000

dishwashers. The company says it wrote to Ruth but she's adamant she

never received a letter. I had absolutely no idea. This is a

potential time bomb that has been sat in the kitchen and we didn't

know known anything about it. Because most of us don't register

our details when we buy electrical goods, the average success rate of

a product recall is less than 20%. And there are also worrying

inconsistencies in manufacturer's recall policies. We've discovered

that one of the biggest names in electricals has decided not to

recall one of its dishwashers even though it's got exactly the same

fault as the Bosch machines. Some Hotpoint dishwashers made between

1999 - 2003 were actually manufactured by Bosch so have the

same fault. But Hotpoint say very few would still be in use now so

they're not recalling them. And with no government plans to

improve the recall system, it's up to individuals to protect

themselves. The important message we really

want to get across with all of this is please everybody check your

dishwasher. Rachel's here now. Rachel there's

been a big reaction to this story, hasn't there?

There has, we've heard from loads of viewers wanting to know more

about the recall and in particular whether their machine is one of the

ones affected. So just to clarify, if you've got a machine

manufactured by Bosch, Siemens or Neff dishwasher which was

manufactured between 1999 and 2005, you'll need to check your serial

number. Now you'll find that on the inner edge of your dishwasher door,

probably going to be starting with an S, you can go along to the

Repair action website, and check that number.

We also raised questions about Hotpoint dishwashers. What's the

latest situation with those? Well, Hotpoint have recalled some of its

dishwashers made between 2006 and 2007, with model numbers beginning

FWD. That was because of a small number of fires. But the batch of

Hotpoint dishwashers that we referred to in the film were

different, so they were manufactured between 1999 and 2003,

the DWF series. They have not been recalled. Remember these are

machines that were actually manufactured by Bosch and contained

the faulty control panel. Now, Hotpoint argue that very few will

be in use, but the Electrical Safety Council are concerned and

they are worried that people could be put at risk.

And we've heard from concerned Hotpoint owners?

Yes, including two viewers who say their Hotpoint dishwashers caught

fire. One of those incidents was really serious. Neil Fowler from

Risca had a Hotpoint dishwasher made in the year 2000. Now, last

May, he put it on before he went out to work and the dishwasher

caught fire. The whole house was also smoke damaged and covered in

black soot. It meant the family had to move out for six months while

that was renovated. Of course, we'll be passing his story and all

the others we've received onto Hotpoint who say they'll look into

them. But this a story we're going to be keeping a very close eye on,

so any updates, we'll keep you posted. In the meantime, all the

current advice and contact details for the two manufacturers, Bosch

and Hotpoint, are on our website. Great, Rachel, thanks very much.

Still to come: Need a good builder? Well, think

twice before trusting the reviews on some ratings websites.

And we'll put you on the right track to finding the cheapest train

tickets. Next, Lucy's been to Neath to meet

a group of council workers whose special weekend away turned into a

After 35 years of dedicated service, Jean Davies is retiring as the

Manager of Neath Port Talbot Council social services. It's going

to be quite hard because it's been a big part of my life, working full

time. Over the years Jean's been quite an

inspiration to her team. Well, Jean isn't just our manager and

colleague, she is a good friend as well.

And you can probably guess from the music, Jean is a pretty big Beatles

fan. I think it was just the era, the short skirts, the songs, it was

my youth. Jean's team wanted to mark her retirement with something

she'd really love. So what better than a trip to the fab four's home

town of Liverpool. Susan and Charlotte stepped up to

the task of organising the biggest social outing Jean's team would

ever experience. 30 people wanted to say their goodbyes. This was

going to be tricky. Everybody made the effort, we

wanted to go and have a fabulous weekend with a fabulous friend and

boss. And they knew exactly what Jean

would enjoy doing. It's always been a dream of mine to go to Liverpool,

to go on the Beatles trail. To do the whole Magical Mystery Tour, a

trip down the Mersey, go to the Cavern. And stay in the Adelphi

because it's such a well known hotel.

Back in September all 30 team members signed up to the Beatles

extravaganza weekend. Susan hired a coach and booked 15 rooms at the

Adelphi Hotel. Job done! With six months still to go Charlotte and

Susan relaxed, confident that Jean would have a great time. It was

lovely, I was really, really moved. But at the last minute disaster

struck. Just ten days before the trip, the Adelphi cancelled. And

their Beatles weekend was ruined. The Adelphi had double booked them,

blaming a computer system error. didn't really want to tell anyone

when I first found out and I waited and worried all night and I had to

tell Jean then and break the news to her and the rest of the

colleagues and friends that we weren't actually going to Liverpool.

But then the company offered a possible solution. They could go to

another hotel in the Britannia chain, the Roundhouse Hotel in

Bournemouth. The Britannia hotel said we'd have a whale of a time,

they would really make us enjoy our stay there. To get that many people

together again to go away for a weekend would be virtually

impossible. So a few days later they all headed off to the opposite

end of the country. But when they arrived in Bournemouth, there was

another blow. Straight away my heart sank. The first thing to hit

you was the smell of smoke. The curtains had stains on them and on

the walls and on closer inspection some of it was blood. The windows

were filthy, there were dirty net curtains flying outside.

The bathrooms were dirty and grubby with tiles all cracked. And the

complaints kept coming from other team members as well. When we saw

the hotel it was oh my word. Oh, it was just stains everywhere it was

just really, really horrible. a look online and you'll see these

complaints aren't one-offs. X-Ray's even investigated the Roundhouse

before. Two years ago Arwyn Williams told

me about his grotty stay in a filthy room. The team returned to

Neath a little dejected to say the least. It wasn't the weekend that

we wanted to give her, she deserved pennies, still hoping to visit her

heroes home town very soon. Well you can rest assured Lucy wasn't the

fifth member of the Beatles! Now the Britannia hotel group say if they

can't offer a certain hotel they'll find accommodation of the same

standard or better. They do say they had no other complaints from guests

at the Roundhouse in Bournemouth that weekend. But there is some good

news. They've offered Jean and her friends a special discounted rate to

stay at the Adelphi in Liverpool, or any of their other hotels, in the

future. So maybe Jean will still get her magical mystery retirement tour

after all! Now how much should you rely on ratings websites? Rhod's

or any sort of tradesmen you can trust can be a bit of nightmare. If

your friends and family can't recommend anyone, it becomes a bit

of a lottery. There's the good old phone book or you can take your

chances on the internet. How do you go about finding your builders

normally? Well, this guy lives opposite me. To be honest I'd ask my

dad. He used to be a builder. you any good at finding builders?

No, I trust anyone who comes in my door! Now, if you're looking for a

safe pair of hands, you might be tempted to try one of those rating

websites which say they take the risk out of finding a good builder.

One of biggest and best known is Rated People. With property guru

Phil Spencer as their celebrity 'ambassador', it's no wonder people

are putting their faith in the company. Rated People claim that

with their help, homeowners can confidently hire a tradesman they

can trust. But some of their customers have been telling us a

different story. Penny Loos bought her house near Abertillery nearly

two years ago, but she's only recently felt able to move in after

being badly let down by builders she found through Rated People. She was

reassured by their good ratings. They painted a good picture of their

work. But after the first week it seemed like their true colours came

out. They began to slack with the work, and there were days when they

wouldn't show up. Penny had set aside �10,000 for the work on her

home. She says her builders spent twelve and only did half the job.

Hardly the quality local tradesmen Rated People promise. They obviously

don't vet the builders that they allow to advertise on their website.

Another not so convinced Rated People customer is Barbara Smith

from Ystrad in the Rhondda. I saw this advert on the television for

Rated People.com and I thought, well, OK, if they're on the TV you

take everything as gospel. Two people, roofers, got in touch with

me, and they came round and told me what it would cost to have the job

done. She paid �4,000 to one of the firms. For that she got a new roof,

her outside walls painted, and less than a year later some problems she

could have done without. The paint's been coming off. The green where all

the mould is coming through on a paint that's supposedly 15 years

guaranteed. That paint cost nearly �90 a tub. It's a mess, a complete

mess. I doubt Phil Spencer would be impressed by either of those jobs,

yet both builders had good reviews. So do Rated People check their

tradesmen and the accuracy of their ratings? Time for a little

experiment! Lucy will tell you I'm not the best at DIY, so let's see

how easy it would be for a complete amateur like me to set myself up as

a professional tradesman on Rated People. We're going to create our

own building firm, X-Ray Builders. Hard hat, check. Hammer, check. Not

so much Bob the builder as Rhod the builder. We were amazed how easy it

was to set ourselves up on Rated People. We just needed an address,

driving licence number and a credit card. No requirement for any

professional qualifications or insurance, in case we have an

accident on the job. No, Lucy, of course I know what I'm doing? No

awkward phone calls from Rated People to check we are who we say we

are or if we know one end of a saw running, we just need some ratings!

Of course we don't have any real customers, so let's find out whether

Rated People allows us to give ourselves some fake reviews. Our

researchers posed as homeowners and posted some building jobs on the

website. Not too far to travel, I like that. So now X-Ray Builders,

that's me, bids for those jobs, the ones we made up. And, guess what, we

get them. Wait a few days, long enough for the job to actually be

done if it existed, and we can then invent some glowing reviews. Five

stars, I think. X-Ray Builders were very professional. Their work was of

a high quality, and they cleaned up after themselves. Tidy! In just a

few weeks, we've set ourselves up on Rated People, been sent hundreds of

potential job leads, and given to the checks they make, are Rated

People any better or worse than rival websites was just as easy.

Others though demanded references, public liability insurance and

professional trade qualifications first. A few even wanted before and

after pictures of our work and to speak to us on the phone. That could

Rated People. We've proved that anyone could pretend to be a builder

and use fake reviews to convince would-be customers. Scary stuff!

It's definitely time to say goodbye to this hard hat. No more X-Ray

Builders. Oh well, I was pretty rubbish anyway! Well, Rated People

say they're looking into the issues we've raised about their site. They

say they're sorry Penny and Barbara don't feel their complaints were

dealt with properly, and they're working hard to improve the way they

vet tradesmen and make sure their ratings system is more rigorous in

Rachel's been checking out the best way to track down a cheap train

train journey for the most romantic way to get from A to B. But for most

of us riding the rails, the main issue is getting the best deal. If

you'd pick rail over road, there's a trick for buying tickets that could

save you more than just a few pennies. It's used by the canniest

of train travellers but isn't something the rail companies shout

about. You might hope you'd always be offered the cheapest ticket from

the station you start at, to your final destination. But that's often

not the case. So if you want to keep the costs down, here are our top

tips for train-travellers. The trick is called split-ticketing. It's not

new but it's amazing how many people don't know about it and it works

like this. Instead of buying one ticket for your journey from A to B,

you break it down into sections and apps which can help you break down

the journey to work out the cheapest way to travel. But you've got to be

savvy to get the best deal. The problem is rail websites and station

staff won't tell you about splitting your journey, it's up to you to do

your homework. But if you ask for split tickets that's exactly what

journey but when it works, the savings can stack up. And here's the

proof. A single from Abergavenny to Liverpool Lime Street at 11:27 can

set you back �63. But split the journey, by buying one ticket from

Abergavenny to Leominster and a second from Leominster to Liverpool,

and you'll only pay �43.10, saving almost a third! Ah, that makes the

view all the sweeter! What's not so relaxing is getting your head around

the incredibly complicated reason why splitting your ticket can save

you money. Life used to be much simpler. Until the late 1960s,

British Rail priced all train journeys per mile. But now

individual train operators set the costs for using different sections

of the railway. And that makes ticket pricing very complex,

particularly for longer journeys. Thankfully, the rules on buying

split tickets are much simpler. The only thing you have to remember is

that the train stops at all the stations named on your tickets. But

you don't actually have to get off the until you reach your final

destination. And once you know about split ticketing, there are other

ways you play the system to see if you can cut costs. If the train you

want to catch leaves at a peak time, why not see if you can split your

ticket and get a non-peak fare for the later part of the journey. An

anytime return ticket from Caerphilly to Leeds, leaving at

09:25, will set you back at least �233.00. But if you buy an anytime

return from Caerphilly to Cardiff for six pounds forty, you can catch

the same Cardiff to Leeds train using an off peak return costing

just �112.30. Althogether you'll pay �118.70 for the same journey and

save almost a half! Ticket splitting works best when you're buying a

walk-on fare at short notice. But passengers who like to plan ahead

can make big savings too. Advanced tickets can be the cheapest of all.

You might think they are only available several weeks before you

travel but you can get them any time until 6.00pm the day before you go.

These money saving tips are great but is all the hassle really

necessary? Why can't the train companies just give us clearer

signals about how to get the Companies says it's not a case of it

hiding the cheaper split fares, but that giving customer every

permutation of every journey would be impossible. But don't let that

stop you in your tracks. It really is worth shopping around to get the

save yourself lots of money for your next railway adventure, or at least

for this week! Remember, if there's anything you'd like us to