Episode 3 X-Ray

tonight's prasm The student -- - Programme. The students paying to

Barclays for courses they never signed up for. And the free video

games tempting children to spend Hello. Welcome to X-Ray. It is half

term. We have come to the beach in sunny Port crawl. We will tell you

how to make -- Porthcawl. We will tell you how to make sure thieves

don't ruin your holiday. We have met some students who say they are being

made to pay a fortune for courses they never signed up for. Remember

those school days when you couldn't remember to hear the bell ring and

remember to hear the bell ring and signal the end of the lesson?

Of course, you sometimes don't appreciate the value of an education

until your school days are behind you.

But these day, it is never too late to learn and there are plenty of

training courses available for those of us looking to juggle work and

of us looking to juggle work and family with studying.

Father of two and DVLA worker Kayne Romano was hoping to abouting

accelerate his work with a course in advent training in 2008. Why was it

so important to you? It was for my family. The job prospects would be

great. I could treat them to a better life. He could not afford the

course fee of almost �5,000. He turned to one of our biggest banks -

Barclays, who had a partnership with Advent. I thought I would be in safe

hands. That would not come cheap. A student loan with Barclays partner

finance could cost him �10,000 - double the original course fee. He

started his studies and passed modules with flying colours. In

January, 2010, he got an unexpected report card from Advent. There was

an e-mail saying Barclays had pulled the plug on Advent and they had gone

into administration. Barclays decided to stop loans to those

applying for adult training. Advent said it could not survive without

them and went under. Barclays agreed to find students a like-for-like

course, , but they were not in any rush. He was in limbo, not sure he

would be able to complete the course, until March, when he got a

letter from a different firm called Computeach. Kayne noticed a big

difference - the cost. He was paying more than �200 a month. Now Barclays

were asking him to pay more to carry on with his studies. They were

asking for nearly �150 again, which was impossible. Kayne felt he had no

other option but to abandon his studies. He had given up on his

dream of better qualifications, but Barclays had other ideas. They

insisted he continue his repayments, or risk breaching his contract.

or risk breaching his contract. So, you have actually had to keep

paying So you don't affect your credit rating? Vy to keep paying it.

We live with my parents at the minute and not able to afford a

mortgage at the moment. It is not just Advent students like Kayne.

Robert Williams from Pontardawe was hooked on the idea of becoming a

plumber and signed up to Access 2 Trade Careers in October 2009.

working in factories. I just felt like I was going nowhere and decided

to look into plumbing or electrical work. He was reeled in with promises

of a no-fuss credit agreement with Barclays partner finance. It would

cost him more than �12,000. someone of their calibre and size, I

thought it would be a sure thing that there would not be any problems

and if there was, a company of that stature would be able to help or

sort things out. His relationship with Barclays hit troubled waters.

Weeks after he signed up, access to trade careers went under, blaming

their downfall on the bank's decision to pull out of the training

sector. I pleaded with them to let me out. They basically refused. They

said you are now one of our students, you have to deal with it.

Barclays said they found a new training provider, so he would have

to go with them and continue paying back the loan. Robert did try to

carry on with his studies, but far from being a like-for-like

replacement, he said the new course was run very differently to the one

he signed up for. They are nothing alike. The course was Superintendent

posed to fit -- supposed to fit in with my job. I have to plead to

awith my manager to attend a course. He tried to cancel again last year,

but Barclays refused, instead offering him a two-year extension.

You could give me ten years. It does not change the fact I cannot attend

the dates they are offering. Robert and Kayne are not alone. They are

two out of thousands of students still paying back a loan to Barclays

after their courses have been cancelled. Many of those are unhappy

at being forced into paying for a substitute course they never agreed

to. But the bank has refused to back down. They deny they were

responsible for the two firms going under. They say they have honoured

their credit agreements by providing alternative courses.

The problem with independent training providers is that just like

any business there is a chance they could go under. If that happens,

students can be left without any support. They are there to make

profits. You don't get that support you would with a Government-funded

programme. The name of the finance company involved here would have

perhaps given people reassurance about the course. I am sure the

reputation of the particular finance company involved might have led

people to believe there was more protection than turned tout be the

case. And they have learnt the case. And they have learnt the

hashed way. They have been -- the hard way. They have been left

without any qualifications and thousands out of pocket. Actually

parting that money every month, how does that feel? It's the worst

feeling ever. If you are paying something and seeing something at

the end of it, at least you can appreciate it. At the moment it is

going into Barclays's hands and I am not getting anything for it.

asked Barclays why they are insisting they are paying for

courses they cannot complete. They insist they are like-for-like

courses. In Robert's case they say the financial om bud s Financial

Ombudsman Service agrees. We will keep you posted on any developments.

If you feel let down by a company or a rogue trader has ripped you off,

we want to know. Give us a call, You can e-mail or send us a tweet.

Lots of you got got in touch after watching last week. Some customers

have told us a different story. Back in January, Lesley Moule said

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becoming green offered her free could buy with real money. Lilly is

just one of many children will have hit the headlines after running up

massive bills. The office of fair trading is whether that some games

companies are not playing baby grows. They have launched the

investigation into so-called free games which ask you to stump up cash

once you have started playing. We decided to check out the most part

sub -- popular games. Lots of these games can be played for free but to

do that, you need to be very patient. That is because the games

makers deliberately built in time delays too many games. Just as you

are getting into it, base by the van and make you wait. If you want to

continue playing straightaway, you have to pay. And some experts are

worried that those most likely to give in to that pressure our

children. Instead of putting the game to one side and then coming

back to it later and perhaps the time has kicked into play at that

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level, they are more impulsive and heady how she had acquired so many

things. She didn't realise she was doing it. Parents are advised to

disable purchases. Free downloads do not always mean three to play.

not think it is fair. Scary stuff. We ask the manufacturers of all the

games we mentioned in the report why they seem to encourage children to

spend large amounts of real money. The makers of the applications did

not want to answer our questions. We spoke to the Association of UK

interactive entertainment which represents lots of games makers

including the Simpsons. They insist the games industry takes its

responsibility to children very seriously. They encourage the use of

password blogs and parental controls to stop children making purchases.

If you have been affected by this, the office of fair trading wants to

hear from you. Go to our website and you can follow the link to their

survey which runs until the end of June. An a Sunday, the beach behind

me is usually packed with people enjoying a day out. Rachel has been

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checking out a few things you need advantage of trusting visitors who

leave keys not attended. In recent months, there has been a spate of

months in the car park. Crooks spied on drivers to see where they hide

their keys. Then they snatched them and steal their cards. Even those

who have taken steps to secure their keys are being watched and targeted

like surf instructor Nigel Jones. had three players who had three cars

and they left their keys in my glove compartment which was locked. My

vehicle got broken into and the glove compartment got broken into

and the three vehicles got stolen. They had no warm clothing,

telephones, house keys. They were wondering how they would get to work

the following morning. It caused a whole lot of absurd. -- upset.

insurers have refused to pay out because the keys were with the cars

at the time of the theft. But it seems the tide is beginning to turn

against the criminals. Humanity has set up a key save which any visitors

can use for free. We encourage people, if they have an electronic

key fob which they can take into the water, we give them a band and a

number and the keys are safe when they are in the water. We will give

them the keys back when they come out. Police have stepped up their

patrols. They tell visitors about another way. We issue packs which

keep keys safe. These thefts and not just happening here. Beaches across

Wales have been hit. If you are planning on taking the plunge, the

message is clear. Do not assume that other visitors have good intentions

and never leave your car keys or isn't up to scratch? Lucy has the

story. Balancing the household budget can

be a real juggling act. Many of us struggle to put money to

one side. Tom knows what it is like to live on

a tight budget. The 20-year-old is looking for work, but survives on

his Disability Living Allowance. am on just under �400 a month, that

is gas, elect, water. I have to pay all my bills out of that. There was

one luxury item Tom dreamed of owning - an Xbox. Costing around

�190 new, it was a lot to find. have ADHD and Asperger's. It helps

me stay still and relax. With no savings or access to credit, buying

new was out of the question. He turned to the one name on the high

street which seemed willing to help - BrightHouse. With 18 shops over

Wales, they sale fridges to Xboxes. Enjoy it now and pay a little bit at

a time. Taking out a hire purchase agreement was a new world to him,

but Top and his dad thought the week -- Tom and his dad thought the

weekly repayments were possible. They said it would be �7 a week. I

thought it would be OK, he could manage that. They explained I would

pay �262 back. They do not just charge for the item. His annual

interest rate was 29%, plus damage liability cover and a delivery and

installation charge. So the refurbished Xbox would cost �347.

50. Around �100 more than a new one. Tom insists BrightHousse did not

make it clear to him. The first day it was fine. The next day it turned

itself off. A red ring comes up and it turned off and the fan started to

try and spin, but it was not spinning. It came up on the screen

it had overheated. This happened then for about four days. I took it

back to the store. They turned around and went, "There is nothing

we can do because you don't have optional service cover." I said,

what can I do? They said to have it repaired myself. That is an expense.

They said, if you take out the cover now, we will send it out today and

have it fixed for you. The fact that Tom's machine was refurbished and he

was paying by hire purchase did not affect his consumer rights. He was

protected under the supply of goods and services act, which means he

should have got it fixed for free. Tom didn't know that. He paid the

extra charge expecting to get his console back. The only game he has

played in the last few months has been a frustrating one, with

BrightHouse. I rang them every day. I asked them to find out, they would

say they would ring me back this afternoon, but no-one would ever

ring. Two weeks later he did get his Xbox back. All was not well.

turned it on. Half an hour later it reheated. Took it back to them

again. They sent it back again. Got it back. It had the same problem

again. Even when he didn't have his Xbox Tom had to keep paying them.

After three months and two repairs, it was game over for his machine.

This time, they said they would replace the product. I said OK.

Brought this one back and the disk tray kept opening and closing on its

own. Halfway through a game, it would just open. I had to take that

back again. Thankfully his thishd replacement Xbox does work. He's had

an expensive few months paying for an item he has hardly used and

paying for items which should have been free. How long have you had a

working Xbox? A week and a half, maybe. It seems like you have to

keep on to them before they will tell you anything. What do you think

about the way they have treated Tom? The least I would have thought, a

bit of common courtesy, here's a new machine, sorry for all the trouble.

Well, we asked what went wrong and they have apologised to Tom for

falling below their usual high standards and they will waiver all

future payments on his Xbox, saving him well over �200. Tom is finally

happy because he has an Xbox now which works. If you have a sorry you

would like us to investigate, please give us a call. Our number as usual:

03703 334 334. You can drop us an e-mail: [email protected]. Next week,