:00:00. > :00:00.You're watching X-Ray, the programme that fights
:00:00. > :00:20.are on your side. Exposing the truth and tracking down the rogues. We
:00:21. > :00:30.won't take no for an answer. The builder
:00:31. > :00:35.who ripped off countless customers and wrecked their homes.
:00:36. > :00:38.He's had a catastrophic effect It's the UK's biggest ever safety
:00:39. > :00:49.scare, but the company behind these defective dryers is leaving
:00:50. > :00:52.customers in a spin! You're sat there watching the dryer
:00:53. > :00:55.just not knowing whether its going And the average house throws away
:00:56. > :01:02.?700,000 worth of food every year. I'll be cooking up some hot tips
:01:03. > :01:15.on how to save your pennies. First tonight, the return of Rob
:01:16. > :01:19.the Builder, the Cardiff based cowboy who hardly ever
:01:20. > :01:23.gets the job done. It's been a long, hard year
:01:24. > :01:26.for Maureen and Denis Hodge as they battled to make this
:01:27. > :01:31.home fit to live in. Such a difference from the last time
:01:32. > :01:36.we were here, what an improvement This extension has wiped out
:01:37. > :01:39.the family s savings! They've had to pay a second builder,
:01:40. > :01:42.after the first one, Robert Hayel, took ?60,000 and let
:01:43. > :01:48.them down catastrophically. It's messed our retirement up
:01:49. > :01:50.basically, we re going to have to work a lot longer
:01:51. > :01:54.than we planned. Last year, Rob Hayel abandoned this
:01:55. > :01:57.job, claiming he was too depressed He promised to pay Maureen
:01:58. > :02:06.and Dennis back, but never did. She'd paid him ?5,000 for a new
:02:07. > :02:14.kitchen which he never ordered. You start to realise then that
:02:15. > :02:19.you've been left. His customers may be miserable,
:02:20. > :02:27.but Rob's a man who enjoys a life of luxury -
:02:28. > :02:31.a Greek wedding and a new When we went looking for answers,
:02:32. > :02:37.he wasn't in a chatty mood? He doesn't seem very keen to talk
:02:38. > :02:41.to us, that's a bit of a surprise, I think? We've had plenty
:02:42. > :02:49.of bad builders on X-ray, but Rob Hayel is the worst rogue
:02:50. > :02:55.we've ever investigated. After our last film,
:02:56. > :02:59.more and more angry customers came forward - in fact, enough complaints
:03:00. > :03:05.to fill a very unhappy street. We'll call it Rob Hayel Avenue,
:03:06. > :03:09.a road paved with his broken In total, we've now spoken to 11
:03:10. > :03:16.unhappy families who wish they'd He gave each of them excuse
:03:17. > :03:23.after excuse, and then walked away with their cash,
:03:24. > :03:28.leaving them to pick up the pieces. Last summer Rosie Oretti
:03:29. > :03:31.and Craig Wall, from Penarth, hired Rob Hayel to extend their family
:03:32. > :03:37.home and fit a new kitchen. It seemed like he knew exactly
:03:38. > :03:44.what he was doing. Very nice guy, very motivated,
:03:45. > :03:49.really keen to do the job. They were reassured when Rob put
:03:50. > :03:53.them in touch with one He praised Rob really highly,
:03:54. > :04:00.I think he said there'd been a few little issues but Rob was really
:04:01. > :04:04.accommodating sorting it out. But before long, Rob's builders
:04:05. > :04:10.were failing show up on site. And when his workers did bother
:04:11. > :04:15.to turn up, things A few months into the building work,
:04:16. > :04:24.disaster struck? Rob said to me, 'Don't look up, don't look up,
:04:25. > :04:29.its not as bad as it looks!" Part of the back of their home
:04:30. > :04:32.was starting to collapse. I just looked up and it was just
:04:33. > :04:36.a state of carnage. It was quite frightening and I just
:04:37. > :04:40.had that gut-wrenching feeling something major has
:04:41. > :04:43.happened to the house. That was the point where I think
:04:44. > :04:48.we lost all faith in Rob. Later in the programme,
:04:49. > :04:50.we ask an expert to inspect I'm incredulous that this part
:04:51. > :04:57.of the building is still standing, looking at the extent of movement
:04:58. > :05:02.and cracking, it's mindblowing. There's worse to come
:05:03. > :05:08.later in the programme, and if you've had a bad
:05:09. > :05:11.experience with a builder, Cutting the waste
:05:12. > :05:30.and enjoying the taste, Rhod's checking out a cafe
:05:31. > :05:33.with a difference! Some people don't quite get
:05:34. > :05:36.what we're doing and some people are very scared by it but we're
:05:37. > :05:41.here to try to educate people about how good and safe
:05:42. > :05:44.this food is to eat! Now doing your laundry isn't
:05:45. > :05:46.something you'd usually think But thousands of families
:05:47. > :05:52.across Wales say they're frightened And many aren't impressed
:05:53. > :06:00.with the way the problem's It's the safety scare that
:06:01. > :06:10.keeps getting scarier. Millions of families are warned
:06:11. > :06:13.that their tumble dryers could be These are potentially dangerous,
:06:14. > :06:17.we know from these fires. A significant number of tumble
:06:18. > :06:20.dryers sold in the last eleven years The defective tumble dryers
:06:21. > :06:29.which could end up like this, It's the UK's biggest ever product
:06:30. > :06:39.safety scare, at least 750 fires have been caused by a fault
:06:40. > :06:46.where excess fluff builds up around the heating element.
:06:47. > :06:51.More than five million units are affected, across 113 different
:06:52. > :06:55.models of Hotpoint, Creda and Indesit tumble dryers sold
:06:56. > :07:03.between 2004 and 2015. Parent company Whirlpool has
:07:04. > :07:06.promised to send out Not surprisingly, people
:07:07. > :07:13.are pretty worried. You can even keep using your
:07:14. > :07:20.machine! The owners of this house in Surrey had been given that advice
:07:21. > :07:26.- and were waiting for their Indesit dryer to be fixed when,
:07:27. > :07:29.earlier this month, it caught fire, In spite of fires like this,
:07:30. > :07:35.Whirlpool still insists the affected the machine until an engineer has
:07:36. > :07:50.undertaken the corrective You might think that an army
:07:51. > :07:59.of Whirlpool engineers would be rushing out to fix these
:08:00. > :08:04.potentially dangerous machines. But the speed of the company's
:08:05. > :08:06.response has got many Suzanne Dymond from Neath only
:08:07. > :08:17.bought her tumble dryer in July 2014 and was shocked to hear
:08:18. > :08:21.about the safety concerns. I checked the make and model
:08:22. > :08:24.on the Hotpoint website found out it was one of the ones affected
:08:25. > :08:27.so I registered my I just had a confirmation email
:08:28. > :08:33.from them saying I would hear something within eight weeks,
:08:34. > :08:37.I m still waiting. Suzanne tried to chase Hotpoint
:08:38. > :08:41.but found dealing with their three to four different departments
:08:42. > :08:52.and nobody able to give any information, you just want to scream
:08:53. > :08:55.at them. she can still use her dryer,
:08:56. > :09:02.but she's concerned about the risks. You're sat there watching the dryer
:09:03. > :09:06.just not knowing whether it s I mean, we live in Wales it rains
:09:07. > :09:14.a lot so we've got to use it. Mel Davies from Pontardawe
:09:15. > :09:17.was told her dryer would be fixed And the delays are
:09:18. > :09:25.causing her big problems. It's not the easiest thing for me
:09:26. > :09:35.as you can see to hang things high I have to have Mike,
:09:36. > :09:38.my husband s, help to do that. And it's not very practical either
:09:39. > :09:42.for you is it? No, especially being,
:09:43. > :09:46.you know, in the chair I need the space and I keep
:09:47. > :09:49.falling over clothes. You're lucky the toilet roll
:09:50. > :09:54.is actually free I had stuff hanging And she's not impressed
:09:55. > :10:04.with the options the company I put it to them that they had
:10:05. > :10:12.supplied us with a faulty, dangerous appliance and they wanted
:10:13. > :10:19.us to pay ?99 to put that right. That's gilding the lily
:10:20. > :10:23.somewhat, isn't it? We've been in touch with many more
:10:24. > :10:27.disgruntled dryer owners. So here it is, the Whirlpool
:10:28. > :10:31.washing line of shame, all customers we've spoken
:10:32. > :10:35.to who say they've been left hung out to dry when trying
:10:36. > :10:39.to get a repair? In November, Amanda Townsend
:10:40. > :10:43.was told she'd be seen within five And Michelle Moreton's been given
:10:44. > :10:51.a repair date for June, by then So with a long line of unhappy
:10:52. > :11:00.owners, let's hope the company can At the moment, most
:11:01. > :11:06.of their customers feel all they're getting from Whirpool is a lot
:11:07. > :11:11.of hot air. Well, Whirlpool, the parent
:11:12. > :11:16.company of Hotpoint, Indesit and Creda, have
:11:17. > :11:20.apologised to Suzanne, Mel and to all customers
:11:21. > :11:25.who've experienced delays. So far they say 1.2 million people
:11:26. > :11:30.have signed up for a free repair and they're urging other affected
:11:31. > :11:33.customers to register They admit there is a backlog,
:11:34. > :11:39.they say they're working hard to tackle it, they've signed up 350
:11:40. > :11:45.people to work in their call centre and another 350 engineers,
:11:46. > :11:49.who are repairing almost 4,500 And there is some good news
:11:50. > :11:57.since we contacted them, Suzanne has had a full refund
:11:58. > :12:00.and Mel's tumble dryer Now Whirlpool insist that the dryers
:12:01. > :12:07.included in the safety notice are still safe to use,
:12:08. > :12:11.as long as customers clean the lint filter after every cycle and do
:12:12. > :12:18.notleave it unattended. We've put a list of all the affected
:12:19. > :12:23.appliances on our website. Now, as well as tumble dryers,
:12:24. > :12:26.hundreds of other products have had safety scares in recent months,
:12:27. > :12:33.but are people really aware of them? Let's see whether people
:12:34. > :12:40.here in Newport recognise some So there was an insect found
:12:41. > :12:48.in the pack, so they did a safety recall on that I guess
:12:49. > :12:50.with your little baby I bought that, I think it's
:12:51. > :12:56.the same one! Have you ever had a product that's
:12:57. > :13:02.needed a safety check? Yes, once on a car, took it straight
:13:03. > :13:06.back to the garage, something that I've got that's got
:13:07. > :13:12.to be recalled, I will take it back. If you had something recalled
:13:13. > :13:14.would you take it So recalls aren't on
:13:15. > :13:26.everyone's radar then! But if you want to keep yourself
:13:27. > :13:30.safe, there are steps you can take. So, Dave, how can people make sure
:13:31. > :13:34.they are notifed if a product is recalled?
:13:35. > :13:37.So, if you buy a product and there's a guarantee card or registration
:13:38. > :13:41.card in there, complete the registration card,
:13:42. > :13:44.send it back to the manufacturer and if there's something wrong
:13:45. > :13:46.they can contact you directly If a company chooses not to recall
:13:47. > :13:52.a product and Trading standards service thinks it should be
:13:53. > :13:56.recalled, Trading Standards It depends on how manufacturer does
:13:57. > :14:06.that recall process, some place adverts in newspapers,
:14:07. > :14:09.some place notices in windows, The Trading Standards Institute has
:14:10. > :14:16.a complete list of recalls However there may be instances
:14:17. > :14:20.where food products have been recalled and those may have been
:14:21. > :14:23.delivered through the retailers, so you need to have a look
:14:24. > :14:26.in supermarket window when you go there and just make sure there's
:14:27. > :14:29.nothing you've bought that's been Thanks so much, and from risky
:14:30. > :14:37.products to something we may think We spend hundreds of pounds
:14:38. > :14:49.on food every month, but chances are, it
:14:50. > :14:54.won't all get eaten! I do throw away like quite a bit
:14:55. > :14:58.of food especially when it comes to sort of bread and
:14:59. > :15:00.perishables and stuff. I know how much I'm going to use
:15:01. > :15:04.for the week so I try to buy I'd say I used to do that a lot
:15:05. > :15:09.but I was starting to get annoyed The food we throw away adds
:15:10. > :15:13.up to a small fortune. The average family bins around
:15:14. > :15:15.?700 worth every year! Well, it could be because one
:15:16. > :15:24.in four people in Wales admit that they get confused between 'use
:15:25. > :15:27.by' and 'best before' dates. Fresh items, like meat,
:15:28. > :15:33.fish and dairy products have a 'use by' date, which you should stick to,
:15:34. > :15:35.for safety reasons. You can often freeze these foods
:15:36. > :15:38.though, so you won't always have 'Best before' dates on packets
:15:39. > :15:47.or tinned food, are all So this pasta is out of date,
:15:48. > :15:51.but it's still safe to eat. Food waste is a political
:15:52. > :16:00.hot potato too! In France, supermarkets will soon
:16:01. > :16:03.have to give leftover grub to food But I'm off to Cardiff cafe,
:16:04. > :16:12.which is ahead of the game! The Real Junk Food Project opened
:16:13. > :16:15.three weeks ago and works with supermarkets, restaurants,
:16:16. > :16:17.caterers and charities to rescue What kind of things
:16:18. > :16:26.are you rescuing? We get a big mix of everything,
:16:27. > :16:37.root vegetables, potatoes, I can see a lot of
:16:38. > :16:43.cauliflower on menu today. kilos of cauliflower last night
:16:44. > :16:48.Cauliflower soup, curry, cauliflower pasta, can't beat a bit
:16:49. > :16:52.of cauliflower No, it's great, very underrated, we're trying
:16:53. > :16:56.to introduce people to new things. So is the food here almost out
:16:57. > :17:00.of date or out of date? We work with food which is passed
:17:01. > :17:02.its best before dates. We don't use anything
:17:03. > :17:04.passed its 'use by'. Any meat or dairy we get
:17:05. > :17:07.in are all frozen Any vegetables and fresh fruit,
:17:08. > :17:10.we use our professional judgement to make sure it's still perfectly
:17:11. > :17:14.good and safe to eat. The cafe's unusual
:17:15. > :17:17.in another way too. Customers pay what they like,
:17:18. > :17:20.or what they can afford and the idea seems to be a big
:17:21. > :17:24.hit with the diners! A lot of food gets thrown away
:17:25. > :17:27.in this country you know, How are you when it comes
:17:28. > :17:35.to the dates and things do you take this message home,
:17:36. > :17:38.this ethos home? Yeah, I mean like, I have
:17:39. > :17:41.changed my aspect on food because I used to throw everything
:17:42. > :17:44.away like when it had passed the used by date, now I've kind
:17:45. > :17:47.of changed my view on it and I've We're constantly trying
:17:48. > :17:51.to encourage our customers to really think about what they've got
:17:52. > :17:53.in their fridges and with so many We can't afford to just
:17:54. > :17:59.be throwing food away. And a few small changes
:18:00. > :18:02.to our habits could help us all bin less 'and save more' Make sure
:18:03. > :18:05.you plan your meals for the week ahead - you could make
:18:06. > :18:08.one a 'leftovers' meal. Check your fridge to make sure it's
:18:09. > :18:11.at the correct temperature to keep But then not everything should be
:18:12. > :18:18.confined to the fridge! You might think it'll last
:18:19. > :18:23.longer in the fridge, So if you aren't going to use it
:18:24. > :18:31.in time, freeze it! And did you know you can also freeze
:18:32. > :18:35.eggs approaching their use by date? Not in their shells obviously,
:18:36. > :18:37.but if you crack one Pop it in the freezer
:18:38. > :18:47.for a few hours and bingo! Perfect for all you
:18:48. > :18:50.scrambled eggs lovers. Well, with all those great tips
:18:51. > :18:55.I thought I'd rustle up a little Guys, who fancies a nice plate
:18:56. > :19:03.of Rhod s pepper surprise? I've tried Rhod's cooking,
:19:04. > :19:11.I can't say I blame them! But lots of useful tips on cutting
:19:12. > :19:14.down on food waste there though - Now, back to our investigation
:19:15. > :19:20.into one of the worst rogue builders When it comes to dodgy builders,
:19:21. > :19:28.Rob Hayel's in a league of his own. We've heard from 11 furious families
:19:29. > :19:31.who say he's ripped them off. Rosie Oretti and Craig Wall
:19:32. > :19:34.hired him to build their extension. I just looked up and see huge cracks
:19:35. > :19:39.in the underside of He tried to reassure me
:19:40. > :19:50.it was superficial and could A huge section of the house
:19:51. > :20:04.was crumbling away, because Rob Hayel had apparently
:20:05. > :20:06.ignored plans from a That was the point where I think
:20:07. > :20:16.we lost all faith in Rob and the job Rob didn't seem too worried
:20:17. > :20:22.that the job was behind schedule In fact, he only had one thing
:20:23. > :20:32.on his mind - money. Just before Christmas he sent me
:20:33. > :20:35.an email saying I'll It's all about how far can he push
:20:36. > :20:40.people to give him money, and how far do they get into it
:20:41. > :20:44.that they feel they have to keep giving him money to
:20:45. > :20:46.get the job finished. When Rosie and Craig refused to pay,
:20:47. > :20:50.Rob Hayel didnt bother turning up, leaving their home and garden
:20:51. > :20:56.in a shocking state. He's got no pride
:20:57. > :20:59.in his work at all. So this is the makeshift
:21:00. > :21:03.kitchen that we've got. We're surviving on a microwave,
:21:04. > :21:05.and a camping cooker, For months, the couple have been
:21:06. > :21:13.washing their dishes in their bathroom because Rob Hayel
:21:14. > :21:15.never ordered the kitchen they'd In all, they handed him around
:21:16. > :21:20.?60,000 - almost half And the stories of many
:21:21. > :21:30.other Rob Hayel customers David Hawes paid him ?4,000 as part
:21:31. > :21:36.of a renovation job - We lost all contact with him the day
:21:37. > :21:42.after that payment was made. Essentially he just disappeared
:21:43. > :21:45.off the planet. Angela and Andrew Rudge
:21:46. > :21:49.are owed ?17,000. Their extension leaks and doesn't
:21:50. > :21:51.have proper drainage. Once again, Rob Hayel walked off
:21:52. > :22:00.the job, leaving it unfinished. Because there was no drainage,
:22:01. > :22:04.the water level was rising. We both went outside with wellington
:22:05. > :22:07.boots and we were just grabbing the water and throwing
:22:08. > :22:11.it down the drive. It wasn't making any difference,
:22:12. > :22:14.so we phoned the fire brigade. I've sat here and I've
:22:15. > :22:20.cried some nights. I've just looked at things
:22:21. > :22:23.and thought I don't want to be Richard Powis and Rebecca Robinson
:22:24. > :22:29.paid Rob Hayel ?11,000 He promised he'd ordered them,
:22:30. > :22:36.but yet again he hadn't. We have five young children
:22:37. > :22:39.that we cannot feed, We have no means of replacing
:22:40. > :22:47.the money to pay somebody else Yeah, he's had a catastrophic effect
:22:48. > :22:51.on our lives. Four of the 11 families X-Ray has
:22:52. > :22:58.spoken to have taken They have unpaid judgements
:22:59. > :23:07.against him to the tune of ?30,000. But the real total for all
:23:08. > :23:10.of the families is closer to ?125,000 - that's for work Rob
:23:11. > :23:15.was paid for but never did. So how has Rob Hayel managed to do
:23:16. > :23:18.this to so many people? We've pieced together
:23:19. > :23:24.the web of lies he's used In the space of eight months
:23:25. > :23:29.he claimed to have everything He texted one customer to say
:23:30. > :23:32.that he was about to But on the day of his alleged
:23:33. > :23:41.surgery - he was asking another And the day after he was promising
:23:42. > :23:46.to be at work! Which is strange, as he told
:23:47. > :23:49.the first customer he was still In the end, he left all these people
:23:50. > :23:55.in the lurch and his empty promises We've also learned that the glowing
:23:56. > :23:59.customer reference he gave The mobile number they were given
:24:00. > :24:04.by Rob Hayel actually belonged Rosie and Craig now have
:24:05. > :24:16.to pay another builder But before work starts,
:24:17. > :24:23.we asked surveyor Tim Davies to inspect the mess
:24:24. > :24:31.Rob Hayel's left behind. The roof isn't flat -
:24:32. > :24:35.then there's the retaining wall Rob had knocked down at the edge
:24:36. > :24:39.of the house. Basically the garage
:24:40. > :24:42.is almost hanging in thin air where the retaining wall has been
:24:43. > :24:44.taken down and all that It's only kind of held
:24:45. > :24:50.together by the tree roots. Next Tim, inspects the massive
:24:51. > :24:54.cracks inside the house. I'm incredulous that this part
:24:55. > :24:57.of the building is still standing with looking at the extent
:24:58. > :25:01.of movement and cracking. And in the extension,
:25:02. > :25:03.things are even worse. It defies belief really
:25:04. > :25:05.to leave it in such They haven't put a padstone in,
:25:06. > :25:09.a padstone is a concrete bearer that goes under the steel beams
:25:10. > :25:12.and takes the weight, they've just used a concrete block
:25:13. > :25:14.off cut, so it could crumble and split, the masonry
:25:15. > :25:18.above could all drop. A devastating verdict
:25:19. > :25:20.on the work of Rob Hayel. For victims like Rosie and Craig,
:25:21. > :25:26.it will take a very long time to get over the way this callous
:25:27. > :25:29.builder betrayed them. We do really feel stupid,
:25:30. > :25:31.naive, angry, upset. It makes me sick to think of him
:25:32. > :25:35.now, he knew what he was doing, he doesn't care about us
:25:36. > :25:53.in any shape or form. So many people have been caught up
:25:54. > :25:57.in this mess. What has Rob the builder had
:25:58. > :26:02.to say for himself? A big fat nothing I'm afraid
:26:03. > :26:05.is what he's had to say for you know, when we've
:26:06. > :26:07.confronted him before, This time, we wrote to him,
:26:08. > :26:11.he did sign for our letter, I went back to his home
:26:12. > :26:19.to try to get some answers and we were told by a family member
:26:20. > :26:23.told us he was no longer living there, which is a bit unusual,
:26:24. > :26:26.as he signed for our letter at the house just
:26:27. > :26:28.a few days earlier! And we've spotted him driving around
:26:29. > :26:32.that area very recently. So, I'm afraid, no more answers
:26:33. > :26:35.as to what's happened And you've been in touch
:26:36. > :26:39.with another company. I have yes, so four of the 11
:26:40. > :26:43.customers we spoke to had given Rob the Builder for kitchens from a big
:26:44. > :26:46.firm called Howdens but Rob never ordered their kitchens,
:26:47. > :26:47.instead he kept So, I've spoken to Howdens,
:26:48. > :26:57.which only does business with trade customers, whether they've taken any
:26:58. > :26:59.steps to stop this happening again, They did say that they'd encourage
:27:00. > :27:04.people to undertake their own due diligence when looking
:27:05. > :27:12.for a builder. So all in all, not
:27:13. > :27:14.very helpful really. There is, yes, Trading Standards
:27:15. > :27:19.are taking this very seriously and their special investigations
:27:20. > :27:21.team are now looking at Rob Hayel. They've interviewed several
:27:22. > :27:23.of the customers featured Fingers crossed, the authorities
:27:24. > :27:27.will stop him doing this to anyone Well, we'll keep you posted on that
:27:28. > :27:37.Trading Standards investigation, and if you know where Rob Hayel
:27:38. > :27:39.is working at the moment Next week: Sean and Michelle
:27:40. > :27:46.trusted their garage to sell them a safe family car,
:27:47. > :27:48.but they've ended up Next week: Sean and Michelle
:27:49. > :28:03.trusted their garage to sell them a safe family car,
:28:04. > :28:05.but they've ended up It is really disturbing to think
:28:06. > :28:13.you have driving round in this car as a family, particularly
:28:14. > :28:16.with a young baby, it's lethal. Find out more on next
:28:17. > :28:23.Monday's X-Ray.