:00:07. > :00:14.You're watching X-Ray, the programme that fights for your rights.
:00:15. > :00:21.If you have been scammed or you have had a raw deal, we are on your side.
:00:22. > :00:23.Exposing the truth and tracking down ropes. And we will not take no for
:00:24. > :00:36.an answer. -- tracking down rogues. On tonight's programme, when Steve
:00:37. > :00:39.and Elena asked a local builder to renovate their home,
:00:40. > :00:41.they were not expecting this. This particular column
:00:42. > :00:43.of brickwork is severely stressed. But their builder is standing
:00:44. > :00:53.by his work. You are happy that what is there
:00:54. > :00:55.now is safe, structurally sound? Trailer troubles for horse
:00:56. > :01:01.lovers June and Catherine. My savings have gone into this
:01:02. > :01:07.trailer, and it has just gone. And find out how putting up one
:01:08. > :01:10.of these could slow First tonight, Rachel has been to
:01:11. > :01:20.a Pembrokeshire village where a family's hopes
:01:21. > :01:23.of spending Christmas in their new It is a beautiful spot
:01:24. > :01:31.and it means a lot to us. We married in the church down
:01:32. > :01:34.at the bottom of the village. Dylan was christened here.
:01:35. > :01:36.I was christened here. This is where we want to be
:01:37. > :01:46.for the rest of our lives. I've come to meet Steve and
:01:47. > :01:58.Elena James in the Pembrokeshire They bought this rundown bungalow
:01:59. > :02:01.and plan to make it into a dream family home. They hoped to be in it
:02:02. > :02:06.for Christmas. The plan was to develop it
:02:07. > :02:11.into a more sort of a four-bedroom In this tiny village,
:02:12. > :02:14.people trust each other. So a local builder who could
:02:15. > :02:17.start quickly seemed ideal. We spoke to Mr Morrissey, who was
:02:18. > :02:20.very obliging and, to be perfectly honest, in the early stages,
:02:21. > :02:22.he was very, very accommodating. Builder Gary Morrissey,
:02:23. > :02:25.another native of Camrose, told them that, with 35 years' experience,
:02:26. > :02:29.he was the man for the job. The fact that he was local,
:02:30. > :02:32.he lived in the village, Obviously, we knew him, you know
:02:33. > :02:38.and trust somebody that you know. And he gave us that guarantee, that
:02:39. > :02:42.it would be done fairly swiftly. His quote wasn't detailed,
:02:43. > :02:46.but it was competitive. So they put their trust
:02:47. > :02:57.in a fellow villager. It started going up slowly.
:02:58. > :03:00.We didn't know how quick to expect it to go up, but it just seemed to
:03:01. > :03:03.take its time. But when he asked, it was,
:03:04. > :03:07.you were just reassured that If things did spill over, it would
:03:08. > :03:16.just be all within the price. His words were,
:03:17. > :03:17."A price is a price." Every week, Steve handed over up to
:03:18. > :03:25.?2500 to pay the workforce. By the end of October,
:03:26. > :03:29.he had paid ?39,000. That is more than
:03:30. > :03:32.the original estimate. Then Gary Morrissey dropped
:03:33. > :03:36.a bombshell. He was there waiting for me, and he
:03:37. > :03:46.handed me a 3-4 page document. "Read that, any questions,
:03:47. > :03:48.give me a shout." He was trying to charge us
:03:49. > :03:53.an extra ?8000 for what he was So we said, "Look, we're absolutely
:03:54. > :04:03.not giving you any more money." Gary Morrissey insists
:04:04. > :04:07.the couple had signed off this extra He walked out,
:04:08. > :04:11.leaving behind a nightmare. This just must be
:04:12. > :04:17.heartbreaking to see this. The upsetting thing is,
:04:18. > :04:21.we honestly thought we would be As you can see, we are a long,
:04:22. > :04:29.long way off that. So is the work that has
:04:30. > :04:32.been done up to scratch? We asked a chartered
:04:33. > :04:37.surveyor to take a look. The first thing to say is
:04:38. > :04:40.that it is incredibly messy. It is always
:04:41. > :04:42.a sign that something is wrong, The alarm bells are
:04:43. > :04:50.ringing all around. This particular concrete beam
:04:51. > :04:51.looks to me undersized. It is resting
:04:52. > :04:54.on a very small piece of masonry, and it looks as though some
:04:55. > :04:57.of the masonry has already gone. It is just hanging there
:04:58. > :04:59.in free air. But on the far end,
:05:00. > :05:02.he has actually cut an undersized concrete beam to make
:05:03. > :05:06.it fit into the block work wall, Robert says cutting this
:05:07. > :05:11.supporting beam could weaken it. And he is even more concerned about
:05:12. > :05:17.the way these beams are held up. Now this pillar is taking all this
:05:18. > :05:21.weight of possibly a third of the This particular column of
:05:22. > :05:29.brickwork is severely stressed. If you think that is bad,
:05:30. > :05:35.wait until you see the roof. Well, we've got a major problem with
:05:36. > :05:38.the roof, because at the moment there are no horizontal
:05:39. > :05:40.main supports for the roof. There's nothing
:05:41. > :05:42.at the moment stopping the whole What do you mean, exaclty,
:05:43. > :05:51.by "spread"? By the time you've got slates
:05:52. > :05:54.on the roof, the insulation, the plasterboard,
:05:55. > :05:56.snow loading and wind loading, there will be a tremendous force
:05:57. > :05:59.on that roof, and there's nothing to restrain it, and the weight of
:06:00. > :06:03.it will just start to push it out. Generally speaking, the quality
:06:04. > :06:05.of workmanship being carried out on I'm surprised he calls himself
:06:06. > :06:09.a builder. Steve and Elena spent six months
:06:10. > :06:14.living in a caravan on the site. But as winter sets in,
:06:15. > :06:17.they have been forced to pay out This extra cost,
:06:18. > :06:23.along with the bill for putting the work right, could mean that
:06:24. > :06:27.they lose their dream house. It has been a hard six months,
:06:28. > :06:30.but we were always looking To then have to think that,
:06:31. > :06:36.actually, it's not, we can't, we just can't afford to stay here,
:06:37. > :06:40.it would be very, very upsetting. Gary Morrissey told us he wasn't
:06:41. > :06:43.solely responsible He said Steve and Elena had agreed
:06:44. > :06:50.to build some internal supporting He agreed to meet me in Cardiff.
:06:51. > :07:05.I asked him about those lintels. Those lintels are more than
:07:06. > :07:09.sufficient to carry those beams as they are.
:07:10. > :07:13.As those beams are. So you are happy that what is there
:07:14. > :07:16.now is safe, structurally sound? Because the lintels were cut, now we
:07:17. > :07:25.are told by a surveyor, you just don't do that, that it compromises
:07:26. > :07:28.the strength of the lintel. There was half an inch taken out
:07:29. > :07:30.of one end. It doesn't matter about cutting
:07:31. > :07:40.and notch out of that lintel there, when there's a wall going up under
:07:41. > :07:44.it, because if the wall had already been there, then that lintel would
:07:45. > :07:46.not be there. The roof is unfinished
:07:47. > :07:50.and there's no internal Right, are there calculations
:07:51. > :08:10.from a structural engineer? This is the first time I've ever
:08:11. > :08:17.been brought in front of anyone. We've just had an 80 mile
:08:18. > :08:23.an hour winds down with us in Pembrokeshire for two nights,
:08:24. > :08:26.and the house is still there. It has got no windows in it and it
:08:27. > :08:33.is taking 80 mile an hour winds. So Gary Morrissey insists
:08:34. > :08:43.the house is safe, but Steve And a structural engineer has now
:08:44. > :08:47.told them they need to install steel beams in parts of the downstairs,
:08:48. > :08:50.and steel supports in the roof, as soon as possible,
:08:51. > :08:58.which is going to be costly. It shows just how
:08:59. > :09:02.vital it is to have professional drawings and a detailed contract
:09:03. > :09:05.drawn up before starting on a build. If you have been let down
:09:06. > :09:08.by a trader, or a business has We spend millions on batteries
:09:09. > :09:24.at Christmas. But would you put these
:09:25. > :09:27.in your child's stocking? In this one, the actual top
:09:28. > :09:30.of the casing has come off. So you have got the centre
:09:31. > :09:33.of the battery there with Next, I have been to meet two horse
:09:34. > :09:41.lovers, left thousands of pounds Horse riding is a popular pastime
:09:42. > :09:54.in Wales. And if you enjoy galloping through
:09:55. > :09:57.our countryside, you need to But some horse lovers have
:09:58. > :10:06.complained that, after handing over thousands
:10:07. > :10:09.of pounds for their dream trailer, Because
:10:10. > :10:15.the trailers that these customers The business in question is
:10:16. > :10:24.Titan Horse Trailers. In March, June Howells from Newport
:10:25. > :10:31.found one of their products online, and she thought she had found
:10:32. > :10:34.the ideal trailer to carry Gavin We spent about five months
:10:35. > :10:36.looking for a trailer. The weight has to be right
:10:37. > :10:45.for towing. Then I found the one on the
:10:46. > :10:49.Titan Trailers site. At first, June was told that the
:10:50. > :10:53.trailer would cost nearly ?14,000. But then she had a very tempting
:10:54. > :10:59.offer from director, Mandy Moore. She promised a discount
:11:00. > :11:02.if June was willing to promote She said that it was
:11:03. > :11:08.a possibility that I could become So she said that, for that,
:11:09. > :11:14.you will get 10% off your trailer. So I thought, I really haven't
:11:15. > :11:16.got anything to lose. June paid almost ?7,000 up front
:11:17. > :11:20.and was told that her trailer would Six weeks came and went,
:11:21. > :11:29.and the director said, no, Time ticked past,
:11:30. > :11:33.and Titan told June that the delays were down to problems
:11:34. > :11:36.on their production line in Spain. June says she hadn't realised that
:11:37. > :11:40.they were based overseas, because they route their UK calls
:11:41. > :11:46.through a Manchester number. If you'd known it was
:11:47. > :11:52.a company based in Spain, would you have ordered the trailer
:11:53. > :11:54.through them? I thought it was
:11:55. > :11:59.a company that was in this country. Titan insist that June's paperwork
:12:00. > :12:01.did make it clear they were Tired of waiting, June wondered
:12:02. > :12:05.whether she had backed the right They have taken my deposit, they've
:12:06. > :12:15.taken money I worked hard for, Titan has given June ?1000 back,
:12:16. > :12:21.but told her that cash flow problems mean they can only pay her
:12:22. > :12:27.back in instalments. And June is not the only one who has
:12:28. > :12:33.clashed with Titan Horse Trailers. In the Wye Valley,
:12:34. > :12:36.Catherine Lovatt agreed to sign up And she paid ?5,000 towards
:12:37. > :12:40.a trailer, It would have been
:12:41. > :12:45.our dream trailer. It would have had
:12:46. > :12:48.everything we wanted. It would have been easy enough
:12:49. > :12:51.for me to even load the carriage Covered up and protected
:12:52. > :12:58.from the weather. And May was when I had the first
:12:59. > :13:01.of our wedding bookings. So we needed to be in on season,
:13:02. > :13:05.ready to go. But, like June Howells,
:13:06. > :13:07.eight months has passed, They keep promising, promising,
:13:08. > :13:15.promising, and still nothing. Titan Horse Trailers also told
:13:16. > :13:16.Catherine But, confusingly,
:13:17. > :13:22.her terms and conditions mention a different UK business,
:13:23. > :13:25.Titan Horse Trailers Ltd, which Catherine now has a County Court
:13:26. > :13:33.judgment against the UK company, We asked
:13:34. > :13:39.a legal expert to cast her eye over The really big warning coming
:13:40. > :13:50.off this is working as an agent. Once you become an agent, you step
:13:51. > :13:54.across the line, and you cease to be And once you are a business,
:13:55. > :13:58.your rights are completely different and far less than
:13:59. > :14:01.when you are acting as a consumer. Do you still have any rights in law,
:14:02. > :14:05.as a business? You would still have rights under
:14:06. > :14:08.the Sale of Goods Act, but there is far less protection because it is
:14:09. > :14:11.assumed that, as a business, you are And does it become more complicated
:14:12. > :14:15.because it is If it comes to suing them, then you
:14:16. > :14:21.have to do it in their country. Whereas, when you are a consumer,
:14:22. > :14:29.you have the right to sue in the UK. For Catherine, it has been
:14:30. > :14:34.upsetting and costly experience. It caused so much stress
:14:35. > :14:40.and it still causes so much stress. And my savings have gone into
:14:41. > :14:43.this trailer, and it is just gone. the long delays are down to
:14:44. > :14:53.production problems in Spain. They say Catherine Lovatt took out
:14:54. > :14:56.her County Court judgment against the wrong company - their UK firm -
:14:57. > :15:01.which is about to be liquidated. But they've promised that their
:15:02. > :15:05.Spain-based company will give Catherine and June all their money
:15:06. > :15:09.back eventually, although problems with cash flow mean they can't say
:15:10. > :15:13.exactly when that will be. We'll be checking,
:15:14. > :15:18.to make sure that happens. Now, how fast is
:15:19. > :15:21.your internet connection? If it's not as speedy as you'd like,
:15:22. > :15:32.Rhod has a few ideas up his sleeve. Not so long ago,
:15:33. > :15:35.this was what you heard as you connected to the internet
:15:36. > :15:44.at home. All that changed with the arrival
:15:45. > :15:49.of broadband. We use it for practically
:15:50. > :15:50.everything - shopping, skyping and
:15:51. > :15:53.streaming TV programmes. We've all been there -
:15:54. > :15:59.you're just getting comfy to watch your favourite show
:16:00. > :16:06.and things start slowing up. Snail-paced internet speeds have
:16:07. > :16:12.become such an issue, that just this month the Prime
:16:13. > :16:15.Minister pledged that every single home in the UK would have
:16:16. > :16:22.access to fast broadband by 2020. In Wales, four out of five
:16:23. > :16:25.households are already hooked up But even some of those homes are
:16:26. > :16:31.having problems. It just takes ages to load,
:16:32. > :16:35.that's the only thing. I'm fed up with the little thing
:16:36. > :16:40.going round and round all the time. It's rubbish.
:16:41. > :16:43.It cuts off when it feels like. Mine doesn't reach every room
:16:44. > :16:45.in my house, either. You've got to be in one half
:16:46. > :16:49.of my house for it to work. But if your broadband connection
:16:50. > :16:52.is sluggish, it could be down to issues within your home, according
:16:53. > :16:59.to telecoms regulator Ofcom. We're finding that about one
:17:00. > :17:02.in five users are suffering from problems, ie not getting
:17:03. > :17:06.the speeds they would otherwise get because of problems that are
:17:07. > :17:14.associated with their wi-fi router. Electrical devices, dimmer switches,
:17:15. > :17:20.halogen lamps, even baby monitors, if you have cordless phones around
:17:21. > :17:24.the house, all of these things can interfere with the wi-fi signal
:17:25. > :17:28.and means what's getting to your computer is slower than what you'd
:17:29. > :17:35.expect. To speed things up, you
:17:36. > :17:38.may even have to ditch the fish! Wi-fi signals can be blocked
:17:39. > :17:41.by water, so keep that fish tank And the same goes for your Christmas
:17:42. > :17:47.tree. The electrical field
:17:48. > :17:50.from those twinkling lights can play havoc with your wi-fi
:17:51. > :17:55.performance. and my Christmas tree in front
:17:56. > :18:01.of it. Engineer and telecoms
:18:02. > :18:09.troubleshooter Dickon Payne. So when it comes to the broadband in
:18:10. > :18:13.the house, what are your thoughts? We're getting a speed
:18:14. > :18:22.of 0.48 megabits per second. I think if we try turning
:18:23. > :18:25.the Christmas lights off, we may see an improvement to the
:18:26. > :18:29.speed... OK, 2.6 megabits per second.
:18:30. > :18:35.Now that is a massive improvement. And Dickon has a couple more tips
:18:36. > :18:39.up his sleeve. We'll try rebooting the router so it
:18:40. > :18:43.picks a less busy wireless channel. So we just unplug it
:18:44. > :18:45.and plug it back in. I should hopeso!
:18:46. > :18:51.And most simplest of all, don't stuff your router behind the TV,
:18:52. > :18:54.bring it up and out in the open. By putting it out on a shelf,
:18:55. > :19:00.it'll make a difference? Now we've adjusted
:19:01. > :19:06.a few things around the house. We got a reading
:19:07. > :19:15.of 11.06 megabits per second. That's a whopping 23 times faster
:19:16. > :19:20.than when we first started. Now you can stream
:19:21. > :19:25.your favourite film, glitch-free. Gone With The Wind.
:19:26. > :19:30.Casablanca. So there you have it -
:19:31. > :19:36.a few technical tips of how to get the best out of your
:19:37. > :19:40.broadband and beat the buffering. Oh, before I log on,
:19:41. > :19:43.I'd better find that snail. Not the kind of slippery customer we
:19:44. > :19:53.normally get on X-Ray! And we'll put all that advice
:19:54. > :19:56.on our website. Now, when you're buying Christmas
:19:57. > :19:59.presents, you'll no doubt be buying But one well-known high street store
:20:00. > :20:04.which sells millions of them We all look forward to seeing
:20:05. > :20:12.children unwrap their presents But many of those toys won't
:20:13. > :20:20.work without batteries. We spend ?300 million
:20:21. > :20:23.a year on them and the big-name
:20:24. > :20:26.brands can be pricey. Poundstretcher is one of the
:20:27. > :20:33.best-known names on the high street, And until recently they were selling
:20:34. > :20:40.these "bargain" batteries for - More than three million Hyundai and
:20:41. > :20:50.V2 Xtreme Power batteries were sold. But they've landed the store
:20:51. > :20:53.in deep trouble. That's because they are leaking
:20:54. > :20:56.dangerous chemicals and Poundstretcher's been
:20:57. > :20:58.in the dock for repeatedly
:20:59. > :21:03.putting its customers at risk. Rhys Harries from Swansea Trading
:21:04. > :21:05.Standards led the investigation
:21:06. > :21:09.into the discount chain. Last place you'd expect to find
:21:10. > :21:12.products from a major retailer. Yeah, um, what we've got here is
:21:13. > :21:16.approximately 85,000 batteries When we've gone into Poundstretchers
:21:17. > :21:22.we've found batteries that are actually leaking on the shelves and
:21:23. > :21:25.it would be quite clear to anyone working in that store and stacking
:21:26. > :21:28.them on the shelves that these When we looked at the packs we could
:21:29. > :21:40.see the top and the bottom of the battery were leaking, so what we
:21:41. > :21:43.decided to do then, was to actually strip off the coating and found that
:21:44. > :21:46.the chemicals were coming through the
:21:47. > :21:49.casing, and in this one the actual So you've got the centre
:21:50. > :21:53.of the battery there with It's a horrific sight - certainly
:21:54. > :21:58.not something you'd want to be putting
:21:59. > :22:02.into a child's toy this Christmas. Any product that's put on the
:22:03. > :22:08.market, in the UK or Europe, needs to be safe, especially if they're in
:22:09. > :22:13.young children's toys or even if the child's using a remote control and
:22:14. > :22:17.it starts to leak, they going to get it on their hands,
:22:18. > :22:20.they may put it in their mouth or To see just how dangerous
:22:21. > :22:24.Poundstretcher's faulty batteries are, I took some to
:22:25. > :22:27.the public analysts who tested them in order to determine if there's any
:22:28. > :22:35.chloride chemicals which would indicate the presence of
:22:36. > :22:41.zinc chloride and ammonium chloride. And that is noticeably cloudier,
:22:42. > :22:43.isn't it? Definitely - indicating that the
:22:44. > :22:48.internal chemicals are leaching out. How dangerous is it to come
:22:49. > :22:51.into contact with these chemicals? On the skin and the hands,
:22:52. > :22:56.they will form discomfort, reddening and itchiness. They're classified
:22:57. > :23:00.as corrosive and they shouldn't be Almost all of the samples Alastair
:23:01. > :23:07.tested were leaking. And incredibly,
:23:08. > :23:10.this has happened before. Three years ago, Poundstretcher was
:23:11. > :23:15.fined ?16,000 when its Superpower batteries, made by the same
:23:16. > :23:19.manufacturer, spilled chemicals over A grandfather had given his
:23:20. > :23:25.granddaughter a torch and he noticed it was wet, so he took it off her.
:23:26. > :23:29.He was able to wash the child's But instead of learning
:23:30. > :23:42.their lesson, Poundstretcher simply rebranded batteries made
:23:43. > :23:44.by the same Chinese manufacturer. When Trading Standards found these
:23:45. > :23:48.were leaking too, they took action. We'd served them with
:23:49. > :23:51.a suspension notice to tell them do not sell any more, but what we found
:23:52. > :23:54.was they stopped selling them in the shops but continued to sell
:23:55. > :23:57.them via their online shop. In all, Poundstretcher has been
:23:58. > :24:00.prosecuted four times - most recently admitting 37 charges
:24:01. > :24:06.of selling unsafe batteries. And this time, its disregard
:24:07. > :24:08.for the law has really landed
:24:09. > :24:13.the company in hot water. Well, last week, Swansea Crown
:24:14. > :24:15.Court handed Poundstretcher and their parent company Crown Crest a
:24:16. > :24:23.massive fine of more than ?500,000! Poundstretcher have apologised
:24:24. > :24:28."unreservedly" and say all affected batteries have been withdrawn
:24:29. > :24:31.from sale, they've reviewed their supplier arrangements
:24:32. > :24:35.and improved safety testing. Now, it's the last programme
:24:36. > :24:43.of 2015, so what better time to look back on some of the stories
:24:44. > :24:48.we've brought you this year. Hundreds of you complained to us
:24:49. > :24:52.about rogue traders ripping you off and poor service which has driven
:24:53. > :24:57.you mad. And when you get in touch with
:24:58. > :24:59.X-Ray, We've had chases...
:25:00. > :25:05.No, no, no, no! And runaways.
:25:06. > :25:11.Do you have anything to say? That was a bit of a surprise,
:25:12. > :25:16.I think. Do you have a hygiene score? I
:25:17. > :25:21.couldn't see one. No.
:25:22. > :25:23.You don't have one? With this, it hasn't been
:25:24. > :25:25.in any sort of accident? Made sure you're clued up on your
:25:26. > :25:31.rights They came and said, sorry,
:25:32. > :25:39.we've only got one bedroom. At that point, orange flames
:25:40. > :25:45.started licking out of the engine bay, up over
:25:46. > :25:48.the windscreen and up over the car. X-Ray has been
:25:49. > :25:55.on the case for you. In February, we made headlines when
:25:56. > :26:04.Reverend Wena Parry's insurers refused to pay out for damage
:26:05. > :26:07.to her car because they said she'd modified
:26:08. > :26:12.it with Christian stickers. But, after we got in touch, Age UK
:26:13. > :26:20.saw the light and paid out ?725. We also had one
:26:21. > :26:23.of our biggest results yet. Two years ago, we heard the saga
:26:24. > :26:26.of a badly built wall which towered over Nigel Moore's house in
:26:27. > :26:31.Holyhead. We heard a loud bang,
:26:32. > :26:36.the wall had collapsed completely. There was 40-50 tonnes
:26:37. > :26:39.of masonry and bricks The wall was part
:26:40. > :26:45.of a new housing estate and owners RBS were refusing
:26:46. > :26:48.to pay out. But when we got involved,
:26:49. > :26:51.they had a change of heart. And this year, the bank re-built it
:26:52. > :26:57.at a cost of more than ?100,000. And the law caught up with some
:26:58. > :27:05.X-Ray rogues, too. who conned viewers into buying bogus
:27:06. > :27:12.plots of land in Pembrokeshire. In February, she was sentenced
:27:13. > :27:17.to three years in prison. Tom Connors, the cowboy behind
:27:18. > :27:20.Bellway Paving, But this year, police went
:27:21. > :27:26.a step further and seized And not forgetting the most
:27:27. > :27:33.complained-about car dealer in Barry, Nasser Asfi, who finally
:27:34. > :27:38.got his comeuppance in court and could be facing Christmas
:27:39. > :27:41.behind bars. And in total,
:27:42. > :27:48.we've got more than ?135,000 back for viewers this year, which should
:27:49. > :27:52.buy a Christmas present or two! But we'd love to do
:27:53. > :27:54.even better next year. So if you need our help,
:27:55. > :28:06.give us a call on: We'll be back on your screens
:28:07. > :28:09.in the New Year. Hello, I'm Riz Lateef with
:28:10. > :28:43.your 90 second update. Tomorrow's strike by junior doctors
:28:44. > :28:47.in England has been called off.