Episode 16 X-Ray

You're watching X-Ray,

the show that fights for your rights.

If you've been ripped off...

Or that deal turns out to be dodgy...

We'll battle it out on your behalf.

-Out, please.

-No, no, no, excuse me, don't manhandle me.

You never checked those vehicles when you sold them...

We're here to fight your corner.

Tonight, the families who just want to use their gardens,

but Persimmon Homes has left them with muddy mountains.

It's just not safe and I daren't leave the kids out,

even on this bit, because they will wander down.

The Powys coach passengers who say ticket prices to London

just don't add up.

Going from Aber for £35,

Newtown, £80,

Welshpool, £80 -

it's not fair.

And Omar gets some tips on avoiding fake autographs

from a Star Wars legend.

And I know it's real now, because Darth Vader did it himself!

First tonight, spring is on its way

and lots of us are thinking about making our gardens look their best.

But for some families on a new housing estate

just a few miles from here, that's a very big task.

Here's Rachel.

With breathtaking views and magnificent mountains,

the landscape of Wales is something we can all appreciate.

But some homeowners on this new housing estate near Pontypridd

have found that they're tackling the steepest of slopes

a bit too close to home.

In fact, these ones are in their gardens.

This slope seems a match for Snowdonia,

and it belongs to Catrina Nicholas and Nikki McLaughlin.

They moved into this Persimmon housing development 14 months ago.

But getting the garden they say they were promised has been an uphill struggle.

This isn't a garden, is it?

It's like walking up a ski slope.

No. It is an absolute nightmare.

It's far from a garden, certainly it's not something that you can use.

It's just not safe and I daren't leave the kids out,

even on this bit, because they will wander down.

We put all our money, all our hopes, our dreams,

-this was our first home together, wasn't it?

-First home together.

And it's just not an usable space.

So, what were you promised?

We expected to have a relatively flat area, five metres out.

Then there was supposed to be steps and a gradual slope at the bottom.

I think the common term used by the sales team is...

-Gentle slope.

-You will have a gentle slope.

That we could have dealt with.

But you can see, it's not a gentle slope.

When Catrina and Nikki bought their £200,000 home off-plan

back in December 2015,

"We'll support you every step of the way" was the promise

that Persimmon gave.

We decided we'd forsake the garage because we had a bigger garden

and what we thought would be an amazing, two-tiered garden.

So, we made a conscious choice to buy this plot.

But on the day they moved in, their garden looked like this.

It was just a mud bath.

I can remember vividly coming round the corner,

and I was just in floods of tears.

The sales assistant was like, "We can sort this out, don't panic."

Very reassuring.

"They will be back in January and it will be done."

But that was January 2016.

By May, things were no better,

although senior staff of the company were aware of the residents' plight.

One of Persimmon's managers even admitted,

"The gardens need to be resolved,"

and "they're not the best".

By the end of the summer, Catrina had had enough.

So, she asked chartered surveyor Tim Davies to help fight her case.

Does it differ a lot from the plan?

As far as I can ascertain, Rachel, yes, it does.

From the top down to the bottom,

what is actually here is significantly different

to what is shown on the plan. It's a lot steeper.

There's a much bigger drop.

And that's not the only problem.

Their garden seems to fall short in other ways, too.

I think from looking at it,

the garden seems to be shorter than it should have been.

To me, that seems to be a breach of contract.

And Tim's not impressed with the soil, either.

It's really poor, Rachel.

The NHBC standards say you've got to have six inches

of good quality topsoil.

The majority of it, Rachel, is clay that's been dug out

of the foundations from the other houses and just dumped on the site.

What else did you find when you did the survey?

Stone, rocks, boulders, plastic,

all of the sort of materials you'd find on a building site.

How would you describe how Persimmon have conducted themselves?

Exceptionally poor.

The consumers have bought a brand-new house,

expect to have a garden that they've paid for,

and they're still left with what is in effect a ski slope.

On the other side of the fence,

neighbours Claire Edwards and Richard Horne

didn't get their dream garden, either.

We were told that there would be a five-metre level at the top of

the garden, ten steps down, and then a flat area at the bottom,

with a shed base and a shed.

It's not what we've got.

Did you complain to Persimmon?

We did. We were told they would come back in the spring

to resolve the issue. Erm...

But we've clearly been left with an unusable garden.

And the safety of their sloping garden

is a big worry for Claire and Richard.

My nan, erm, came out from the back of the house,

down towards the bottom of the garden and fell head first down the garden.

The gradients are awful, really.

It's very steep. We feel really disappointed and let down by Persimmon.

And they're not the only ones with a major garden gripe.

Just a few doors down, their neighbour has been left high and dry, too.

When Alex Collier and his family moved in,

this was the sight that greeted them.

Basically just a pile of mud with a cliff at the end.

Erm... It was all bumpy and covered in water and mud.

And what were you promised?

I was promised a turfed garden, which was slightly sloping,

which is not what I had.

After waiting eight months for grass to be laid, Alex gave up.

Persimmon DID put in a patio but, desperate to use the garden,

Alex had the rest of it decked at his own expense.

With everything, it's cost me about £3,300, which I've had to borrow.

It's totally unacceptable, they shouldn't be allowed to do it to people.

And with their family stuck indoors,

Catrina and Nikki's patience with Persimmon has run out, too.

We've got to that stage now where I've accepted nothing's happening,

nothing's going to happen, we need drastic measures.

It's soul-destroying that what should have been our dream home...

and this is what we're left with.

Well, we asked Persimmon about this muddy mess.

They deny the gardens are dangerous and say the gradient was made clear

at the time of purchase.

They also say the plot sizes are accurate.

They blame the 14-month delay on the time it's taken to survey the

gardens, provide new, enhanced designs and get them agreed

by the residents and other bodies.

But there is finally light at the end of the tunnel.

Work is due to start on the affected homes within the next two weeks.

So, hopefully, they'll be green gardens by the summer.

Remember, if there's anything you want us to look into,

please do get in touch. The number to call is...

You can e-mail...

Or send us a tweet at...

Still to come tonight...

ScottishPower insist Jane and Les owe them thousands.

But they're not even their customers.

You think, "Have I made a mistake, have I done something wrong?"

Erm, this really affected us.

Now, on last week's programme,

we highlighted some really nasty online scams

and lots of you have been in touch to say that you've been caught out by them, too.

Alex Folkes from Caernarfon had a worrying pop-up virus warning

on his computer.

When he called the number on his screen, the company demanded £400,

which he didn't pay.

But Julie from Barry says her autistic son did pay £220

for what he was told was virus protection.

The fraudsters then hacked his computer

and stole more than £5,000 from his bank account.

Luckily, the bank has refunded him.

And to help you stay one step ahead of the scammers,

we've put some useful links on our website for you.

Next...I've been to meet some angry passengers

who say one coach company's fares are anything but fair.

Every morning at 7.55,

the National Express 409 leaves Aberystwyth on its way to London.

It stops off at places like Newtown and Welshpool,

before arriving in the big city at 3pm.

Now, Aberystwyth is 250 miles away from London Victoria bus station.

Newtown is 200 miles away

and Welshpool, 190.

So, common sense would tell you that tickets would get cheaper

the closer you are to London.

Right?

Carole Thomas thought so, too.

But her recent journey from Newtown to London turned out to be pricier

than she'd bargained for.

So, I had to go down and see my mum - she's had a stroke,

she's in a home and see my dad's grave.

And when they said it was £80, I nearly fell on the floor.

She was even more annoyed when husband Graham discovered

that people getting on the same bus at an earlier stop

had paid less than half the price.

I said, "Well, that's not fair," going from Aber for £35,

Newtown, £80,

Welshpool, £80.

That's when Margaret Thomas gets on.

She was confused by the price difference, too,

and asked National Express to explain.

They said it's the volume of people going on in Welshpool and Newtown.

Maybe, you know, just one person.

But the bus is already coming from Aberystwyth

and I just don't understand.

Now, you may be thinking,

why not just buy the cheaper Aberystwyth to London ticket

and get on at a later stop?

Well, the company's conditions of carriage forbid you from doing that,

and anyone breaking the rules could be asked to leave the bus.

Let's ask a transport expert to explain this pricing palaver.

Aberystwyth is quite a different market to Newtown.

Aberystwyth is a student market in the main,

so they are time-rich,

cash-poor, very price-sensitive.

It's a very big market, a very important market,

and the company wouldn't want to lose it to the competition

which is there from other coach companies

and also from the railways.

Do you think it's fair that bus companies are allowed to do this,

to charge more for a shorter journey?

I guess from the customers' point of view, individual customers would think it's not fair.

But from the company's point of view, they have to make profits -

that's what these schemes are all about.

This isn't a one-off, either.

We found a return ticket from Newport to Liverpool for £42,

but getting on the same bus 13 miles earlier at Cardiff

would cost £6 less.

It seems National Express aren't giving all their customers

something to sing about.

So, what is going on?

Well, National Express told us that they set their ticket prices

according to demand and not mileage or time-of-day.

They say this helps them make the best use of the capacity on their

coaches and helps them keep their prices competitive.

However, after looking again at the routes that we highlighted,

National Express have now reduced their lowest available fare

from Newtown to London to match the price from Aberystwyth.

However, they're not cutting the fares from Welshpool.

They're also lowering the price of tickets from Newport to Liverpool.

So, really good news for some passengers, at least.

Next, it's time for a news update.

There's a major clamp-down happening on the streets of Swansea.

A joint operation by police,

the local council and the DVLA

has seized almost 100 untaxed and uninsured vehicles.

You have been warned!

If you're trying to trace your family tree,

watch out for scammers who claim you've inherited money from a long-lost relative.

Fraudsters are trawling legitimate ancestry websites to find

details of potential victims.

Then they ask for an upfront fee to release a non-existent pay-out.

And new laws aimed at stubbing out smoking will soon mean less choice

for cigarette buyers.

In May, packs of ten will disappear from shelves and by 2020

menthol cigarettes, which are popular with younger smokers,

will be banned completely.

Now, lots of us like to shop around for the best deal

on our energy bills.

But for one couple, switching supplier sparked a nightmare

they definitely hadn't bargained for.

Like many of us, school caretaker Les Gornall and his wife Jane

have been hit by big energy bills in the past.

So they decided that prepayment meters could help them keep track

of their spending.

Much easier to pay as you go.

You've got no direct debit to worry about.

So, we were with British Gas for over ten years.

Money was tight, but we always maintained our gas and electric payments.

Back in 2014,

the couple from Aberystwyth decided to switch energy supplier.

ScottishPower seemed to be offering a better deal,

so we decided to go with them.

But the switch didn't go as smoothly as they'd hoped.

We received the electric key to put in the meter pretty quickly,

but we didn't receive the gas card.

ScottishPower told them to keep topping up their British Gas card

until the new one arrived.

Can I have £40 on the card, please?

So, they did, but the weeks ticked by

and they reached the end of their tether.

I spoke to someone and said, "Forget about it now,

"because it's been going on too long, I'm staying with British Gas."

I didn't want to be running out and leaving my children,

whoever's in the house, or grandchildren, and myself, with no gas.

Jane and Les cancelled both of their ScottishPower accounts,

and stuck with British Gas for electricity and gas.

I thought everything was all finished, gone now, closed off.

A few weeks later, I get a gas bill

from ScottishPower.

When we started receiving the ScottishPower bills,

when we knew that we were with British Gas, we were very concerned.

The whole point of a prepayment meter is that you don't get bills.

But ScottishPower kept sending them.

The couple complained and refused to pay,

so ScottishPower threatened to install a prepayment meter.

But we already had a prepayment meter, so it was just...

It was laughable, really.

Although you know that you don't owe them money,

it was very worrying for us.

Then, in 2015, came news which made the mounting bills seem insignificant.

I was diagnosed with cervical cancer.

Also at that time, our grandson was diagnosed with leukaemia.

And the bills kept coming from ScottishPower.

When I phoned a few times, I even said, "Do you understand,

"I'm going through enough stress as it is,

"I haven't got time to mess about with you, I need to sort this out."

I just didn't know how they could be so cruel, to be honest.

You explain to people that this is what is happening,

you know that this is not your fault, why these bills are coming in,

but again, you still feel that, maybe I've done something wrong.

Then, the situation hit a new low.

Letters from debt collection agencies started to arrive,

demanding almost £4,300.

That's when you think, "Oh, my God, this is serious."

And that's when you think, "Oh, have I made a mistake,

"have I done something wrong?"

Erm, this really affected us.

It just makes you feel so low.

We asked an expert on energy policy what he made of Jane and Les's case.

Well, it sounds like a mess.

The bit that really concerns me is how many times they had to contact

the supplier and say, "You're billing us and we're not even your customer."

The fact that they were on the wrong kind of meter

all should have made it obvious, this should have been investigated

and resolved really quickly.

It certainly shouldn't get to the point where they're getting

collection agents coming round for a debt that they don't even owe.

That just should not happen, that's not right.

I just want this whole experience to end.

This whole nasty experience.

It's always in the back of your mind.

You know, you think the letters have stopped,

then they start coming again.

We just want it to end.

Well, after rumbling on for almost three years,

Jane and Les's billing nightmare is finally sorted.

ScottishPower have held up their hands and admitted the couple

ARE British Gas customers.

They say a mix-up with meter serial numbers led to the couple being

bombarded with bills that were meant for someone else.

They have sincerely apologised for any distress caused,

and say they will be offering compensation.

About time, too.

Next, time for a quick update on a story that we brought you two weeks

ago, when a viewer questioned a deal he'd spotted at his local garage.

Evan Macier from Aberdare was looking for a new car at Evans Halshaw in Treforest,

when he spotted signs about a £99 vehicle administration fee.

The sticker said the charge was optional.

But the salesman didn't seem to agree.

I asked him, "Were any of the cars stolen?"

He said, "No." I said, "Do any of these cars have outstanding finance?"

And again, he said, "No."

I said, "So, what's the £99 fee for?"

And he goes, "It's like an insurance."

And he told me it was a compulsory thing.

I was quite frustrated with that.

Now, Evans Halshaw say they've reminded staff

that the admin charge is an optional extra,

but it seems this isn't a one-off.

Joanne Hopkins from Caerphilly bought her car from the same Treforest branch in January

and says she was also told the fee was compulsory.

Evans Halshaw say they're looking into her case.

And the Merthyr Tydfil branch -

Sue Leake from Pontypool had the same experience.

After watching X-Ray, she complained and got her £99 back.

And it really is worth remembering that you can check a vehicle's

history online yourself for a fraction of the price.

Now, is there an actor,

a musician or a sports hero that you really admire?

Well, if you fancy getting their autograph,

make sure you don't get stung.

Omar has the story.

For decades, dedicated fans have queued up for hours

to catch a glimpse of their favourite pop stars and actors.

If they were lucky, their hero would sign their autograph book.

But times have changed, and now,

there's a new way to get that celebrity signature.

The world of film and comic conventions

has become hugely popular,

and I want to see what all the fuss is about.

I'm here at Film & Comic Con Cardiff.

I've never been to anything like this before.

Basically, half of Cardiff is here dressed up as their favourite

characters and a lot of characters that I've never heard of before.

We've got Mario here, we've got Mario. Yes, Mario!

Come on, I just high-fived Mario!

That's how amazing this place is!

And all of these people are up bright and early on Saturday

for reason and one reason only - they want to meet their heroes.

It's the eighth time the event has been held in Wales,

and it's the biggest yet.

More than 5,000 fans have come here

and many are planning to buy the autographs of people they admire.

Prices can vary from £10 to several hundred for the privilege

of meeting your idol in person.

Right behind me, there are stars from Doctor Who, Game Of Thrones,

Star Wars... Literally just a couple of metres behind me

is the man himself,

Dave Prowse, AKA Darth Vader.

And I think it's time for me to really commit to this.

I'm going to get dressed up as my favourite character.

Captain X-Ray, here to save the Welsh consumer!

I think I'm ready for the rest of the day now!

At organised events like this,

there are strict rules to make sure the signatures on sale are genuine.

But in the outside world,

fraudsters are cashing in on the trade in celebrity autographs.

Fakes have become such a problem,

it's thought that most of those sold online aren't the real thing.

I want to know what fans here think about this problem.

I think I have one, actually,

I think someone gave me one for my birthday.

There's plenty of these events all over the country,

and to meet the actors, it's perfect.

Why would you want to buy them online?

Hopefully, it's regulated in here,

and you know what you're buying is genuine.

I wonder what Dave Prowse, aka Darth Vader,

thinks of the dark side of autograph collecting?

How does it feel knowing that someone out there is profiting

by faking your signature?

Well, it's just... Well...

I think it's terrible, if somebody IS faking the signature.

But usually what happens is that people come to the conventions like this,

and they will buy, you know, they will buy photographs or

signed photographs, or signed various things that they've got.

And do you think it's better value for the fans?

-Oh, of course.

-Instead of just paying for a piece of paper?

-Yeah.

-To meet the guy... Darth Vader!

-Yeah, yeah.

-It's actually Darth Vader, it's actually him!

-That's right.

Yeah, you're right, yeah.

And before I go, I can't resist getting my own signed photo of Dave.

Thank you very much.

Mr Dave Prowse!

-And I know it's real now because Darth Vader did it himself!

-Yeah!

If you can't get a signature in person at an event like this,

there are ways to reduce the risk of buying a fake,

such as buying through a dealer who's been vetted by the

Universal Autograph Collectors' Club

or the Autograph Fair Trade Association.

But if you suspect you already have a fake,

you could get it checked out by a professional authenticator,

like Garry King, known in the trade as the king of autographs.

Well, sometimes, a forger will over-present something,

so he'll make it look really fabulous.

And then, your eyes are drawn away from the thing that you really need

to be concentrating on, the signature.

But you must always assume that the signature is a fake.

Allow that signature to prove to you that it's genuine

and not the other way around.

And while some may look real, technology has had a hand

in writing them.

This is a genuine Neil Armstrong signature,

and this one is the autopen example.

-As you can see...

-They look exactly the same.

-They are.

-I would never know.

-The main difference is,

when you sign your name,

the pressure that you put on the pen varies,

so that is why the density of the colour varies all the way through.

It's almost like a wave, isn't it?

It will be heavy and light, heavy and light.

Exactly, whereas the autopen conversion,

you can see it's the same all the way through, it doesn't vary at all.

That's what you've got to remember, it's a machine that's doing it, not your hand.

Time for a little challenge.

One of our researchers has faked my signature.

But will Garry spot it?

Garry, I'm not in love with myself.

Nine of these are real autographs, one of them is a fake.

-Do you want to give this a go?

-OK.

You can actually hear the cogs turning,

and I don't know if he's going to be able to pick the fake.

This one.

Shall we have a look?

Three, two, one...

-Ah!

-I can see it, yeah.

You can. Oh!

You really are the king of autographs!

Thank you.

So, how did you spot it?

Well, it wasn't too difficult, because your O,

which looks more like a D...

This one's much more rounded.

I can see it, now that you've pointed it out.

And this underscore here, this one is much slower,

and it's got a curve on it and it's not got a point on it.

But that's actually quite good.

If he spent more time on that,

he could forge your signature quite easily - so be careful.

-OK. Right, I won't tell him who I bank with!

-No!

Today's been a real eye-opener into the colourful world

of autograph collecting.

And it seems people here want signatures from just about anyone -

even Captain X-Ray!

And you know it's real because I've done it myself!

I think Omar really enjoyed making that film.

And we'll put all those tips on how to avoid buying fake autographs

on our website for you.

Remember, if there's anything you would like us look into,

please do get in touch, we are here for you.

The contact details are on your screen now.

Next week...

Chrissie thought she'd found the car of her dreams,

until the garage which sold it to her left her in the lurch.

I had the six months warranty, I had peace of mind,

and it just literally turned into a nightmare.

We'll be back in our usual slot next week - that's 7.30 on Monday.

We'll see you then, have a great weekend. Bye-bye.