Episode 6 X-Ray

Why are you walking away?

In every corner of Wales...

..we investigate...

..scams and rip-offs...

..bad service and dodgy deals.

If you've been conned out of your hard-earned cash...

-We're here...

-..on your side...

..in your corner.

-Fighting for your rights.

-Fighting for you.

This is X-Ray.

On tonight's programme:

Jason was left thousands of pounds out of pocket by his plumber.

The money was gone, and he apologised,

but he said I wouldn't be getting my money back.

Why does this sat nav insist on ignoring one of Wales' major roads?

-SAT NAV:

-Please turn left after...

John, where are you going?!

And a year after it was installed,

we test out the conservatory roof that just keeps on leaking.

How's your arm? Has it started running down your sleeve yet?

-Not yet.

-Not yet.

Hello, welcome to the programme.

With the cold weather setting in, now's the time many of us

start to worry about how reliable our plumbing is.

So later, staff and students here at Bridgend College will be giving me

some basic advice on how we can all keep warm and dry this winter.

First, though, Rachel investigates a plumber who seems happy to

take your money, but not so keen to do the work.

Today we're on the case of one particular trader -

a man who's upset some of his customers.

He owes them money - quite a bit of it -

and when things go wrong, he can also be tricky to get hold of.

His name is Peter Fowler, and he's a plumber who seems to be

quick on the draw when it comes to taking customers' cash.

Pistol Pete, as he occasionally calls himself,

is a big fan of airsoft,

where teams compete by shooting plastic pellets at each other.

When he's not doing that, he's the owner of

PJF Plumbing And Heating Services Limited

and First Choice Plumbing And Heating.

Jason Stephens was one of his customers.

In February, he paid Peter Fowler £2,000 up-front towards

a new central heating system.

It didn't go well.

He said he was on his way,

but he also said that the materials for the job should have been

delivered to the house, which they hadn't been.

I explained that to him, and he said he was going to

the wholesalers to see what the problem was and rectify it.

I'm assuming you tried to contact him?

We called. He initially wouldn't answer the calls.

If I blocked my number so he couldn't see it, he would answer,

but as soon as he heard it was my voice, he'd hang up.

Peter Fowler never returned.

Not unreasonably, Jason wanted his £2,000 back.

He claimed to have sent the money back to us,

but then, on further investigation, he claimed to have sent it

to the wrong bank account and that the money was gone.

And he apologised, but he said I wouldn't be getting my money back.

Peter Fowler told Jason he couldn't pay him

because his company was insolvent.

Mum-of-three Melanie Wheatley, from Swansea, also had a bad experience.

She asked Peter Fowler to fix her boiler three years ago

when the system stopped heating the water.

He went straight to the boiler, opened it

and proceeded to try to fix it.

Progressively taking more parts out of the boiler,

over the next four hours or so, until he got to the stage

where he said, it's in such a bad state that I can't fix it,

it cannot be fixed.

Peter Fowler told her she needed a new boiler,

but Melanie wanted time to think.

She paid him £300 for the work he'd done.

Her boiler was left in pieces, and she now had no hot water or heating.

She decided to get another plumber in for a second opinion.

It took about 40 minutes, and he managed to get it back

to how it had been before Peter Fowler had come,

so we had working heating, but no hot water.

Within about 10, 12 minutes he'd fixed the problem,

which was apparently really simple - it was a faulty pressure switch.

She rang Peter Fowler to tell him the hot water had been

fixed in minutes and ask for a refund.

His response was kind of, "Oh, that's...that's interesting,

"I'm pleased for you," and that was it.

I asked for my money back, and he said, "No."

Melanie was furious and took Peter Fowler to court.

The judgment went in her favour, but he's never paid her a penny.

And she's far from the only one.

In total, Peter Fowler owes nearly £17,000

in court judgments against him.

He's left his customers angry and out of pocket.

If I got my money back, that would be fantastic,

but I think, to be honest, it's unlikely I'm going to see it.

For me, more important than anything else, is other people in the public

are informed and are aware of this individual.

I felt really stupid for trusting him and giving him that money,

but the whole thing has been really upsetting.

So what has Peter Fowler had to say?

Well, he told us Jason cancelled the contract,

and because he was going through a difficult time,

he sent Jason's £2,000 to the wrong bank account.

As for Melanie's court judgment -

he says he thought that had been sorted out.

Remember if there's anything you'd like us to investigate,

please do give us a call - the lines are open now.

Or you can drop us an e-mail to the usual address.

Still to come,

we're checking up on colourful letting agents Trish and Parker.

Remember this promise made five weeks ago?

How can they have the money, and how quickly?

I'll make sure they get it within the next seven days.

-Within the next seven days?

-Yes.

So has he kept his word?

Before that, though, let's do some plumbing!

We've all been there, haven't we?

You come home, the house is stone-cold,

and there's no hot water - absolute nightmare!

But is there anything that we can do

before we pick up the phone and call someone out?

Well, Rob James is a plumbing lecturer and heating engineer.

So, Rob, can we hang on to a bit of our hard-earned cash

when it comes to a temperamental boiler?

Well, invariably, this time of year, boilers will break down,

but there's one or two checks that anyone can do just to make sure

before you call the engineer out,

that are general and fundamental checks.

And also, you can give him or her some good information over the phone

so they know what they're coming out to.

So what's the first thing we can check?

All boilers, regardless of age,

need a sequence of electricity, air and gas.

First - the electricity.

If you've got power, it could be a faulty fuse.

You can always check your power by popping your fuse out.

What you're looking for in any heating system is

a red-colour, three-amp fuse.

Now, if you suspect this might have been blown,

just pop a new one in.

-And turn the power back on. OK?

-OK.

Then have a look at the pressure gauge.

Another very common fault, especially with combi boilers,

is the lack of pressure.

There's a red indicator that's a good marker of where it should be.

Between 1 and 1.5 would be the normal pressure

for a system, so this one is a bit low.

Now, adjust the water pressure.

We can do that simply by adding more water,

which we do that in this particular boiler down here.

So as I turn this, you want to do it...

BOILER CREAKS, WATER TRICKLES

You'll hear some water coming in.

-I can hear that.

-Yeah. And now you need to watch the gauge.

-And I can see that the pressure is rising there.

-It's now rising up.

Yeah, so when we get to about 1, that's going to be fine.

So we're going to try and get it in line

-with that red arrow there, are we?

-Yeah, no further than the red arrow.

One thing I would say - if you do put too much pressure in,

there's no need to worry because when it gets to 3,

it'll automatically release the pressure anyway.

So if you're doing it for the first time,

you can't actually create a problem cos the boiler will protect itself.

Well, that's reassuring for me! THEY LAUGH

And finally - can you hear the fan?

So if we put the boiler on

and we listen, hopefully we'll hear...

-FAN WHIRS

-There you go - the fan kicking in.

Yes, I can hear that going. So that's a good sign?

That's a good sign.

So now so we've got power, we've got pressure, we've got air.

All we need now is gas and the boiler will light.

If it doesn't ignite, then there's a problem with your gas supply.

Now, that could be, if you've got a pre-paid meter,

you've simply run out of credit, so it's worth checking.

You can do that either by going to the meter,

or if you've got another appliance, like a gas cooker,

turn the ring on and see if you've got gas.

Once you've confirmed that you should have gas supply

but the boiler's not igniting,

-that's the time to pick up the phone.

-Brilliant advice, Rob,

and so many things I wouldn't have thought to check, so thanks so much.

No problem, you're welcome.

Next, Omar's been to meet a driver in Cardiff who's been going

round in circles trying to sort a troublesome device.

Ah, the good old days!

Plotting out a journey on a map

and relying on a trusty back-seat passenger to do all the navigating.

When getting lost was part of the routine.

But now we're in the 21st century,

we've got these guys helping us arrive at our destination.

But some are more helpful than others -

as John Aggleton from Cardiff found out.

John is a Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at Cardiff University

and is used to studying the complex workings of the human brain.

But even a boffin like him has been left baffled by a sat nav

which seems to have a mind of its own.

I bought this barely used VW Golf.

And one of the things that really attracted me to it -

it sounds a bit sad, I know -

is that it's got an in-built navigation system.

So if I'm driving on my own, I can get anywhere, and I know where

I'm going and I don't have to worry about getting lost.

But not long after buying his new car,

John realised the in-car sat nav was behaving oddly.

It just kept coming out with very, very peculiar routes

that persistently avoided the A470.

And of all the roads to be missing, it was a pretty important one.

If you live in South Wales, and you need to go anywhere north,

you'll know that the A470 is the main spine

right up through the middle of Wales.

John went back to the dealer - Sinclair Volkswagen in Cardiff -

and was told his sat nav was in the wrong mode.

But after trying every setting with no success,

he took the car back again.

The garage was very unsympathetic, and to be honest,

they said they really didn't care and it was basically...

there was nothing wrong with it.

Leaving John stuck with his stubborn sat nav.

This all sounds so frustrating!

But I want to experience what this is like for myself,

so I've set John a little challenge.

I've pitted him against X-Ray's mystery driver.

Whose sat nav will navigate from Cardiff to the Brecon Beacons

in the fastest time?

Within the speed limit, of course!

Three, two, one...

HORN BLARES

And they're off to a very good start there.

And both going for the same route so far, both on the A470.

It is absolutely neck and neck.

-SAT NAV:

-Please turn left after 500 yards towards Pontypridd...

But wait, what's happened?

John's on diversion.

John where are you going?

The Pontypridd turn has tempted John off the A470.

-SAT NAV:

-Leave the next roundabout at the second exit.

Now we've got John in a little bit of roundabout trouble.

Right, madam, where do you want to go?

Mystery driver powering on up the A470,

and nothing is going to get in his way.

And as if things couldn't get worse for John,

he's now stuck behind a learner driver.

Meanwhile, for mystery driver, the end is in sight.

John, however, is on a very narrow lane somewhere.

He's going completely, well and truly off the beaten track.

And mystery driver has it! It is all over.

John is still miles away.

John has been well and truly sat-navved. It wasn't even close.

It really took me through, or down, roads,

places, I'd, firstly, never knew existed

and certainly I'd never driven down before.

It was the most extraordinary route.

But at least he got to take in some of the lovely views.

We can laugh about it because I know these roads

and I know how I would have driven here.

But it does mean the rest of the United Kingdom,

-I have no...

-OMAR LAUGHS

I have no idea what it's going to come up with!

So, to recap, here's the route our mystery driver took

using a standard sat nav.

It's pretty much a straight line up the A470,

and took him just 30 minutes.

Not bad.

But look at this! Here's the route John's sat nav took.

Twisting and turning through the Welsh countryside

and arriving a whopping 20 minutes after our mystery driver.

So does anyone approve of John's unorthodox route?

We headed to nearby Merthyr, to see what the locals think.

How do you get from Cardiff to Merthyr by car?

-On the A470.

-A470.

-That's really easy isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Everybody knows that.

-Yeah.

-A470, I think.

-The A470?

-Yeah.

-On the A470.

-A470?

-Yeah.

-Yes.

-The A470.

-A470?

-Yes, I'm a Cardiff girl - I know.

-You know!

So it's a unanimous vote for the A470.

But with John's sat nav refusing to take that route,

it looks like he might have to find another way home.

How very strange!

Well, Volkswagen UK say they're sorry to learn of John's experience.

They're keen to sort out what they describe as an isolated problem

and say they'll work with Sinclair to replace the sat nav

as quickly as possible.

Next, Rachel's been to meet a couple who have been trying to get

a problem with their conservatory sorted for more than a year.

Here in Wales, we're more than used to a bit of wet weather,

and we're not ones to let a little spot of rain faze us.

Unless, of course, it's inside our homes.

This house in Llansamlet near Swansea has been home to

Geoff and Denise Griffin for 45 years.

Their children have now flown the nest,

but their home is still the heart of family occasions.

This time last year,

the couple were getting ready for a visit from their grandchildren.

They were looking forward to having a full house, but had one concern.

Geoff's conservatory was almost as old as his house,

and in winter weather, it was cold, noisy and unwelcoming.

When it rained it was...

Ugh, you couldn't hear yourself in there.

Worse than that, it wasn't very warm

because, it just, the heat used to evaporate through the roof.

We decided that we'd have to do something about it.

As luck would have it, Geoff had just had his windows replaced

by well-known double glazing supplier Everest Home Improvements.

They offered him a new thermally insulated roof

to make his conservatory quieter and more cosy over winter.

And as a loyal customer,

he was eligible for a whopping £8,631 discount.

The company sent a surveyor, who said it was a straightforward task,

and by November last year, the job was done.

The new roof seemed ideal.

They had a cosy conservatory in plenty of time for Christmas.

Or did they?

When they left, I thought, "Lovely."

It looked absolutely splendid, I must admit.

They'd not even marked the walls in there. It looked good.

They'd been careful.

However, got up in the morning, went into the conservatory,

and it was awash with paint.

All over floor, the walls had been stripped in parts.

It was just heart-breaking.

Having seen the night before everything we wanted

destroyed by one evening's rain.

And I couldn't believe that...that happened.

I just couldn't believe it.

I rung the head office, and they said

they'd contact the team that had fitted the roof

and they would come back to me, that is the team...

Which they did.

The fitter returned the following morning

and discovered that a large panel on the roof wasn't watertight.

Then he spent some time sealing this and sealing that,

and he went away.

And I thought, fingers crossed, everything will be all right.

However the next time it rained,

there was a torrent of water coming down the wall.

Concerned that the winter season was fast approaching, Geoff called

Everest to tell them he wanted a solution as soon as possible.

They agreed to refund him £130 to get his conservatory repainted.

But by Christmas, it was still not repaired,

and between November last year and September this year,

Everest had been to Geoff's home an incredible six times.

It took them five visits to discover that new parts were needed,

and to this day, those parts haven't arrived.

Being a dry day, Geoff decided to get the hose out

to show us how bad the leak is.

-I'm glad the wind's not blowing in my direction right now.

-Yeah!

How's your arm? Has it started running down your sleeve yet?

-Not yet.

-Not yet.

What should happen anyway, right, whatever water is up there now

will eventually come down from the top.

-It's been 15 minutes. Shall I check?

-Yes, have a check.

You stay here with your hose!

-I think you can cut the hose.

-Thank you.

There is a real problem in here.

-Geoff.

-Yeah?

-Come in here.

There is water streaming down your wall. Is this normal?

Yes, it's normal. It can be a lot worse depending on the weather.

If it's very, very windy and the rain is very heavy,

it can be twice as bad.

With Geoff at the end of his tether, we met with consumer expert

Professor Margaret Griffiths to see if she can offer any guidance.

-Hello!

-Hi! Good to see you.

-Yeah, and you too.

-Yeah, a long time.

So Geoff and Denise, incredibly patient,

-but it just hasn't paid off.

-No. They've been amazingly patient.

They did all the right things.

They reported the fault within a day or two of it happening,

they have had someone come in and try and fix the leak,

and time is just going on.

I mean, here we are, a year on, with nothing having been done.

So how do they finally put this to bed and resolve the problem?

Well, I think after a year, in which they have been very patient,

I think they could quite reasonably say to the company,

"OK, it's ultimatum time.

"Please, you sort this within the next 28 days..." -

and I gather that a visit is imminent -

"..or we want a partial refund so we can get somebody else to come in

"and put it right once and for all."

So if a tradesman does a bad job on your home,

how can you avoid getting stuck in a waiting game?

Professor Margaret has some top tips.

Definitely put everything in writing.

If you're going to complain to a company,

it's very tempting to just pick up the phone and do it by phone.

Don't!

Put it in writing so that there can be absolutely no dispute

about what is being said later and when it was said.

My second top tip would definitely be to set deadlines

so that they know what you expect of them

and they can have no doubt whatever as to when stuff has got to be done.

It would be to keep a diary, I mean,

make the calendar your best friend, that every time you speak to them,

every time somebody calls, every phone call there is, everything,

keep a day-by-day diary of what's gone on.

Because then you've got absolute evidence as to

how your problem has been dealt with.

Unfortunately for Geoff, despite having done everything right,

he's still none the wiser about when the leak will finally be repaired.

Well, it's been like a mountain to climb, to be quite honest,

and that's not because their name is Everest. It's just been a pain.

Do you feel like they actually want to get this sorted?

I'd like to think that they want to sort it.

But the longer it goes on, the less confidence you have

in them sorting the problem.

Wait and see. Watch this space.

Well, Everest have apologised and admit they've taken more time

than is reasonable to diagnose the fault.

They've now arranged for a team, complete with a project manager,

to visit Geoff and Denise at the end of the month.

If the work they have planned to stop the leak isn't effective,

they've promised they will reinstall the whole roof

and cover the cost of replastering and redecoration.

Now, let's get back to the DIY, and, James, you're a second-year

student here, and you're going to show us how

we can fix a problem that's very common,

and plumbers say they get called out about all the time -

it's when your toilet isn't flushing properly.

Yeah, it's a very easy job.

All you need to do is just take the lid off the toilet like so,

and you just check if the water's level with that mark here.

If not, all you need to do is slacken off this plastic nut here

and you should see the water...free up.

So you just let that fill right to that level...

Yeah, that's right.

And then, basically, all you need to do is just tighten that up again.

Perfect.

And then...let's make sure that it flushes.

-Does it like so.

-Brilliant!

Flushing beautifully.

-Music to my ears.

-That's right, yeah.

Now to another common problem at home - that eternal dripping tap.

So annoying!

But, Rob, you're going to show us how we can fix it

by changing the washer.

Now, this is something

I'd never even think about attempting - I have to say.

-When I've finished, you'll be an expert.

-Brilliant!

Glad to hear it. So where do we start?

First thing we need to do is turn the water off in the property.

Normally, you should find your mains stop valve underneath your sink,

but if it's an older property, like a Valleys terrace,

it could be just inside your front door.

So, once you think you've turned it off, turn your kitchen sink tap on.

If it's stops running, you've been successful.

So once you've turned the water off, you need to change the washer.

How do you even start to do that?

The most important thing is put the plug in

so we don't lose any screws down the plughole.

Very good tip. What next?

We're going to take the top off to expose the headgear.

And once we've done that, we get our adjustable spanner.

And that's the washer we need to replace.

So we need to remove that screw.

Rubber over time can go brittle and not seal properly, they can crack.

There's different reasons

why you would have a leak in the first place.

-OK. So you just need to put it all back, then?

-Yeah, in reverse order.

Close it all off, and you're good to turn the water back on.

Do you know? That wasn't half as complicated

as I thought it would be.

-And all you need is a spanner and a screwdriver!

-Indeed.

Rob, thank you so much.

Now, you may remember the Swansea letting agents

we recently featured - Trish and Parker Estates.

Five weeks ago, we told you about Alan Parker,

and his Ascot-loving partner, Princess Trish.

They bragged about their business on reality show Come Dine With Me.

Not many people do put a face on a car. It gets people's attention.

Her face is actually on our new boards as well.

The letting agents seemed to be living the high life.

But some of their customers, like Carly Johns,

were left struggling, chasing deposits that weren't refunded.

I'm a single parent, so no, it's not money I can afford to lose.

Shelbie Knight too spent weeks trying to get her £280 deposit back.

And Janet Rose, who let her property through Trish and Parker,

was left thousands of pounds out of pocket

when they didn't pass on the rent.

He's living off that money, and it's not his money to live off!

When we contacted Alan Parker, he volunteered to pay us

a visit at our studios to explain himself.

When you take a deposit, within 30 days,

you are supposed to register that deposit...

-I understand that.

-..with the deposit protection scheme.

-A mistake...

-And on your contract, which you've signed, it says

that money will be put in the Deposit Protection Service.

-Errors were made.

-It was the law. You broke the law.

-I understand, and I know I made a mistake.

-OK.

I'm not trying to run away from making an error here.

How can they have the money, and how quickly?

I'll make sure they get it within the next seven days.

-Within the next seven days?

-Yes.

Well, that didn't happen.

Janet Rose still hasn't got her £3,000 back,

even though Parker had promised to discuss

a repayment scheme with Trading Standards.

For Carly and Shelbie, things looked more promising.

Two weeks on, Alan Parker personally paid cheques

into their bank accounts.

But soon after, there was bad news - the cheques had bounced.

Well, we're not ones to give up.

We asked Alan Parker to explain why he broke his promise.

He told us he would have paid if other customers had paid

what they owed him, and he hadn't lost a job he'd recently started.

He is now employed again and says he'll meet with landlady Janet soon.

But no promises on Carly and Shelbie's cheques,

so we'll just keep chasing him.

And that's all we've got time for this week.

Could I order a wheelchair-accessible cab, please?

Next week, we test how easy it is for wheelchair users like Ayesha

to call a cab.

I thought maybe there'd be, like, one bad apple,

but it looks like across the industry there's a problem.

That's shocking.

If you need our help, just pick up the phone.

The number to call is...

The lines are open now.

Or drop you can us an e-mail...

We would love to hear from you. We'll see you next week. Bye-bye.