The Home Your Money Their Tricks

Money's tight. Every pound is precious.

But wherever you turn, big companies

are determined to squeeze you even more with their tricks.

It's not even as if they're trying to hide it.

But this is the series that's determined to stop them.

-SHE LAUGHS

-I foiled that trick.

Each week, we go undercover to expose their tactics.

Even if I bring it back half full, I don't get a refund?

We talk to the whistleblowers...

This is quite a trick.

It is a trick. Nothing but a trick.

And reveal how YOU can fight back.

Yes, whether we're going on holiday, buying a car,

furnishing our homes or enjoying time off,

there can be shocking underhand ploys to avoid.

Do YOU want to know the secrets too? Then keep watching.

This is Your Money Their Tricks.

Tonight, the biggest names in the furniture trade.

Inside DFS -

uncovering the tactics used by some salesmen to make you spend.

Is it just me or did he just tell us how to commit insurance fraud?

"Hurry, ends midnight."

Sales - can you believe them?

I reveal the truth behind Dreams and Harveys ads.

-My goodness.

-Naughty Harveys.

-That's really bad.

And shoppers strike back -

how you can slash your household bills in a matter of minutes.

So, would you like to know what in total you managed to save?

-£1,293.

-Wow.

-Oh, my God.

Our homes - we buy them,

we rent them, we improve them,

we love talking about them.

Yeah, but you want everything to run smoothly.

If something's broken, make sure you get it fixed.

You don't want to keep spending money on buying new things.

-Oh, Nicky. That's very old fashioned.

-I'm all about keeping up with the latest technology.

There are loads of deals on offer that can help you do that.

For some, a good home is all about the look and the feel,

and the furniture has a lot to do with that,

everything from the sofas, dining-room tables and beds.

If you can get a good deal on your furniture, then all the better.

Yes, we all like to splash out occasionally.

And what better way to give a room a fresh look

than by getting in new furniture?

Of course, it can be expensive.

But we can always wait to see what's in the sales.

In fact, why wait at all?

There's 60% off hundreds of beds.

Time was when those sales happened at traditional times...

Harveys eight-day sale starts Boxing Day, 9am.

..like Boxing Day, New Year's Day and other bank holidays. But now?

Well, how many days have you got?

There's 12-hour sales, half-price sales...

The list goes on.

And sales are not only everywhere, they're urgent.

Want to bag those bargains?

You really must get a move on.

Harveys up-to-half-price sale now with extra savings

which end Monday, 8pm.

Or so the ads would have you believe.

As for us, we don't take anything at face value.

For five months, we monitored 15 different sales,

all advertised by two of the UK's biggest furniture stores,

Dreams and Harveys.

Between them, they spend tens of millions a year on advertising.

Yours for an amazing 999. Harveys.

They also employ a number of tricks in their marketing...

Until Sunday, save 60%...

..to bamboozle the rest of us into parting with our cash.

Now, believe me, you do not want me to go into all the specific details

of our findings. So, here are the headlines...

presented to you in our own ads, featuring our own furniture.

Trick number one.

Since November last year,

-we haven't found a day when there hasn't been a sale on.

-Cut.

We tracked a number of products in those sales or promotions.

And in the majority of cases, when the sale or offer came to an end,

they simply stayed at the sale price,

went straight into another sale

or another offer was applied. The result?

Consumers are uncertain about when the best time to make

their purchase is going to be.

Trick number two.

Do we really need to hurry?

We found sales at Harveys being extended without warning.

This up-to-half-price sale was meant to run from 3rd April to 7th May,

but in reality, ran until 7th June.

And what about this supposed 12-hour sale from Harveys?

Shoppers might have rushed to buy THIS sofa

because they were told to. "Hurry, ends midnight."

In reality, the sofa stayed on sale for four whole days.

That's eight-times longer than Harveys said it would.

Now, that's bad practice according to Deborah.

The consumer is being rushed into taking a transactional decision

which, given proper thought, they might not have taken.

If a trader extends a sale at very short notice,

this can be misleading for the consumer

as they thought they had very limited time

in which to make their purchasing decisions.

There could be a breach of the law in these circumstances.

Trick number three.

After-event price?

Well, that seems clear to me.

It's the price the furniture reverts to

after the event or sale finishes, isn't it?

Well, a quick call to Dreams should tell us.

And what about Harveys?

On nine out of 19 calls to Harveys,

ten out of 15 calls to Dreams,

they said that sale items WOULD revert to their full price

as soon as the sale finished. So, that's their promise.

As for their practice,

well, it could be up to two months after a sale ends

that an item goes back to full price.

Look at this. They've each got a clause on their website

that allows them to put those items into as many sales as they like

up until that time.

Harveys - detailed on the product page itself.

Dreams - buried in the terms and conditions.

The consumer may well not take on board the fact that

the after-event price will not apply for maybe two months.

They therefore have much more time in which to take the decision

before the higher price is charged.

Last but not least, trick number four.

What?! They wouldn't drop the price AFTER the sale ends...

would they?

Well, Harveys would.

They offered these three sofas

as part of their 12-hour sale in January...

and this dining table in their February sale.

Yet when those sales were over, the prices of all the items went down.

And it was a similar story with Dreams.

Four of the beds in their half-price sale in December

were actually cheaper afterwards.

Where a price falls after the end of the sale,

there is a potential misleading action.

Consumers, if they knew the true situation,

would take a different decision

and delay purchasing until after the sale.

There is a potential breach of the law here.

The Office of Fair Trading has expressed concern

over misleading time-limited offers.

The evidence from the practices shown by Harveys and Dreams

may well be of interest to the Office of Fair Trading here.

Dreams told us they DO follow pricing guidelines.

But in the light of the issues raised,

they'll be working harder to ensure future sales' practices are clearer.

They say they take their responsibilities very seriously,

make their customers their first priority

and always strive to offer them products

at the best available price.

Well, that's what Dreams has got to say.

As for Harveys, first I want to hear what the public has to say.

So, I'm going to meet them on a bank holiday Monday,

one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

We're here to let customers know it might just pay to wait.

Time to reveal the tricks of the trade.

Anyone here about to shop at Harveys?

Hello. Would you like me to save you money? No, not interested.

-Hello.

-Hello, how are you?

-I'm very well, thank you.

-Good.

-You've been attracted, I can see, sir, by our advert.

-Indeed.

-I saw it from halfway down the road.

-Did you?

Did you know that since last November,

we haven't seen a day when there hasn't been a sale on at Harveys?

-I didn't know that.

-Really?!

Hurry, ends midnight. We found that, actually,

it could go on for four days.

My goodness.

No rush, then.

-After-event price...?

-Usually goes up.

-It goes back up.

All these three items and the dining-room table

were cheaper after the sale than

-they were when they were in the sale.

-Naughty Harveys.

That's really bad that they dropped after a sale.

-We're going to buy furniture today.

-Were you?

Maybe we should hold off just in case.

-What were you going to buy, a sofa?

-A sofa.

-Good luck.

-Thank you.

It might pay to wait. I think everybody knows that now.

I think they'll be looking at Harveys adverts

a little more closely.

Meanwhile, Harveys have also promised to take a closer look.

Despite an absence of customer complaints,

they say they'll take our feedback into consideration

when planning future advertising.

They say they work hard to ensure they offer the best deal possible

and that they work within the guidelines.

They're retraining customer service staff

to ensure all promotions are as clear as possible.

Do you know the UK market for small kitchen gadgets

is worth more than £530 million a year?

Some of them are very complicated.

I'm not entirely sure what this does...

..or this.

But there's one word for these big ones,

and that's "essential".

There's another word for what to do when they're not working

and that's "panic".

Yes, when your washing machine or fridge-freezer goes on the blink,

you want to get it fixed ASAP. You are desperate,

you'll pay good money and the manufacturer knows it,

which is why some make sure that they are the ones who'll benefit.

How? By freezing out the competition.

You see, unlike car makers, who are legally obliged

to share technical information with independent garages,

domestic appliance manufacturers

can keep all those details to themselves.

So, if something goes wrong with your machine

when it's out of warranty,

an independent repairer might not be able to help you

and your only choice could be to go through the manufacturer.

The result? Fixing one simple fault could end up costing you

up to three times more than you thought it would.

So, how many of our biggest manufacturers are doing this?

Could we actually be looking at an industry-wide trick

that triples our repair bills?

I'm going to find out

by becoming an independent Mr Fix It.

Welcome to Nicky's Repairs.

BELL RINGS

OK, the name could do with some work.

And the signs.

But I'm committed to getting you a good deal and a great price.

Although, to be honest, I'm no engineer,

so I might need a little bit of help with this.

What I need is a man who's been training

independent engineers for 40 years,

a man who has literally written the book on appliance repairs.

How can I help, Nicky?

Well, there's a stroke of luck!

Graham Dixon is an appliance expert

with a series of repair manuals to his name.

-Well, Graham, it's good of you to help me...

-Pleasure.

..in my venture. In order to get up and running, what information

will I need to have to fix machines?

From the manufacturers, what you really need is

-the technical fault codes...

-Right.

..wiring diagrams and hopefully technical manuals.

What is a fault code?

Nearly all machines have some means of displaying an error code system.

That can be a series of lights that flash in certain sequences

or a digital display with something like "F1", "F12".

This will then give you some guide to what the problem can be.

We even get problems where faults occur, you can put them right,

but you can't clear the fault code from it.

So you can actually fix something

but the fault code will keep coming up?

Unfortunately, you can repair things these days,

-but you need to tell it it has been repaired.

-Right.

I'm going to make some phone calls

-and I'm going to get some information.

-I wish you luck.

Posing as independent repairers, we called the top 12

global appliance manufacturers and asked this question...

Basically, I'm after a list of fault codes

for your range of products,

technical information about your products

and safety bulletins.

First up, the good guys. Beko were the only company

to agree to send us technical information free of charge.

Two other companies, Candy Hoover and Whirlpool,

said we could have access to some technical information for a fee.

But the other nine either refused to give us

the full information we would need

or were unable to help with our query. They included Indesit.

And Miele.

Is it highly classified?

Most manufacturers told us that whilst we couldn't have full information,

they might help out with a specific enquiry.

So we put that to the test.

-ON PHONE:

-Hi, may I help you?

Yeah, we're an independent repair company

and I'm looking to get some advice and some information

on technical error codes.

OK, Graham's pretending to be an independent repairer

who's just been called out to fix a broken washing machine.

So he calls the different manufacturers

asking for access to their fault codes and re-set information.

After all, there's a customer here whose washing machine has bust!

So first up, Miele.

Oh, that's a pity.

Come on, Whirlpool, can you help us out here?

You did say you might be able to!

But I've done the repair, I've got the item,

I've got the genuine Whirlpool item.

OK, Indesit. Surely you can help us get this machine working again?

It's an emergency!

Well, thanks a lot, guys(!)

All your refusals to share information

mean the customer has no option

but to get the manufacturers to send out their own engineers,

who can then charge whatever price they want.

In the case of Miele,

that could be as much as a £129 minimum call out charge -

nearly three times more than the £45 an independent repairer

like Graham is likely to charge.

So what were their excuses for not sharing information?

A nice analogy, but a wrong one.

As we know, car makers do have to share such information

with independent garages.

Any other excuses, Bosch?

What about the safety concerns? Do you buy that?

In a way, no.

Because, to be quite honest with you, I've never known anyone been injured

with knowledge, but I've known lots of people injured by ignorance.

And by keeping somebody deliberately ignorant,

surely you're part of the process of anything that happens in the future.

Of course, there's a much more plausible reason why some

manufacturers refuse to share technical information

with independent repairers.

So, well done, Indesit, for spelling it out.

I did hear that right, didn't I?

Yeah, thought so.

Indesit reject claims that manufacturers restrict

competition in the market.

They say they do provide information, parts

and tooling to independent repairers in the vast majority of cases,

but they sometimes withhold information for health and safety

reasons, or because they consider a repair economically unviable.

They're reviewing procedures to ensure

they pass all enquiries to the right place.

Miele says it's committed to high standards of customer care

and offers extensive training to independent technicians

within its network.

But it's unable to support those outside the network

with the required training and documentation.

Whirlpool told us some independent repairers can access

technical information for a fee,

but only trained repairers within their network have the

correct equipment and training for all faults.

As for Bosch,

they say once they've validated a repairer's qualifications,

they will offer full advice within the limits of their expertise.

Meanwhile, during our research,

we uncovered one more trick you might want to watch out for.

If you call an appliance manufacturer about a repair direct,

you'd expect to speak to someone from that company, wouldn't you?

Especially when they tell you that you are.

However, we discovered on some occasions,

despite the fact you call the number on the manufacturer's website,

you are automatically put through to a Domestic & General salesman,

something they only tell you if you ask.

Domestic & General are the UK's leading warranty provider,

and this is obviously the perfect time to try

and sell you one of their extended warranties.

So if you are stuck in a jam

and just want to get your washing machine repaired, you may hear this.

Electrolux have since confirmed that they may transfer customers

to the Electrolux team operated by Domestic & General

to offer peace of mind, repair and warranty solutions.

And we should point out they're not the only company

to operate in this way.

They confirm that they don't restrict the availability

of technical information to independent repairers.

Domestic & General say their repair and protect option

offers many advantages over a standard repair.

They clearly inform all customers that the plan's provided

by Domestic & General, and they're under no obligation to take it.

But remember, a washing machine is an expensive product

that should last for a reasonable length of time,

and if there's an inherent fault with yours,

you're likely to be protected by the Sale of Goods Act,

so you can expect the shop where you bought it to offer a free repair

or replacement, whether its within warranty or not.

But if you're tempted to take out an extended warranty

with any company, this is what you need to be aware of.

Make sure you do your research to find the best deal for you.

Smaller insurers are often much cheaper than retailers.

Check out how long it will last

versus how long you're likely to keep the item.

Do the terms provide a new-for-old replacement

if the item can't be repaired?

Check the exclusions.

Do you have to use an authorised repairer?

And beware of extended warranties where you pay monthly.

Over the long term these can work out to be very expensive.

If you want to see this advice again,

then please visit our website:

I'm a sucker for the latest gizmos on the market.

And you know what? I'm in good company.

Bit of sharp focus for me.

CAMERA BEEPS

Soothing sounds.

Personally, I like a high-tech gadget

that combines lots of functions.

Like this Galaxy tablet. It can do all sorts.

No chance!

And what's even better,

if I'd bought it late last year from Currys or PC World,

I'd have got one of those cashback deals.

£80 no less!

'The amazingly powerful Samsung Note multitasks like a PC.

'Buy the Note with a case and £80 cashback makes it £319.

'At Currys PC World.'

Not bad, eh? But that got me thinking.

If they're happy to give you back cash,

why don't they just reduce the price of the item instead?

Cashback is pure behavioural economics,

because what retailers have found is that the consumer

is keener on being given a cashback than actually paying a lower price.

And this might seem irrational but it's often the way people are.

Irrational, moi!?

But could there be another reason?

Is it such a hassle actually claiming the cashback

that lots of us just give up trying?

Well, I'm going to find out.

Let's say I'd bought my tablet, along with a case as required,

and now I want my £80.

Cashback - how hard can it be?

OK, firstly it says here I'd have to wait 30 days to apply.

No problem.

Ow.

Second, fill in an online form.

Then scan receipt.

Photograph serial number.

Oh, that's it! Oh, that's your best side.

And finally e-mail off to Currys PC World.

SHE EXHALES

Now all I'd have to do is wait up to 42 days for my £80 cheque.

SHE SIGHS

-Er, Becca, before you get comfortable.

-What?

You were meant to claim £30 from Currys PC World

and £50 from Samsung Direct.

Yes, on this deal I might have waited a long time for the full £80.

That's because Currys PC World customers

had to make two separate claims.

Hmmm!

One to Currys PC World and one to Samsung,

in order to receive the full £80.

And a quick call to Samsung posing as a customer showed

it wasn't just us who found this confusing.

Definitely might? That doesn't sound too convincing.

Almost five months after the deal started, Currys PC World

finally said they'd pay customers the outstanding £50.

Hooray!

Only it would take another 42 days.

SHE SIGHS EXASPERATEDLY

All those hoops you have to jump through, makes you wonder

how many people are actually going to bother claiming?

If you have to go to two different websites and fill in a form

and copy this and copy that, it does become morally wrong, I think,

because many people say, "I bought it to get the cashback

"and I just can't be bothered, it's too difficult."

Samsung say they clearly explained the dual claim process,

but as a goodwill gesture, they allowed customers

to apply for cashback for a further 89 days after the promotion ended.

Currys PC World say the vast majority of customers

claimed without issue.

But they admit the process caused difficulties for some,

and they'll look to resolve any outstanding claims swiftly.

Both companies believe they've resolved the queries

from customers who contacted them.

But they've told us they'll learn from this

when planning future campaigns.

But if you think claiming that cashback was difficult,

wait till you hear about another deal from Currys PC World.

I thought it was outrageous they should ask me

to pay three times the amount I was promised at the time of sale.

Find out about that deal a little bit later.

DFS. They're one of the biggest sofa retailers in the UK.

Their sales are up.

And they've become sponsors of ITV's This Morning programme.

Mind you, not everyone inside DFS is happy.

I'm about to meet an ex-employee who's really

uncomfortable at the way staff were selling added extras to customers.

It's a practice he says is known as assumptive selling.

Here he is.

This assumptive selling, how does it work, what is it?

ACTOR'S VOICE: It's very clever psychology.

We talk about the sofa, we talk about the service

and then just add everything on, congratulate you,

thank you very much, make you feel really good and show you the door.

So the default position is that you have bought it,

even know you don't know you've bought it?

Yes. Definitely.

According to our insider, although extras are detailed on their

final bill, customers may not notice it has suddenly inflated because

staff quote them the price as a finance deal, in monthly payments.

You say it's going to be £40 a month,

and then say "thank you very much" and get them to sign.

But in the meantime you've added

all those things because I've mentioned them, I mentioned that..

So merely mentioning them is adding them?

-Is adding them, yes.

-And they're not checking the monthly payments?

They're not checking, they're not doing the maths, no.

Serious stuff, and it gets worse.

They sometimes over-sell the benefits

of their stain protection insurance.

So are the exclusions explained properly when selling insurance?

No, we never explain the exclusions at all

but you keep explaining the benefits. We just sell it to everybody.

Even if a customer asked, we say it's covered,

"Don't worry, we cover everything.

"I mean, we sell this insurance to landlords."

The landlords cannot have this service.

You want them basically to take the goods, take the services and leave.

This is quite a trick?

It is a trick. Nothing but a trick.

His testimony has been backed up by another DFS whistleblower

who still works for the company.

My biggest concern is the huge pressure that staff members

are under to sell extras.

The level of targets that people are expected to meet are

so high that people have to sell however they can.

The pressure can also lead to assumptive selling, where

items are added to a customer's bill without checking if they want it.

The idea is that you talk about it,

you don't explain it fully, then move on.

Well, it sounds like there are some sneaky things going on inside DFS.

But we can't just take the insiders' word for it.

We need to put the DFS sales staff to the test ourselves.

So we're taking our hidden cameras into ten different DFS stores

up and down the country...

..to meet ten different salesmen...

..from all over the UK.

Well, we thought we did.

But then we discovered the selling tactics

you and some of your colleagues use.

Find out what they are later.

'Now, earlier, I told you about a cash-back deal

'that was on offer at Currys PC World

'that made you jump through so many hoops that it makes you wonder

'how many people are actually going to bother to claim.'

If you have to go to two different websites and fill in a form

and copy this and copy that,

it does become morally wrong, I think.

'But if you think claiming THAT cash-back was difficult,

'wait till you hear about THIS deal from Currys PC World.'

This time you would have to wait two years for the cash-back,

and even then you're not automatically entitled to it.

'And this scheme could end up costing you

'even more than you thought it would.

'At least according to some customers. Like Jeff.'

I didn't realise that we'd end up paying

over £2,300 for a laptop that only cost £999.

'Jeff signed up to a monthly plan for a £999 laptop

'that he knew would cost him around £2,000.

'But he didn't realise he'd be asked

'to pay as much as £300 on top of that to keep it.

'How can a laptop end up costing so much?

'Am I missing a trick here?'

'It must be time for a Mystery Shop.'

'Fortunately we were in the market for the latest laptop,

'so we made 15 visits to branches of Currys PC World

'to find out for ourselves what the deal was.'

'In every store, we asked about paying on finance for a £499 laptop.

'However, the staff at 11 out of 15 stores

'were quick to bring up something else.'

'Infinity? What's that, then?'

'Renting? Leasing? That doesn't sound like a finance deal!'

That's because it's not.

It says here KnowHow Infinity means you can choose any laptop,

desktop or tablet, and lease it for two years by paying a monthly fee.

'It's supported by KnowHow's whatever happens breakdown service

'worth £179.'

'Comes with insurance cover, worth around £100 on this laptop.

'Cloud back-up software...'

'..and Norton 360 anti-virus protection.

'Together worth £78.

'Then after two years, if you sign up to another two-year agreement,

'you can upgrade to the latest technology

'and receive 25% of the value of your original laptop back in cash.'

'Ah, the lure of cash-back again.'

Just one problem.

Unlike a finance deal, you never own your laptop.

And if you choose not to upgrade, you have to give it back,

despite the fact you've already paid over and above its original value.

'But what happens if you don't want to give it back?

'After two years, you might have grown quite attached to it. Jeff?'

The only reason we decided to go down the Infinity agreement

was the fact we were told we would be able to buy the laptop back

after two years for a nominal fee of around £100.

'OK, that's what they said to Jeff. What would they tell us?'

'Mixed opinions all round. Two said we couldn't.

'Four said we could for a fee, but failed to mention how much.

'And of the remaining nine stores who did mention the size of the fee,

'four said it would only be a small one.'

'One even went as far as to say it would only cost us £40

'to be able to keep the laptop at the end.

'So why are some stores so unsure what will happen?'

Maybe it's because your contract isn't with Currys PC World.

It's with a third party company called RentSmart.

And it's up to them what happens.

'Something only three sales advisors mentioned to us.

'So what did RentSmart tell Jeff?'

I contacted RentSmart to find out what the nominal fee was,

and was told they do not allow you to buy back the laptop

at the end of their two-year agreement.

'Eventually RentSmart agreed that Jeff could buy his laptop back.

'But instead of a nominal fee of around £100, as promised by PC World,

'RentSmart wanted £336.'

I thought it was outrageous they should ask me to pay

three times the amount I was promised at the time of sale.

'After more persistence from Jeff,

'they finally agreed to reduce the figure to £233.

'Jeff paid. But he wasn't entitled to the 25% cash-back

'as he didn't take out another two-year agreement.'

By virtue of these deals, retailers are trying to lock

consumers into the longer term.

So because, if you like, you started off with this scheme, you're now

locked into buying products again and again from this company.

And the problem for the consumer is that what seems a great deal now

may not be so good in two years' time

and may not be any good in four years' time either.

And the great danger there is you lose your freedom of choice.

Currys PC World told us

many Knowhow Infinity customers are extremely satisfied.

But as we've highlighted inconsistencies in some

staff explanations, they're refreshing training.

They say they recently re-launched the service

as Knowhow Infinity Leasing

to make it clearer for customers from the outset.

RentSmart say they're sorry Jeff was unhappy with his agreement.

As a goodwill gesture, they've offered him

the laptop at the original, lower price.

But remember, before you take out any scheme,

check how much it's going to cost you overall, and whether it would be

cheaper to buy the laptop outright and pay for the extras separately.

You know, all these big purchases for your home are one thing,

but it's the small things that add up.

Like your everyday bills.

The average household spends almost £3,000 a year on these,

even though it could cut them simply by shopping around.

Trouble is, some people just don't have the time to do

all the research. Others, when they find a company or a service

that's reliable, prefer to stick with them.

Now those customers may be loyal. But are they valued?

Kirsten Garratt thought she was.

She'd insured her home with the same provider for more than a decade.

My renewal came through with my home insurance, the contents

and buildings.

And it came through as £577, which I felt was very expensive.

So I looked at the previous year and it was £484.

And I couldn't understand why it had gone up, so I researched online.

I went on as a new customer and I was offered £272.

Which I was completely shocked about as it is the same policy,

so I phoned up. They were more than happy to give me the price

I'd been quoted at £272. They made all the changes for me,

saving just over £300.

So, cut-price premiums for new customers, inflated premiums

for loyal ones - unless they call up and challenge it.

Loyalty is a great thing, both for the company and the customers.

So some companies have departments that they usually call

retention departments. You've got trained individuals who are going

to try and keep you, especially if you're a good customer.

Anything from listening to your problem

and perhaps something they can solve on the spot,

perhaps giving you more products for the price you were paying before,

or giving you a better price for what you were buying.

Think this is only true of insurers? Think again.

In fact, a lot of companies are doing it, from phone, television

and broadband providers to the utilities.

And just like the insurers, many of them will offer you a better deal

if you tell them you're thinking of leaving them.

How much better?

Let's put it to the test.

Meet busy mums.

Abbie,

-Kim...

-Hello.

..Sarah, Sarah and, of course, Kirsten.

Nearly all of them tend to stick with the same energy,

communications and insurance providers.

I don't pay attention to my bills because I'm busy,

I've got three children

We always just tend to just go with the renewal notice.

I've just taken what they've offered me just for ease, really.

Like most of us,

these mums have been allowing better deals to pass them by.

All of them could slash their bills.

How? By making a few simple phone calls.

All they need to do is contact their providers, tell them

they're thinking of leaving and ask to be put on a better deal.

So, that's just what we got them to do.

AUTOMATED: Please listen carefully to the following options.

I was just wondering whether there's a better deal for me to be on?

And then see if I'm missing any offer or deals?

I seem to paying an awful lot.

Some providers were at first adamant no savings could be made.

And there's no way you can reduce my bill at all?

But then they were transferred to cancellations, which some

of the companies we called actually referred to as

Customer Relations - so what could they offer?

"That's great, that's £5 off my line rental a month,

"that's brilliant."

The first guy that I got through to couldn't do anything,

so went through to the cancellation department.

£60 cheaper a year, just from one phone call.

I'm really happy about that!

No, that is amazing, actually.

Another way to make sure you get the best deal is to carry out

a quick cross-market comparison online before you make the call.

"I have seen a comparable tariff that's cheaper."

Think about, with all these price comparison engines,

we now, in the space of a click,

we can figure out exactly which particular provider is offering

the best tariff or the best plan, the best product at a given price.

Initially, the representative told me that I was already on the best

tariff and when I mentioned to her that I had shopped around

and managed to find something a little bit cheaper,

they managed to take down my monthly payments from £86

down to £65 a month, a total saving of £21 a month,

and that was just from one phone call - good outcome.

Some of our mums were simply switched to a cheaper tariff.

Managed to save £362.17.

That's a very good result for a very short phone call.

And even if they here were already on the best tariff,

they still found other ways they could save.

If I change the meter, which is free of charge,

I could save about £40 over the year.

And even bigger savings could be made

just for playing the loyalty card.

So is there nothing you can move on for that at all

to bring any of that costing down, to retain a loyal customer?

I phoned up my TV and phone provider and in a very quick

phone call of eight minutes, I've managed to save £174 a year.

Which is fantastic.

Now, it's worth remembering, before you rush into accepting any

offers, to check how long they expect you to sign up for.

These are fast-moving markets and it's always worth

thinking about whether you want to be signed up for that long.

Always remember to ask, has anything else changed?

Just in case they throw in any last-minute wobblers.

And we should point out our mums didn't make a saving with every call

they made. But if you follow these simple rules with one call,

you too could make great savings.

£343. So, it's a huge amount of money, yeah.

You know, it's a very good result

and I could have so easily not made that phone call.

Time to find out how much they've saved overall.

SIAN RINGS DOOR BELL

-Hello. Thank you very much.

-Hi!

-Hello, how are we?

Firstly, how did you find it?

A revelation, really - I didn't realise I could save

as much money as I did just with a few phone calls.

It was amazing how simple and straightforward it was.

I didn't realise how quick, really, that it could be.

So, to the results.

Shall we go round and find out? Because you don't know, do you,

what each other has saved? Sarah C - £29.50.

-It's something.

-It something, isn't it?

Who's the next saver?

Sarah G! £100.

I'm really pleased with that. Really pleased.

Let's look at the next one.

-Wow!

-Oohh, Abbie, big chunk. £252.

It's like amazing.

£252 saved from one phone call to gas and electric supplier.

I'm very impressed.

Shall we have a look and see who's next? Oooh, Kirsten.

£376.20, and bearing in mind when you came to us,

you had already saved £300.

Yeah. The majority was with my TV and broadband.

That is amazing amount, isn't it?

So it's only you left, isn't it, Kim?

Shall we have a look and see how much Kim saved?

It is amazing!

Wow!

-My God.

-Yeah, I know, it's incredible.

So, how did you manage to save £536.17?

I've been very, very silly over the years.

Basically, the tariff we were on was costing us far too much,

so we switched. And the other small proportion was our phone line -

basically, I got it free because we were loyalty customers.

That's a huge saving!

So would you like to know, in total, how much you saved?

-Yes.

-Bearing in mind it's only five of you, Right?

Here we go, here are the results.

-Wow!

-Oh, my God!

-That is good.

£1,293.87.

-Wow.

-Fantastic.

With five people.

And a few phone calls.

It's amazing.

-Wow. What are you going to spend that on?

-I'm going to spend it on

my children, on our summer holiday.

-Family holiday.

-It's got to go towards the holiday.

We're going to contribute the 500 to a holiday in Rome.

Well done, congratulations.

'Great results!

'So if your relationship has gone a bit stale with your service

'providers, give them a call to rekindle the magic.

'And you never know, you too could save hundreds of pounds.'

Earlier, we heard from two DFS insiders who told us how staff

sometimes get customers to buy added extras. Persuading people

to do this is commonly known as upselling.

Tricking them into doing it is known as "assumptive selling."

Items are added to a customer's bill without checking if they want it.

The idea is that you talk about it, you don't explain it fully,

then move on.

But we couldn't just take these insiders at their word.

We needed to put the DFS sales staff to the test ourselves.

So we sent our cameras to ten different DFS branches

up and down the country.

Our team are looking to buy the Jive sofa. There it is.

Doesn't it look nice?

In fact, it's apparently a bargain - on offer for £479,

reduced from £958. Not bad.

Unless, of course, any of the sales staff were prepared to add

an extra to our quote, without telling us how much that would cost

or the fact it was optional.

In this store, the salesman automatically added

the protection plan to our quote, without telling us it would

cost us an extra £80, or that the plan was optional.

Not only that, he failed to mention

there'd be an extra delivery charge of £45.

So how did he manage to add these extra costs without us noticing?

Simple. He hid them in the monthly finance deal.

We had already agreed to buy a footstool and superior foam seats

and we knew the individual prices of those.

But when telling us what we'd be paying in total,

he just quoted the monthly payments. That is, until we asked him.

So we'd agreed to buy the sofa, footstool and superior foam seats,

but hadn't been told the fabric protection would cost an extra £80.

Or the fact it was optional. Sounds like assumptive selling to me.

I'm no expert, though.

But luckily, I know the very person to ask.

If a consumer is being sold a package and isn't aware that

some of the items in that package are optional and there's

an extra charge for them, then this will be assumptive selling.

In addition it may also be a misleading omission

in breach of consumer protection legislation.

All of the other nine stores did tell us the protection plan

would cost us an extra £80. But three of those failed to tell us

it was an optional extra. They didn't explicitly ask us

if we wanted it and just rolled it into our quote.

They may have given us the paperwork to approve at the end

of the sale. But that would have been too late, according to Deborah.

This is exactly the sort of assumptive selling

the company insiders were telling us about?

Some of the stores were better than others,

but in many cases, even where the cost of the insurance was explained,

the consumer didn't explicitly agree to having it included.

The item was simply added.

In one instance, there was definite assumptive selling,

and in other cases consumers were being led to purchase

something without fully realising what they were being committed to.

DFS say processes in place should ensure staff make details

of every order, including any optional extras,

clear at every step, and confirm or amend them at the end of the sale.

They say we pulled out of our orders before this final stage, at which

point we would have received a formal written quotation to approve.

Their sales guidelines are audited and endorsed

by the Institute of Sales and Marketing Management.

They're designed to be realistic, to reflect customer demand

and not to place staff under undue pressure.

If there are cases where customers haven't received a transparent view

of their options, that's against training

and business beliefs.

But there was another trick all ten salesmen had

when selling a sofa that comes with fibre-filled cushions

as standard - like the Jive.

The headline sofa price was for fibre-filled cushions.

But they all tried to persuade us to upgrade to foam-filled ones.

Let's have a look.

So basically, they're slagging off their own product.

Exactly. The headline price is for the fibre-filled cushions,

but the staff work very hard to get you to buy the foam-filled version.

Although this is technically not a breach of consumer protection

rules, it comes very close to the prohibited

bait and switch provisions.

Which is when people are kind of baited in and lured

because of the cheap items.

Those items are not actually available or they're shown

a defective item, and thereby they're persuaded to buy

a pricier one.

Exactly, yes, that's what it is. And in this case, the mystery shoppers

were being persuaded not to choose the fibre option.

They were being told it was difficult to maintain,

it would be a nuisance, it wouldn't look as good and they were

being pushed into buying the more expensive foam version.

That's tricky, isn't it? Because you wouldn't necessarily notice.

Yes, it is, it's subtly done but it is trying to persuade

the consumer to spend more than they planned to from the outset.

DFS told us they train staff to explain the difference

between different sofa fillings and that fibre-filled sofas

require regular plumping and turning to maintain their look.

They say the choice of the foam option applies to less than

one-fifth of sofas in their range.

And add that if there are cases where staff have not

presented a balanced view, they'll investigate.

And now to the final trick - overselling. All ten salesmen

spoke to us about the five-year fabric protection insurance.

Impressive.

Really? Anything?

Yes, eight of the ten stores gave us the impression that anything

we could do to the sofa would be covered by the protection plan.

But that's simply not true.

The terms and conditions of the plan list a number of exclusions.

Exclusions that these sales staff failed to mention.

So how would staff in all stores react

when we asked about specific exclusions directly?

Over half the stores gave us

the impression we'd be covered for vermin damage.

Even though the terms and conditions state it as a specific exclusion.

As is putting the sofa in a rental property.

But that didn't stop four out of the ten stores telling us

we'd be covered for that too.

As for these three...

Is it just me, or did he just tell us how to commit insurance fraud?

Wait a minute. Did she? Didn't she?

And him as well?

Several of the staff encourage fraudulent claims to be made

with regards to the sofa being used by tenants.

Not only would this void the insurance policy,

but it could also be a criminal offence under the Fraud Act.

Just as I thought.

DFS say it would be unacceptable for staff to advise customers on how

to manipulate insurance claims and they'd deal with any cases severely.

They describe their fabric protection policy as excellent

value, offering extensive coverage against the most common

forms of accidental damage with only very limited exclusions.

They say in-store leaflets state that exclusions apply

and these are explained in the sales contract and on their website.

DFS told us 9 out of 10 claims are successful

and they've helped more than 25,000 customers in the past year.

But, they apologise if they've given anyone incorrect information about

the policy, and have reminded staff of its coverage and exclusions.

Now - remember how DFS sales staff didn't seem too impressed

with their own sofa cushions?

Well, we also asked them about their frames - and they said:

So we decided to put those to the test.

We bought the Jive sofa, and asked a sofa expert to rip it apart.

And this is what he found.

We have got a mixture of materials.

We have some hardwood framing and also some modern-day

panel products, some MDF, which they've used as well.

So finally some good news.

The load-bearing areas are made of hardwood, as promised.

And as for whether it is built to last...?

The main areas that are going to be under the most load,

they've used increased section sizes

and it's resulted in a fairly robust construction.

DFS say they regard customer service as paramount.

During extensive staff training,

they stressed the importance of treating customers fairly,

openly, honestly and of having the best product knowledge.

They say that out of 40,000 orders each month,

less than 0.05% of customers raise concerns about the sales process.

But they constantly try to improve their services, and apologise

unreservedly if any customers haven't been treated fairly.

They say they're rigorously investigating the issues

we've raised, they have a zero-tolerance policy,

and, where necessary, will take action.

If customers want to discuss any element of this programme,

they should contact their customer services team.

Details on our website.

Now...if you're buying a sofa,

ripping it apart's probably out of the question.

So, how do you ensure it's of the quality you'd expect? Well...

Sit on it. Don't be afraid to stretch out and stay a while.

A sturdy frame means a long-lasting sofa.

Sustainable and certified kiln-dried hardwoods are the best.

Have a friend lift one corner while you hold down the corner

diagonally opposite. Give it a wiggle.

If the sofa twists or bows, keep looking.

Bounce on it this tells you

whether the suspension system is right for you.

Finally, examine the fabric,

make sure patterns or textures line up and the stitching is tight.

Most manufacturers offer a ten-year warranty covering the frame and

the suspension system when subjected to conditions of normal wear.

But check the conditions of the policy before you buy.

Right, after all that, I could do with some time out.

Cup of tea, and feet up on our new sofa. That kind of thing.

You read my mind.

You're not going to like this,

but there could be a wee bit of a problem with that.

Bagsy the beanbag.

Well, it is your money.

Their tricks.

Goodbye.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd