17/10/2011 Inside Out West Midlands

Welcome to a new series of Inside Out. Fed up with those phone calls,

trying to sell you something? We have a shocking story of the sales

people who would not take no for an answer.

How frequently with a calling you? Constant Lee. -- were they calling

We are on a mission in Minsterley in Shropshire as a century-old

creamery is sold to the Irish. Can they turn it round and say the

village and what will happen to the hundreds of people who have lost

their jobs? It was a shock because people say you have got a job at

the creamery, you have got a job for life.

I and we find out how a Pakistani prince is supporting Birmingham

taxi drivers to swap horse power for the real thing. This is Inside

I have heard about a group of pushy publishers operating in the

Midlands. I am told their telesales team will stop at nothing to get a

sale and once they have made one sale, the chances are they will be

back for more. And I want to find out just how much they will go to.

Our trail starts in Shropshire and 18-year-old Jong has a house in

France which he let out. He had advertised before so when a cold

call came in selling another at that, he agreed. But instead of

bringing in customers, he just got bombarded with calls from other

newspapers. Like the central Advertiser and the North Thames

press. How frequently whether calling you?

Constantly. 6, 7, 8 calls per day. From each of the different

publications. It was a very difficult time for me because my

wife was very ill. And I find it difficult to deal with these people

that kept on phoning all the time. I just wanted to get them off my

The persistent calls got so bad, he contacted the police. When I

arrived at the address I could see that John was clearly distressed.

He had his head in his hands. He had about nine phone calls in half

an hour, they were coming from different companies. While we were

there, we phoned BT because we dialled 1471 and we found the two

numbers. They were then fining him on a mobile from three different

numbers. So quite persistent? persistent.

But the police could not help John because it was a civil matter, not

a criminal one. John's daughter was horrified to discover the various

newspapers had charged tens of thousands of pounds to her father's

accounts. It was inexplicable to me. A totally inexplicable. And totally

horrifying. And it was as if suddenly, the life I thought my

parents had and understood, and the world we inhabited, had been turned

upside-down. It sounds melodramatic but it was... Awful. Awful. Because

he had effectively bankrupted He seemed to have agreed to

advertise in newspapers run by a Wyvern Media, sometimes also known

as Journal Group Production Company Ltd and JPC Sales of Derby. Things

got so bad that in four and 62 days, the Derby-based group took up to

six payments each and every day. Totalling more than �10,000. Now, I

don't know why I was taken in by all this but it became obvious that

there was no responses was forever. You have no responses? No responses

at all. So what does the company say about it?

Wyvern Media has told us that staff have known way of knowing if their

customers are frail or vulnerable and that John freely signed orders

he placed -- have no way of knowing. They take appropriate action to

when Shaw it does not occur again if things go bad.

John had tried writing messages like "please leave us alone, and we

cannot afford this". A salesman said no more and we will block

unnecessary calls but then got in touch two days later. The company

said it would investigate. John is not the only customer who is

unhappy with Wyvern Media. Dog breeder Jean would agree to the

adverts and its owner like a good deal at �40 per advert. What she

had not bargained for was the unauthorised payments. I had two

invoices and that was OK but then I started getting invoices with

"paid" on them that I had not asked for. Six payments from my credit

cards but I had not authorised. And they had taken over �500 of my

credit card balance. I think it is a total scam. There is no way that

should see your money being taken when you have not granted it.

Unauthorised payments? Surely a mistake, a one off. Not according

to Polly who runs a bespoke travel business. She agreed to one �100

advert in the Lincolnshire and South Yorkshire Telegraph. Another

Wyvern Media newspaper. They sent me the mock-up. It was appalling,

absolutely appalling. That was one of the first alarm bells that rang

with me, that something was not right. That it probably was not as

good as they had let out that it would go -- that it was going to be.

But the company had charged �5,000 to her account.

This is the paperwork from your bank. Yes, I have never seen these

before. These are the confirmation of appetising orders. It has a

receipt will follow her published receipt. And any credit card

statements as card players not present. They have racked up

overdraft charges, and I had to fall to the company as a result of

this huge debt. Wyvern Media says it has never been the

organisation's practice to take unauthorised payments from its

customers. It says the company now records all sales calls and

complaints have dropped to four a month out of several thousand sales.

The statement adds that if customers feel money has been taken

without proper authorisation, there can be reclaimed through their

credit cards. The company director Jonathan

Rivers said he would investigate the cases that we have raised. But

it is not just an authorised payments and pestering clients

until they get a sale. Some customers are unhappy about other

I am Jenny so. My name is John. am Sam. We have contacted over 30

of their customers and many have a story to tell. One of the tactics

sales staff use is to tell people they have won a prize. John runs a

specialist motorbike customising company and was told he had won an

amazing award. We had this phone call. It said that it would like to

congratulate me, that I had won customers of the year award. And

then the bombshell came when he rang me up and said you have won

this award but we feel that it deserves a front page, a back page

and the centre page in our magazine. He said this is very expensive.

Normally it would cost you �2,000 to have this but said that they

will do it for �1,500. What was the reality? Nothing. He small but of

paper in a small frame. The bid you pay for the adverts -- a small bit

of paper. We would not pay. He rang me up a lot. He threatened to take

me to court and I said, please do so. That is perfect for me, I said.

I will come to court and the day with this bill and I will fight it

all the way of. So, offering awards? What did Wyvern Media have

to say about that allegation? The company says "categorically we do

not offer prizes but it agrees but it uses them as a marketing tool to

allow companies to promote Awards given with no judge, no jury.

Next time you see a certificate for a business of the year, perhaps you

should ask them how much they had I need to see if anyone else come

back up what our disgruntled advertisers have told us. Who

better to ask than people who worked there! -- there?

This Student only manage three days with the Greater London Chronicle

in Coventry. One of the Wyvern Media papers. He has agreed to meet

me. By my first day, one of the members of staff in the office

actually said something like this is the biggest legal scam out there

today. The and tight point, I was just sat there thinking, is this

I found another former employee who wanted to talk about unauthorised

payments but keep their identity sealed. Calls started coming in

from customers that I knew of claiming that certain payments had

been taken out of their back accounts without authorisation. We

kept our heads down and did not dare say anything. We knew we would

be out of a job there and then. Wyvern Media pointed out one rogue

salesmen as the reason for some unauthorised payments. They said

that complaints are tiny by comparison. And from complaints

about customers who did not receive any response, they said that

advertising is very hit and miss. Meanwhile for customers left

bruised by the experience of placing an advertisement in the

papers, we planned to pass our information on to trading standards

officers so they can investigate further. I felt it a huge tragedy

that because of some flimsy bits of paper and someone's need to get a

commission, they lost a home that they had lived in and loved for 50

years. My mother died in February and she died broken-hearted. If you

feel you have been unfairly treated, it get in touch with me, on the e-

It is not often that to get to rub shoulders with a Pakistani prince

but that is exactly what has happened to a group of Birmingham

taxi drivers. And all because of their mutual love of horses.

Meet Gulbahar and Gulzar Khan. Brothers, veteran cabbies, men

quite at home in a hackney carriage. But the Khans aren't your average

cab drivers. They're into horsepower of a different kind.

Because when they're not on four wheels, they're on four legs and

you'd struggle to flag them down. Welcome to the world of the taxi

driving tent-peggers, the fastest I get up in the morning and late

going to do the horses. Whether it is 8 o'clock, 11 o'clock. The first

thing I come up and do is to the horse. It is early morning. And

Gulbahar's at the stables near Walsall. He keeps horses here,

along with his brother and some of his mates. They all have two things

in common: they drive cabs and they do this. Tent-pegging is a famous

sport in Pakistan, like show- jumping in this country. It is very

famous and the same thing back home in Pakistan, Kashmir, we have got

tent-pegging which is very, very famous. It is a sport we enjoy

doing. In tent-pegging, riders compete to

spear wooden stakes from the ground. It may be big in Pakistan, but not

here. But that hasn't always been the case. The British cavalry once

used it for training and it was a hit at horse and military shows.

So the Khan brothers are ordinary blokes with an extraordinary

pasttime. But the trouble is, they still need to clock up those fares.

And that leave little time for practice. We don't get that much

time because we have families and kids and you have to work. And

whatever happens, I always tried to do my seven hours. But they'll need

all the practice they can get. A big competition's coming up, at

Frampton on Severn in Gloucestershire. And they'll be up

against expert riders, some from the British military. We are not

brilliant, extra ordinary but we have confidence. We are good enough

to beat them. Every year, it is between two or three points in the

last two years. Hopefully this year It is like getting off a horse!

Always steeper than you expect. Thank you very much.

The competition will be the team's last event of the year. But first,

they have an exhibition to ride. And joining them is their mentor

who turns out to be from Pakistani nobility. He's a prince, like

Prince Harry. He is of a similar position in Punjab. Everybody knows

him, even if they do not see his face, they know his name. He is

behind everything we are doing, the backbone.

Prince Malik Ata Muhammad Khan has been tent-pegging for years back in

Pakistan, and he certainly takes it seriously. I scored 24 marks so I'm

in the competition. Of course I will win the competition. I am sure

of it. The prince recruited the Khans to

ride at a competition some years back. And they've stayed in touch

ever since. For him, it's all about keeping the sport going. We advise

them, bring good horses for them, do whatever we can. The sport has

to be kept alive. You cannot keep it alive is -- if there is no pond

behind it. Do you think you will get it? I bet you.

From playing alongside a prince to the routine of weekly practice.

It's days before the Frampton competition and I've come to see

how they're getting on and perhaps That was brilliant. A couple of new

water that had done very well. Two waters, they are very nice for the

sport. Looking ahead to Sunday, a good practice for then? Very good,

we'll be ready on Sunday, yes. on! Like a piece of cake.

Now, I've always fancied myself as a decent horseman. Well, I've done

a bit of pony trekking in my time. He is doing fine, he is sitting

there. But the brothers won't let me anywhere near those sharp spears

without first seeing me at the reins. What are the chances of

letting me have a go in the field? Not quite! The if you more lessons

but not yet. -- a few more lessons. Is there anything I can do?

I may not be ready to compete quite yet but the cabbies certainly are.

The big day's arrived and they're raring to go. All except Gulbahar.

He's hurt his arm, and won't be riding but he's still confident.

am happy, my colleague is riding, but there is riding so I am

confident. We are going to absolutely thrashed them.

But they'll need to be at their best. They're up against some top

class riders. These are peggers with pedigree. They are all

experienced in various disciplines of riding, whether it be Paolo,

hunting, showjumping -- Polo. As well as tent-pegging. I think the

Gloucestershires are defending their title but we are up against

it today. The regular regiment, the RLC, I have a feeling I would put

my money on them. His money's on the Royal Logistic

Corp, but our taxi drivers hope to upset the odds. The aim of this

game is to spear as many wooden pegs as possible. And the cabbies

are soon into their stride. brother mist one and the other two

It's the final ride of the day and despite spearing four out of six

flaming tent pegs, it's not quite We came second and the 17th Lance,

they came first. When you bring your Lansdown, it pushes on to one

side so you could not get a target in but it has been a safe and the

public enjoyed it and that is what is important. And we enjoyed it as

well. Runners up again. Back at the

stables, it's time for something to eat, drink and smoke, and some

post-match analysis. How many points to you miss out by?

One. One point? You must be disappointed. We are used to coming

second. That has got to her. Yes, it does a bit. I probably was the

weakest link to the. The weakest link! Hopefully next year we will

have more horses and these guys sitting over there, they can do

tent-pegging, every one of them. no pressure! No! The weakest link

goes out, the new link comes in. For our final story, I am going to

the Shropshire hills to find out just what happens to village life

when a major employer pulls the plug on a business that gave

generations of local people a job. 480 million years ago during the

Ice Age, constant freezing and thawing shattered these rocks to

form what is now one of Shropshire's most famous landscapes

the Stiperstones ridge. But I'm not here for that walk

known as the Stiperstones stomp, I'm heading for the village of

Minsterley down there, where the cold winds of multinational

takeovers are creating a mini-Ice Age of their own in the chilled

Minsterley Creamery has been the major employer here for years, but

after a round of job losses this summer, the village learned another

350 people were being laid off. Production was largely being moved

to Somerset ahead of an Irish Already village life is changing.

Once Minsterley had three pubs on a single roundabout. Now The Bridge

is boarded up, The Bath is flats, only The Crown And Sceptre remains

of what was once a compact pub More enduring is the church, famous

for its gardens, commemorating the death of local virgins but it is

the slow death of Minsterley Creamery that has become more

difficult to watch. How did this become home of a multi-million-

pound industry. It all started 100 years ago, when

a certain Miss Chin visited her uncle, the local postmaster, and

decided that Minsterley was the ideal place to collect milk from

local farmers to deliver to the dairy in Birmingham where she

worked. That was the beginning of a love affair with Shropshire dairy

That saw Miss Chin's idea grow from a small factory employing four

people to the major employer it is It might seem strange to start this

story at the local nursing home, but in many ways it's the last

refuge for creamery workers. A snapshot of just how important the

employer has been. A number of residents once worked at the

creamery, including Maureen really looked forward to going

there every day. It was like a home It's not just residents at the home,

staff already made redundant from the creamery include Esther who

worked there for 29 years. She's now a nursing home cleaner. My next

door neighbour used to work there, Paddy Abby. He got me the job and

he said, "I've got you a job at the creamery with your sisters". I said,

brilliant. Thank you. I started at 19, now I'm 50. It's five minutes

down the road. My brother and my two sisters worked there as well.

John is another creamery worker turned cleaner, a man determined to

stay in work. He's pessimistic about the future of the 350 workers

coming out in the next round of redundancies. It is a hell of a big

impact, really. A lot of people on the dole, losing their jobs. I

don't know where they will go. People say don't worry, it will be

all right and then in the next minute in the office, goodbye. They

did that with a lot of people. did you feel at the end of 29 years

many have work -- when you have been working for them for years?

Really angry, crying. But I am all right now.

Last month it was announced that the Irish food company, Greencore,

had completed its purchase of Uniq for �113 million. They're sticking

with plans to move high-end production to Somerset, leaving

just 100 workers turning out chocolate desserts. Many believe

ultimately Minsterley could close altogether. Already the village is

feeling the pressure, and that's obvious even at the post office

where empty shelves show that owner Bruce Bill has had to cut back to

core business, laying off workers himself. The majority of my

customers are over 40, have got family or connections with what was

the Northern Dairies or Uniq as it is now, and it has come into

conversations quite a bit. They come in and say, where will we get

a job? Even people who live in the village and work for the council

all looking over their shoulders. All our businesses will be affected

badly, really. Not a lot I can do about it. Just hope that something

does crop up but obviously, if people living here in the village

work for the factory, if the work goes away, then I assume they will

move away from the village. Many of Minsterley's migrant

workers, who form about 40 % of the workforce, seem upbeat about moving

on and finding other jobs, but for locals with deep roots in the area,

there are difficult choices to make. It was a shock because people say

you have got a job at the creamery, then you have got a job for life.

My grandad worked there. Man and boy doing that churns and

everything. Everybody worked at the creamery. What do you think will

happen, is your job vulnerable? definitely. I have come to the

realisation that I will lose my job. It takes a bit to sink in. I am 52

and the work round here is very minimal. You have got the meat

factory where I used to work but they are not employing anyone, they

only employ a small workforce. There is only farming which is not

very good so I have got to travel to go somewhere and then there's

the expense of travelling, and the age and experience is you, not much

call for the work around Minsterley really.

And with last weeks' unemployment figures on the up, it's not just

Adrian now anxiously looking for That is it from Inside Out tonight.

We will be back next Monday with more stories that matter in the

Midlands. On next week's programme, what

happens when a twin dies? The Birmingham woman who set up a