December 22, 2008 Archives

The holiday season is a time for friends, family and, of course, the office Christmas party. But some unlucky workers found themselves all dressed up with nowhere to go.

One business that has been affected is Ian Williams Carpentry, a kitchen-fitting company based outside Cardiff.

Jane Llewellyn and Loredana Williams had the job of delivering a cracker of a staff party this year, so they booked tickets for A Dickens of a Christmas, an event run by Surrey-based Amazing Events Ltd which offered a "once in a lifetime adventure".

It sounded so good that the office paid £3,000 for 18 tickets and travelled 160 miles to London for its big night. But once staff arrived at the party, they discovered a note on the door saying that the party had been cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances.

What the Dickens?
After running successfully for just one night the previous evening, A Dickens of a Christmas was cancelled for its two-week run, meaning 7,000 guests would not get their party. To date, Ian Williams Carpentry Ltd has not had any of its money back.

Also looking forward to the same Dickens of a Christmas, at a later date, were the office staff from MAP Partnership, an accountancy firm. Unlike the Dickensian accountants Scrooge and Marley, the company felt it would be money well spent to reward its staff for all their hard work this year.

Joanna Carr bought tickets costing the company £1,800, but before the big night she got an unwelcome Christmas message. Joanna received an email from Amazing Events Ltd saying that the Christmas party had been cancelled and that more information would be sent at a future date.

Joanna's firm had paid upfront for its tickets, by cheque, so had no idea if it would get its money back.

Who's to blame?
Amazing Events Ltd told us it's down to a licensing issue and blamed the nightclub venue, Shunt at London Bridge. However, Shunt told us it's down to a licensing issue and blamed the organiser, Amazing Events Ltd.

With the cancellation of A Dickens of a Christmas, Amazing Events Ltd has now gone into liquidation.

Lucy Corrie of Surrey Trading Standards has received complaints about the event, and is far from full of Christmas cheer. She explained that if there are any people who are creditors of Amazing Events Ltd, they will unfortunately have to go into a big pot of other creditors. Lucy explained how the taxman gets a cut first, then secured loans and then you just have to wait with everyone else to see if you can get your money back.

As a result, Lucy isn't hopeful that everyone will get a full refund.

Scrooged
In this sorry tale it's not just the party goers who have lost out. Amazing Events Ltd hired 48 actors to play the parts of well known Dickensian characters such as Bill Sykes, Scrooge and Fagan. Sadly, although the Dickensian actors have rehearsed their performances, no one is going to see them. They haven't been paid for the show they were going to perform which means that they are owed nearly £60,000 between them. Money they desperately needed just before Christmas.

Amazing Events Ltd promised the "best Christmas Past, Present and Future". Instead they have left many of their customers feeling well and truly Scrooged.

Amazing Events Ltd told Watchdog:
"Amazing Events Ltd places the blame for this failure fairly and squarely on the shoulders of Shunt Events Ltd who failed to obtain a licence for a suitable number of people causing the events to be cancelled. The directors make it clear that they will do everything in their power to try and recover the sums due to the creditors."

Meanwhile Shunt Events Ltd told Watchdog:
"We have sought assurances from Amazing Events that they would keep the occupancy of the building within this limit [of 400 people]. We further asked for confirmed booking numbers. We never received such assurances.

"As Amazing Events Ltd was unable to manage the situation on Friday 5 December in compliance with the licensed capacity, Shunt Events Ltd insisted on a written undertaking from them that the licensed capacity would not be exceeded at any time for future events. No such undertaking was received. On Saturday 6 December 2008 Amazing Events Ltd chose to cancel the event."

Chocolate is the perfect gift for Christmas but for 2.5 million diabetics in the UK, it's not that simple. They have to carefully manage how much sweet food they eat, not just at Christmas but all year round. That's why two high street stores, Thorntons and Boots offer a range of chocolate labelled specially for diabetics.

The diabetic ranges offered by these shops may seem ideal but many diabetics steer well clear of them.

Lucy and her five-year-old son Miles are one example. Miles was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes three years ago. If he has too many chocolates or sweets his blood glucose levels go very high and he has to have extra insulin. Christmas time means that mum Lucy needs to be especially careful because there is chocolate everywhere.

Laxative effect
So what about special diabetic chocolate - surely that's ok? Lucy explained that she doesn't give her son diabetic chocolate because, as she discovered, it can have a laxative effect. If it is known to have a laxative effect on an adult, a child like Miles only needs a small amount of diabetic chocolate before its laxative properties take effect.

Ian Day was diagnosed with diabetes back in 2000 and last Christmas his friend gave him Thorntons diabetic chocolates as a gift. Ian only had three pieces but that was all he needed to spoil the rest of his day. He too suffered from the laxative effects of diabetic chocolate.

Excessive
When Ian checked the Thorntons box he saw that it said "excessive consumption may produce a laxative effect." But can three pieces of chocolate really be "excessive"?

Most of the people Julia spoke to on the streets of central London had different of responses to how much chocolate they would eat - but what they all agreed on was that three chocolates are not excessive.

Azmina Govindji, spokesperson for the British Dietetic Association explained that the cause of the laxative effect was largely due to an ingredient in diabetic chocolate called polyols. Polyols are a nutritive sweetener, or a sugar replacement, and they are used commonly in sweets and chocolates that are created for diabetics. When Azmina saw that Thorntons line of diabetic chocolates contained 6.2 grams of polyols each she was shocked. Considering that you shouldn't have more than 20g of polyols per day that means you can eat no more than three chocolates.

No benefit
Both the Food Standards Agency and Diabetes UK agree that diabetic chocolate has no benefit to people with diabetes. The major supermarkets have followed their advice and do not stock diabetic chocolate. Where it is sold, diabetic chocolate is also more expensive than standard chocolate.

Watchdog contacted Boots and Thorntons who responded as follows:

Boots
"Boots takes the opinion of customers very seriously. In 2002, on the advice of Diabetes UK we removed our Diabetic Food Range. However, we received significant, sustained customer complaints about the lack of a specifically labelled Diabetic Food range at Boots and we always listen to their feedback carefully.

Our customers told us that they liked the peace of mind of being able to buy 'treat' foods clearly labelled as suitable for those living with diabetes. In light of this customer reaction we took the decision to reinstate the Diabetic Food Range in 2005.

"The range is designed to offer occasional 'treat' food that those with diabetes often miss, such as no added sugar chocolate. These occasional foods are not designed to be a main part of a balanced diet. Boots recommend that people with diabetes follow a healthy, balanced diet with a wide variety of foods and we offer advice and information in store and online and our pharmacists are available to help and offer lifestyle advice.

"We listen to our customers and care about their opinion - we are aware of the issues surrounding this type of range and regular reviews take place; for example, we will be adding the traffic light nutritional guidance system to the packs next year."

"Customers with any questions about diabetes can call the Boots customer care helpline now on a special freephone number 0800 9 156 597 alternatively our pharmacists are available in store or via our live pharmacist service on the Boots website.

Thorntons:
"We are aware of the recent FSA and Diabetes UK guidance and are supportive of their position. Next summer we will rename the range and make the first step to removing the word 'diabetic' from our packaging. Currently, our diabetic chocolate assortment have approximately 20 per cent less calories, fat and saturated fat per 100g than our best selling chocolate assortments and, due to the low glycaemic properties of polyols, will have less impact on blood glucose levels.

"Our chocolatiers are working on a new range with better flavours and a more exciting assortment for anyone interested in chocolates reduced in sugars and with lower calorific content. These will be available in 2010.
We are very sorry your correspondents have been disappointed by a Thorntons product and continue to look at ways to improve our products and the clarity of our labelling for all of our customers".

Remember, this report refers specifically to diabetic chocolate ranges as sold by high street stores Boots and Thorntons. It shouldn't be confused with any other types of chocolate.

Melanie Hamer was in the midst of a divorce, with two children when she set out to escape from her loneliness. Like millions of people, she signed up to an online dating site hoping to find someone special.

Shortly after her details appeared on the site, Melanie was contacted by an American man who called himself Bendon Jones. He said he was about to move to the UK, and like Melanie, was also a single parent. At first, Bendon was the perfect gentleman; suave, intelligent and romantic. After several weeks of emailing they began to speak on the phone, several times a day. To the recently single Melanie, it was a thrill to finally meet someone who seemed attractive, interested and keen on her too. When Bendon contacted Melanie she noticed his accent was unusual, but he explained that his parents were from Spain, and he was well travelled.

After a while the relationship changed. Melanie received a text message from Bendon's son, asking for a birthday present. Melanie refused but felt guilty, a feeling compounded when Bendon rang to tell her his son had been taken ill and was in hospital. Instead of coming to the UK, he'd now have to travel to Nigeria, where he said his son was at boarding school, to be at his bedside.

Manipulated for money
Over the next two months, during countless conversations Bendon manipulated Melanie into sending him money - for his son, for medical bills, for presents and ultimately for his flight tickets to join her in the UK. In total, Melanie estimates she could have sent him as much as £10,000. Money she could little afford.

Bendon insisted he'd pay all of it back when he got to the UK, but Melanie realised she had fallen for the wrong man. Far from being the perfect gentleman, Bendon Jones was in fact the figment of a Nigerian conman's imagination. Former Metropolitan police officer Tom Craig is an expert in fraud. He says while you might think you'd never fall for such a con, it can happen all too easily. He told us: "Take it from me - anybody that falls for these scams that we've dealt with has not been stupid. We are talking about lawyers, bankers, self-made millionaires, lots of people with lots of sense."

Melanie isn't the first person to have been taken in by an online admirer. But what made this con so sinister is what the scammers did next. Melanie contacted the official body set up by the Nigerian Government to tackle fraud like this - the Economic & Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Just a day later she received an email from what appeared to be the head of the organisation. To Melanie, it looked very official, particularly as she'd emailed the organisation only the day before, but the email was a fake, sent by a conman.

Sting in the tale
The person behind this latest part of the con was now suggesting Melanie send more money out to Nigeria so they could catch Bendon in a sting operation. Reluctantly, Melanie agreed to finance the sting. But instead of catching Bendon, she ended up giving more money to the conman. Melanie had not only been scammed by a man she thought loved her, but also by people she thought were helping her.

Since then Melanie has been receiving several calls a day from various people trying to take money from her. Nicky Campbell confronted Bendon to try and stop these calls, but Bendon, the ever professional conman, stuck to his story, word for word. He said he loved Melanie and promised to pay all the money back when he came to the UK. He even agreed to come on Watchdog - provided, of course, we send him the money for a flight. Funnily enough, we didn't think this was such a good idea.

Statement from Nigeria
In a statement to Watchdog, the London-based Nigerian High Commission stated that the Nigerian authorities are running a number of anti-fraud initiatives attempting to "combat the threat, which the prevalence of economic and financial crimes had engendered on Nigeria's national security and international image". The initiatives include terminating over 2,800 telephone and fax lines used in fraudulent scams, as well as the freezing of over 500 bank accounts involved in laundering the proceeds of such fraud. They also stress that it's important to exhibit due diligence when dealing with individuals and organisations and carry out "careful checks on bonafides".

We also contacted the EFCC who said it is currently investigating Melanie's case. It stresses the email address used by the people impersonating the EFCC "has no link with the EFCC".

The EFCC is aware that people have been impersonating their agents and have placed adverts in the Nigerian media. Anyone who has a similar experience should check the EFCC website for guidance as to how to report the incident. It is also keen to stress that "the EFCC does NOT ask for money from anybody to investigate any matter".

Crucially, any correspondence from the EFCC should be checked carefully. Fake emails can look very convincing and care must be taken that the email address, particularly the root address, matches that of the website. Any correspondence bearing email addresses not linked to the website should be ignored and deleted immediately and no personal details should be given in the correspondence.

Further advice for using internet dating websites:

• When using internet dating sites, don't give out personal details, including personal contact details or addresses.
• As soon as you receive any requests for money, be immediately vigilant, even if you have known the person for a number of weeks by that point.
• Don't send money and immediately report the person to the website.
• Always remember that if a situation or person sounds too good to be true, then they probably are.

After just three months into the current series, you've certainly kept us busy investigating your stories. You can read the updates to many of the reports below. Or send in your new reports to our Got a story? page.

Problem sofas
In October we revealed how those Chinese-made sofas which had caused agonising itches and rashes weren't just affecting chairs made by one manufacturer. There had also been complaints about sofas bought from Land of Leather made by another Chinese manufacturer, Eurosofa.

The rashes were caused by a chemical called dimethyl fumarate which was found in sachets inside the sofa. It was meant to stop mould growing inside the leather while the sofas were being shipped - but when the chemical became warm it caused a severe skin reaction in some people.

More than 5,000 people are now part of the UK's biggest ever consumer injury claim against the stores they bought their sofas from.

The problem has also spread Europe-wide. A distributor in Poland has now issued a recall of a number of its Linkwise sofa models.

Read the original report and the list of known affected sofas.

Pyramid scheme
In November we went undercover to two meetings of a group called 'Financial Freedom for Women'. It was run by former Apprentice contestant Lindi Mngaza, but it was actually a pyramid scheme. We showed how 86 per cent of people lose out under these schemes, and how pyramid schemes are now illegal under two pieces of legislation. We interviewed Lindi on the programme, who told us that she had not been involved in anything illegal.

Since then BBC Wales has uncovered a pyramid scheme which has gripped communities in South East Wales and there was rioting in Colombia after a pyramid scheme collapsed there leaving thousands out of pocket.

We asked Lindi whether she was still running the pyramid scheme but she would only say one thing: "No comment".

Read the original report.

Nike's smelly trainers
By far the biggest stink we've kicked up over the past three months has been about those smelly Nike trainers. Up and down the country hundreds of families were blaming cats or pongy feet for a strange odour coming from some of their Nike Total 90 and Mercurial trainers.

Nike admitted that there was a fault with the materials used in some of the trainers and offered a full refund to anyone whose Total 90s and Mercurials gave off a very distinctive smell. The result has been mostly positive, and most of you have been able to get full refunds and let your cats back in the house.

We're still hearing from some of you who say that some high street stores are very reluctant to accept the trainers. We've spoken to Nike who say that customers with the correct trainers who are unhappy with the smell should take them back to the store in which they bought them and that stores should offer a refund without a receipt if the retailer agrees that they are smelly enough.

Read the original report and the update.

Amazon
Earlier in December we exposed a serious problem with Amazon.co.uk. Some of the sellers on its Marketplace were advertising fake and even dangerous goods. We bought CS gas and pepper spray.

It's a problem Amazon has now addressed. Since then we've seen no adverts for any of the products we'd been able to buy.

Read the original report.

Waving goodbye to MFI
In the week that troubled furniture chain MFI went into administration, we looked at the chequered history between Watchdog and MFI. The chain was one of the first companies to feature on Watchdog back in 1980 and appeared on the programme nine times in the past ten years. Time and again people complained about problems with one thing - its deliveries.

On Friday 12 December the administrators announced all MFI stores had ceased trading and most customers with outstanding orders should now apply for a refund.

Read the original report.

Taylor Wimpey Homes
But there is better news for David Robinson, who has been engaged in a battle with house building firm Taylor Wimpey Homes because it didn't tell him that his home was built on top of a mineshaft. Taylor Wimpey had capped it to make it safe when building the house but hadn't declared it to the Coal Authority until six years after it was first discovered. This was after he had bought the house.

David has been trying to sell his home since 2007 but can't because buyers have pulled out when he's told them about the mineshaft.

Now six years after he moved in, builders Taylor Wimpey has finally promised that if the mine shaft has affected his home's value, they'll pay David the difference.

Read the original report.

Pensioners - a happy ending
There's good news too for pensioners Nancy Copper and Gladys Haxell, who had been sent letters from the Government telling them that their pension credits had been miscalculated. Nancy had been asked to repay a lump sum of £2,000 because of an overpayment, which was then reduced to £3.50 a week. But she didn't see why she should have to pay back money for someone else's mistake.

Former darts champion Gladys hadn't been receiving the pension credit she had been entitled to. It totalled £6,000 but because of a Government rule about how far back they can refund underpayments she was only going to receive half of her entitlement.

Following Watchdog's report, both ladies have had their payments rectified. Nancy was visited last week by the Department for Work and Pensions who told her that she didn't have to pay back any money at all. She said she was delighted.

Read the original report.

In November, Watchdog ran a report on Tariq Zaman, one-time director of Providence Properties, a student lettings agency in Leeds. Tariq left students thousands of pounds out of pocket when he refused to refund their deposits. And his staff shared the same extraordinary attitude. Following further complaints to Watchdog we went back to see if anything had changed.

Tenants are furious
Since November none of the people we met have had their money back. Understandably they're furious.

Students Kate Hattersley and Rick Lord took Tariq to court and won. But there's still no sign of their deposits.

Kate and Rick resorted to using bailiffs to try and get the money back the court says they're owed. But the bailiffs couldn't find anything registered in Tariq's name to seize.

Kate said "I just want my money back. I know it's been a long time but it's still a lot of money."

No refunded deposits
It seems incredible that even with the law behind them, these students still haven't been repaid. We've now heard from scores more people who say they haven't had their deposit refunded either. We needed answers from Tariq who has now resigned from Providence Properties Ltd. When we finally did catch up with him he wasn't too keen to talk.

Eventually Tariq did agree to speak and despite the judgements against him he refused to accept he should pay anyone back.

"I made a mistake"
Tariq said: "A lot of students, they want nice houses, but they just totally abuse them. I made a mistake, every time I received a county court judgement, because the tenant has been wrong, and I have not challenged them. Every single case I am going to reopen them and challenge every single case."

We've seen evidence that properties weren't damaged at all. But warming to his theme Tariq decides to show us exactly how students treat his houses.

Watchdog decided to take him up on the offer but we were surprised when he took us to one that even he had to admit was in perfect nick.

Holding on to money from former tenants
He's keen to show us more but we don't bother, and we're no closer to knowing why he's still holding on to tenants' money.

Following our meeting with Tariq Zaman in Leeds, he sent us the following statement:

"I am a landlord involved in the student lettings market which, at times, can be a contentious business to be in. Often, student houses are vacated in a less than satisfactory condition and works are often required to rectify damage or losses at the houses. This is why deposits are taken in the first place.

"You will note that after being interviewed, I offered Mr Campbell the opportunity to visit some student properties that I own and operate.

"I offered Mr Campbell this opportunity to show the wide spectrum of student accommodation and the varying conditions in which it can be left.

"I note that Mr Campbell and his camera crew declined the opportunity to do so. For the sake of balanced reporting I would request that this point is made very clear in your broadcast.

"You will undoubtedly appreciate that there are cases where deposit money has to be used to rectify damage or losses then this can often result in a contentious situation.

"I wish to point out that all of my deposits are now lodged in compliance with the statutory tenancy deposit scheme.

"I am aware that there have been several County Court judgments against me. I stand by my comments that having County Court judgments against you does not make you a criminal. CCJs are purely a civil matter.

"For the avoidance of doubt, I am not aware of any current or previous criminal investigations involving me.

"I also stand by my comments that having a County Court judgment against someone does not mean that you will get your money back. There are many situations in which having a County Court judgement against someone does not mean you will get your money back including (for example) a situation where you get a judgment against someone but they don't have the money to pay the judgment; that is, enforcement action is unsuccessful. Another situation is where a judgment is obtained and no enforcement action is taken.

"I would suggest that this is not a question of my opinion, it is a fact.

"Having carefully reviewed my own records, I have noted that the judgments against me were granted, in the main, because I failed to defend the court actions being brought against me and therefore judgments were awarded in default. I do not recall an occasion where I actually attended court to present my side of the story. I should, of course, have attended court and defended the County Court actions, but running my business did not allow me the time to do so.

"I do now intend to seek appropriate professional advice to look at those judgments made against me."

As wholesale gas and crude oil prices fall even further, the big six energy companies are coming under renewed pressure to lower what they charge all of us for our gas and electricity.

The Government met with the energy companies in early December to press them again about dropping their prices. British Gas said that it would be unable to lower prices until at least spring 2009 because it was locked into bulk gas contracts.

Yet Scottish & Southern Energy, Britain's second biggest energy company, suggested in November that it could lower prices early next year if wholesale energy prices remained low.

Gas and electricity companies in Northern Ireland, more heavily regulated for their domestic charging than in the rest of the UK, announced last week that they were dropping their prices. Average electricity bills in Northern Ireland will drop by almost 11 per cent from January; average gas bills will drop by over 22 per cent.

We again asked the big six energy companies when they would lower their prices. Here are their responses:

British Gas
"While wholesale prices are still high, they are falling; if that continues, we are hopeful we'll be able to reduce energy prices for our customers next spring."

EDF Energy
"During these difficult economic times, those working at EDF Energy appreciate the financial difficulties many people are experiencing. We are reviewing our prices and monitoring the wholesale market on a daily basis. We ask customers to understand that in order to ensure supply to them at relatively stable prices we buy our energy supplies many months in advance. This move does not preclude further price reductions in future course.

"In the interests of responsible pricing over time rather than short-term tactics, EDF Energy has increased its dual fuel prices, which most customers choose, by less than any other major energy company since January 2006."

E.on
"We hope to reduce prices for customers as soon as we are able next year, as long as wholesale electricity and gas prices continue to fall."

npower
"If we see a significant decrease in wholesale prices across the winter and this is sustained, then we will be keen to reduce our prices. Wholesale prices certainly have begun to move downwards but wholesale gas is still nearly twice as expensive as it was two years ago."

Scottish Power
"We understand that there are difficult times and we are monitoring the position of the wholesale market closely. If we continue to see a sustained drop in wholesale energy costs then we will reduce prices as soon as we're able."

Scottish Power also announced the launch of a new social tariff available to the company's most vulnerable customers - that will offer annual savings of up to £211. Available from January 2009 the social tariff will be open to customers who are aged 60 or above and in receipt of a social welfare benefit.

Scottish & Southern Energy
"Scottish & Southern Energy has had and continues to have a responsible pricing policy, seeking to delay for as long as possible any increases in prices and seeking to implement as quickly as possible any reductions. Scottish and Southern Energy was the first energy supplier to say that it was optimistic of being able to deliver a price reduction early in 2009, if there was a sustained drop in wholesale prices, and we continue to be optimistic that this will be the case."