Watchdog Christmas updates 2008

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.