Episode 13

It’s the UK’s biggest ever product safety scare. At least seven hundred and fifty tumble dryers have caught fire, thanks to a fault in the device where excess fluff builds up around the heating element. More than five million units are affected, across a hundred and thirteen different models of Hotpoint, Creda and Indesit tumble dryers sold between 2004 and 2015. The parent company, Whirlpool, has promised that engineers will fix all the faulty machines – but many appliance owners say they are simply not doing it quickly enough.

X-Ray spoke to several owners of these machines who had all experienced delays in getting their products fixed.

Suzanne Dymond from Neath bought her tumble dryer in July 2014 and was shocked when she learnt about the safety concerns. After filling out the online safety form in December last year, she was told an engineer would be out within eight weeks, but this didn’t happen. Suzanne has also found Whirlpool’s customer service a challenge.

“I phoned the number they gave me… fifteen to twenty minutes on hold each time, three to four different departments and nobody able to give any information. It’s just so frustrating you just want to scream at them”. 

And Suzanne is not alone. Mel Davies from Pontardawe was furious when the company suggested she pay for a replacement machine. “ They supplied us with a faulty appliance and they wanted us to pay £99 to put that right. That’s gilding the lily somewhat, isn’t it!”

Amanda Townsend was told in November she'd be seen within five weeks - she's still waiting. Michelle Moreton's been given a repair date for June - by then she'll have waited seven months.

Whirlpool admits there is a backlog, as 1.2 million people have registered on their website for a free repair. The company says they have signed up 350 more call centre workers and 350 engineers, who are repairing almost 4500 units a day. Whilst owners of the machines are concerned, Whirlpool has insisted that the devices are still safe to use, provided that the lint filter is cleaned after every use and the machine is never left unattended.

However, Phil Buckle from charity “Electrical Safety First”, believes the company should change their advice to customers. “We’re taking the step to people not to use the appliance until It’s repaired because we’re so concerned about the risk of a fire occurring which could lead to devastating loss of property, or worse, someone’s life”.

If you are concerned that you have an affected model, you can check using the following websites:

https://safety.hotpoint.eu/ and https://safety.indesit.eu/ - and then register for a free modification if it is. Alternatively you can call the Whirlpool Freephone helpline on 0800 151 0905.

Rob Hayel is X-ray's most complained about builder - a man who could fill a street full of angry customers. We've spoken to 11 unhappy families who wish they'd never met Rob the builder.

In October 2015, we first reported on the way he was taking his customers’ money and leaving them in the lurch.

Denis and Maureen Hodge paid him more than sixty thousand pounds to build an extension on a house in Risca. Half way through Rob Hayel walked off the job, claiming he was too depressed to carry on.

He left behind serious defects that another builder then had to put right. He promised to pay the Hodges back, but he never did. Finishing the extension has taken another year, and eaten up Denis' parents life savings along with the couple's own cash.

Denis said: “It's messed our retirement up basically. We're going to have to work a lot longer than we planned.”

In October, we also told you how he took £5,000 off Zoe Sawyer, from Cardiff, for a kitchen that never turned up. He walked off her job too - apparently that time, he was in hospital with a back injury.

Zoe said: “Your heart just sinks. He's got your money and that's it. There’s nothing you can do.”

After our last film, we heard from more and more angry customers. In total, we’ve now spoken to 11 families who’ve lost money to Rob Hayel.

Last summer Rosie Oretti and Craig Wall, from Penarth, hired Rob Hayel to extend their family home and fit a new kitchen. A few months into the building work, disaster struck..

Craig said: “Rob said to me, ‘Don't look up it’s not as bad as it looks..’”

Rob Hayel had apparently ignored structural plans. It had caused part of the back of their home to drop, leaving huge cracks inside and out.

"I just looked up and it was just a state of carnage," Craig said.

Rosie added: “I just had that gut-renching feeling something major has happened to the house. That was the point where I think we lost all faith in Rob.”

Rob Hayel, though, only seemed to have one thing on his mind - money.

Craig said: “Just before Christmas he sent me an email saying I need £10,500 now.”

They couple refused to pay, and Rob Hayel didn't turn up at the start of this year. They had paid him £14,000 for a kitchen and windows - he hadn't bothered ordering either. In total, they had paid him around £60,000 – of which they believe, nearly half is unaccounted for.

We asked chartered surveyor Tim Davies to inspect the work left behind by Rob Hayel. He was shocked by the cracks inside their home.

“I'm incredulous that this part of the building is still standing, looking at the extent of movement and cracking,” Tim said.

He had even more serious concerns about the half-finished extension.

Tim said: “It defies belief really to leave it in such a structurally unstable condition. They haven't put a padstone in. A padstone is a concrete bearer that goes under the steel beams and takes the weight - they've just used a concrete block off-cut, so it could crumble and split, the masonry above could all drop.”

It's a depressingly familiar story for some of the other Rob Hayel customers X-ray has spoken to.

David Hawes, from Cardiff, paid him £4000 as part of a renovation job - that was the last he saw of him.

David said: “We lost all contact with him the day after that payment was made. Essentially he just disappeared off the planet.”

Angela and Andrew Rudge, from Bridgend, are owed £17,000. Their extension leaks and didn't have proper drainage. Again Rob Hayel walked off the job, leaving it unfinished..

Andy said: “Because there was no drainage, the water level was rising, so we phoned the fire brigade..”

The couple now have sandbags at the back of their extension to stop any flooding.

Angela said: “I've sat here and I've cried some nights. I've just looked at things and thought I don't want to be here anymore. I hated my house at one time.”

Richard Powis and Rebecca Robinson paid Rob Hayel £11,000 for a kitchen, windows and doors - he promised he'd ordered them, but yet again he hadn't.

Rebecca said: “We have five young children that we cannot feed, clothe properly. We have no means of replacing the money to pay somebody else to put the kitchen in. He's had a catastrophic effect on our lives.”

Four of the eleven families X-ray has spoken to have taken Rob the builder to court. They have unpaid judgements against him to the tune of around £30,000. But the real total for all of the families is closer to £125,000 - that's for work Rob Hayel was paid for but never did.

X-ray wrote to Rob Hayel to put his customers’ claims to him, but he failed to respond.

Trading Standards say their special investigations team are now looking into Mr Hayel.

Food shopping is one of our biggest household expenses. But when we are piling up the trolley, how much do we think about what we’ll actually use? Four hundred thousand tonnes of household food is thrown away every year and the average family in Wales bins around seven hundred pounds worth every year! 

So why are we so wasteful? Well, it could be because one in four people in Wales admit that they find 'use by' and 'best before' dates confusing. So to clarify:

“USE BY” AND “BEST BEFORE”

Fresh items, like meat, fish and dairy products have a ‘use by’ date, which you should stick to, for safety reasons. Check the label though as many of these foods can be frozen before they go out of date.

‘Best before’ dates, on packets or tinned food, are all about quality – not food safety. So the product may have lost some of its freshness but it’s still perfectly safe to eat.

FOOD PLANNING

When you write your shopping list, plan your meals for the week ahead. A good idea is to make one of them a ‘leftovers’ meal

FRIDGE ESSENTIALS

Check your fridge to make sure it’s at the correct temperature to keep all your food extra fresh! But then not everything should be confined to the fridge. You might think an item like bread would last longer in the fridge, but it actually makes it go stale more quickly. If you don’t think you’re going to use it in time, why not freeze it?

And speaking of freezing - did you know you can also freeze eggs approaching their use by date? Not in their shells obviously – just crack them into an airtight container and pop them in the freezer. The perfect solution for all you scrambled eggs lovers.