Episode 14

When the Edwards family from Bridgend decided to upgrade their family car last June, they spotted a Ford Mondeo advertised by Empire Cars. The company, which has forecourts in Llantwit Fardre and Talbot Green, says they pride themselves on their customer service and promise their cars undergo strict quality checks.

However, within 48 hours of buying the car, Neil Edwards says he had a very different experience. "I noticed the battery light was showing and there was black smoke coming out of the back of the car”. Empire Cars then agreed to fit a new alternator, but on the way home from the garage Neil says warning lights started appearing and the car felt ‘sluggish’. Since then, he says the garage haven’t been willing to fix the faults.

And they’re not alone in having problems. Sean Wilkin and Michelle Inch from St Athan have a young family and last October, bought a Jeep from Empire Cars. On the test drive they spotted that the handbrake wasn’t working properly, but say the salesman promised to get that fixed and give the car a brand new MOT and service. After handing over nearly four thousand pounds, the family collected the jeep a week later.

Sean told X-Ray, “We decided to go for a drive and we came up to a hill to stop, put the handbrake on, the car started rolling back.” Michelle said it was very frightening. “If anyone had been behind us we would have had our first crash for definite,” she said.

Other problems with the car soon followed. The couple say the turbo stopped working and the engine was overheating all the time. Empire Cars denied there was anything wrong with the turbo or coolant system but did say they'd fixed the handbrake. However, when X-ray visited the couple, the handbrake was certainly not working!

We asked independent vehicle inspector Gareth Rees to look at Sean and Michelle's jeep and he was horrified. “The near side front shock absorber is leaking badly and it's been like that for quite a while. The front brake discs are excessively worn, and there are excessive oil leaks on this engine.”

Then something caught Gareth's eye which he couldn’t believe. A crucial part of the suspension was held in place by a nylon cable ties! “If that comes adrift, the wheel could shoot off, it's an MOT failure clearly. It's an absolute disgrace.

He told the couple, “Don't even think about using this vehicle on the road. You have been driving around in this car as a family, particularly with a young baby, with a potential it is lethal. It could have killed you.”

We visited both branches of Empire cars to try to speak to the owner Craig Thomas, but he proved rather elusive! However, he got back in touch with us after we went looking for him. He said he accepts that the work on the Jeep was not up to standard and blamed a poor mechanic, who has since been dismissed. And the good news is, he's now refunded Sean and Michelle the full cost of their car. He also said he would repair the Edwards’ car and ensure it is usable and roadworthy. If his garage can't do that, he says they'll offer them an equivalent replacement vehicle.

· Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions on the use and maintenance of the appliance

· Clean the lint trap after every use – the build up of lint or fluff can cause fires

· Don’t overload plug sockets – the high wattage for a tumble dryer means that it needs its own 13 amp socket.

· Don’t leave appliances unattended – don’t turn the tumble dryer on before you leave the house or go to bed. Tumble dryers contain powerful motors with fast moving parts that get very hot.

· Don’t ignore warning signs - If you can smell burning or clothes feel hotter at the end of cycle, have your appliance checked out.

· Don’t overload your tumble dryer or put items in that have been used to soak up flammable liquids including cooking oil.

General fire safety advice in the home

· Working smoke alarms save lives – Make sure you have smoke alarms correctly fitted and that you test the alarms regularly, we recommend once a week.

· Make sure you and your family have a bedtime routine that makes sure your home is safe

· Have an escape plan for your family in case a fire does occur

· If a fire does occur, get out of the property as quickly as possible. Smoke can be extremely toxic particulary where electrical appliances are involved and just a few breaths can be lethal.

· Don’t go back into the house to save possessions.

Advice on home safety and free home fire safety checks is available from your local Fire and Rescue Service. Contact them through the websites below or by calling 0800 169 1234 for more information.

www.southwales-fire.gov.uk

www.nwales-fireservice.org.uk

www.mawwfire.gov.uk

Many of us dream of swapping city living for a quieter life in the countryside. That’s just what Karen and Tim Thompson wanted when they moved last year from Coventry to Tafolwern near Llanbrynmair in Powys.

They wanted to make sure they could keep in touch with their family, so before the move they did their research to make sure it was possible to get a phone line and internet connection to their new home.

Karen and Tim chose Plusnet as their phone and internet provider as they promised to get them connected quickly. But after 4 months in their new home, they’re still cut off from the outside world!

The couple also have poor mobile phone signal so until they can get connected, the only way they can make a call or use their 3G is to trek to the top of their garden.

Karen and Tim may be Plusnet customers but they're reliant on a different business to get them online. BT Openreach are responsible for the cables that bring phone and broadband services to most homes, and it's their engineers who carry out installations.

After the first Openreach engineer visit, Karen and Tim were told that they would actually need a brand new phone line installed. Since then they’ve had four more visits from Openreach to finish their installation but none of them installed the new phone line.

It’s all been a huge inconvenience for the couple. They have even missed out on key family announcements like finding out about the birth of their grandson.

Karen says, “At least twice I've been in tears trying to explain to people you feel so isolated and cut off from everyone, there's no communication with anyone.”

Karen and Tim aren't allowed to complain directly to Openreach – they have to rely on Plusnet to pass on their grievance and try to speed things up. To date, no solution has been found and the couple are still making their phone calls from the end of their garden.

Plusnet and Openreach have apologised to Karen and Tim. Openreach told X-Ray they had to erect two new poles and fit a kilometre of cable, and that the rain and high winds over the winter delayed the work.

After we contacted then, Openreach have promised that the couple should finally be connected up by the end of the week – we’ll be checking!

Diet supplements are all the rage but what’s in them and how safe are they?

Previously we warned viewers about the misleading claims being made by Barry-based company Sculpts Extreme. Now X-ray has been alerted to another dodgy diet pill seller - Jeffrey Young from JY Nutrition near Risca. Some of the products he was selling could have been dangerous.

Tim Keohane from Caerphilly Trading Standards started investigating the company after a tip-off about one of their products - ‘Extreme Fat Burners’.

 “It was an anonymous complaint from a father whose son..had fallen quite ill” says Tim Keohane. “The labelling..didn’t comply with the law…there were no ingredients...so goodness knows what was in them.”

When Trading Standards tested these and two other brands from JY Nutrition they had some shocking results. One product - Limitloss - contained small traces of the class B controlled substance Amphetamine. Another contained a prescription-only drug called Sibutramine which has been banned in the UK since 2010 due to safety fears.

After Jeff Young and his company admitted 26 offences under unfair trading and food regulations X-ray caught up with him outside Cwmbran Magistrates Court. He said he was “sorry” one of his customers had a “reaction to a pill”. He claimed he did not know one of his products contained Amphetamine and said that was the “responsibility” of the sales rep he “bought it from”.

The court disagreed and gave Jeff Young a 26 week suspended jail sentence. They also ordered him to do 200 hours of unpaid community work.