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00:00Today billing mistakes at British Gas but why are some customers being forced to do their own
00:06sums to prove that the energy giant has got things wrong? They are leaving the customer to prove the
00:12case for them otherwise you don't get a resolution to your problem. Plus the mysterious cracks
00:19appearing in the laptop screens are one of the biggest names in electronics. It was spooky and
00:24I couldn't believe my eyes. I actually am seeing further cracks appear in the screen while she's
00:31using it. Fixing them is a pricey task but no one can agree who should pay. You're watching Ripoff Britain.
00:45Hello and welcome to Ripoff Britain on the case when the companies you trust let you down. Coming
00:51up today the quick house sale company that promises a hassle-free sale but whose contract terms have
00:57left some people feeling trapped in their own homes. I own that property how can somebody else put that
01:04restriction on which is stopping me from selling my own house. Plus in our advice clinic we're helping
01:11one woman who's been locked out of her email account after the provider noticed some unusual activity.
01:17Now the only problem is however hard she tries she now can't get back in.
01:22But first to one of the most recognized businesses in Britain some might even say it's a national institution
01:28and until not too long ago it was the biggest energy company in the country. I'm talking about British Gas.
01:35Back in 2021 British Gas started to migrate its 7 million or so customers onto a new billing system and
01:43soon after some customers began to tell us about problems with their bills. We're still hearing
01:49from people who say that this overhaul has had a negative knock-on effect on customer service but
01:55we'll have more on that shortly. Now though here's a reminder of our first report reflecting just how
02:01disgruntled some customers have been left feeling. It's a household name, a national institution. Every month
02:11millions of homes get a bill from British Gas. But you tell us too many of those bills are wrong.
02:18Back in 2024 John Everingham from Kent told us that British Gas's own mistakes
02:24were forcing him to do the sums himself.
02:26Well, I'll get the double now, don't I?
02:33Like any good darts players, John and his teammate Pete have got a decent head for figures.
02:3917 you scored. That's five left.
02:41Five left, isn't it?
02:43But John's mathematical abilities have really been put to the test
02:46by some baffling numbers on his British Gas bills.
02:49No rhyme or reason of where they're coming from is saying that my total energy costs,
02:56excluding VAT, are £4,358. I wasn't expecting anything like this.
03:02There's no wonder it was a surprise. Just three months earlier, British Gas had told John that his
03:09£240 a month direct debits were spot on. But the next thing he knew, he apparently owed the
03:15equivalent of 19 months of payments, almost £4,500. So he obviously got straight on the phone.
03:23But British Gas insisted that the bill was accurate and John must pay it.
03:28They decided that because of the size of my debt, that the current £240 a month wasn't enough.
03:38So they decided to up it and take it back at £1,000 a month.
03:43Determined to prove British Gas wrong, John asked for copies of his old statements.
03:49The firm's response would turn out to be a clue to what might be going on.
03:53One of the first things they'd say is, you've actually been moved on to our new platform.
03:58I work on the old platform and I haven't got access to that.
04:02That new platform was a state-of-the-art billing system introduced in 2021.
04:07But despite reassurances that accounts and payments would not be affected,
04:12John began to suspect that his had been.
04:15John compared his recent bills with ones from the old system and discovered what he was convinced was a big error.
04:23This is my last statement from the old platform.
04:25I looked at a period when I used 305 units and it equates to 3,387 kilowatt hours.
04:35Whereas on the next statement that I've got, there's a period where I used 150 units and I used 4,685 kilowatt hours.
04:46John had used roughly half the number of units of gas, but the bill converted that into far more kilowatt hours.
04:55And after days and days of pouring over his bills, John finally hit the bullseye.
05:00It was gone one o'clock in the morning and I couldn't believe it. I thought, yes, this is it.
05:07They think that I've got an imperial meter.
05:10Bingo. An imperial meter records usage in cubic feet.
05:15While a metric meter uses cubic meters, British Gas was using the wrong formula to calculate John's bills.
05:21I decided to divide my figure into their figure and it came up with 2.83.
05:28And in a situation where you've got an imperial meter, you multiply it by 2.83.
05:34Then it all made sense. They think that I've got an imperial meter.
05:39John actually had a smart meter, but despite the error seeming obvious to him,
05:44when he complained to British Gas Customer Services, they kept telling him that they were unable to help
05:50because they did not have access to the new system.
05:54I think that customer service is dreadful. I shouldn't be having to tell them what to do.
05:59The customer does their own investigation. No, no, definitely not.
06:05In the end, John went to the Ombudsman, which ruled in his favour and agreed with his maths.
06:11And British Gas was asked to re-bill him and update his records.
06:15When we spoke to British Gas, it apologised and said John's problems were down to
06:20incorrect information on the industry database of energy meters.
06:25So not the new system. But whatever was responsible for John's problems,
06:30many other British Gas customers have had cause to complain about their bills as well.
06:35Between the first quarter of 2022 and the same period in 2025,
06:41billing complaints increased approximately threefold at British Gas.
06:44And while the energy crisis meant complaints were up across the board,
06:49British Gas experienced a comparatively greater increase than any other energy supplier.
06:56And we are still hearing from people who say their billing problems started
07:00when they were moved to British Gas's new platform.
07:03People like Anne Smith, who's joining me now in HQ,
07:07along with consumer finance expert Sarah Pennells.
07:13So Anne, let's turn to you first of all. When did your issues really begin?
07:16In about August of 24, I renewed my tariff with them.
07:22And they explained at the time that I would be going on from their old system to the new system.
07:27So in September 24, I received a final bill from the old system. Everything appeared fine.
07:35Then I didn't receive a bill for several months. I kept ringing up and asking.
07:40And then finally, I received a bill in January for £999.99p.
07:47Whoa, that's a bit of a change.
07:50So I knew that this must be wrong.
07:54Anne says her bills were normally around £90 a month.
07:58So even if this new bill was covering a four-month gap,
08:01that would make the monthly price £250.
08:05But you know, finding out why there was such a jump wasn't easy.
08:08With her account now on the new system, Anne couldn't get access to her old bills.
08:14So she had to ask British Gas to send them. And when it did,
08:16she quickly realised the firm had got her bills wrong in a surprising number of ways.
08:23They'd failed to open with about £198 credit. They hadn't counted that.
08:29The next thing I noticed was that they hadn't counted any of the payments
08:33I'd made at all between September 23 and September or October of 24.
08:37So they hadn't taken account of those?
08:38They hadn't taken any of those payments into account.
08:41The third thing I noticed is that they hadn't applied any of the peak save credits for low consumption.
08:50Then when I actually started looking at the allegedly transferred bills,
08:56I noticed they were all estimated readings where for the same period on the old system,
09:02I had actual readings.
09:03And finally, I noticed that the tariffs that they were charging were not actually in line with the tariffs
09:11I was on at that point in time.
09:13Anne says getting all those mistakes put right required her to send a bundle of evidence
09:19and make numerous follow-up phone calls.
09:22Well, finally, British Gas realised this error.
09:25What effect has this had on you personally?
09:29I should imagine it's all-consuming really.
09:31It is all-consuming and the only thing I had up my sleeve is that
09:37under ordinary circumstances, you know, I wouldn't have been quite so emotional,
09:40but I knew I had all the evidence and the information I needed.
09:44When we first reported on this story, British Gas said there were no major issues with the new system
09:50that Anne has been talking about.
09:51So what do you think is going on here, Sarah?
09:55Well, British Gas may be right that there isn't a fundamental issue with its new billing system,
10:00but there's no doubt that there have been some problems moving customers over onto it.
10:04Now, it's not the first energy provider to switch to a new billing system and have problems.
10:09So you think that, you know, for the energy sector, when it does a big technical IT project like this,
10:15it should make sure that it has that customer service in place so that in the event that things go wrong,
10:20for whatever reason, there are customer service agents in place who can take ownership and sort it out.
10:26If we look at British Gas in particular, in the three months from July to September last year,
10:31over 6,700 people complained to the Energy Ombudsman about British Gas,
10:36making it the most complained-about provider, even taking into account its customer base.
10:40It's shocking, really.
10:41Now, Citizens Advice also ranks energy suppliers for service, and up until the end of last year,
10:46in the three-month period, British Gas was sitting ninth out of 16.
10:50And what is the root of this problem, do you believe?
10:53It is the lack of communication between the old platform and the new platform,
10:59the lack of support and customer support on British Gas' behalf, basically that they are leaving the
11:08customer to prove the case for them, otherwise you don't get a resolution to your problem.
11:14What advice would you give to other people who might be in your situation?
11:17The first thing is keep a copy of your old bills, because once you're transferred onto the new system,
11:23you have no access to those old bills to prove anything. And in my case, the second thing was,
11:29I made a subject access request. You can request by law information from a company.
11:34So I gave them the timeframes and said, I just want clear billing with an audit trail,
11:39a mathematical audit trail I can follow. And for me, that's what broke the ongoing cycle.
11:45So, Sarah, finally, advice from you?
11:48Well, I mean, Anne's a very smart cookie and has taken a lot of the right steps.
11:50But I would say, first of all, complain and be very clear about what you want the company to do
11:54and when you want them to put it right. Escalate it if you aren't getting anywhere.
11:58Complain to the Energy Ombudsman Service, but you have to give the company eight weeks to resolve
12:03the complaint. If money is being taken that's putting you in difficulty, tell the company,
12:08contact a debt advice charity such as StepChange or Citizens Advice.
12:12Well, you've both given great advice. And thank you very much for making the journey from
12:15Nottinghamshire to be with us. And thank you very much, Sarah.
12:18Thank you. When we spoke to British Gas about Anne's case, it put the problems down to delays
12:25in applying a new tariff to her gas account and adding her husband's name to the gas and electricity
12:31accounts. British Gas apologised to Anne and said it had resolved the issue and applied a gesture of
12:38goodwill to the account earlier this year. British Gas added that when things occasionally go wrong,
12:44they could be down to a variety of different reasons, but its teams work hard to support its customers.
12:55Now time for our advice clinic where consumer expert Martin James is here to help Brenda Smith from
13:00Nottingham, who's been locked out of her Microsoft email account.
13:04Hello, Brenda. I understand you've had quite a few problems. Tell me where it all began.
13:14Hello. It started in February when I had a message to say that I had got unusual activity on my account
13:23and that I needed to verify my account. To do that, I had to send the last four digits of my phone
13:30and they would send me a code. I didn't receive any codes. So I completed the recovery form, got a message back.
13:39I hadn't given them enough information. Refill the form out. So I did that two more times.
13:46I was then told I'd done too many attempts and I was blocked until the next day.
13:51Oh, my goodness.
13:53And every time I did one of their help tools, it then said, sign into your account.
14:00I couldn't sign into my account.
14:03When Brenda tried again the next day, it was still a case of computer says no.
14:08She continued to try, but says after repeated attempts, she received a message blocking her for 30 days.
14:15My email is used for receiving any information from all of my accounts, such as my water rates, gas, electricity.
14:27I even get some information from the bank. And as a consequence, I was getting no information because I could not access this account.
14:35Oh, right. Well, I'm going to pick this up with Martin. So, I mean, this is so frustrating, isn't it? What do you make of what happened?
14:43Gosh, you know, Louise, I think one of the problems that we have here is because free email services are constantly under attack by fraudsters,
14:51they can be very sensitive about anything that might go a little bit awry.
14:56So even if they misinterpret putting in the wrong information, the wrong password, there are loads of things that can result in these security problems.
15:04Martin, what should Brenda, all of us do to make sure we're not locked out of our email accounts like this?
15:10Well, prevention is the best form of cure, I think, sometimes. If you go to the security settings on your email,
15:16you'll find on there prompts to actually help actually recover the email. It's worthwhile putting on things like an alternative email address
15:24or an alternative phone number just so that you have another way to get in touch with the company.
15:28Now, another thing that you can do is download the Microsoft Authenticator app.
15:33This is a free service and it's free to use. And what it does is actually authenticates who you are
15:39without all of the fuss of all the additional passwords.
15:42Well, Brenda, we did contact Microsoft regarding your account and it shared some tips to help people recover
15:47their accounts more quickly. And we will put those on our website, which is bbc.co.uk
15:52slash ripoffbritain. It also told us that it had scheduled a call, a call, I shouldn't sound so surprised,
16:00directly with you, Brenda. Did that happen?
16:03It did happen. And I have successfully got my account back.
16:07Oh, gosh. I mean, look at the smile. But I imagine you've got quite a few emails to deal with in that case.
16:13Over 1,000. Oh, gosh.
16:15Well, good luck with all of that. And I hope that doesn't happen to you again. Thank you.
16:271,000 emails. She'll be at it forever. Well, if like Brenda, you feel stuck in a situation you simply
16:33can't escape and you need our help, why not drop us a line? Our email address is ripoffbritain
16:39at bbc.co.uk. Now, you can also send us a message via WhatsApp on 033 0678 1321. Or indeed,
16:50through our Facebook page, all you have to do is search for BBC Ripoff Britain. Or remember,
16:55you can always get in touch by getting out your stamps and just writing us a good old-fashioned
16:59letter. The address is Ripoff Britain, BBC Media City UK, Salford, N52LH. But the point is,
17:09whatever way you get in touch, please include a number for us so that we can call you back.
17:14That's exactly what some of the people in our next film did when they needed help. Their pricey
17:19new laptops all developed cracks right across the screen. But while the cause was a complete mystery
17:25to them, the manufacturer had other ideas. It was spooky and I couldn't believe my eyes.
17:35I'm absolutely livid with the response from Samsung. I was obviously shocked that it had
17:42spontaneously cracked. I felt like all the blame was put on me and it was my fault for the laptop
17:48breaking. These customers of premium electronics brand Samsung have been trying to get to grips with
17:54a mystery. Just why was it that the screens on one of the company's flagship laptops were starting to
18:01crack before their eyes? I noticed a crack when I opened the laptop and my heart just dropped because
18:08it is not a cheap laptop. There was a crack going from the top of the laptops or diagonally down to the
18:14very bottom. Dharmesh Mistry from Reading bought his Samsung Galaxy Pro 5 360 direct from Samsung's own
18:28website in September 2024 as a gift for his wife, Curti. I thought I would treat her to the best laptop I could
18:38find her with the view that these things tend to last for a good five to ten years if you buy the best
18:45one at the time. The premium bit of kit cost him almost £1,500, which he put on his credit card.
18:53But within just hours of using it, Curti noticed a problem. She pointed out to me
19:00on the screen like a really long slim hairline fracture in the screen. Its cause was a puzzle.
19:10She hasn't dropped it. She didn't bang the lid or anything like that. It was just normal use.
19:17As the couple questioned what was going on, things escalated fast. My wife's sitting next to me
19:24using the laptop. And as she's typing, I actually am seeing further cracks appear in the screen while
19:33she's using it. Angry that the screen on his wife's top of the range laptop seemed to be splintering in
19:40front of him, Dharmesh wanted a refund. But Samsung's response was that his warranty didn't cover physical
19:47damage. However, as far as Dharmesh was concerned, there was no physical damage to the laptop. Rather,
19:54he believed the machine was faulty. I'm absolutely livid with the response from Samsung because
20:02basically they're claiming no responsibility on this at all. I've, you know, literally used it for
20:08less than a dozen hours. And also it's never been dropped. Nothing's been dropped onto the screen.
20:13We spend quite a lot of money on this and they want more money to get this fixed for their problem,
20:19I believe. But Dharmesh's laptop isn't the only Samsung with a galaxy of cracks in the screen.
20:29Bethany Solomon from Bristol bought her Samsung Galaxy Book 4 360 for £1,200 from retailer Curry's
20:37in June 2024. I was excited to get the laptop home and I really wanted to open it straight away.
20:45And when I opened it, the graphics, they were amazing. But just a couple of months later,
20:50the crack started to appear quite literally. So the crack started from the left hand of the screen
20:58right up to the top, straight under the camera. And it was a hairline crack.
21:02The next day, Bethany took the laptop back to Curry's, which sent it off for inspection.
21:09And a week later, she got a phone call to say it was back.
21:13The woman said on the phone, no, it's not been fixed. You're going to have to come
21:18and pick it up. And I was really annoyed. Curry's said the crack was caused by physical damage
21:24and wasn't covered under warranty. So she'd have to contact Samsung about the repair.
21:29It became a tennis match between Samsung and Curry's. Samsung didn't want to take any accountability.
21:37Curry's didn't want to take any liability. And it was just a back and forth between the
21:42both of them. I felt really angry and upset because neither of them were listening to me.
21:49Meanwhile, other Samsung customers were experiencing a similar fate and posting
21:54about their mysteriously cracked screens online. Reading some of those posts,
21:59Stacey Gray from Essex began to worry what to do when the screen on her 1,600-pound
22:05Samsung Galaxy Book 5 Pro 360 also cracked.
22:10I had read other people's experiences, which basically simply said,
22:16the laptop was beyond repair and this type of damage isn't covered. And that was it.
22:20So instead of sending the machine off to retailer Curry's like Bethany did, she opted to get an
22:26independent assessment done first. And when the report came back, Stacey thought the mystery was
22:32finally solved.
22:34It was their opinion that the crack was caused by a manufacturing defect, essentially, a flaw in the design, rather than any external damage.
22:47Stacey asked her credit card provider for a refund, but it wouldn't proceed until Curry's had inspected her laptop.
22:57Feeling she had no other option, Stacey sent it off and five weeks later, she got a response.
23:03I was very shocked, actually, to get Curry's email confirming that they would refund me.
23:11I was not expecting that at all. But yeah, I'm very pleased to have the outcome that I wanted.
23:18Back in Bristol, and Bethany's case went to a dispute resolution service, which found in Curry's favour.
23:25But certain she was right, Bethany also opted to get an independent assessment, which found in her favour.
23:32When I received the independent report, I felt validated that it wasn't actually my fault.
23:38It was a manufacturing issue. I don't want anything to do with the laptop anymore.
23:42I just want them to take it and I just want a refund.
23:47That's a feeling Dharmesh shares, but he bought direct from Samsung, which is insistent that the
23:53cracks are not caused by a manufacturing fault. As a result, he was unable to get his money back
24:00from his credit card provider and is unwilling to shell out for repairs for a laptop he believes
24:07was faulty from the outset. I think this is actually a fundamental problem with the quality of the
24:13laptop. So it's more than likely to happen again. Online, there are many complaints that it has happened
24:19more than once. I'd never buy another Samsung again based on this.
24:27We spoke to Samsung. It said it regretted the experiences highlighted, did not meet its usual
24:32high standards and said its Galaxy Book series undergoes rigorous tests designed specifically to
24:38simulate real world conditions. And it stands by the quality of its products. But I am pleased to say it
24:44has now issued refunds to both Dharmesh and Bethany. All a good result for everybody who is in those
24:50cases that we featured. David McLellan joins me now with his many devices. Thank you very much.
24:56With technology progressing, David, how long should a screen last? It's a great question. And I think
25:03that a screen, like any other part of the device that you have, it should, as per the Consumer Rights
25:09Act lasts a reasonable length of time, which is for years, really. And the fact is that I think
25:16the screen technology, because it's so central to how we experience these devices, we're wanting
25:21our devices bigger and thinner and with curved and flexible screens, all of those kind of things,
25:27the manufacturers are pushing the engineering to the limits. And I think maybe that is why,
25:33maybe we're seeing some devices that are being pushed a little bit too far, which is why we're seeing
25:38some of these cracks, perhaps. We spoke to Samsung. They did also tell us that when they inspected
25:42all the devices in our film themselves, the cracks in all three of them were caused by external pressure
25:48to the laptop screen rather than a manufacturing defect. So usually they should last years. If your
25:55screen breaks sooner, how can you tell it's a manufacturing fault, not user error? Well, look,
26:01proving a cracked or damaged screen is as a result of a manufacturing fault rather than, you know,
26:06physical damage. As our viewers found, it can be a real challenge. And manufacturers have specific
26:12exclusions, many of them, against cracks or damaged screens in their warranties, which is really
26:18frustrating. But I think there can be strength in numbers here. And if a number of people who are
26:24experiencing damaged screens suddenly find that there are many more of them online, then they can
26:29start to form a little bit of a huddle here. And what do you know, manufacturers, retailers might start to
26:34take notice. These are incredibly expensive devices. So is there any additional insurance
26:40or protections that we can buy, take out that would be worth looking at? Oh, yes. Speaking personally,
26:47I'm a bit of a klutz. There's a reason the screen on some of these devices is broken. I noticed.
26:51Yes, yes, that is me. So my take is that some of these gadget policies can be really worthwhile. And
26:58some of them you can get from the manufacturer if you buy the device directly from them. And they're
27:03also third party insurers who specialise in gadget protection. So with some of these policies, there
27:09is like a no questions asked replacement, whether it is accidental or whether it is a manufacturing fault.
27:15And they can also cover for things like loss or theft as well, which is all good. As always, shop around,
27:22check the terms and conditions, check the exclusions. And of course, it should not be on us as consumers
27:29to pay, to kind of top up, to make up the shortfall for manufacturers who are releasing goods that are
27:35not fit for purpose. That is a very good point to end on. Thank you very much, David.
27:39When we spoke to Curry's, where Bethany and Stacey bought their devices, it told us all customer cases are
27:47reviewed thoroughly and diligently, and that it collaborates with suppliers to ensure product quality for customers.
28:01Now, this is probably the most expensive thing you will ever buy, a house. It's a serious undertaking,
28:07and another big stress, even when you need to sell it. Complicated paperwork, fees to pay,
28:13not to mention the pressure of the dreaded chain. Step in, we buy any house. It sounds as simple as
28:20its catchy name. A company offering a cash offer in 15 minutes, selling as little as three days hassle-free.
28:29But we've been hearing from people who say their experiences with we buy any house have been anything
28:35but hassle-free. This is the kitchen. A lot of happy memories of baking with the girls and
28:46all their friends and stuff in here. Denise and Crispin Maddox called this 350-year-old property in
28:54Bedford home for 23 years. But in September 2024, they decided it was time to move on.
29:01We had a lot of memories here, but the children got too big for the house, really. Young teenagers,
29:08they have a lot of kit, and you need more and more space. It was time to move on. We'd outgrown it,
29:15and start pastures new, start another chapter.
29:22The couple put their house on the market with a local estate agent, with an asking price of £450,000.
29:28But nearly three months later, there was still no sale. However, time was of the essence, because
29:36Denise and Crispin had already bought and moved into another house, and urgently needed the funds from
29:42this one. I looked at other options, that being an auction being one of them. And then I had this
29:49letter through from We Buy Any House. Online property sales company We Buy Any House offers customers
29:57a market-leading service to sell their homes quickly and with ease. For Denise, that seemed just the ticket.
30:05I think one of the main things that appealed to me was no estate agent's fees, no solicitor's fees.
30:12They handled everything for you. And it just took all the hassle away.
30:17When Denise got in touch in January 2025, We Buy Any House immediately offered £325,000 for the property.
30:26But when she explained that it was a lot less than the £450,000 she was looking for,
30:32We Buy Any House offered an alternative.
30:35It said, but if, you know, you're not in a hurry, then we're going to sell it to investors,
30:39and they are looking at giving you £400 to £415,000. I thought, at that point,
30:46they're offering me quite a good deal here. I've got nothing to lose, really, have I?
30:51It would still mean taking a financial hit, but with no other buyers on the horizon,
30:57Denise and Crispin agreed to let the firm sell to an investor.
31:00To get things moving, Denise signed a contract and says she was told there was a cooling-off period
31:07to fall back on if she changed her mind.
31:09I felt safe signing it because I had a 14-day cooling-off period and during that time I could get out of it.
31:18So when, 13 days later, their original estate agent secured a sale,
31:23Denise and Crispin didn't anticipate any problems.
31:27During the cooling-off period, I got a call from the estate agents to say I'd had an offer on the house.
31:33And I thought, you know what? Let's take it. I can get out of We Buy Any House. It's not an issue.
31:40I accepted that and then we called We Buy Any House to cancel.
31:46It just went badly wrong from there, really.
31:50When the couple's solicitor started work on the house sale,
31:53she found a restriction had been registered against the property with the land registry,
31:58meaning Denise and Crispin couldn't sell without the permission of We Buy Any House's parent company.
32:05The couple were further confused when they found two more firms were also involved.
32:10Denise was working with one company and suddenly now we've got We Buy Any House,
32:15House Sales Direct and another company called Hawksmore who were involved.
32:19So we didn't know what this web of companies was, how it was, what was going on.
32:25It turned out the contract contained two separate agreements, one with We Buy Any House
32:31and the other with a company called House Sales Direct, allowing it to market the property like an estate agent.
32:39And while the agreement with House Sales Direct did have a 14-day cooling off period,
32:45crucially, the agreement with We Buy Any House didn't, meaning that if the house was sold in the next 12 months,
32:52Denise would have to pay a hefty fee even if she found the buyer.
32:56When the solicitor told me, I was like, how can they do that? It's my property, I've done nothing wrong, I own that property.
33:03How can somebody else put that restriction on which is stopping me from selling my own house?
33:10The couple's only choice was either to wait it out or pay to release themselves from the contract,
33:16a choice they never expected when they signed up for a supposedly hassle-free house sale.
33:22Meanwhile in Newport, Jane Dixon's brush with We Buy Any House came when she was trying to sell her late parents' house in June 2024.
33:34We were keen to make sure that the property was sold so that we could move on with our lives.
33:42So rather than go through a mainstream estate agent, because the process was advised as being quicker, then we decided to go down that road.
33:55Jane was offered £75,000 by We Buy Any House or she could get much closer to its £100,000 valuation
34:04if she allowed a second company, House Sales Direct, to sell it instead.
34:09They seemed very professional. The guy that we spoke with took all the details and he said,
34:15look, we can help you, we can help you quickly and there'll be minimal disruption and it just seemed that it was the right thing to do.
34:23There was no initial cost, but the contract did lock her into a six-month exclusivity deal.
34:30But by the end of the six months, and with no offers close to the agreed price, Jane decided not to renew with the company.
34:37And around three months later, she agreed a private sale for £95,000.
34:44But when her solicitor came to the paperwork, she uncovered a problem.
34:49She said, there's a charge on your property. I've contacted Land Registry and they cannot release.
34:56I was absolutely devastated.
35:00The company with the charge against the house was Hawksmore Equity.
35:03Just like Denise and Crispin, Jane had unwittingly agreed to its involvement when she signed the contract.
35:11But Jane was puzzled, since according to the same contract, if House Sales Direct hadn't sold her house after six months, all legal charges would be removed.
35:21We just bombarded them with emails. Please, can you remove the charge? Please, can you remove the charge?
35:29But despite promises to remove it, more than three weeks later, the charge was still on the property.
35:35The conveyancer sent an email and said, if you don't do this herewith, then I will take further proceedings. The next day it was removed.
35:45Much to her relief, the house sale went smoothly from there on. But for Denise and Crispin,
35:52the process of removing We Buy Any House from their house sale is going to be far from smooth.
35:59The cost of removing the charge against the house is £13,500.
36:03I suppose the quick way to get out of it is to just write it off as a bad loss, isn't it? Take your medicine.
36:11Made a mistake. That mistake is going to cost £13,500. End of story.
36:15We haven't got £13,500.
36:17Well, no. But that's a simple solution, is to walk away from it and just put it down to a bad experience.
36:23But that doesn't lie well, really.
36:26And for Denise, the price she's paid hasn't just been financial.
36:31I've just been railroaded, haven't I? I mean, you see these things all the time and people tell you,
36:37always read the contract. But I was told three times that I had a 14-day cooling-off period
36:42and no point did he say that there was two companies involved. Yeah, sorry, I'm just a bit, a bit emotional.
36:56Poor Denise. What a horrible position she's found herself in.
36:59Well, joining me now is solicitor Gary Rycroft. Welcome, Gary. How do these companies operate?
37:05Well, these kind of quick house purchase companies, they say it's going to be hassle-free.
37:11They say there are no fees involved. Well, that no fee thing, Julia, strikes me as being interesting
37:16because that means you're not getting legal advice. And I would say from the outset of these kind of
37:22transactions, that's precisely what you do need.
37:25So, starting with Denise and Crispin, they say they were promised a cooling-off period over the
37:29phone. But when it came to cancelling just 13 days in, they discovered they'd actually signed
37:35two contracts, one with no cooling-off period. How can that be?
37:39Yeah, well, I feel really sorry for Denise because it seems that she feels that this was all on her
37:44shoulders. But actually, the evidence from the film seems to be that it wasn't fully explained to
37:50Denise that she was signing two different and distinct contracts. One of them was an option
37:57to buy the house. And that means that other people are blocked from buying the property.
38:02The second agreement was a standard estate agency agreement. Now, the standard estate
38:09agency agreement certainly does go with a 14-day cooling-off period. But the thing about the earlier
38:16agreement, that doesn't have a 14-day cooling-off period. Now, Denise will say that that wasn't
38:21fully explained to her. And if that's the case, then it was, in my view, misleading.
38:26Well, what about Jane's case? What rights does she have over that?
38:29Well, in fairness to We Buy Any House, I've looked at the documents that they provide to people. I can't
38:37comment on how those documents are explained. But I can comment on the wording, which is relatively
38:43simple, that people should be able to understand what's happening if they actually had the time to
38:49go through the contracts and had it explained to them. When we spoke to We Buy Any House about
38:55Denise's situation, it told us that it has lifted the restriction against her property and has now
39:01informed her that it will no longer be pursuing her for any settlement payment. As for Jane, it said
39:07it had acted professionally and responded promptly to all concerns raised. Having told Jane she was free
39:14to sell the property in March 2025, it said it considered the matter concluded. We Buy Any House
39:21stressed that as part of a regulated industry, it was required to adhere to established codes of
39:26practice. It said it was committed to delivering a fair and transparent service and said online
39:33customer reviews consistently rated its service as excellent. We also spoke to House Sales Direct,
39:40which told us that when Denise chose to withdraw from its service, the firm honoured that decision in
39:46full. Bottom line, is there such a thing as a hassle-free house sale? Well, as we often say to clients,
39:55there's many a slip between cup and lip. But yes, I think what I would say is to make it as hassle-free
40:01as possible, get your lawyer involved as soon as possible. That's not exactly a straight no.
40:07It's not a straight no, it's very much a lawyer's answer. Do you know, I noticed that, Gary. Gary, thank you very much.
40:16Now, we're back here on the Ripoff Britain surface with our fabulous experts, Sarah Pennells and
40:24Martin James, and some of your questions to fire at them. First one for you, Sarah. Sarah Verrill bought
40:30a second-hand phone from a retailer eight months ago, which arrived scuffed. Sarah was absolutely fine
40:36with that at the time, but the phone has now stopped working properly. She says it came with a 12-month
40:41warranty, but the retailer has now said it can't be repaired under warranty because of the scuff marks.
40:47What can she do? Well, this is an interesting one. So lots of manufacturers and some retailers offer
40:53warranties, and these can have conditions to them. But that aside, a warranty is on top of your consumer
40:59rights. It's not instead of them. So if Sarah doesn't get anywhere going back to the retailer and
41:05saying, actually, what is the link between a scuff and the phone not working, then she should use her
41:10consumer rights under the Consumer Rights Act. So she bought this phone eight months ago, and you would
41:15expect a second-hand phone to last for more than eight months. So because she's had it for a while,
41:19she probably can't get a full refund, but she should ask for a repair. And if they don't repair it properly,
41:25then she should ask for a replacement instead. OK. OK, Martin, you're on. Because Mary McGreal says that
41:31she purchased a balloon ride and she got vouchers for her 70th birthday. But four years on and several
41:37cancellations later by the company, they have now expired unused. She paid 380 quid for them,
41:43and the company refuses to refund. So what can she do to get the balloon ride? This is actually a really
41:49common problem because, let's face it, a balloon ride in the UK sounds like a wonderful idea,
41:54but it's still in the UK, and they do repeatedly get cancelled. Now, there will be terms and conditions
41:59attached to these vouchers, but the fact of the matter is, if the business was unable to carry out
42:04the service it agreed to, they should be giving her a full refund. I would threaten to go to the small
42:09claims court. Sarah, this is for you. Tracy Wood says she bought a bunch of flowers from an online
42:15florist which arrived dead. She emailed the company and has had no response and has also seen other
42:20customers in the same boat. What can she do? With online retailers offering sort of, you know,
42:25subscription floral bouquets and things like that, issues with kind of wilting wisterias and desiccated
42:30dahlias are actually much more common than you think. Again, the Consumer Rights Act will be
42:35Tracy's friend here because it's the retailer's responsibility until the bouquet is delivered for the
42:41condition it's in. Now, if she doesn't get any joy with the retailer, and she's obviously tried
42:46already, then the other thing to fall back on is how she paid. So whether she paid by debit card
42:51or credit card, she can ask for something called a chargeback, which is essentially a reversal of
42:56the transaction. Love the idea of desiccated dahlias coming back to life, but thank you very much indeed
43:01for all of that. On which note, I'm sorry to say it is time for the end of today's programme,
43:06but if you've missed any of the advice we've packed in from how to navigate the tricky world of house
43:11sale contracts to advise on getting your energy company to behave itself, catch up on today's
43:16programme and many more on BBC. But until then, from all of us on the Ripoff Britain team here in
43:22Salford, it's time to say goodbye. Bye-bye. Bye.
43:41Bye-bye.
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