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Finding the right car can be a confusing business. Whether you’re searching for a car that looks good or is fun to drive, one thing’s for sure - you want a car that works. 

That’s certainly what Harriet Jenkins was hoping for when she paid Auto Trade Wales £2,200 for a VW Polo in October 2013. She was told the car was in perfect condition. But when Harriet wanted to take it for a test drive, the car initially wouldn’t start. She was told that was normal for cars that had been parked up for a few months.

Undeterred, Harriet bought the car but before she reached home, she noticed the air bag light and ABS light was flashing. The clutch was making a really loud noise and the power steering failed as she was going round a roundabout. She managed to pull over to safety but then struggled to get the car started again. 

Auto Trade Wales repaired the car but it still wasn’t right so Harriet asked another garage for a second opinion. Their report made worrying reading. It revealed a leaky exhaust, a dodgy clutch and problems with the gears, timing belt and radiator housing. Even the spare wheel was missing. 

Nasser Asfi was the man in charge of Auto Trade Wales. He and his family are behind a number of used car garages in South Wales, garages which all have a trail of unhappy customers left behind. 

As Richard Aboulachouaq knows only too well. He bought a BMW X5 from one of his other garages - Auto Solutions Wales Ltd, in Bridgend  in April last year. His car didn’t make it home either. As he was coming off the motorway the car just cut out completely, less than an hour after he bought it. He was driving around 50 mph and had his whole family in the car. 

Garreth Gilbert bought his first car from another of Nasser Asfi’s companies – Trade Price Cars in Barry. He paid £1,150 in cash for a Vauxhall Corsa, which he was told came with a three month warranty. Unfortunately, the company didn’t honour that and Garreth was left to foot the bill for all the repairs. He spent over £1,500 on fixing his car and found Mr Asfi to be abusive when he complained.

In 2011, Nasser Asfi  admitted in court that he had sold unsafe cars. He was ordered to pay back £11,000 and given 260 hours of community service. But Nasser Asfi has a habit of dissolving his companies and closing his garages to avoid his debts.

Not long after Richard took his car back to Auto Solutions Wales Ltd, the business closed down. And when Garreth tried to get his money back from Trade Price Cars Ltd, he was told that the company was no longer running and that it wasn’t owned by Nasser Asfi anymore. 

After months of chasing Mr Asfi, Harriet got so fed up with paying for her broken down car she took him to court. And despite the judge finding in her favour, Nasser Asfi refused to refund her money. 

Harriet is not alone – lots of Nasser Asfi’s customers have taken him, and the companies he’s involved with, to court. He still owes them over £70,000.

X-Ray wrote to Mr Asfi several times but got no response, so Rachel decided to pay him a visit but he was nowhere to be seen at his company, which had changed names again, and is now called Cars For You.

However his brother Asghar, who has also been a director of various companies and was the salesman who sold Harriet her car, said Nasser Asfi was nothing to do with the new company and he had received no complaints. He denied that he or his family change company names or directorships to avoid dealing with unhappy customers and said that they didn’t sell unsafe cars.

Mr Asfi was recently back in court but we still haven’t heard a word from him.

Harriet has received £1,000 in exchange for returning her car but she’s still owed more than £1,700.

The raspberry ketone diet is all the rage – the adverts for these pills claim they’ll help burn fat and curb cravings without you even having to think about it. 

But the online ‘free’ trials for these tablets are leading a lot of people into parting with their cash without them knowing about it. 

People like Jo Hemsley from Swansea.  Jo has osteoarthritis and exercise can be painful, so when a doctor suggested she try the raspberry ketone diet she decided to give it a go. 

She went online and signed up for a trial of Nutriberry Slim, paying just £4.99 for the postage and packaging. However, Jo was shocked to find out that a further £93 and £95.99 was then taken from her bank account.

What Jo hadn’t realised was that she’d signed up for a contract to keep receiving the diet pills.  When she tried to contact the company to complain her phone calls were unanswered and her emails bounced back. 

The Nutriberry Slim terms and conditions do let customers know they’re entering into a contract, but Jo claims that should’ve been clearer on the website.  And she’s not alone.

The company behind Nutriberry Slim are based in Cardiff and local trading standards are investigating more than 100 complaints similar to Jo’s.