麻豆社

A double-glazing firm from Swansea has been illegally cold-calling people 鈥� despite being fined last year for doing exactly the same thing.聽

Direct Choice Home Improvements Ltd were fined 拢50,000 in March 2016 by the Information Commissioner鈥檚 Office 聽(ICO) for cold-calling 168 people on the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) 鈥� the register for people who don鈥檛 want sales calls. 聽At the time, the firm promised it had invested in new systems to prevent the problems happening again.

But we have spoken to two customers on the TPS聽who were cold-called by the company in December.

Mark Davies, from Narberth in Pembrokeshire, said: 聽鈥淚 was annoyed because I鈥檓 registered with TPS.鈥�

Mark ended up speaking to a manager, but was shocked by his attitude.

聽鈥淚 pointed out that it was an offence now to phone people on the TPS and it was up to him too check our number against it, and he basically said if he did that he couldn鈥檛 possibly run a business,鈥� he said.

Chris Harvey-Jones , from Tenby, is also on the TPS. He told X-Ray the company has been pestering him on the phone for years, and that they鈥檝e called around 23 times despite him asking them not to.

Chris said: "We feel like it's harassment. I really am at the end of my tether.鈥�

Direct Choice has also been in trouble for the way the firm鈥檚 reps sell its windows, doors and conservatories. 聽In 2015, they were fined 拢3,500 for falsely telling one customer their windows had a top A+ energy efficiency rating.

In October last year, the company was given a 拢10,000 fine after a sales rep pressurised a grieving Rhondda widow into signing a finance deal.

We聽sent a researcher to work undercover at Direct Choice for a few days in January 2017 to investigate the company鈥檚 sales tactics, and the way it was cold-calling people. The training was basic,聽 with one manager telling new staff: 聽鈥淚t鈥檚 not customer services we鈥檙e doing, it鈥檚 not thanks for your time, have a lovely day, enjoy yourself 鈥� we keep them on the phone until they either say yes or they put the phone down.鈥�

In response, Direct Choice told the programme that they鈥檝e now sacked one manager and disciplined another. They admitted they have had issues with their 鈥渃all centre making calls to persons who do not want to be contacted, through registering with the TPS or otherwise.鈥� 聽They claimed their system does聽now filter out people on the TPS, and added: 鈥淒irect Choice Home Improvements Directors are now in regular contact with the ICO, who note a significant reduction in complaints regarding the company in recent months.聽 Recommendations made by them are taken on board to ensure the company constantly improves.鈥�

Products which come with lifetime guarantees may seem appealing, but does 鈥榣ifetime鈥� mean what you think it does?

Brands such as Berghaus, Camelbak, North Face, Le Creuset, Maxi Cosi and Maclaren all offer these guarantees, but there are a range of terms and conditions attached.

Omar asked shoppers in Cardiff what they thought would happen if an item with a lifetime guarantee broke.聽 The responses were pretty unanimous 鈥� the product should be refunded, repaired, or replaced for as long as you鈥檙e alive.

Unfortunately that鈥檚 not the case 鈥� in fact the term 鈥榣ifetime鈥� tends to mean the lifetime of the product, not your lifetime, and there鈥檚 no way of knowing exactly how long that is.

Marketing expert Henry Enos explained that there鈥檚 no legal definition of lifetime and it鈥檚 a bit of a grey area.

He also warned that they only tend to cover manufacturing defects 鈥� so not wear and tear, accidental damage or misuse.

There are also rules around registering the product, buying from third parties, and passing the product on to friends and relatives.

As a family of seven the Currys, from Glynneath, rely on their fridge freezer.

They bought their 拢400 Indesit model, even though it was more expensive than they were looking for, because it had the space they needed and they trusted the brand.

Unfortunately it鈥檚 caused them nothing but problems 鈥� breaking down every few months and forcing mum Michelle to throw out hundreds of pounds worth of food.

The appliance breaks down when the fan in the freezer ices up.聽 Michelle estimates this has happened no fewer than 14 times in the last two-and-a-half years.

Sometimes it makes a loud noise before it breaks, which Michelle describes as like having 鈥渁 motorbike鈥� in the kitchen.

Michelle calls Indesit to get an engineer out 鈥� but sometimes she鈥檚 made to wait two weeks for an appointment, which is hard when she has five children to feed.

She has to rely on the kindness of her neighbour and use the spare fridge in his garage.

Indesit have already replaced the fridge freezer once, but with the exact same model, and the exact same problems.聽 Michelle is now calling for them to give her a different model.

Indesit told us that safety is their number one priority and that they aim to resolve problems 鈥渜uickly and efficiently鈥�.

After we got in touch they agreed to give the Curry family a brand new fridge freezer 鈥� a different model 鈥� plus 拢50 compensation, so Michelle and the whole family are delighted.