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We talked to Mary Anne Ker who owns a house in Tooting, which is occupied by her daughter Samantha and a few of her friends. When their heating failed last March, they called out Goldstar Gas and Heating Services Limited - not to be confused with companies of similar names.

Rodney Goldson came highly recommended on an internet rating site, and was able to start straight away. But Rodney came, saw and condemned the boiler. He told Samantha that "the boiler was dangerous, that there was a problem with the carbon monoxide poisoning, that the boiler was sparking and singeing a back wall." Following his frightening warnings, Samantha agreed to the work - at a price of £5,500.

A couple of weeks after the installation, a new problem developed: the housemates couldn't run the hot water without all the radiators heating up. Mary Anne called Rodney, and met him in the house herself. Mary Anne revealed that Rodney didn't have any tools with him, and not long after arriving he said that the electrics needed to be changed.

Rodney wanted an extra £2,500 to sort it out. Instead of going with him, Mary Anne asked another plumber for a second opinion. He said Rodney's installation was dangerous and needed making safe immediately. His cost for fixing it? £200. Typically to fit a boiler and cylinder should cost £3,500 - not the £5,500 that Rodney had originally charged Mary-Anne's daughter.

Rogue Traders decided to check out Rodney Goldson and his company, Goldstar. Cue a house, secret cameras, and a member of the production team as a stooge. She called herself Fiona Aspel - a mash-up of Fiona Bruce and Michael Aspel. And we had plumbing expert, Mike Griffin, to oversee proceedings.

The house has a Potterton Suprema which is a small boiler; it was checked and there was nothing wrong with it, all it needs is a service. Mike put a fault on the fan which meant that the boiler will fail and won't light up at all. It should take no more than 90 minutes to fix (including picking up a part locally, which is readily available). The fan should cost between £135-£150 plus VAT so in total it should come to under £400, even allowing time for traffic.

When Rodney arrived, the first thing he did was show Fiona his licence and Gas-Safe registration card - so far, so good. Fiona left Rodney to it, but it was clear he was in a hurry. He didn't bother to try and switch the boiler on using the timer, nor did he check that the power was off before he went straight into the printed circuit board. He then went upstairs to the timer and hot water tank just in time before causing himself an injury.

Rodney then told Fiona that her boiler system was quite badly scaled up; this would have been impossible to tell from his quick glance. All the boiler needed was a service. Rodney then claimed that the automatic air vent had burst, as well as the pump having failed - neither of which had actually happened. He then told Fiona that the boiler was so scaled up that she needed a new one altogether - when there is in fact nothing wrong with the boiler other than the broken fan. Finally, he claimed the boiler was leaking carbon monoxide - which was also categorically untrue.

Rodney told Fiona that under Gas Safety and Health & Safety Regulations, he has to shut her boiler down, and informs her that it will cost her £2,500 plus VAT for a new boiler. He then offered to fit a pump and automatic air vent for free and do the whole thing for £2,000. Rodney finally settled on a figure of £1800. When Fiona asked about repairing it, he said it would cost almost the same as a new boiler at £1500 - but he wouldn't be able to get these particular parts for at least a week. Fiona said she needed to have a think about this enormous charge, and instead just paid the £85 call out fee.

We now want to ascertain Rodney's standard of work, we called him out again, to another house. We called in another stooge, Lisa, and this time our expert Mike has set a tiny fault with the boiler. It's nothing more than a loose connection and is so simple to fix, the £85 call out charge should cover it.

Initially, Rodney condemned the boiler entirely - but then he managed to sort the loose connection. However, he then claimed to have identified a bigger fault during his safety check - that the thermocouple is all furred up. Yet without stripping the boiler down, it is actually impossible to see the condition of the thermocouple - it appeared to be working fine. If it did need replacing, the part would cost about £6 on top of the call out. Rodney claimed it would cost between £100-£150. This price then escalated to £250.

Rodney went to buy the part. After returning and fitting it he did no safety checks at all and didn't even check for leaks. This is despite issuing a gas safety certificate and saying the boiler now didn't need a service for a year. Luckily Mike was on the case and could check the boiler to make sure it wasn't leaking. Mike also looked at the old thermocouple, which - truth be told - does have some signs of wear and tear, but Rodney wouldn't have been able to tell that from his glance at the boiler earlier on.

Mike's gave his verdict: "Well, he didn't do a service did he? And as for the gas safe certificate, well that was a waste of time. He never did any of the checks that are required for that service and quite honestly it's a worthless piece of paper. And if you buy a certificate without having the boiler checked properly you have got a dangerous boiler."

Rogue Traders wrote to Rodney and received the most extraordinary responses. Firstly he said he'd rather Matt punched him in the face, kicked him in the goolies or gave him a 100 lashes with an Indiana Jones type lasso than appear on national television. Clearly Matt said no.

Rodney then gave a full and frank confession and said he would change completely. And to prove he'd changed his ways, he promised to refund Mary-Anne Ker. Trouble was, when the cheque arrived, it wouldn't cash - because Rodney had stopped it. He then sent another cheque and the same thing happened.

Matt confronted Rodney but he refused to talk and said that he would chat on the phone.

Since the confrontation Rodney has been in touch. He has apologised to us and his customers. He's refunded our 300 pounds, and sent a 2500 pound cheque to Mary-Anne Kerr. And this time it's cleared. He's says he's failed the public and himself, and is now determined to do the right thing. He says his appearance on Rogue Traders has given him a wake up call - a moment to reflect.