大象传媒

A Monmouthshire letting agent is refusing to speak to clients who are thousands of pounds out of pocket after dealing with his company

Neil Bradbury 鈥� who ran Celtic Lettings in Chepstow town centre 鈥� didn鈥檛 comply with laws designed to protect tenants by failing to place a customer鈥檚 deposit in a secure scheme.

In a separate case he did secure a deposit 鈥� but then withdrew more than 拢1,000 and held onto it instead of passing it on to the landlord.

Police and trading standards are investigating Bradbury鈥檚 business. He is no longer responding to emails, phone calls or letters from his ex-customers.

Software designer Simon Jackson 鈥� who rented a flat in Chepstow through Celtic Lettings 鈥� lost more than 拢700 of his deposit.

He told X-Ray: 鈥淲e had to cut back on the way we live so we couldn't really go out or anything, spend less on food and things, try and spend less on bills until you can earn back that money.鈥�

Under the Housing Act 2004 Celtic Lettings should have secured the deposit in an officially registered protection scheme.

Landlord Mark Chadwick, from Undy in Monmouthshire, rented out his house while he was working abroad. He discovered that Celtic Lettings had withdrawn more than 拢1,000 from the Deposit Protection Service to cover damage to his house 鈥� but had kept the money.

He said: 鈥淚 feel very strongly that it's wrong that he's taken my money, he's taken other people's money with no accountability and he's still walking the streets.鈥�

X-Ray tried to contact Mr Bradbury 鈥� the sole director of Celtic Lettings 鈥� to comment. But, just like his clients, we couldn鈥檛 find him.

路聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 If you have information on this case, contact X-Ray on xray@bbc.co.uk

路聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 If you are a private tenant, do you know your rights? These websites have useful information (The 大象传媒 is not responsible for the content of external sites)

Shelter Cymru:

Citizens Advice

Beryl Jones from Anglesey is seventy two years old and has always been a keen traveller. Last year, she planned a holiday of a lifetime to Canada but unfortunately her trip was eventful for all the wrong reasons.聽

Beryl has multiple sclerosis and relies on a walking aid, but on her out-bound journey, her airline, Air Canada lost it. Beryl ended up having to buy a replacement walker in Vancouver which was an expense she hadn鈥檛 anticipated.

EU regulations state: 鈥榳here wheelchairs or other mobility equipment or assistive devices are lost or damaged during handling at the airport or during transport on board aircraft, the passenger to whom the equipment belongs should be compensated.鈥� But despite stating that one of their core values is to "make every customer feel valued", Air Canada offered no compensation.

This was not the end of Beryl鈥檚 problems; when her flight back to the UK from Halifax was cancelled, Air Canada arranged overnight accommodation for Beryl at the airport hotel. However, she was told she would have to share a hotel bedroom 鈥� and a double bed - with another female disabled passenger!

To top things off, Air Canada lost Beryl鈥檚 luggage on her way back to Wales. With her house keys and mobile phone in her suitcase, Beryl ended up having to have her locks changed when she finally arrived home. This, combined with buying a new walker left Beryl 拢325 out of pocket.

Beryl wrote to Air Canada to complain about the way she had been treated and was very unhappy with their offer of 25% off a future flight with Air Canada, so she contacted X-Ray.

When X-Ray contacted Air Canada they had a dramatic change of heart. They are now fully reimbursing Beryl for all her expenses with additional 拢100 compensation and 25% off an air Canada flight for Beryl, her friends and family. Now that鈥檚 what we call a result!