大象传媒

Former customers of a Welsh caravan selling agency say the law has let them down after they fought for nearly five years for compensation.

The customers lost caravans worth a total of more than 拢70,000, but will now only receive a fifth of what they are owed.

Customers like Linda Davies left their caravans with Cowbridge-based Vale of Glamorgan Caravans Ltd, which was run by businessman John Gould.

Mr Gould was acting as an agent and never actually owned the caravans 鈥� so when the business failed in 2011 he should have handed the caravans back to their owners.

But instead he strung customers along and has now admitted making 鈥渇alse or misleading statements鈥� to five customers.聽 In one case he told a customer her caravan was sold on 26th June 2011. In fact, he鈥檇 sold the caravan in March and the customer never received a penny.

He also admitted trading while he knew, or should have known, his company was insolvent, 鈥減utting customers鈥� monies at unreasonable risk鈥�.

Liquidators have now taken Mr Gould to court to make him pay the company鈥檚 debts 鈥� which total nearly 拢300,000. But he has now managed to limit his liability to 拢100,000. Linda Davies, who is owed more than 拢7,000, says she will receive a less than 拢1,500 when the liquidation process is complete.

Linda told X-Ray:聽 鈥淚n my honest opinion he has had a slap on the wrist. And I still don't know who he sold my caravan to and I still don't know where it is.鈥�

When he was confronted by X-Ray鈥檚 Rachel Treadaway-Williams he said: 聽鈥淚f customers are unhappy it's for them to speak to their solicitors. They鈥檝e agreed it.鈥�

Customers of a Cardiff car dealership have told X-ray how their new cars went wrong virtually straight away 鈥� and it then took them weeks or months to get a refund.

New mum Debbie Lloyd, who lives near Blackwood, bought a BMW from C &N Automotive in Cardiff for nearly four thousand pounds a year ago. Everything was fine with the car until a day later.

鈥淚t was starting and stopping on us, an engine management light would come on and we'd pull over,鈥� Debbie said.

It turned out there was a fuel leak, with diesel pouring out of the bottom of the car. 聽C & N fixed the leak, but the problem with the engine management light returned soon after and the car went back a second time. Debbie collected it again a couple of weeks later.

She said: 鈥淣ot even a mile up the road, and the engine management light came on again and it went into limp mode again on the roundabout.鈥�

She gave C&N one last chance to fix the car. That was last April, and the quick repair promised by C&N never materialised.

Debbie said: 鈥淭hey kept on telling us it'll be ready tomorrow. It'll be ready next week. It's with this garage and that garage. It's with a BMW specialist.鈥�

In December, she took the company to court. It was decided that the car needed to be independently inspected to see what was wrong with it. But before that could happen Debbie got a rather surprising phone call.

Debbie explained: 鈥淢y friend called me to say, 鈥楬ave you had the car back?鈥� I said, no, I haven't got the car. Why's it in Cowbridge on the High Street?鈥�

Debbie was furious to discover her BMW had broken down in Cowbridge while being tested by another specialist garage.

She said: 鈥淚 was under the impression聽 that until the court case was over they weren't going to be driving that vehicle anywhere.鈥�

Debbie says she then spotted her car back up for sale.

She said: 鈥淚t's so soul destroying. I'd paid the money for it, they hadn't given me a refund, but yet they were now selling the car.鈥�

In February - a year after she bought her car and ten months after she was last able to drive it - Debbie finally got a court judgement against C&N for more than four thousand pounds.聽

Over the last nine months, a steady stream of other unhappy C and N customers have 聽contacted X-ray.

Bryn StClair, from Cwmbran, bought a Ford Focus there last November for nearly three thousand pounds

But a few days after buying the car it cut out while his wife was trying to overtake. The same thing then happened to Bryn.

He said: 鈥淭he car just stopped dead, and I'm very lucky that there's no other vehicles behind me because it would have been a terrible accident.鈥�

Bryn took the car straight back to C&N, and says he was told it had been fixed. 聽

He said: 鈥淣ext day my wife went to work again, and it happened again, and then I said we've got to take this back, it's no good.鈥�

He took the car back to C & N again at the end of December, but by March it still hadn鈥檛 been fixed.

Bryn said: 鈥淓very time I phoned them they'd have an excuse, but when I went to the garage, I seen the car in the corner with four or five cars behind it, hadn't been touched. They've got my car, they've got my money.鈥�

Aditi Bharwaj and David Evans also had problems with the cars they each bought from C&N soon after picking them up.

Aditi said: 鈥淭he car started making funny noises. All the dashboard lights were on, it started giving me a signal to take it to the garage.鈥�

David said: 鈥淚 got to the main road, and to be honest it sounded like I was in a helicopter. Got to the house, and I noticed it was leaking a lot of oil on the floor.鈥�

Both of them returned their vehicles and have had their money back, although David had to wait five months.

C&N鈥檚 owner Jason John has apologised to both Debbie and Bryn, who have now had their money back. In Debbie's case he says he fully appreciates the impact not having a car had had on her, but says he was let down by another garage he'd contracted to fix her car

Mr John denies ever selling sub-standard cars. He says C &N sells 1500 cars every year, which are thoroughly inspected before being sold, and any complaints are dealt with quickly and professionally.

Have you ever thought of renting out your entire home or just a room for some extra cash? There are many websites out there who for a small percentage of the booking fee will make it really easy. You simply create a profile, advertise what you have to rent and the site will connect you with potential paying guests.

Its big business with millions of people using these sites each year, however if you fancy being a host there are a few things you need to be aware of.

In most circumstances your home insurance won鈥檛 cover paying guests who stay in your house, which could lead to serious problems. If your insurance company finds out you鈥檝e been a host and you haven鈥檛 told them the worst case scenario could be that they cancel your home insurance policy or they could not honour a claim that you make as a direct result of being a host. You would then have to carry the financial burden of any damage that may have been caused.

You must also tell your mortgage provider and the taxman what you鈥檙e up to before people come to stay. You would also have a legal responsibility for any paying guests in your property. Should a guest be injured, there is a very real potential for you to be prosecuted.

Fire safety is crucial too. As an absolute minimum, you should have interlinked smoke detection within the property to give early warning of a fire, should one occur. You should also make the guests aware of how to leave the property, where the nearest exits are, and any other particular safety measures regarding that property from a fire safety point of view.

For more advice on fire safety the Welsh Government along with the fire service has produced a document