Matt Allwright - Watchdog: The Consumer Survival Guide

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First published by BBC Books in 2020

This book is published to accompany the BBCs
Watchdog first broadcast in 1980

Copyright Matt Allwright 2020

The moral right of the author has been asserted

Cover design by: Clarkevanmeurs Design

ISBN: 978-1-473-53233-5

Design by seagulls.net

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the authors and publishers rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

Hello! Matt here! Welcome to Watchdog: The Consumer Survival Guide! I heartily recommend you carry this with you at all times, wherever you go, either in a sturdy, re-useable bag or in your head. I also recommend you read it in the following manner, depending on how much time youve got:

1. If youve got five minutes, just read . There are a few rules to live by which just might stick in your noggin and save you money/dignity/happiness.
2. Fifteen or twenty minutes? Read that first page and then the chapter on the law and your rights, starting on . This will also equip you for shop arguments and dinner parties, especially if the wine you bought isnt that good and needs to go back.
3. If time is on your side, read those bits and then everything else, in whichever order you choose, whenever you fancy. Read it upside down if you like. Its your book now. Youre the boss.

Youre relying on someone to say, This is what I do. I know what you need and, for a reasonable price, I know how to give it to you. Trust me.

Why did I write it? Well, no-one can know everything about everything. Particularly when it comes to our money and how we spend it, there are just too many subjects, and those subjects are then divided into a bewildering plethora of A-roads, then B-road sub-topics. To be master or mistress of each and every one of them is impossible. There are certainly too many to fit into just one book. This means that eventually, when youre handing over money, you have to trust someone to know more than you do. Whether its because youre asking them to prune your acacia or sell you a mortgage, youre relying on someone to say, This is what I do. I know what you need and, for a reasonable price, I know how to give it to you. Trust me. And trust them you will. Yes, there are laws to protect us, but at the end of the day its going to come down to the trust between two people. There simply isnt time in the day to investigate every company and every transaction we make. It would, quite frankly, be exhausting.

But just because you cant possibly know everything about everything, that doesnt mean you cant work out a few simple rules to live by to steer you away from those who you cant trust and towards the good guys. Over 23 years on Watchdog and Rogue Traders, talking to people whove been unlucky and occasionally unwise, a few big, simple themes have started to emerge for me, and thats what Ive tried to give you here. I cant say Im an expert in any of the subjects we cover in this book. Oh, the experts are out there! If you fancy digging around on the internet, in papers and in magazines, you will go down a dizzying rabbit hole of specialist knowledge, but thats not our purpose here. You can easily spend a week finding out all about domestic pipe sizing metric and imperial. But I think that sometimes you need to start from first principles, to imagine that no-one knows anything, and then try to navigate over the big hurdles and around the gaping elephant traps that face us all. Thats what Im trying to do: create a survival guide that reminds us how things work and why they sometimes dont, and point out the ways in which people who dont deserve your money often go about getting it. Once youve spotted the Big Idea behind each devious scheme and scam, theres a good chance youre equipped for a few more down the road.

Added to this Im going to try to wedge in lots of real-life examples and experiences from the programmes that Ive now been involved with for the best part of my adult life. All of these are stories weve worked up and investigated over the last three decades of fighting the good fight. Its important to see practical examples of when things go wrong, and take a lasting lesson from each one. TV is, on the whole, not an enduring medium, and its always a bit disappointing when a great story has had its hour in the sun and then fizzles out. Putting these stories in book form means that their power to help people is given its second legs and a life outside of their flickering hour on the box.

Its the least my fantastic colleagues deserve. Watchdog and my baby, Rogue Traders, are unlike any other environments Ive ever worked in. To put it simply, we all believe. From my first week in the office I realised how seriously the teams took the job wed been given. I also learned that television doesnt have to be a cynical illusion: the organisation you see on the screen, trying to help and protect people throughout their lives, may indeed be a group of talented and committed journalists, film-makers, producers and researchers who think that what theyre doing is the right thing to do. We have always taken time to argue and debate about the moral issues behind your tumble drier, your roof and your broadband, knowing that while they may not be seen as weighty next to matters political and newsy, they make up much bigger parts of our lives, and they matter massively to us all. Long before Gogglebox we envisioned ourselves sitting on the sofa at home next to you, trying to imagine what youd say about the stories wed cover. Over the years, occasionally there would be a focus group or two, but in most cases we have relied on our gut and our own experiences and conversations to tell us what matters most, and for the most part (apart from the one item I did about high-end fountain pens) I think we got it right.

We have always taken time to argue and debate about the moral issues behind your tumble drier, your roof and your broadband.

People often ask me if I enjoy my job. In most cases I think they already know the answer. I love what I do. Its as close as I can imagine the real world offers to being in a Spaghetti Western. I ride into town and get the chance to put things straight and give people an answer. People come to us because they feel let down and exploited and they dont feel they have anyone to turn to. For the most part they realise that their money has gone, but with the best stories, its not really about the money. From my experience what theyre really after is to know that theres someone there who will listen, who wont, in the words of Vic and Bob, let it lie, and who is, unequivocally, on their side. Id really like this book to be a lasting part of the