91热爆

A couple who spent half a million pounds buying biomass boilers from a Cardiff firm, whose owner was banned from being a director,听say they鈥檙e now in danger of losing their farm.

Dan and Pip Millard contacted Steve Maxwell of Affordable Energy Solutions [AES-Eco Ltd] in October last year, looking for a cheaper alternative to heat their chicken sheds.听

After meeting him, the couple took out loans to pay for five biomass boilers for their poultry farm in Gloucestershire.听

"He sat around the kitchen table like we are now, he was lovely. He seemed like he'd really go to the end of the earth to help you out,鈥� Pip said.听

Despite the cost, the couple say they were reassured by Mr Maxwell, who told them their loan repayments would be covered by the UK government鈥檚 renewable heat incentive scheme.听

These听 official payments are designed to encourage people to use energy from sustainable sources.听

"We were using LPG that we had delivered to tanks on the farm. It's very expensive, so we really needed to look for an alternative heating source that was much more cost effective but also environmentally friendly,鈥� Pip said.听

The couple expected to receive thousands of pounds for burning renewable waste wood instead of fossil fuels, but eight months after they were meant to receive their first payment, they still haven鈥檛 seen a penny.听

After Affordable Energy Solutions began work last November, the delays began and so did the problems 鈥� a supplier owed money, issues with the quality of work and no sign of the critical payments they had been promised.听

"We were just - what have we done, why did we go with Steve? We thought - are we going to lose the farm?" Pip said.听

By this autumn only four of the Millard鈥檚 five boilers were working and they were far from happy with those. There were hot pipes left exposed, and leaks within the boiler system.听

This isn鈥檛 the first time X-Ray has come across Steve Maxwell. In 2005 we reported on Affordable Conservatories, which left lots of unhappy customers who were owed money for substandard work.听

After that Cardiff Trading Standards made Steve Maxwell promise to mend his ways, and the Insolvency Service slapped a 10 year ban on him becoming company director or managing a business.

But that didn鈥檛 stop him. Until March of this year, Mr Maxwell was listed as a director of his company, AES-Eco.

The Millards aren't听 the only ones to have had problems with him. Mike Caine runs a successful vineyard in Pembrokeshire.

He signed a 拢45,000 contract, plus VAT, for a boiler last September, with work and the promised RHI payments all taking much longer than he expected.

"It was very easy to catalogue the broken promises, the missed appointments, the trades people who didn't turn up time after time,鈥� he said.

The job was finally finished in April. Mike ended up with a good boiler system, but says he went through months of worry first.

"I know the heartache it put me through for nearly eight months, the stress at night, not sleeping at night, the amount of money involved for me was a huge amount of money."

The Millards say they鈥檝e had to constantly chase Steve Maxwell to try to get him to finish a job he started nearly a year ago.

"I have a daily reminder when I go down to the farm of how trusting we were. I have to go down there every day and see all the mess, and I just can't see an end to it,鈥� said Dan.

Steve Maxwell wrote to X-Ray telling us that he was in the process of finishing the job on the farm, although the Millards say it鈥檚 only through their efforts that the work is nearing completion.

Mr Maxwell also said that he only told the Millards they would get their RHI payments within three or four months as a rough indicator, and there was no guarantee.

He said that he had initially received professional advice that he could become a company director, but subsequently learnt this was incorrect and resigned.

听

The Greek island of Zante has a special place in Gwen and Steve Brown's hearts 鈥� it was the first place they ever went on holiday together. So it was a natural choice when they decided to get married.听

To make sure everything went to plan they booked the trip and ceremony with a holiday company they trusted 鈥� Thomson.听

However, when they arrived on the island neither the holiday rep nor the wedding co-ordinator knew anything about the planned marriage.听 That鈥檚 despite the fact Thomson had confirmed the date more than a year earlier.听

The Browns spent a week on Zante not knowing if they would be able to get married or not.听 They eventually got a date sorted, but they had to get married much earlier in the day than originally planned.听 That meant Gwen couldn鈥檛 get her hair and make-up done.听

And Gwen had been very specific about what she wanted at the ceremony 鈥� a white theme.听 However, when she turned up at the venue it was decked out with pink and white flowers. Gwen absolutely hates pink!听

Gwen and Steve believe the venue was set-out for another wedding which was taking place later in the day.听 As a result, Gwen feels the ceremony wasn鈥檛 special or personal to her at all.听

Thomson say the Browns鈥� wedding was the only one taking place in the venue that day.听 However, in recognition of the fact their enjoyment of the big day was affected they鈥檙e offering to refund the cost of the ceremony and give them a 拢1,000 gesture of goodwill.