Browse content similar to High Street/ID Theft. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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We save up all year for our two weeks in the sun. | 0:00:02 | 0:00:05 | |
But, like anything, holidays can go badly wrong. | 0:00:05 | 0:00:09 | |
No-one wants their holiday ruined by substandard accommodation, | 0:00:09 | 0:00:12 | |
poor customer service or hidden small print. | 0:00:12 | 0:00:16 | |
Completely mis-sold and no support and no contact. | 0:00:16 | 0:00:19 | |
And nor do we want to fall victim to any of the scams, tricks and cons | 0:00:19 | 0:00:23 | |
that are waiting to catch unsuspecting tourists. | 0:00:23 | 0:00:26 | |
They know exactly who they can approach and who they can't approach | 0:00:26 | 0:00:29 | |
and if you look vulnerable, then they'll keep pushing it. | 0:00:29 | 0:00:32 | |
But if you know what to look out for, | 0:00:32 | 0:00:34 | |
you can avoid these holiday nightmares. | 0:00:34 | 0:00:36 | |
-So we're here to make sure you... -..don't get done in the sun. | 0:00:36 | 0:00:40 | |
Coming up on today's show, holidaymakers who wish | 0:00:50 | 0:00:54 | |
they hadn't put their trust in their high street travel agents. | 0:00:54 | 0:00:57 | |
I said, "No. I will pay no more money." | 0:00:57 | 0:01:00 | |
I'll be hitting the streets of Spain, finding | 0:01:00 | 0:01:02 | |
out about the last things you think will get stolen on your holidays. | 0:01:02 | 0:01:06 | |
Well, don't you know all your bank details? | 0:01:06 | 0:01:08 | |
Gosh, you know all his details as well? | 0:01:08 | 0:01:10 | |
There's a holiday out there for everyone, | 0:01:13 | 0:01:16 | |
so whether you want to spend your two weeks | 0:01:16 | 0:01:18 | |
immersing yourself in culture, | 0:01:18 | 0:01:21 | |
sampling the local specialities, | 0:01:21 | 0:01:23 | |
or discovering secluded beaches, | 0:01:23 | 0:01:26 | |
you can tailor-make your holiday to suit you. | 0:01:26 | 0:01:29 | |
And, when booking a holiday, we've never had so many choices | 0:01:29 | 0:01:33 | |
and options. | 0:01:33 | 0:01:34 | |
The Internet, especially, | 0:01:34 | 0:01:35 | |
has opened up independent travel to exotic locations like never before. | 0:01:35 | 0:01:40 | |
But as more and more of us book our vacations online, | 0:01:40 | 0:01:43 | |
the high street travel agent has suffered. | 0:01:43 | 0:01:46 | |
There are still some of us, though, | 0:01:46 | 0:01:48 | |
who want that good old-fashioned face-to-face contact and expertise | 0:01:48 | 0:01:52 | |
to know your holiday will go as planned. | 0:01:52 | 0:01:55 | |
I went to Co-op Travel in the village. | 0:01:55 | 0:01:58 | |
And the reason I went there was | 0:01:58 | 0:01:59 | |
because I booked the last holiday through them, | 0:01:59 | 0:02:02 | |
and they knew all the details of what I wanted. | 0:02:02 | 0:02:05 | |
Meet Tony Baker and his sister-in-law, Sue, from Liverpool. | 0:02:07 | 0:02:11 | |
In 2011, Tony, his wife Jan, daughter Katie, and Sue | 0:02:11 | 0:02:16 | |
spent a wonderful ten days in Nice in France. | 0:02:16 | 0:02:19 | |
In fact, they loved it so much, | 0:02:19 | 0:02:21 | |
they decided to do it again the following year. | 0:02:21 | 0:02:24 | |
I wanted the Kyriad hotel, which we had the previous year. | 0:02:25 | 0:02:29 | |
He booked in the same local travel agent he'd used last time, | 0:02:29 | 0:02:32 | |
the Co-operative Travel in Formby, | 0:02:32 | 0:02:34 | |
giving them all the details of what he wanted. | 0:02:34 | 0:02:37 | |
The agent was happy to oblige. | 0:02:37 | 0:02:39 | |
Tony paid the £3,686 | 0:02:39 | 0:02:42 | |
and, as he expected, everything ran smoothly. | 0:02:42 | 0:02:46 | |
When I got all the papers through, all the details, | 0:02:46 | 0:02:49 | |
I just saw the flights, the times from Liverpool, | 0:02:49 | 0:02:53 | |
Kyriad Hotel, and next to it, it said, "Nice". | 0:02:53 | 0:02:56 | |
So, to me, that was enough. | 0:02:56 | 0:02:59 | |
All the family had to do now was hold their breaths | 0:02:59 | 0:03:02 | |
until they could enjoy the treat. | 0:03:02 | 0:03:04 | |
And, come September 2012, | 0:03:04 | 0:03:06 | |
they finally arrived in their favourite hotel, | 0:03:06 | 0:03:08 | |
the Kyriad in Nice. | 0:03:08 | 0:03:10 | |
Walked in, said we were booked in. | 0:03:10 | 0:03:13 | |
And the concierge says, "No, you're not. We're fully booked." | 0:03:13 | 0:03:17 | |
We were absolutely dumbfounded and we said, "Well, you know, | 0:03:17 | 0:03:21 | |
"we must be booked in here! There must be a hitch with the paperwork." | 0:03:21 | 0:03:25 | |
It was devastating news. | 0:03:25 | 0:03:27 | |
But the hotel suggested they may be booked into another hotel | 0:03:27 | 0:03:30 | |
that used to belong to the Kyriad chain. | 0:03:30 | 0:03:33 | |
So they jumped into a taxi. | 0:03:33 | 0:03:36 | |
Get there, we weren't booked in that hotel. | 0:03:36 | 0:03:39 | |
But good enough, | 0:03:39 | 0:03:40 | |
the lady at the desk had the sense to look on the computer. | 0:03:40 | 0:03:44 | |
She found the Kyriad hotel that we should be in. | 0:03:45 | 0:03:48 | |
She phoned them up to confirm it, and it was in Aix-en-Provence. | 0:03:48 | 0:03:53 | |
Aix-en-Provence, a different city over 90 miles away. | 0:03:53 | 0:03:58 | |
And, in Nice, all the other hotels were fully booked. | 0:03:58 | 0:04:01 | |
Desperately needing a bed for the night, | 0:04:01 | 0:04:03 | |
the family reluctantly paid for and took the two train journeys | 0:04:03 | 0:04:07 | |
needed to travel the near 100 miles to their hotel. | 0:04:07 | 0:04:11 | |
Well, I thought, "Somebody's made a bad mistake. | 0:04:11 | 0:04:14 | |
"And I know it's not me, | 0:04:14 | 0:04:15 | |
"cos I asked for the same holiday from the previous year." | 0:04:15 | 0:04:19 | |
So what had gone wrong? | 0:04:19 | 0:04:20 | |
Tony, understandably, got straight on the phone to the Co-op helpline | 0:04:20 | 0:04:24 | |
but was told nothing could be done until after the weekend. | 0:04:24 | 0:04:28 | |
On Tuesday, Tony was told he could be moved back to Nice, | 0:04:28 | 0:04:32 | |
but he'd have to pay for the holiday again, another £3,500. | 0:04:32 | 0:04:37 | |
So I said, "No, I will pay no more money." | 0:04:37 | 0:04:41 | |
They seemed to be trying to fob me off to say it wasn't their fault, | 0:04:41 | 0:04:45 | |
I had actually booked in Provence. | 0:04:45 | 0:04:48 | |
But things were finally looking up. | 0:04:48 | 0:04:51 | |
After four nights in the wrong hotel and the wrong city, | 0:04:51 | 0:04:55 | |
the Co-operative Travel told the family they'd found them | 0:04:55 | 0:04:58 | |
a hotel in Nice that they wouldn't have to pay for again. | 0:04:58 | 0:05:01 | |
Fantastic, right? | 0:05:01 | 0:05:03 | |
The hotel we ended up in was, um... | 0:05:03 | 0:05:07 | |
at the airport. | 0:05:07 | 0:05:09 | |
It was at least three miles away. | 0:05:09 | 0:05:11 | |
There was nowhere around, no restaurants. | 0:05:11 | 0:05:14 | |
No bars. We were waving to the pilots taking off at the end of the runway. | 0:05:15 | 0:05:21 | |
-We were that close. -Yeah. It was totally unsuitable. | 0:05:21 | 0:05:25 | |
Back in the UK, after their 14-day let-down, | 0:05:25 | 0:05:28 | |
Tony went back to the travel agent with compensation on his mind. | 0:05:28 | 0:05:32 | |
But he was in for a shock. | 0:05:32 | 0:05:34 | |
The Co-operative Travel told him | 0:05:34 | 0:05:36 | |
the hotel booking wasn't their responsibility | 0:05:36 | 0:05:39 | |
but a tour operator called flexibletrips.com, | 0:05:39 | 0:05:42 | |
which is a trading name of Thomas Cook Retail Ltd, | 0:05:42 | 0:05:45 | |
and, like the Co-operative Travel, they're also ABTA bonded. | 0:05:45 | 0:05:50 | |
I was surprised to hear of a third party because, automatically, | 0:05:50 | 0:05:53 | |
if I go into a travel agent's and book a holiday with them, | 0:05:53 | 0:05:57 | |
I would expect them to sort everything out. | 0:05:57 | 0:06:00 | |
Never heard of Flexibletrips. | 0:06:00 | 0:06:03 | |
But he was about to hear a lot more. | 0:06:03 | 0:06:05 | |
Over the following months, the Co-operative Travel | 0:06:05 | 0:06:07 | |
and flexibletrips.com seemed to be blaming each other | 0:06:07 | 0:06:11 | |
for booking the wrong hotel. | 0:06:11 | 0:06:13 | |
It looked like neither company wanted to pick up the tab. | 0:06:13 | 0:06:16 | |
Flexibletrips did offer Tony vouchers for a discount | 0:06:16 | 0:06:20 | |
on a future holiday or his 300-euro train fares to be refunded. | 0:06:20 | 0:06:24 | |
He rejected both. | 0:06:24 | 0:06:26 | |
So who exactly is to blame for this still dragging on? | 0:06:26 | 0:06:30 | |
How does this kind of thing happen? | 0:06:30 | 0:06:32 | |
It shows the way the industry has developed over the years. | 0:06:32 | 0:06:35 | |
So you have lots of different companies, | 0:06:35 | 0:06:37 | |
some which are officially aligned to others, like Flexibletrips is owned | 0:06:37 | 0:06:41 | |
by somebody else, and it may have been booked by a particular agent. | 0:06:41 | 0:06:44 | |
So invariably, when things go wrong, it's difficult, initially, | 0:06:44 | 0:06:49 | |
to determine exactly whose fault it is. | 0:06:49 | 0:06:52 | |
Fair enough, but both companies are members of | 0:06:52 | 0:06:55 | |
the Association of British Travel Agents, or ABTA for short. | 0:06:55 | 0:06:58 | |
And this means they have to stick to their code of conduct and... | 0:06:58 | 0:07:02 | |
Tony's dispute has lasted nearly six months with no resolve. | 0:07:09 | 0:07:13 | |
I put this directly to ABTA. | 0:07:13 | 0:07:15 | |
How do you feel, though, about the fact that two ABTA members have this | 0:07:17 | 0:07:21 | |
unseemly squabble about a consumer who clearly deserves compensation? | 0:07:21 | 0:07:26 | |
I think you can very clearly see that if a mistake has been made, | 0:07:26 | 0:07:29 | |
it's kind of human nature to say, "Well, actually, it wasn't us," | 0:07:29 | 0:07:32 | |
particularly if it isn't necessarily very clear at the time | 0:07:32 | 0:07:35 | |
who made that mistake. | 0:07:35 | 0:07:36 | |
In this case, though, | 0:07:36 | 0:07:37 | |
are you satisfied that your code of conduct was adhered to here? | 0:07:37 | 0:07:42 | |
Clearly, there was a dispute between the two ABTA members involved | 0:07:42 | 0:07:45 | |
about, you know, who made the error in the first place. | 0:07:45 | 0:07:47 | |
There's nothing in the ABTA code of conduct that says | 0:07:47 | 0:07:49 | |
"If it's not very clear who is at fault | 0:07:49 | 0:07:51 | |
"that somebody must straight away take responsibility for this." | 0:07:51 | 0:07:54 | |
But I think the point is, at the end of this, | 0:07:54 | 0:07:56 | |
if it wasn't very clear straight away who was responsible, | 0:07:56 | 0:07:59 | |
inevitably, there was going to be a period of negotiation. | 0:07:59 | 0:08:03 | |
Yes, but a period of negotiation shouldn't take nearly half a year | 0:08:03 | 0:08:07 | |
with the consumer stuck in the middle | 0:08:07 | 0:08:09 | |
while the big boys squabble. | 0:08:09 | 0:08:11 | |
What's the point in a code of conduct that's seemingly being | 0:08:11 | 0:08:14 | |
ignored yet undermines everything travel agents should be about? | 0:08:14 | 0:08:18 | |
I mean, the whole idea of us having this super-duper holiday | 0:08:18 | 0:08:23 | |
booked through a travel agent's | 0:08:23 | 0:08:25 | |
was in order for everything to run smoothly. | 0:08:25 | 0:08:29 | |
Later on, we'll find out | 0:08:29 | 0:08:30 | |
if one of the companies will put this case to bed for Tony, | 0:08:30 | 0:08:34 | |
and that, unfortunately, he isn't the only person having trouble | 0:08:34 | 0:08:37 | |
with their high street travel agent. | 0:08:37 | 0:08:38 | |
Things to keep safe on my holiday. | 0:08:42 | 0:08:45 | |
Wallet, of course. Camera, check. | 0:08:45 | 0:08:49 | |
Phone, yup. | 0:08:49 | 0:08:51 | |
Name? Phone number? | 0:08:51 | 0:08:55 | |
Driver's licence details? | 0:08:55 | 0:08:57 | |
They'd be no use to anyone! | 0:08:57 | 0:08:59 | |
Or would they? | 0:08:59 | 0:09:01 | |
Unfortunately, yes. | 0:09:01 | 0:09:03 | |
Identity theft whilst we're on our holidays is a growing problem | 0:09:03 | 0:09:06 | |
with a cost to our economy rising to over £80 million a year. | 0:09:06 | 0:09:10 | |
So are we easy targets abroad? | 0:09:10 | 0:09:13 | |
I think it's very easy, | 0:09:13 | 0:09:14 | |
and particularly in environments like this, where people aren't | 0:09:14 | 0:09:18 | |
as much on their guard as they would be if they were back home in the UK. | 0:09:18 | 0:09:23 | |
For the overseas criminal, though, | 0:09:23 | 0:09:24 | |
personal information like names, addresses, dates of birth | 0:09:24 | 0:09:27 | |
can be used to obtain anything from credit cards | 0:09:27 | 0:09:30 | |
to mobile phone contracts in their victim's name. | 0:09:30 | 0:09:33 | |
So are these holidaying Brits aware of the dangers? | 0:09:33 | 0:09:36 | |
To find out, I've come up with an experiment. | 0:09:36 | 0:09:39 | |
I'm posing as a representative from | 0:09:39 | 0:09:41 | |
the EU Fraud and Scam Prevention Authority | 0:09:41 | 0:09:43 | |
or, to my friends, the FSPA. | 0:09:43 | 0:09:46 | |
We are a pan-European initiative to protect consumers against fraud. | 0:09:46 | 0:09:50 | |
Now, I have my official logo, | 0:09:50 | 0:09:53 | |
my lanyard, | 0:09:53 | 0:09:55 | |
and I've also got some forms here for your personal details. | 0:09:55 | 0:09:58 | |
Fill them in and I'll be on my way. | 0:09:58 | 0:10:01 | |
Obviously, the FSPA is not real, but these guys don't know that. | 0:10:01 | 0:10:06 | |
How likely are they to give me their personal details? | 0:10:06 | 0:10:09 | |
There's a new thing starting up, FSPA. | 0:10:09 | 0:10:11 | |
We're based in London | 0:10:11 | 0:10:12 | |
and it's a central database that protects people. | 0:10:12 | 0:10:15 | |
All you're required to do is put your details down, | 0:10:15 | 0:10:19 | |
you then get registered in a central database, | 0:10:19 | 0:10:21 | |
it's all completely confidential. | 0:10:21 | 0:10:23 | |
There is a bit of personal information, | 0:10:23 | 0:10:25 | |
but there is just things on you, | 0:10:25 | 0:10:26 | |
then you can constantly be called saying, "Is this you?" | 0:10:26 | 0:10:29 | |
Someone will call you back, and go, "Are you trying to buy that car? | 0:10:29 | 0:10:32 | |
"Are you trying to get that loan?" | 0:10:32 | 0:10:35 | |
But even with an official-looking costume and clipboard, | 0:10:35 | 0:10:37 | |
this lady is too street savvy. All I got there was the basics. | 0:10:37 | 0:10:41 | |
Name, address and it's time to come clean, let them know what I'm up to. | 0:10:41 | 0:10:46 | |
Oh, Stephanie, one more thing. Sorry! I know, I did lie. | 0:10:46 | 0:10:49 | |
You know what, I didn't put my full postcode or my right mobile. | 0:10:49 | 0:10:53 | |
What you did do was brilliant | 0:10:53 | 0:10:54 | |
because you didn't give us any of your really serious... | 0:10:54 | 0:10:57 | |
-I didn't give you my postcode. -You didn't give your postcode. | 0:10:57 | 0:11:00 | |
You haven't given us your next of kin's address, | 0:11:00 | 0:11:02 | |
you haven't given us your passport number. | 0:11:02 | 0:11:05 | |
-I did all right. -You did all right! | 0:11:05 | 0:11:07 | |
Let's see if the next person is as clued up. | 0:11:07 | 0:11:10 | |
We have all your details on a database, | 0:11:10 | 0:11:12 | |
it's to protect people so people aren't scammed. | 0:11:12 | 0:11:15 | |
I think the only problem is | 0:11:15 | 0:11:17 | |
because of the information you're asking for, | 0:11:17 | 0:11:19 | |
it's all the information you don't want to give out altogether. | 0:11:19 | 0:11:21 | |
She's one streetwise lady and having none of it, | 0:11:21 | 0:11:24 | |
despite my best efforts. | 0:11:24 | 0:11:26 | |
As you go through the questions you think, | 0:11:26 | 0:11:28 | |
"I'm not going to hand over my passport number, | 0:11:28 | 0:11:30 | |
"my national insurance number, | 0:11:30 | 0:11:32 | |
"all of the things you need | 0:11:32 | 0:11:33 | |
"in order to obviously steal someone's identity, basically." | 0:11:33 | 0:11:37 | |
It kind of went against what she was asking. | 0:11:37 | 0:11:39 | |
Good on you. But I'm rehearsed now | 0:11:39 | 0:11:41 | |
and I think my sales pitch is perfected. | 0:11:41 | 0:11:44 | |
We're trying to protect you. | 0:11:44 | 0:11:46 | |
It doesn't cost anything, it's a database, | 0:11:46 | 0:11:48 | |
it stores your information. | 0:11:48 | 0:11:49 | |
-Would you be interested in filling it out to get on? -Yeah, that's fine, I'll do that. | 0:11:49 | 0:11:53 | |
You've got your address, your phone number, e-mail. | 0:11:53 | 0:11:57 | |
But on page two of my form | 0:11:57 | 0:11:59 | |
is the really crucial information criminals need. | 0:11:59 | 0:12:03 | |
You know all your bank details. | 0:12:03 | 0:12:05 | |
Gosh, you know all his details as well! | 0:12:05 | 0:12:07 | |
With a good enough cover story, | 0:12:07 | 0:12:09 | |
I've just been given not only both people's bank details | 0:12:09 | 0:12:12 | |
but their whole identities as well. | 0:12:12 | 0:12:15 | |
These details could be used to take out loans, credit cards, | 0:12:15 | 0:12:18 | |
open new bank accounts or clear out existing ones, | 0:12:18 | 0:12:22 | |
and all in the victim's name. | 0:12:22 | 0:12:23 | |
Time to break the news. | 0:12:23 | 0:12:25 | |
-Stacey and Sean. -No. | 0:12:27 | 0:12:29 | |
OK, you have done the wrong thing. | 0:12:29 | 0:12:31 | |
-Everything I said to you is true. -Yeah. | 0:12:31 | 0:12:33 | |
About people coming out and their identities being stolen. | 0:12:33 | 0:12:36 | |
More and more in peak season, | 0:12:36 | 0:12:38 | |
people grab you and they'll have a chat with you | 0:12:38 | 0:12:40 | |
and will take your details. | 0:12:40 | 0:12:42 | |
Now, don't. I have got a lanyard, I have got T-shirt. | 0:12:42 | 0:12:45 | |
Just because I've made myself look professional, | 0:12:45 | 0:12:48 | |
do not think that they are honest. | 0:12:48 | 0:12:51 | |
So you need to be as aware as you would be at home. | 0:12:51 | 0:12:55 | |
Our victim is understandably a little put out that I duped her, | 0:12:55 | 0:12:58 | |
but is happy to know that she's helping people see how easy it is. | 0:12:58 | 0:13:02 | |
Now all the details I've gathered today have been securely destroyed | 0:13:02 | 0:13:06 | |
so no-one can abuse them. | 0:13:06 | 0:13:08 | |
The rain has called time on my scamming, but whilst I was out there | 0:13:10 | 0:13:13 | |
chatting to people, everyone was really worried about identity theft. | 0:13:13 | 0:13:16 | |
Some so worried they were willing to give their personal details | 0:13:16 | 0:13:19 | |
to me, a complete stranger. | 0:13:19 | 0:13:21 | |
But some were a little bit more savvy, they've been burnt before | 0:13:21 | 0:13:24 | |
and wanted to keep their personal details safe. | 0:13:24 | 0:13:27 | |
But it does go to show, | 0:13:27 | 0:13:28 | |
you can easily become a victim of identity theft. | 0:13:28 | 0:13:32 | |
So keep your details safe, especially on holiday. | 0:13:32 | 0:13:35 | |
Although many of us now book our holidays ourselves, | 0:13:37 | 0:13:41 | |
a good travel agent is still worth their weight in gold, | 0:13:41 | 0:13:44 | |
especially if you have very specific requirements. | 0:13:44 | 0:13:48 | |
But the personal service doesn't always deliver. | 0:13:48 | 0:13:52 | |
As we've already seen. | 0:13:52 | 0:13:54 | |
People put their precious two weeks in the sun at the hands | 0:13:54 | 0:13:56 | |
of the travel agents because they want expertise, knowledge, | 0:13:56 | 0:14:00 | |
but, above all, they want protection should the worst happen. | 0:14:00 | 0:14:03 | |
And if you want a package holiday, | 0:14:03 | 0:14:05 | |
the high street is the place to head to. | 0:14:05 | 0:14:07 | |
It's a local travel agent. | 0:14:07 | 0:14:09 | |
My daughter is a bit old-fashioned like that, | 0:14:09 | 0:14:11 | |
she says you should keep the high street going. | 0:14:11 | 0:14:13 | |
Meet Michael Fresco, from Essex. | 0:14:13 | 0:14:15 | |
A retired grandfather with a passion for keeping fit | 0:14:15 | 0:14:19 | |
and foreign holidays. | 0:14:19 | 0:14:20 | |
In July 2012, he wanted to treat his daughter, Nicole, | 0:14:20 | 0:14:23 | |
and her two children to a week away in the sun. | 0:14:23 | 0:14:27 | |
Holidays with the kids are more important because they're fun. | 0:14:27 | 0:14:30 | |
They're going to grow up and disappear. | 0:14:30 | 0:14:32 | |
But they'll always remember their holidays with their grandfather. | 0:14:32 | 0:14:36 | |
When it came to booking the holiday, the family wanted a package deal. | 0:14:36 | 0:14:40 | |
So daughter Nicole pointed her father in the direction | 0:14:40 | 0:14:43 | |
of their local high street travel agent, | 0:14:43 | 0:14:45 | |
a small company called Felton Travel Limited. | 0:14:45 | 0:14:48 | |
Not to be confused with any similar sounding companies. | 0:14:48 | 0:14:51 | |
He knew about flights, hotels, | 0:14:51 | 0:14:54 | |
he knew what you were looking for and what you wanted. | 0:14:54 | 0:14:56 | |
He was a very experienced travel agent. | 0:14:56 | 0:14:59 | |
Michael decided on a week in Majorca. | 0:14:59 | 0:15:01 | |
He committed to flights, accommodation, a hire car | 0:15:01 | 0:15:05 | |
and a meet and greet service for a total of £4,533. | 0:15:05 | 0:15:10 | |
Felton Travel booked his package with tour operator Thomson Holidays. | 0:15:10 | 0:15:15 | |
So, should anything go wrong, Thomson would sort it out. | 0:15:15 | 0:15:19 | |
It was a hooray for the high street and the family couldn't wait. | 0:15:19 | 0:15:24 | |
We were heading to the airport and singing, | 0:15:24 | 0:15:26 | |
"We're all going on a summer holiday." | 0:15:26 | 0:15:28 | |
We got to Gatwick at 4am and checked in. | 0:15:28 | 0:15:33 | |
It was then we were told the tickets were not valid, | 0:15:33 | 0:15:36 | |
they are not a Thomson ticket. | 0:15:36 | 0:15:38 | |
They tried to sort it out but they said, "These are not valid | 0:15:38 | 0:15:41 | |
"tickets whatsoever, I don't know where you've got them from." | 0:15:41 | 0:15:43 | |
Not valid - how can that happen? And it's 4am! | 0:15:43 | 0:15:48 | |
The Thomson reps tried their hardest to help Michael travel that day. | 0:15:48 | 0:15:52 | |
But, after exploring every avenue to get a last-minute holiday sorted, | 0:15:52 | 0:15:56 | |
in the end it proved hopeless. | 0:15:56 | 0:15:58 | |
Michael's situation was extremely rare and extremely upsetting, | 0:15:58 | 0:16:02 | |
especially for his grandchildren. | 0:16:02 | 0:16:05 | |
When they realised they weren't going on holiday, they were very upset. | 0:16:05 | 0:16:08 | |
Fortunately they were very tired as well, | 0:16:08 | 0:16:10 | |
so when we got the car back they fell asleep in the car on the way home, | 0:16:10 | 0:16:14 | |
which was probably the best thing for them. | 0:16:14 | 0:16:17 | |
It was a massive letdown for everyone. | 0:16:17 | 0:16:20 | |
As it turned out, Thomson hadn't even been paid by Felton Travel | 0:16:20 | 0:16:24 | |
for any part of Michael's holiday. | 0:16:24 | 0:16:26 | |
In fact, they had no record of his booking, | 0:16:26 | 0:16:28 | |
meaning he had no contract with Thomson. | 0:16:28 | 0:16:31 | |
Meaning they held zero responsibility. | 0:16:31 | 0:16:34 | |
After getting back to Essex and dropping the children off, | 0:16:34 | 0:16:37 | |
there was only one thing on Michael's mind. | 0:16:37 | 0:16:40 | |
I drove straight round to Felton Travel, where I noticed on the door | 0:16:41 | 0:16:47 | |
it had a sign saying basically, | 0:16:47 | 0:16:49 | |
"We're sorry but we've gone out of business." | 0:16:49 | 0:16:52 | |
Michael was furious and over the following days he discovered | 0:16:54 | 0:16:58 | |
from other disgruntled customers the business was in insolvency. | 0:16:58 | 0:17:02 | |
But Felton travel were ABTA bonded, | 0:17:02 | 0:17:04 | |
something we're told offers protection. | 0:17:04 | 0:17:08 | |
So when you book a holiday that is through | 0:17:08 | 0:17:11 | |
an ABTA-affiliated company, what does it mean for the consumer, | 0:17:11 | 0:17:15 | |
what are you being offered there? | 0:17:15 | 0:17:16 | |
I think the most important thing is | 0:17:16 | 0:17:18 | |
when you are booking with an ABTA member is you can be reassured | 0:17:18 | 0:17:21 | |
they will provide you with high standards of service, | 0:17:21 | 0:17:24 | |
high levels of care. And one of the reasons they do that | 0:17:24 | 0:17:27 | |
if we have a very strict code of conduct which they have to abide by. | 0:17:27 | 0:17:30 | |
And if things do go wrong | 0:17:30 | 0:17:31 | |
we have a low-cost arbitration scheme that people can use, | 0:17:31 | 0:17:35 | |
which is faster and cheaper than going to the Small Claims Court. | 0:17:35 | 0:17:38 | |
What do ABTA members have to do each year to keep being members? | 0:17:38 | 0:17:42 | |
We will do checks on our members' accounts, | 0:17:42 | 0:17:44 | |
to ensure they are clearly financially solvent. | 0:17:44 | 0:17:47 | |
They also, in many cases, have to provide financial protection | 0:17:47 | 0:17:51 | |
for their customers and we will keep a close eye on that as well. | 0:17:51 | 0:17:54 | |
ABTA don't seem to have been keeping a close eye | 0:17:54 | 0:17:57 | |
on Felton Travel's accounts. | 0:17:57 | 0:17:59 | |
And codes of conduct and level of care are all well and good, | 0:17:59 | 0:18:02 | |
but what about facilitating customers getting their money back? | 0:18:02 | 0:18:06 | |
ABTA is a very useful badge. | 0:18:06 | 0:18:09 | |
It means the travel agency has fulfilled the requirements | 0:18:09 | 0:18:12 | |
of the main travel trade association, and that is a good thing. | 0:18:12 | 0:18:17 | |
However, it's no longer the absolute guarantor of last resort | 0:18:17 | 0:18:21 | |
that whatever happens, if it's an ABTA travel agent, | 0:18:21 | 0:18:25 | |
you will get all your money back. | 0:18:25 | 0:18:28 | |
We spoke to ABTA about this and they assured us, | 0:18:28 | 0:18:31 | |
if you book a package holiday with an ABTA-bonded travel agent | 0:18:31 | 0:18:34 | |
and they go bust, your holiday would be honoured by the tour operator. | 0:18:34 | 0:18:38 | |
But if the tour operator goes bust... | 0:18:38 | 0:18:41 | |
But, in Michael's case, no booking was actually made | 0:18:46 | 0:18:49 | |
with tour operator Thomson, so according to ABTA | 0:18:49 | 0:18:52 | |
he was left with one option to get his money back. | 0:18:52 | 0:18:55 | |
What's a traveller's best friend? | 0:19:01 | 0:19:03 | |
Well, after a passport, it's probably a credit card. | 0:19:03 | 0:19:07 | |
Not just because it enables you to buy flights and holidays | 0:19:07 | 0:19:11 | |
and not pay for them for weeks afterwards, | 0:19:11 | 0:19:13 | |
but because it confers protection under the Consumer Credit Act. | 0:19:13 | 0:19:17 | |
And this was exactly what the disgruntled customers | 0:19:17 | 0:19:21 | |
who'd lost out to Felton Travel were told to use. | 0:19:21 | 0:19:25 | |
Obviously I contacted my credit card company immediately | 0:19:25 | 0:19:29 | |
and they paid out. It wasn't a problem. | 0:19:29 | 0:19:32 | |
So the only loss was the petrol to and from Gatwick | 0:19:34 | 0:19:39 | |
and the loss of the holiday. | 0:19:39 | 0:19:41 | |
But for customers who'd paid cash to Felton Travel | 0:19:41 | 0:19:44 | |
and had received no holiday, they were left with nowhere to turn. | 0:19:44 | 0:19:48 | |
Michael is philosophical about his experiences. | 0:19:48 | 0:19:52 | |
If it happened again, you'd think twice about doing it. | 0:19:52 | 0:19:57 | |
Coming up, with ABTA membership | 0:19:59 | 0:20:01 | |
unable to provide any protection in this case, | 0:20:01 | 0:20:04 | |
I'll be asking them what the ABTA brand really means to consumers. | 0:20:04 | 0:20:08 | |
I've been looking into the crimes we least suspect on our holidays, | 0:20:13 | 0:20:16 | |
like identity theft. | 0:20:16 | 0:20:18 | |
But another thing we can take for granted | 0:20:18 | 0:20:21 | |
is the security of our plush hotel. | 0:20:21 | 0:20:23 | |
So I've come to meet a security expert. | 0:20:24 | 0:20:27 | |
David Thomas has worked for both the Hong Kong police and Interpol. | 0:20:27 | 0:20:31 | |
He has a fascinating insight into the world of hotels | 0:20:31 | 0:20:34 | |
and the crime that can come with them. | 0:20:34 | 0:20:37 | |
When you're looking at your holidays, | 0:20:37 | 0:20:39 | |
is it going to be safer to stay in a one-star or a five-star? | 0:20:39 | 0:20:43 | |
It's nothing to do with the star rating. That is for sure. | 0:20:43 | 0:20:47 | |
You would assume that all five-stars | 0:20:47 | 0:20:50 | |
would have much higher security than, say, a budget hotel. | 0:20:50 | 0:20:54 | |
Yes, you can generalise to some extent and say that would | 0:20:54 | 0:20:57 | |
normally be the case, but that's not ALWAYS the case. | 0:20:57 | 0:21:00 | |
As David's next shocking story highlights, | 0:21:00 | 0:21:03 | |
the criminals target one of the key things we think are secure. | 0:21:03 | 0:21:06 | |
There was a very interesting example of the problem with key cards, | 0:21:06 | 0:21:10 | |
which surfaced in the USA. | 0:21:10 | 0:21:13 | |
A laptop had gone missing from a hotel room. | 0:21:13 | 0:21:16 | |
This was a five-star hotel. | 0:21:16 | 0:21:18 | |
There was no indication at all that that room had been opened | 0:21:18 | 0:21:23 | |
using the key card, and the rest of the room was totally secure. | 0:21:23 | 0:21:27 | |
So there was an investigation into this | 0:21:27 | 0:21:29 | |
and, a few days later, somebody was arrested with that particular laptop. | 0:21:29 | 0:21:33 | |
What they found is that this person, using a home-made hacking device, | 0:21:33 | 0:21:39 | |
had actually managed to hack into the room lock. | 0:21:39 | 0:21:42 | |
And what they'd done, this device had fitted into the slot. | 0:21:42 | 0:21:46 | |
It wasn't just that particular door, | 0:21:46 | 0:21:48 | |
it was a whole string of rooms in this particular hotel. | 0:21:48 | 0:21:51 | |
It turned out that the company that has supplied the locks, | 0:21:51 | 0:21:55 | |
that the software which they had used was particularly vulnerable. | 0:21:55 | 0:22:00 | |
And this amounted to over 4 million hotel room locks worldwide. | 0:22:00 | 0:22:05 | |
My goodness! | 0:22:05 | 0:22:07 | |
And now the company concerned | 0:22:07 | 0:22:08 | |
obviously had to take action in this respect. | 0:22:08 | 0:22:11 | |
A lot of the locks have been reprogrammed or replaced. | 0:22:11 | 0:22:15 | |
That's a lot of locks! | 0:22:15 | 0:22:16 | |
What kind of information is on the hotel key cards? | 0:22:16 | 0:22:20 | |
Well, the information on hotel room key cards these days | 0:22:20 | 0:22:24 | |
is basically an encrypted serial number. | 0:22:24 | 0:22:28 | |
And that includes the access code, the room number | 0:22:28 | 0:22:32 | |
and the duration of when you're going to be there. | 0:22:32 | 0:22:35 | |
No personal information is stored on that card. | 0:22:35 | 0:22:38 | |
Secondly, those cards are very difficult to read. | 0:22:38 | 0:22:42 | |
What happened in the USA shouldn't happen again, | 0:22:42 | 0:22:44 | |
but criminals also update their technology. | 0:22:44 | 0:22:48 | |
It's best to take very good care of these cards | 0:22:48 | 0:22:50 | |
because, if they get stolen, any criminal can go to the hotel | 0:22:50 | 0:22:54 | |
and try and get access to your room. | 0:22:54 | 0:22:57 | |
But that's not the only trick crafty crims have up their sleeves. | 0:22:57 | 0:23:01 | |
I think one thing to be aware of also is when you check into a hotel room, | 0:23:01 | 0:23:05 | |
if you receive a phone call maybe a few minutes later | 0:23:05 | 0:23:08 | |
purporting to come from the reception desk saying, | 0:23:08 | 0:23:11 | |
"Oh, when you checked in, we didn't take your credit card number down properly," | 0:23:11 | 0:23:15 | |
or something like that, | 0:23:15 | 0:23:17 | |
be very, very aware because it may not be the reception desk. | 0:23:17 | 0:23:20 | |
It could be somebody else. | 0:23:20 | 0:23:22 | |
Plus, if you get a phone call saying, | 0:23:22 | 0:23:24 | |
"Oh, we're sending somebody up to attend to your room." | 0:23:24 | 0:23:28 | |
It's always best to phone back the reception desk and say, | 0:23:28 | 0:23:32 | |
"Have you just phoned us? Is there somebody coming up to my room?" | 0:23:32 | 0:23:36 | |
And don't give out that information, particularly regarding credit cards. | 0:23:36 | 0:23:39 | |
It could be anybody. | 0:23:39 | 0:23:41 | |
Sound advice, | 0:23:41 | 0:23:42 | |
but David is keen to stress a little common sense can go a long way. | 0:23:42 | 0:23:47 | |
I always say, to get the maximum enjoyment from your holiday, | 0:23:47 | 0:23:50 | |
you should also include a little bit of attention | 0:23:50 | 0:23:53 | |
to your safety aspects as well. | 0:23:53 | 0:23:55 | |
Then you can really sure that you reduce the risk | 0:23:55 | 0:23:57 | |
of becoming a victim of crime and you really enjoy yourself, | 0:23:57 | 0:24:00 | |
and that's what it's all about. | 0:24:00 | 0:24:02 | |
I couldn't agree more. | 0:24:02 | 0:24:03 | |
Most of us put a lot of time into planning our holidays | 0:24:07 | 0:24:10 | |
and with good reason, because the last thing anyone wants | 0:24:10 | 0:24:14 | |
is for something to go wrong and ruin our two weeks in the sun. | 0:24:14 | 0:24:18 | |
That's why a lot of us still put weight in the face-to-face contact | 0:24:18 | 0:24:22 | |
and experience of the high street travel agent. | 0:24:22 | 0:24:25 | |
But in this internet world, we can all be our own travel agent, | 0:24:25 | 0:24:29 | |
as we have access to the same flights and hotels as they do. | 0:24:29 | 0:24:32 | |
But is it the same? | 0:24:32 | 0:24:34 | |
Online travel guru Kevin May is just the man to tell us. | 0:24:34 | 0:24:38 | |
There are many people who still think that the safest way | 0:24:38 | 0:24:42 | |
to book a holiday is to go to a travel agent. | 0:24:42 | 0:24:44 | |
And they think perhaps the internet is best avoided. | 0:24:44 | 0:24:47 | |
I think that's a misconception | 0:24:47 | 0:24:49 | |
because take, for example, an organisation like Expedia, | 0:24:49 | 0:24:53 | |
which is one of the biggest online travel agencies on the planet. | 0:24:53 | 0:24:56 | |
The way it sells its holidays, or its hotel rooms, | 0:24:56 | 0:25:01 | |
means it is protected in exactly the same way as if I walked into | 0:25:01 | 0:25:05 | |
a high street travel agent that says it is a member of ABTA. | 0:25:05 | 0:25:10 | |
And its holidays are protected by ATOL. | 0:25:10 | 0:25:11 | |
There's no difference at all, it's just the channel | 0:25:11 | 0:25:14 | |
in which you parted with the money that is different. | 0:25:14 | 0:25:16 | |
If they're selling a package holiday, you are protected. | 0:25:16 | 0:25:19 | |
But holidaymaker Tony Baker was left stuck in the middle | 0:25:20 | 0:25:24 | |
of a squabble between two ABTA-bonded companies | 0:25:24 | 0:25:27 | |
who wouldn't agree who'd booked him into the wrong hotel. | 0:25:27 | 0:25:31 | |
People like Tony are reassured to see the ABTA logo | 0:25:31 | 0:25:34 | |
when they book a holiday because they believe it will protect them | 0:25:34 | 0:25:38 | |
if things go wrong. | 0:25:38 | 0:25:40 | |
But surely his experience suggests that consumers | 0:25:40 | 0:25:44 | |
shouldn't necessarily be reassured by that logo. | 0:25:44 | 0:25:46 | |
I'm not going to pretend that ABTA members never make mistakes. | 0:25:46 | 0:25:50 | |
They are human beings, of course they make mistakes. | 0:25:50 | 0:25:53 | |
But the point is, the reason we have a code of conduct | 0:25:53 | 0:25:55 | |
is to minimise the possibility of things going wrong. | 0:25:55 | 0:25:58 | |
But when it does, | 0:25:58 | 0:26:00 | |
then it's very important that it is resolved satisfactorily. | 0:26:00 | 0:26:04 | |
Sometimes it may take a little bit longer, depending on the problem, | 0:26:04 | 0:26:07 | |
but, in the end, the customer should get redress. | 0:26:07 | 0:26:09 | |
Talking of redress, Tony Baker's battle with the Co-operative Travel | 0:26:11 | 0:26:16 | |
and flexibletrips.com has raged for the last six months. | 0:26:16 | 0:26:20 | |
So we wrote to both companies and asked them | 0:26:21 | 0:26:23 | |
to finally work out who was at fault for booking | 0:26:23 | 0:26:26 | |
the Bakers into a hotel in Aix-en-Provence | 0:26:26 | 0:26:30 | |
when they asked for Nice. | 0:26:30 | 0:26:32 | |
The family spent four days of their two-week trip in the wrong city | 0:26:32 | 0:26:36 | |
and then the last ten days staying at a hotel next to Nice airport. | 0:26:36 | 0:26:41 | |
Interestingly, it is Thomas Cook, who own flexibletrips.com, | 0:26:41 | 0:26:46 | |
who have written to Tony. | 0:26:46 | 0:26:47 | |
The letter we've been waiting for. | 0:26:47 | 0:26:50 | |
"Please finding closed our cheque for the value of £1,955. | 0:26:51 | 0:26:58 | |
"This payment represents a refund of accommodation. | 0:26:58 | 0:27:02 | |
"I am also refunding train and taxi costs. | 0:27:02 | 0:27:07 | |
"These equal £300." Very good. | 0:27:07 | 0:27:13 | |
-More than I expected. -I can't believe it! | 0:27:13 | 0:27:16 | |
What a result! | 0:27:16 | 0:27:17 | |
It may have taken nearly half a year but, finally, | 0:27:17 | 0:27:20 | |
flexibletrips.com has admitted that it was their error. | 0:27:20 | 0:27:24 | |
The Co-operative Travel wasn't responsible for the original | 0:27:24 | 0:27:27 | |
mistake, but the travel agents' actions were far from perfect. | 0:27:27 | 0:27:31 | |
I think, at the beginning, | 0:27:31 | 0:27:32 | |
if they'd had somebody from customer relations speaking to me | 0:27:32 | 0:27:37 | |
instead of having to go through third parties all the time, | 0:27:37 | 0:27:41 | |
life would have been much easier for everyone. | 0:27:41 | 0:27:43 | |
With the battle over, the Bakers can finally move on. | 0:27:43 | 0:27:47 | |
'Sit back and relax now' | 0:27:47 | 0:27:49 | |
and think about another holiday to get over the last one! | 0:27:49 | 0:27:52 | |
THEY LAUGH | 0:27:52 | 0:27:54 | |
That's all for today but remember, | 0:27:54 | 0:27:57 | |
whether online or on the high street, find out exactly | 0:27:57 | 0:28:00 | |
the type of holiday you're booking and who you or contract is with. | 0:28:00 | 0:28:04 | |
That way, you'll know exactly who to turn to when things go wrong. | 0:28:04 | 0:28:08 | |
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd | 0:28:33 | 0:28:36 |