Episode 2 Rip Off Britain: Holidays

We asked you who has left you feeling ripped off

when it comes to your holidays.

The whole year of our lives, waiting for a holiday,

planning for a holiday, that has just gone.

It's devastating.

They said it was over £3,000. I nearly had a heart attack.

I went, "No, there's got to be something wrong here."

So, whether it's a deliberate rip off, a simple mistake,

or a catch in the small print,

we'll find out why you're out of pocket and what you can do about it.

Your stories, your money. This is Rip Off Britain.

Hello, and welcome to Tenerife for a special week of Rip Off Britain

investigating more of the problems that you've experienced

whilst you're on holiday,

whether that's abroad, as we are, here in the Canaries,

or if you're at home in the UK. But whatever you're doing,

that well-earned break is a real highlight of the year

so you're not going to want things to go badly, are you?

Now, of course, only the fussiest amongst us

expect absolutely everything to be perfect.

And it's inevitable that occasionally things will go wrong.

But when they do, whether it's major or minor,

all any of us wants is for the situation to be put right, and fast.

And the first part of that is for someone to actually

put their hand up and take responsibility.

And therein lies in the problem because, as is very much the case

in some of the stories that we're going to be hearing about today,

quite often it seems that absolutely nobody wants to stand up

and say the buck stops with them.

And you can be left in limbo just at the very moment

when you need support most.

So, what we're going to be doing is finding out just who is responsible

for making sure that your holiday goes to plan

and what you can do when it doesn't.

Coming up, a hotel fire and the families who say it wasn't as easy

as it should have been to get out.

I was thinking, "Am I actually going to get out of here?"

Cos it really...I can never convey how scary it was.

And how safe is your hand baggage on a plane?

Here's what can happen if all those overhead lockers are full.

Those bags, unlabeled, were very obvious, they were targets.

Whether you're booking a holiday in a travel agents or doing it online,

there are obviously certain things that you'd like to think

can be taken as read, and one of the most fundamental is that

wherever you're going will be safe.

Now, of course, things can go wrong

even when all the right precautions are in place.

But when disaster struck for the families

staying at one very smart hotel,

they're not convinced everything was working quite as it should.

I just thought, "Right, we need to get out of here.

"We need to be as quick as possible and get to safety."

I thought, "This is it." There was...

It was just the most horrific thing. It really was.

Guys, if you'd like to come to the front of your mat.

Yoga instructor Cathy Moors had planned a very special holiday

in Turkey to celebrate her 60th birthday.

And daughter Kelly was delighted to be going along.

It was a big holiday, really. It was something that was quite special

and that's why we booked to go to a five-star resort.

That hotel was the lavish Baia Lara in Antalya,

shown here in this promotional video.

Located on its own stretch of beach,

with two pools, a spa and breathtaking views.

Cathy and Kelly were so impressed with what they saw

they booked ten nights there with Thomas Cook.

Everything about it just ticked all the boxes.

We worked to save up and put into our little pot for it

and we were really looking forward to it.

And when the holiday finally came around in July,

that excitement seemed more than justified.

When we went into the hotel the reception was beautiful

and the staff were so lovely.

And it felt very modern, very clean, very new.

It looked a little bit more luxurious than what

we would normally expect on our holidays.

But in the early hours of their third night,

all that came to a sudden end.

There was a power cut

and it was only brief but we did have a quick look outside

and everything seemed normal when the electricity came back on.

Then almost immediately, the power went off again.

We went on to the balcony at that point, thinking,

"I wonder why there are so many breaks in the electricity?"

But that's when we saw the people on the balconies of the hotel opposite.

And they were shouting, "Fire! Fire!"

And they were pointing down to the base of the hotel.

Down in the basement, a generator had overheated

and as the fire took hold, smoke was billowing up through the hotel.

It was just sort of like...disbelief at first. And we went inside.

You said to me, "I think we ought to get out of here now, Mum."

Cathy and Kelly are adamant it was the shouts from the hotel opposite

that made them aware that a fire was raging below.

They insist they heard no fire alarms go off at the Baia Lara,

something that the hotel emphatically rejects.

As we started going down, I remember us then commenting that,

-"Where's the lights?"

-Yeah.

And "Where's the alarms?"

And I said to you as we got down,

cos I remember looking down the stairwell

and seeing it curling round and round and round and thinking,

"I'm really worried about us getting out now."

Meanwhile, on the floor above,

Ian and his wife Lynne from South London,

were staying at the Baia Lara with Lynne's three siblings

and their other halves.

Now, when Ian realised the power was off, he decided to investigate.

Went out onto the balcony and all I could see was people hollering

and screaming up, "Fire! Fire! Get out!"

I see the fire engines coming down the road.

Went back into the room. I had to wake Lynne up

so just grabbed hold of a couple of bathrobes.

As we walked out to the door, like, there was just, like,

thick smoke straight in your face

and your lungs started filling up as soon as you walked out into it.

As we were going down, we couldn't see nothing.

There was no sort of back up lighting or alarms going off.

We got halfway down and I said, "You're going to have to leave me,

"we're going to have to die here." I said, "I can't go no further.

"I can't see what I'm doing, I just can't..."

And they was all shouting at me, my family was shouting at me

and was shouting, "Come on, Lynne, we got to get down these stairs."

And I saw and heard someone shouting and an arm come out

and pulled us out into the fresh air.

Back on the sixth floor, Cathy and Kelly were also trying to get out

but they didn't find it easy.

That was the point when I actually was thinking,

"Am I actually going to get out of here?" Cos it really...

I can never convey how scary it was.

We were already using the iPad and the phones by that point,

just for some light.

Because it was so dangerous and you just couldn't see a thing.

Now, thankfully, both families made it out safely,

as did the rest of the guests.

We started coughing, spluttering, cos all our lungs

and that were full up with smoke.

When the Thomas Cook reps arrived, they started to sort out

temporary hotels for the seriously-shaken holidaymakers.

But all Cathy and Kelly now wanted to do was to go home

and as soon as possible.

They didn't want to wait around for their original flight

which was still days away.

But in the morning, Cathy and Kelly claim Thomas Cook insisted

there were no seats available on any earlier flights to the UK.

It seemed hard to believe so we went on to the internet

and just started looking for ourselves.

And straight away on their own website

we found many seats available on flights.

Only then were they able to persuade Thomas Cook

to let them go home early.

After all the months of planning for the holiday, looking forward to it,

getting there, and it being a fantastic place...

To suddenly have everything go so badly wrong and to feel that we

were just ignored in a time when we needed help and support.

Normally when you come home, you're moaning about the weather

and, you know, you want to stay on holiday.

I've never been so glad to get back home.

Now, according to Turkish law, hotels must have fire alarms,

fire extinguishers, clearly marked fire exits,

and a fire exit plan in place.

Cathy and Kelly claim there was no evidence of any of these

on the night of the fire - something the hotel disputes.

But either way, how much responsibility should

the company you book with - in this case Thomas Cook -

take for checking safety standards are all in place?

And what are their responsibilities if things go wrong?

Well, according to the Package Holiday Regulations,

under which holidays like this are covered,

it's up to the tour operator to ensure the hotels

they are sending customers to are safe.

But the health and safety standards of the country the hotel is in

may also determine what regulations they have to meet,

and if things do go wrong,

then contact your resort rep or your insurance company

or the British Consul,

all of whom should be able to get you home as soon as possible.

Now, when we contacted Thomas Cook about this particular case,

they told us that an inspection was carried out after the fire

by an independent expert that showed that the Baia Lara's

fire prevention measures are...

They say that safety is always their ultimate priority,

and that they'd been...

..following their return to...

We also spoke to the hotel, who insisted that...

..had been taken on the night.

And that this was proved by the subsequent inspection.

They are adamant that...

..saying that any difficulties guests reported

in getting out were...

They also stressed that after a short while,

most guests were able to carry on with their holiday as normal.

But that doesn't satisfy all the families caught up in the fire.

I'm not hard of hearing and I know that no alarms were going off.

There weren't no emergency lighting.

You know, the memories of what had happened were awful

and I'm sure will stay with us a long time and the sort of thing

you expect to get home and thinking,

"God, that was such a fantastic holiday."

And all we have is horrible memories.

I'm guessing that before any of us set out on a trip,

we like to spend a certain amount of time checking that

everything is going to be as it should.

Going over the details for the flight, for the hotel,

for the transfer to and from the location.

But, of course, all of that attention to detail is even

more important if you're disabled.

And so we asked Nikki Fox, who uses a motorised scooter,

to do a bit of research for us

and see just how easy it really is to plan in advance

and ensure that your mobility needs really have been catered for.

We then sent her to meet a couple who really felt they had done

everything right - only to discover that everything went wrong.

TV presenter Nikki Fox knows only too well the problems -

and embarrassments -

that travellers with a disability can experience on holiday.

I think, unfortunately, the travel industry has got a fair way

to go when it comes to disabled holidaymakers.

Something's going wrong

and the system isn't working brilliantly at the moment.

I've got there and in one particular case there were stairs,

there were quite a few steps. And it's not ideal cos when you go away

you kind of want to be as independent is possible.

Nikki's come to meet Michael Cooper,

who's also experienced problems travelling abroad.

And after his most recent holiday disaster, he has no intention

of putting himself through anything similar again.

-Come on, Nikki.

-I'm coming, Michael.

Instead, for the foreseeable future,

his holidays will only be in his caravan.

Are you collecting the vouchers?

Mike's been in a wheelchair since an accident at work 17 years ago

left him paralysed from the waist down.

Active and mobile, he now works at a local supermarket in Telford.

But after a tough couple of years, he and wife Lynne had hoped

that a holiday in Tenerife would lift their spirits.

He booked with First Choice,

though only after checking that all would be suitable.

How much preparation did you put in before booking your holiday?

We thought as we'd actually done...

adequate in actually spending four hours going through everything,

getting them to phone the hotel and measure doors

and see everything was right.

Booking the taxis, which we knew as we needed.

But even before they took off, their plans began to come unstuck.

The extra legroom seats that they'd booked at the front of the plane

had been allocated to somebody else.

Poor stewardess took one look at Michael in his wheelchair

and went, "Can you stand?"

No, he's paralysed from his waist down. He's a paraplegic.

And they said, "Ah. OK, this is going to be a problem."

My heart just sank. I was thinking, "No, please don't give us a problem!

"We don't need it."

They had to move people around, so everybody was looking at us,

which was really embarrassing.

And when they landed their problems continued,

starting with the taxis that they'd pre-booked.

We got off at Tenerife and it was dark and the kids were tired

and moaning.

They headed us towards the taxi rank.

And called our name. And lo and behold, they'd sent a minibus.

And it wasn't even a minibus that was disabled-friendly

with a ramp or anything.

OK, so you got to the hotel.

You're thinking, "Nothing more can go wrong."

And then you were shown to your room.

We walked into our room and...

..just looked at each other.

And I opened the bathroom door and went, "I don't believe it.

"I just don't believe it."

It was just a nightmare. It was so inadequate it was unreal.

The room was not big enough for me

to get in and close the door behind me.

And the door blocked the access to the toilet.

There was also a bar across in front of the toilet which meant

as I couldn't get my chair into the right position.

Mike and Lynne asked to be moved somewhere else.

-How did you feel when you were moved to a new hotel?

-Relieved!

Relieved is the thing as hopefully it would, you know, resolve

all the problems which we had of my access.

But then when you got there it wasn't what you were expecting.

It was very noisy.

It was obviously more of a youngsters' hotel than a family hotel.

So, I was thinking,

"Ugh, I just don't believe it, we're going to have two weeks of this."

And we're going to be absolutely shattered

because they had a disco - a nightclub - inside the hotel,

which was open to four, five o'clock in the morning.

So, I don't know what we were going to do.

We just didn't know what else to do.

Although, the facilities there were for the disabled...

-Were a lot better.

-..were a lot better.

Unfortunately for Lynne and Mike, their return journey was no easier.

Tell me about your journey back home.

Let's start with the taxi transfers. Did you get a taxi?

What turned up? A minibus. I couldn't believe it.

Even the rep stood there in complete exasperation and said,

"I ordered two cars." And they had sent a minibus.

It was just unreal. So, by the time we'd got to the airport,

they were already boarding people.

So, again, we were down the queue.

And they had already put people on the front seats.

What were the other passengers like

when you were trying to get to your seats? Cos it can be

a little bit tricky sometimes.

Even more embarrassed because it was virtually the same audience.

Because everybody goes to these places for a fortnight,

so it was the same audience,

the same people on the flight back as it was who went out.

So, it was even more embarrassing.

Tenerife had not proved to be the relaxing family holiday

that Mike and Lynne had needed. They contacted First Choice to complain.

But though there was an acknowledgement that the

first hotel was not suitable,

because Mike and Lynne had been moved to somewhere with

better disabled facilities,

the couple were disappointed not to receive any offer of compensation.

However, when we contacted the company, there was good news.

First Choice told us they'd been sorry to hear of Lynne and Mike's

experience and that they had sent an offer of a full refund

of the cost of the holiday, which, obviously, hadn't been received.

This gesture of goodwill has now been accepted.

First Choice also stressed it takes its...

..with a dedicated team who can talk about specific facilities

at hotels and on flights.

But Lynne and Mike are sticking to caravanning for now and they

have a simple message that they hope all holiday companies keep in mind.

Just because somebody's disabled, it doesn't mean to say that they

can't have a decent two weeks holiday.

Michael works hard all year.

And it just... It was awful.

And I think they should have done more to help us.

Florida has long been a favourite destination for British families

but it's not just at the theme parks where you might be taken for a ride.

Our travel expert, Simon Calder,

is here with some scam-busting advice to make sure that your visit

to the Sunshine State doesn't leave you feeling totally ripped off.

There you are walking down International Drive in Orlando

and a stranger approaches you.

He knows that admission to a theme park can cost as much as 130

for the day, so he's got a great idea.

He's managed to get hold of some partially-used tickets

and he's prepared to sell it you for maybe 50.

Don't be tempted.

Although the apparent saving is huge, so are the pitfalls.

And with so many electronic tickets available, it's not always easy

for you to tell whether or not there is any validity left on that ticket.

So, only buy through official channels.

Meanwhile, con artists can be waiting for you

even before you've set foot outside your hotel room.

The pizza flyer scam is an interesting one

because it doesn't involve a pizza - not a real one, at least.

So, there you are, it's the end of your trip.

You've spent a lot more than you intended to.

You're pretty hungry but look - under the door of your motel

or hotel room is a flyer advertising unbelievable cheap pizzas.

Free delivery, too! So, you call the toll-free number and give them

your credit card details, sit back, and wait for the pizza.

It never arrives.

That's because these people aren't in the pizza delivery business,

they are in the stealing credit card details business.

And pretty soon you're going to see some big bills

appearing on your account.

And if you decide to dine out,

Simon's got one important tip about tipping.

There's a great service culture in the US

and there's a great tipping culture, too.

It's how many of the staff make most of their money.

And when you've eaten your burger, fries, and drunk your milkshake,

well, time to pay, and often you'll find

that they've handily put on the bill how much they'd like you to tip.

20% is quite common.

Personally, I wouldn't pay more than 15%

unless the service has been exceptional.

You're going to end up spending a fortune on tips

during the course of your holiday anyway.

For more holiday advice,

wherever you're going, take a trip to our website...

Still to come on Rip Off Britain, a four-star holiday home

that fell far short of these holidaymakers' expectations.

Everything was unfinished.

Nothing was done. And I'm afraid it went from bad to worse.

Low-cost airlines are especially determined to try and get us

to travel as light as possible.

All those extra baggage charges really are geared to ensure

that we take hand luggage whenever possible,

rather than the check-in variety

so that an aircraft can turn around at the airport a lot quicker.

But the next time you try and stuff your overnight bag

in an overhead compartment,

just remember this horror story

because we're about to meet two people who found that there

wasn't enough room on board for their hand luggage.

And that led to a whole load of problems

that you could never possibly imagine.

Good morning, ladies and gentleman. My name's Peter.

Welcome to your Busybus north Wales Adventure Tour today. We will be...

Father and son Fred and Peter Rosenfeld run a bus company

taking tourists around the northwest.

I've never noticed how pretty it is round here, Pete.

They know first-hand how a bad experience on your journey

can ruin a whole holiday.

For a birthday present, I decided to take Dad and Sasha,

my step mum, back to Austria and Eastern Europe.

Peter's got a great imagination.

And he thought this would be a sentimental trip to cover old times.

Fred and Sasha met in the 1970s when Fred was living in Vienna.

Immediately I saw her, I thought, "She's great!"

And I said to my colleague, "I bet you 50p that she'll go out with me."

And I won my 50p bet.

Sasha regularly flies back to Budapest to see her family,

but in October of 2012, Fred, Peter and Peter's wife, Vera,

went along as well, flying with Jet2.

Being quite familiar with budget airlines, I was aware

of baggage allowances and was very careful to make sure that,

although we had booked hold luggage,

we were also taking hand luggage with us and, in fact, we purchased

new cases for Dad specifically to take on board on the cabin.

37cm...

So, with their hold luggage booked

and one piece of regulation-size hand luggage each,

the Rosenfelds checked-in for their flight and boarded the plane.

We were amongst the last ones to get on

and by the time we got on the plane it was absolute chaos

and I was trying to ram our hand baggage up in the...

luggage compartment and it obviously didn't fit so...

-It was full.

-It was full.

The stewardess came over to assist and she said,

"Oh, no, it won't go in the compartment,

"I will have to store it elsewhere." And we handed over the luggage.

I assumed we would collect it at the end of the flight.

But when the flight landed in Budapest, Fred and Sasha's

hand luggage was not handed back to them by the cabin crew.

When we got to the front of the cabin, I asked a stewardess,

"Where did you put our luggage? Can I have it?"

And she said, "Oh, no, it's already gone to the luggage pick up point."

I was totally amazed.

It did feel a little bit odd

because we were very aware that those bags were unlocked

and that they also were not tagged or labelled,

so they would stick out as day bags.

The family waited with bated breath at the luggage carousel.

And it seemed rather strange

because everything came out except one piece of our hand luggage.

So, we said, "Oh, for heaven's sake, I hope it hasn't got lost." And then

sure enough, at the end of the queue it suddenly popped up

and it looked perfectly normal.

We just picked it up and off we went out of the airport.

By the time they arrived at their hotel it was late,

so they all said good night and went to their rooms.

About 15 minutes later, Dad knocked on the door

and he looked incredibly distressed

and said that Sasha's bag had been tampered with

and that her jewellery, which was the most important thing in the bag,

as far as Sasha was concerned, her jewellery had disappeared.

When I opened my jewellery box, at this moment I was shocked.

This was empty. Was nothing in.

The most valuable item in it was actually an anniversary gold watch,

which I'd bought for my wife for her 50th birthday, actually.

The thieves had also taken Fred's iPad

and carefully replaced the contents of the case to hide their crime.

But when I went into the room and saw Sasha,

it was actually quite a traumatic sight for me

because she was sat on the bed with an open jewellery box,

just staring into it in disbelief, really.

The following morning, the family reported the theft

at the local police station and were given a crime number

so that they could make an insurance claim for the stolen items.

But for Sasha, the holiday was ruined.

She just wanted to come home. She really did just want to come home.

It was the worst thing that could have happened on a holiday.

So, you followed all the rules. You've taken on board hand luggage

which meets the airline's own strict rules.

But when you get on board they tell you there's no room in the overhead

lockers so you have to hand it in to them to put it into the hold.

Now, you would assume that that means

if anything goes wrong you'd be covered.

Oh, boy, you could not be more wrong.

When the family got home, Fred complained to Jet2

and put in a claim with their travel insurance company, Ageas.

But he got a reply that he was not expecting.

The insurance company said they wouldn't pay out

because there was a clause saying that...

valuables out of the possession of the passenger were not covered

unless deposited in a secure place.

Of course Fred and Sasha had thought they'd left

the bag in the safe care of the cabin crew

and that that'd get it back as they left the plane.

They had no idea that it would be sent to the luggage hold

with all the checked-in cases.

Fred was not going to take no for an answer so he wrote back to Ageas.

They looked into it again

and said they had discussed it with Jet2 and were told that

I was informed that all valuables had to be taken out of the baggage

before it was taken away.

Jet2 said it was company policy to ask all passengers to remove

their valuables from hand luggage when it's handed over to cabin crew.

But none of the family remember this happening.

I'm convinced that she didn't ask and neither would it have

been possible to do so because there was such a chaos.

Jet2 and Ageas both say that they cannot be held responsible

for valuables that go missing from bags put in the hold.

But Fred and Sasha had never imagined that their valuables

would go anywhere near the hold.

They deliberately put them in their hand luggage.

But when their bag was taken away, as it hadn't been checked-in,

it was missing that telltale barcode that allows airlines

to track their luggage,

making it an ideal target for whoever spotted it.

All those bags, unlabelled, were very obvious. They were targets

between the aeroplane and the baggage line.

When we contacted Jet2, they told us

they were extremely sorry to hear what had happened

but on busy flights it is...

And they reiterated that they...

But since this incident, they have improved their procedures...

And they...

But we also spoke to the insurance company, Ageas,

who underwrote the policy that Peter had bought through Jet2.

They said this was an...

And the family would...

So, in light of that, they have now agreed to cover

the cost of his stolen valuables.

But what happened to the Rosenfelds could easily happen to you.

On other airlines,

you could find yourself separated from your hand luggage.

EasyJet may do it on busier flights and, in fact, they now only

guarantee that the smallest bags will stay in the cabin.

Monarch now recommend taking two small bags instead of one big one

so that one can go under the seat in front of you.

Otherwise, if the overhead lockers are full,

a bigger bag may have to be handed to the cabin crew.

Well, for now, the advice could not be clearer.

If you get on board a plane

and the crew want to take your hand baggage off you,

you must remove all of your valuables,

never mind that there may be a queue forming behind you.

It's really important that you do because with airlines putting

so much emphasis on us now carrying hand baggage,

until they start making those overhead lockers bigger,

the potential problems of what's going to happen

if you lose your luggage,

are only going to get worse.

And, having lost out once,

Peter will never let his hand baggage out of his sight again.

If you had to surrender your bag, I would insist it was labelled,

tagged, locked and find out exactly what is going to happen

to your bag before you surrender it.

Last summer we hit the road again with our pop-up shop,

offering free advice to solve your consumer issues on the spot.

And problems with travel and holidays were one of the things

we heard about most.

James and Yvonne had experienced a long delay on a flight

from Parma to Manchester

and were unhappy with the response of the airline to their complaint.

Now, this is very, very interesting.

What they have done is they sent to James and Yvonne

an incredibly long and detailed letter,

which looks to me as though they're kind of trying to beat you

into submission. Now, there's only one way to find out

if they do owe you any money and that's to take them to court.

-Right.

-So, the best way to do that, given what you're claiming,

is Money Claims Online. It's going to cost you...

Well, if you're looking for...

roughly £400 each, I think that's going to cost you

maybe £35 to claim.

Now, they will probably fight the claim they will but if you just say,

"Here's the facts, here is our understanding of the case."

So, get on the case today.

I can give you the link that you need to go to

and then you'll be able to sort all that but it's a tricky old business.

Some airlines are paying out very graciously and generously,

some of them are arguing every single case.

The good news is that after reviewing the case,

the couple's airline concluded they are entitled to compensation

so will now be paying out.

Simon also ran a street workshop with this great advice on the best

days to bag bargain airfares.

Tuesday is the day when demand is lowest for air travel

and that's when the prices are going to be lowest and also you get that

great bonus of quite possibly having a seat either side of you empty.

-Second best day after Tuesday?

-Wednesday.

-Brilliant!

Tuesdays and Wednesdays, they are the golden days of air travel.

So, which are the days to avoid?

Friday nights, Sunday nights - very bad.

Monday morning - very, very bad.

Thursdays - all right but towards the evening it's not so good.

And then, actually, Saturday afternoons, quite often,

are a good time to travel.

Now, sometimes the best holidays don't involve anything too fancy

or expensive or even going too far away.

And a lot of people will say that the most rewarding breaks

can come simply from the whole family getting together

in a beautiful part of the country and spending quality time together,

all relaxing in one place. Personally, I adore that.

And that's what Nick Moorehouse and his family love to do.

Last year he though he found the perfect place for them to do it -

a fantastic-sounding mansion in Wales.

He'd booked it through one of the country's best-known rental sites.

But the family said that things very quickly turned sour.

Kate, next year, you are booking the holiday.

We hope you don't want to go to Wales.

Nick's been taking his extended family on holiday for years,

but this time was a special occasion -

his son-in-law Steve's 40th birthday.

So, they decided to push the boat out

and look for a place in South Wales, an area close to Steve's heart.

When we went 20 years ago, that was the last holiday we had with my dad.

He unfortunately passed away two years later.

So, it was nice to go back to Wales, especially as it was my 40th.

Big party celebration.

Family coming from all over the country to come and see us.

Nick headed straight for a website he'd used many times before,

one of the biggest names in the business, cottages4you,

and soon found the perfect place.

If you read the description of the property,

it was advertised as six bedroomed, six bathroom.

It was rated as four-star.

It just looked ideal.

The bill for a fortnight came to nearly £3,000, not cheap, but

the website had sold the property as a four-star bespoke mansion.

So, when Nick arrived at Vijay Gardens, hopes were high.

But not for long.

Opening that front door for the first time, it just hit me.

I was literally, I was gobsmacked.

The curtains in the lounge were all hanging off.

Everything was unfinished.

Nothing was done. And I thought,

"Oh, dear."

And I'm afraid it went from bad to worse.

And when Steve and his family arrived,

they say they had a most unwelcome surprise.

When you pulled up to the house, you thought,

"Well, this doesn't look as good as it does on the photos."

And the first you see when you get out the car

is a bag full of dog poo.

Right by the front door. And a load of cigarette butts.

Nick made a list of all the things he felt weren't up to scratch.

This is the view from one of the bedrooms, the Portakabin,

which is not advertised anywhere.

Dirt - showers.

It's absolutely disgusting and I cleaned it myself. Cobwebs.

Terrible.

This is the fuse box on the outside of the Portakabin,

eight foot away from the main building.

There is nothing to say that this is live.

Nobody has bothered to put a cover over it.

The light fitting in the kitchen - hanging off.

This is the one in the living room.

Another example. Lights hanging off.

This is one of the Jacuzzi baths. See how dirty it is inside.

These pipes here, there's spikes sticking out of them.

Nick tried to contact the owner, he says, to little effect.

I'd booked Vijay Gardens and I found it absolutely disgusting.

I don't think he answered me. He sort of went, "Oh. Yes."

I would have expected somebody to come round

and at least sweep up the cigarette ends.

But there was no further contact with the owner

for the rest of the holiday.

If it had been any other occasion, I'd have turned round and come home.

The growth of online booking has made hiring a cottage easier

and more popular than ever before. But who's responsible

when what you've chosen turns out not to meet your expectations?

Is it the website you book through

or is it the owner of the cottage you picked?

Cottages4you, the site Nick used,

advertised properties owned by private landlords,

and it's the landlord's responsibility

to keep their property up to the advertised standard.

But cottages4you and all sites like them

are responsible for the accuracy of what they advertise.

Cottages4you also boast that they inspect all the properties they use

in order to grade them properly.

And remember, in this case, they gave it four stars.

When we returned, I immediately drafted a letter

of complaint to the owner. I gave him 14 days.

No reply, no contact with the man.

I always send my letters recorded delivery.

So I definitely knew that the owner received the letter

the day after I posted it

because I have his signature.

So, Nick also contacted cottages4you, who gave him

a £300 voucher as a goodwill gesture,

but told him his dispute was with the owner and not them.

However, Nick feels they do have some responsibility.

It was only because they'd awarded the property four stars

that he'd been prepared to pay so much.

The thing that made me angry was saying that

they inspect their properties.

They do say on a regular basis.

This property, in my opinion, hadn't been inspected

because of all the faults found.

When we contacted cottages4you about Nick's experience,

they reiterated that what they do is market the property, and...

They told us this property had last been inspected in December 2012,

when it was awarded four stars

because of the range of facilities and services provided.

And they weren't aware of any problems

until Nick contacted them the following April.

And though Nick didn't get in touch until after his stay,

they point out that they operate a 24 hour helpline

for guests and will make...

Nick has now used the £300 voucher cottages4you gave him,

but he's angry that he's had no response from the person

he'd most like to hear from.

I would like the owner to be more responsible.

He is letting a property and he is asking for rent on that property,

in my opinion, under false pretences.

When we contacted the owner of the property he did reply

and completely rejected Nick's version of events.

He told us that over the years the property has been...

..or indeed better. He insists his contractors always ensure it is...

..and that Nick's claims about the state of the property

are disproved by the positive feedback he's had from other guests,

some of it within the same time period.

He says he's not had a single complaint since and that Nick

only raised his concerns at the end of the stay, rather than during it.

And he claims that...

..something Nick denies.

The owner also sent us some photos showing the current

state of the property, and he told us that after Nick's complaint,

cottages4you visited the site again,

and advised him to carry out some repair work,

all of which has now been completed.

But Nick still feels the £3,000 he spent on the holiday was wasted.

Thoroughly disappointed.

I will never ever forget Vijay Gardens for as long as I live.

Here at Rip Off Britain we're always ready to investigate

more of your stories and not just about holidays.

Confused over your bills or just trying to wade through

never-ending small print?

You can write to us at...

Or send us an e-mail to...

The team here is ready and waiting to look into your stories

so please do get in touch.

So, it seems clear from all the stories you send us

that unravelling who is responsible

when a holiday goes wrong can be much more complicated than ever.

Booking seems so simple with all the choice available online.

But remember, with that choice comes a danger

that instead of just having one company to call,

you may end up having to deal with quite a few of them.

And that's because whoever you may have thought you booked with,

it sometimes turns out that all those individual elements of your trip -

the flights, accommodation or whatever -

were actually organised with separate companies.

And with multiple companies involved,

what you're going to find yourself getting is multiple excuses.

And how frustrating is that?

So, to avoid anybody passing the buck,

do make sure that you're complaining to the right people.

And to do that effectively, for goodness' sake,

gather up as much evidence as you can about the problem,

keep a very careful note about all the facts,

and if you can, take lots and lots of photographs, so much the better.

And if you still get nowhere, do write to us.

We're here, abroad or at home,

and we'll see if we can find out exactly what's going on.

That's the way we've got to leave it for today.

Thank you very much for your company. We'll see you again soon.

And when you do go on holiday, we both hope it's a good one.

-In the meantime, enjoy the view.

-Bye-bye.