Episode 5 Rip Off Britain

We asked you who's left you feeling

ripped off when it comes to your holidays,

and you came back with a catalogue of travel disasters.

We said, "No, we're going to stick with this

"and try to get something done about it."

When you're on holidays, you don't want to fight with people,

you just want to enjoy it.

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 in this case, literally a very warm welcome to

Rip-Off Britain, where once again, we're getting

a taste of winter sunshine in the Canary Islands.

This time, we're going to be looking at more of the travel

and holiday stories that you've asked us to investigate.

And I'm afraid to say, it is a catalogue of disasters.

But we'll be trying to get to the bottom of it all today!

But sadly, those stories keep cropping up again

and again, don't they?

And do you know what makes it so bad in this case?

In every one of the stories that we'll be hearing about,

things went wrong not because of anything the holiday-makers did.

At the root of every problem was something

that someone else had got wrong.

So as well as trying to unpick exactly what happened,

we'll be seeing if our intervention can help get any of those

situations resolved.

Coming up... The holiday club where membership came with

a clear-cut money back guarantee.

So why have members not had it?

I've done everything right. We've paid for it, we want it back.

And why this man took his battle with one of the biggest

names in travel to court...and won.

This case wasn't about me any more. I was establishing a case

which potentially would be of value to everybody.

Five and a half million Brits holiday in America every year,

and all most of them

should have to do is fill in a simple online form before they fly.

But when one family from Hertfordshire were getting

ready to set off on their latest of many stateside trips last year,

they found the doors very firmly closed.

They were persona non grata, thanks to a simple mistake that took

months to unravel.

15-year-old Max Fell dreams of becoming a pilot one day.

I'm really interested in aviation, and it's something I've been

reading about and following in the news for a long time.

Every year, the Fells go to Florida for their summer holiday.

They've been going for the last ten years.

And on the most recent trip they booked, there was

going to be a special treat for Max.

We were particularly looking forward to going on holiday this time

because me were meant to be flying on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner,

which would be an extra highlight for us.

But the real thrills on the family's annual trips come

when the plane lands in Florida itself.

We really enjoy going to the theme parks,

we like visiting the coast, we like eating out...

It's a really varied holiday and something for all of us to do.

For most Brits, travelling to the US is relatively hassle-free.

If you hold a UK passport, you're entitled to a visa waiver,

allowing you into America as a tourist for up to 90 days

without needing to get a full visa.

Instead, you apply for what's called the Electronic System

for Travel Authorization, better known as an ESTA.

It'll last for two years. But when Mark and Sally set about

booking their latest trip, theirs had expired.

So they needed new ones.

We did our ESTA application online as normal.

Approval didn't come back immediately,

but that was nothing out of the ordinary.

It's normally just a basic thing that we go through.

But this time, the family was in for a shock.

When they checked the next day,

although Mark and Max's ESTAs had been approved, Sally's had not.

And no explanation was given.

At the time I felt really surprised, really shocked.

I couldn't think why there was a problem.

I wondered whether we'd made a mistake

when we'd done our applications online.

Unfortunately, there's no way of going back

and checking the information that you've put in.

Reasons why an ESTA may be declined include the following -

previously working illegally in the US, suspected of being

an intended immigrant or "suspected of being a terrorist."

None of which applied to any of the Fell family.

We definitely weren't terrorists, we had no criminal convictions,

we couldn't think what the problem was and we were extremely worried.

Mark and Sally contacted US Customs for an explanation.

And it turned out the American authorities believed that on her

last visit, Sally had stayed longer than the three months allowed.

They had her departure date down as the 8th of November, 2012, rather

than the actual date, which had been the 11th of August!

But to Sally's dismay, raising the issue only resulted in Mark

and Max's ESTAs now being rejected, too!

And she couldn't convince anyone that there must have been a mistake.

I tried to explain that to the gentleman on the phone.

He refused to discuss the matter any further, saying

we needed to get proof from UK Immigration that we had

returned to the United Kingdom in August the previous year.

With time fast running out before they were due to fly,

the family frantically set about finding evidence to

prove their previous visit to the States had only lasted two weeks.

Having being recorded as overstaying in the United States would

have serious consequences for all of our family for the future.

Once this is on your records, it means that travel to the

United States is prohibited.

In a panic, Mark and Sally considered applying for a full visa,

but found the process couldn't be completed in time for their holiday.

They also contacted ABTA, the Association of British Travel Agents,

who asked the tour operator the family had flown with last time

to provide the necessary evidence to sort out the date mix-up.

They said they were dealing with the matter, however they could not

give us any details of who they'd spoken to in the United States.

Eventually, the mystery was solved,

but the family could hardly believe the explanation.

They'd flown back last time from Sanford Airport in Orlando,

where it emerged that the computer system,

supplied by a British company, had recently been modified.

And for a few days afterwards,

it had been recording dates in the British format,

whereas the Americans would write

the day and the month the other way around,

which is why the family's correct departure date of the 11th of August,

ie - 11-8, had been interpreted as the 8th of November

by the Americans.

We found it quite unbelievable that just the month

and the date being transferred could have such

an impact on our future travel plans

and that no-one was willing to

correct what was such a basic error and something so easy to rectify.

Finally, the family were given their ESTAs.

But sad to say, it was too late.

They'd already missed their departure date.

And if that wasn't bad enough, their insurance company refused to

cover them for the holiday they'd missed out on...because it doesn't

include visa issues in its list of valid reasons for cancellation.

We both work extremely hard, we save hard all year, we look forward

to a holiday with our family. We felt absolutely desperate, we

really don't know what else we could have done to prevent this happening.

In total, the couple lost over £3,000 on flights

and over £450 on accommodation.

They'd also spent £40 on phone calls to America,

trying to sort everything out,

all because of a mistake that wasn't their fault at all.

If simply our records could have been corrected,

we could have travelled, we needn't have seen Max's disappointment,

we needn't have lost our holiday, we needn't have lost all our money

that we'd worked hard for all year.

But when we contacted Thomson, who the family had been due to

fly with, there was good news.

The company told us that though its terms and conditions don't

allow compensation to cover...

..as a "gesture of good will",

it has offered the family flights for their next trip to Florida,

up to the value of their original purchase.

We also got in touch with Orlando Sanford Airport, who confirmed

that a "programming error," quickly fixed, had led to the mix-up.

It says the Department of Homeland Security should have amended

the flight data, but "apparently this was not the case".

So the airport, too, have offered the family a goodwill gesture -

complimentary use of the VIP Lounge next time they fly through Sanford.

And though all that's very welcome,

Max and Sally are still out of pocket

as well as frustrated that a mistake not down to them

took as long as it did to resolve.

The situation was ridiculous because we hadn't done anything wrong.

The fact we lost our holiday was avoidable,

which in a way, makes the whole situation worse.

Now, many of you visiting a resort like this may well in the past

have been approached by someone

offering you an exciting chance to win a free holiday.

The only catch is - you'd have to listen to a presentation

about an investment opportunity apparently just too good to miss.

And for the people who signed up to one particular deal - based around

what seemed a pretty clear-cut, money-back guarantee - it really did

sound like they'd found something they'd be mad to turn down.

But I'm afraid, ten years on, that key,

central promise has in many cases spectacularly failed to come true.

Philip and Lynn Clipson's trip to Lanzarote back in 2001

had been their first foreign holiday for 30 years,

and they'd arranged it for a very special reason.

I wanted to arrange something for our 30th wedding anniversary,

It was lovely to get on a plane again, after all that time.

As soon as you land at the airport,

the warmth when you come out the airport, wonderful.

The rest of their holiday was wonderful as well.

And towards the end, they were offered an intriguing proposal.

We were walking in the local resort of Costa Teguise,

where we were staying, and a guy approached in the street.

And he said, "Would you be interested in a scratchcard here? You know,

"it might be well worth your time."

Obviously, we scratched the card and, "Oh, you've won!"

Oh, surprise, surprise(!)

"Well, if you want to claim your prize," he said,

"you've got to go over to where our operation headquarters is.

"There's no catch!"

When they walked into the offices of the rep's employer -

Club Select Holidays -

they were told the prize was a week's free stay in a hotel.

But before they could claim it, the company would like to tell them

about a new opportunity to join their holiday club.

It was quite exciting, really,

because it seemed to offer good class quality

accommodation on holiday, throughout the world and at discounted prices.

All they had to do was pay a lump sum of £3,330 up-front,

and an annual membership fee of £15.

But best of all -

they could get almost £4,000 cashback after ten years.

We thought surely this can be too good to be true, really, surely.

How can any holiday firm offer something like this?

So, with a free week away, discounted holidays

and a money-back guarantee,

Philip and Lynn were persuaded it was virtually risk-free.

The only concern at the back of my mind was, I said to myself,

"Well, will this firm still exist in ten years' time?

"Will it have disappeared off the face of the earth?"

And that was my concern.

Not wanting to fully commit on the spot, Philip and Lynn paid a £500

deposit and took all the paperwork away to read when they got home.

We checked everything out

and thought, "Well, this company does exist - they're in the telephone

"directory, they're online." We didn't think there'd be a problem.

So, reassured, the couple signed up to Club Select's holiday club

and paid the next instalment of the £3,300 membership fee.

It was quite clear that, provided they diligently paid every

one of their annual fees - in ten years' time, they'd be able

to cash in their bond of guarantee and get their money back.

And in the intervening years they could take as many discounted

holidays as they could afford. Looking at all the choices,

Philip and Lynn were sure that they'd made the right decision.

"This looks great!" You know, we pored through them to see

what was available.

Their first trip with the club was to Gran Canaria, to take up

the free hotel stay they'd won when they signed up.

All we had to do was find the cost of the flights.

It was a fantastic holiday.

The accommodation that was on offer was wonderful, it was en-suite.

We had a lovely view from our room. We couldn't have asked for more.

But once they'd paid the final instalment of the £3,300 membership

fee, they didn't always find booking future holidays straightforward,

because the accommodation they were offered was only available

on specific days.

Unfortunately, when we started looking for flights,

we found it was quite difficult.

Very often, from a work point of view, it was difficult fitting

in the times to fit in with the holidays that were available to us.

So, Philip and Lynn didn't take any more Club Select holidays.

But that didn't worry them because they knew that, in 2012,

they'd be able to cash in their bond and get their membership money back.

In the meantime, all they had to do was to remember to pay

the £15 annual fee.

But Philip has got a great eye for detail, and had carefully mapped out

when each payment needed to happen.

So, in January, 2012, with all the fees paid,

he put in a claim for the £4,000

that he and Lynn's bond stated they were entitled to.

But when Club Select replied, it wasn't to sort out paying the cash.

I read the letter and...

there were excuses in there from the company saying, "Well, you haven't

"fulfilled the terms of the bond, you haven't paid the membership fees.

"If you can prove to us that you have, we will reconsider."

Club Select claimed the Clipsons had not paid their £15

annual membership in 2002 and 2006.

But Philip had proof that he had.

A bank statement from 2006 and a 2002 e-mail from Club Select

confirmed that year's fee

had been included in his initial bond payment.

I thought, "Well, I've got the information that you require

"regarding the so-called unpaid membership fees."

But Club Select refused to accept Philip's proof.

All they were willing to do was to make a lower offer -

just half of the amount he was entitled to.

I was angry, I know Lynn was very angry,

and I said, "I'm not having this."

And when Philip did a search online, he discovered he wasn't

the only member of Club Select to have difficulty getting their money.

I suddenly found other people

who were having exactly the same problems

and were asking advice - what could they do, where could they go to?

Over the years, we've heard plenty of complaints about holiday clubs,

and so has Jane Negus from the UK European Consumer Centre,

who says in situations like this, they can offer free help and advice.

Philip's story is familiar to us.

We obviously get a lot of complaints about the holiday club business.

We will actually take your paperwork, will look over it,

will look over all the terms and conditions that were there.

Then what we will do is we will actually ask our centre in that

appropriate country to actually contact the business on your behalf.

What they will do is, they'll see

if they can mediate to try and get a resolution that will put

you in the position you want to be, which is to have your money.

We contacted Club Select Holidays, who are based in Lanzarote,

to ask why Philip hasn't yet been paid the money he's due.

So far, they haven't replied.

But Philip and Lynn haven't given up hope that they may one day

get their £4,000 back.

I've done everything right.

We're honest to people

and hopefully they are honest with us back.

We know business isn't always like that, but we do hope that people

can treat us as proper people. We've paid for it, we want it back.

Still to come on Rip-Off Britain...

An ultimatum in the middle

of the wilderness -

"Hand over more cash...or your safari is over."

I know there's lots of companies out there that are corrupt

but somebody that was actually so personally involved with us,

how she could lie to that extent.

We took Rip-Off Britain out on the road.

This time, to the West Midlands.

This shopping centre is teeming! The stores are all packed,

and so is our Pop Up Shop.

Our travel experts were on hand to answer as many of your holiday

problems as they could.

And outside the shop, in our gripe corner,

you came in your droves

to tell us about the holiday horrors that annoy you the most.

I find travel insurance a massive rip-off.

I get really annoyed.

My husband and I are over 65

and because of that, we have

to pay triple what of most people have to pay.

We're a family of five.

It's really difficult to get a hotel room

to fit the five of us in, so we have to get ripped off

and pay the price for two rooms.

Back inside, Joyce Davies

and Rob Lovell came to see Simon Calder after realising too

late that the website they'd used to sort out the visas they needed

to visit Turkey wasn't the best place for them to have done that.

We thought, "Oh, this doesn't sound right."

We phoned up, cancelled them. But unfortunately,

we can't hear back from the company -

they just won't reply to any e-mails that we've sent.

-Had you paid money?

-Yeah.

-Paid by a credit card.

-How much?

-£313.

For how many visas?

-Eight.

-For eight visas.

-For eight visas!

-That's nearly £40 each.

-Yeah.

'It used to be that you could get a Turkish visa at the airport,

'but all of that has changed.'

Right. I'm so sorry, here's what's happened.

As you know, the Turkish government decided, "We're not going to do

"the jolly old stamp your passport, go and stand over there"

when you've got off your plane.

"We'll charge you £10, put the stamp in, off you go."

Oh, no!

"We are going to bring a new Turkish visa that you get electronically."

Funny enough, as they say,

here's one I prepared earlier

because I really thought this story would come up.

That's a genuine electronic visa.

Genuine e-visas are best bought through the official Turkish

government website. But as Joyce and Rob have discovered,

there are plenty of sites

hoping that you'll unwittingly pay extra to get one through them.

There are companies out there that think,

"We know how to make a fast buck. What we will do is set up a site

"and pay the search engine to be at the top of the listing."

And they will charge you, now let me think...

They're charging about three, three and a half times the price.

The only thing to do, I think,

is - first of all, put it down to experience -

secondly, have you get any visas through yet?

-No.

-We've ended up with one.

We haven't printed it.

-Right, OK.

-One has arrived, but none of the others have.

-Look.

I don't know whether you are going to get any more of the visas

through, but most certainly, for all the people who

haven't yet got them, I would be going online

spending ten minutes putting all the same information in again,

paying 20 per person,

so about £12 or £13, and then you'll get this.

Now, when you've handed over your money for something,

you expect you're going to get it. And that's especially true

if you've forked out thousands of pounds for a holiday.

But here's a really dreadful case of how one couple's trip

unravelled in pretty dramatic fashion.

And by the time they discovered the truth about the company

they'd booked with, it was not only way too late,

but they were miles from anywhere - out in the middle of the wilderness.

The combination of breathtaking scenery and the excitement

of spotting some of the rarest animals in the world is why Mike

and Victoria Lombard have always enjoyed safaris when they go away.

Safaris, for me, are just the ultimate holiday.

It lets the stress of life go. And the best part is just to go

and sit quietly and then you just see the whole place around you

comes to life.

But the couple wanted their next safari, to Kenya,

to be really different, something tailor-made just for them.

After searching online, Victoria came across a company called

Holiday To Africa, co-run by a woman called Sharyn Grainger.

It seemed to offer exactly the bespoke kind of holiday

the couple were after.

A fantastic website, you know, beautiful...beautiful layout -

beautiful pictures, beautiful stories, testimonials all there.

Everything looked absolutely perfect.

Holiday to Africa also boasted of being a member

of the Travel Trust Association, which gives 100% financial cover

so that consumers are protected if the travel company goes bust.

And Mike and Victoria were impressed by the personal service

that Sharyn Grainger provided.

She was almost like a friend by that stage.

We trusted her that it was all going to be OK, amazing.

So Mike and Victoria went ahead and booked their trip

with Holiday To Africa, paying nearly 6,000 US dollars

by direct bank transfer.

We work exceptionally hard and that's what we deserved and...

well I'd been certainly looking forward to it for the six months

that it took to plan it. So by that stage,

you're just dying to go and enjoy the whole experience.

When they finally set off in October,

it seemed that was exactly what was going to happen.

So, we arrived in Nairobi and we went to a lovely hotel.

And then we were picked up by the driver in the morning -

lovely guy, he was so nice.

He drove us to the first National Park,

which was called Samburu.

I saw the leopard, which was one of my goals,

It was absolutely stunning.

So that was a really amazing experience.

But five days into their seven-night trip, their driver

and tour guide delivered some bad news.

He told them that the Kenyan tour operator he worked for -

a business called Dallago Tours and Safaris Limited -

hadn't been paid by Sharyn at Holiday To Africa.

As a result, unless Mike and Victoria could pay up there

and then, they would be immediately driven back to Nairobi.

Mike agreed to speak to their driver's boss.

I had that sinking feeling because it's not often the boss wants

to speak with you unless there's usually a problem.

So I got on the telephone to him and he said to me,

"Look, I can't take you any further on your tour."

And I said, "Why?"

And he said, "Well, I haven't been paid."

-I felt so sick.

-Oh, yeah, you just feel...

-And I tried so hard not to cry.

-Yep.

But it was just devastating.

Their driver said they could stay in the bush one more night,

but only on condition that they handed over 650.

We were in the middle of Kenya,

and he said, "Well, you're not going

"any further until you pay us the money."

We didn't really know him,

and we had to hand that money over to him.

We're in a vehicle with him and we'd just given him all that cash.

The couple got on the phone to Sharyn at Holiday To Africa

to find out what was going on.

She reassured them that everything would be fine and that the money

would be paid to the tour operator within a few hours.

Sharyn just kept saying that there had been an error on her bank

account and she was waiting for some funds from America.

But come the morning, there was still no sign of the payment.

Unnerved by what was going on,

Mike and Victoria were driven back to Nairobi to meet the boss

of Dallago Tours to try and sort things out.

So we were trying to remain calm.

Dallago Tours is run from...

-a house in...

-A suburb.

-..in a suburb.

So we start getting into this gated community,

where there's all barbed wire, there's security guys on the gates.

And all of a sudden, we turn off.

You know, there's a security guy there.

-He's got a gun.

-He's got a gun.

He's got an automatic weapon on his shoulder,

-so now we're going to this house.

-And we drive into a private house!

-At that point, I was just terrified.

-Yeah.

When they met Nick Kariuki, the director of Dallago Tours,

all the couple could do was explain that none of this was their fault.

They had paid Sharyn at Holiday To Africa,

but it seemed she hadn't passed that money on.

Yeah, he said, "Come here, sit down."

And he sat down in his office. He's on the other side of the desk,

-going, "You know, I haven't been paid."

-He wanted his money!

But also at the same time, he was pretty insistent that he was

going to get his money, and that was what was going to happen.

The couple simply couldn't afford to pay for their holiday a second time.

And with no sign that Sharyn was going to pass on the money they'd

already paid, they felt they had no choice but to cut their holiday

short and spend over £200 on changing their flights home.

But as soon as they landed in the UK,

they were determined to get answers from Sharyn at Holiday To Africa.

We arrive back at Heathrow and we decide, "Well, we might as well

"just go to these offices and then confront Sharyn

"and find out, you know, what's going on."

So we jump in the car and we drive over to Maidstone. And of course,

we can find the road but not the house number...

Nothing quite...

Added up.

And we've been knocking on lots of doors because it's sort of half an

address. And the last one, we were just about to give up,

and Mike said, "Oh, you go to this one."

So I went to the door

to knock on the door and this man answered the door.

And he started talking to me in either a Zimbabwean or South African

accent. And I thought to myself, "I've spoken to this person before."

Victoria was right.

The man was John Nell,

who was Sharyn's co-director at Holiday To Africa.

Mike and Victoria demanded not only an explanation,

but compensation for what they'd been through.

And although at the time, John did suggest they would get a refund,

they heard nothing further from the company,

and didn't receive a penny.

They hoped that the fact that the Travel Trust Association's

logo was on the Holiday To Africa website might throw them a lifeline.

Unfortunately, it turned out that wasn't the case

and actually the logo had been used sort of incorrectly.

And we phoned the Travel Trust and they said that she had applied

for membership but never actually taken it on.

The Travel Trust Association confirmed to us

that Holiday To Africa had no authority to use the TTA logo,

and doing so was "misleading and fraudulent".

And because Holiday To Africa had never genuinely been a member,

there is no financial protection available to Victoria and Mike.

Holiday To Africa has now been dissolved.

And despite the couple pursuing the company through a debt collection

agency, they have not been able to get any of their money back.

We were starting to realise that, you know, we'd been...

We're going to lose everything here.

We hadn't paid on a credit card,

we had no travel insurance in terms of protecting us for our holiday.

So we gradually started to realise that we'd lost everything.

It's a reality, a harsh reality.

We contacted Sharyn Grainger and John Nell from Holiday To Africa

to see if they could give us an explanation for what had happened.

But as yet, we haven't heard from them.

Meanwhile the safari company - Dallago Tours - told us it's

"still owed 3,020" despite the "never ending promises from Sharyn".

And it's their dealings with Sharyn Grainger that,

as well as their financial losses, have left the deepest

impression on Victoria and Mike.

I know there's lots of companies out there that are corrupt

and, you know, nasty, horrible people.

But somebody that was actually so personally involved with us,

how she could lie to that extent...

Our travel expert Simon Calder has flown, sailed, driven

and indeed cycled to thousands of destinations all over the world.

So we asked him to let us in on some of his top secrets,

this time - Amsterdam.

The Dutch capital is all about canals, culture and cafes.

And it's fantastically easy to get around

thanks to a busy network of trams.

So Simon has a great tip on how to keep those travel costs down.

My tip for a weekend stay is to buy the 12 euro,

48-hour unlimited travel ticket.

Savings begin after just four journeys.

Amsterdam has some of Europe's finest museums -

the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh and Anne Frank House.

But beware, it may take some time to get through their doors.

The queues are notorious -

there's even a picture of one

going right around the block on one museum's website!

You can jump the queue by booking tickets in advance through

the official museum websites.

But you may need to specify a precise entry time.

But when you're searching online for tickets in advance,

beware of scam sites, they might promise discount admission,

but then end up charging you full price, and adding a surcharge.

Hurry up!

For a fabulous little river trip, take the ferry that shuttles

across the IJ River,

from the dock behind Amsterdam Centraal station. It runs all

day, every day, and it's free, giving you a fresh perspective

on the city's skyline and some photos from a different angle.

Finally, there's one way to see Amsterdam that Simon would

always recommend.

I cycle everywhere, but in Amsterdam, it's especially easy because

everything is geared up for cycling and the city is as flat as pancake.

And besides providing an excellent way to appreciate this fine city,

cycling is also very good value, with bike hire

starting at under ten euros a day, try it!

I guess that in all areas of life,

the best-laid plans can come unstuck.

And that's no different with your holiday.

No matter how carefully you may have arranged

and planned everything, something just might happen that means

you have to change, perhaps even cancel all of your arrangements.

Buy something from a shop and if you change your mind -

depending on their returns policy -

they may take it back and give a refund.

But that simply doesn't apply to products that are

personalised or customer specific, including holidays,

which means you're at the mercy

of each company's terms and conditions.

As Jean and Win Carnall from Wimbledon discovered

when they tried cancelling a booking that they'd made

so they could go to the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

We spend a lot of time since we've retired watching sport.

We went a lot to the Olympic Games, and the Paralympics,

and thought it would be great to be up in Glasgow.

They were delighted to find a room in Glasgow's easyHotel -

part of the easyGroup, most famous for easyJet.

But a month before their reservation, Jean and Win got

a phone call from relatives in Glasgow with a better offer -

a place for them to stay during the games...for nothing!

So, Jean and Win followed the advice on easyHotel's

website on cancelling the room, paying a £10 fee.

I did it straightaway, it was one click.

The website's very straightforward.

The cancellation process appeared to be as EASY

as the company name suggested.

So, satisfied that the refund would soon appear in their bank account,

the couple thought nothing more about it...

until that is, they were about to leave for Glasgow.

I suddenly thought, "I don't remember seeing our refund."

And so I asked Win to check,

and there was no sign of the money.

Puzzled as to why their refund hadn't arrived,

Jean looked more closely at easyHotel's terms and conditions.

And while these stated that the refund would be made to her

ACCOUNT, they didn't explain exactly which account that meant.

I realised that my account meant my account with them.

In order to book the hotel room online,

Jean and Win had created an easyHotel account.

And it was THIS account, not their bank account,

to which their refund had been sent.

Now, that meant the £228 they were due could only be

redeemed against future bookings with easyHotel - and only within

12 months - which Jean didn't really consider a true refund at all.

I thought it was outrageous.

I couldn't see how in the world they could have tied up their terms

and conditions that they could keep my money.

When we checked the same small print as Jean and Win,

it said refunds would be made to "your account,"

so we could see why the couple thought it was unclear.

And it seems that easyHotel thought the same,

because since we filmed this case,

the small print has been changed,

and it now says money will be credited

"to your easyHotel Account".

EasyHotel told us its terms and conditions

"are under constant review" and it's "sorry if there was any confusion".

As a "gesture of goodwill", it's offered the couple

an "additional night for free" on top of their next booking.

And though Jean and Win appreciate the gesture,

they'd much rather have had their refund in cash, thank you very much.

But when it comes to feeling they've been short changed

by a cancellation policy, they're in good company.

Bruce Crawcour from Shropshire had quite a battle with

one of the biggest names in travel after he had no choice but to cancel

his holiday just six days before he and his wife were due to depart.

We booked through Thomson's and we booked to fly with them,

their own airline,

and going to Majorca.

In addition to the holiday,

I had booked to have a private taxi transfer from the Palma

airport to the hotel and return, to make life a bit easier for us.

The whole cost, including the taxi transfer,

was £2,256,

of which £152 was for the taxi transfer.

But in between the time of booking and departure,

Bruce's wife, Kay, was admitted to hospital.

We saw a GP. He confirmed that she was not fit to travel

and I telephoned Thomson customer services to cancel the holiday.

I had expected that I would have to pay the base cost of the holiday

because I cancelled within the final 14-days period.

But although reluctantly reconciled to losing most of his money,

there was at least one cost that Bruce expected back in full.

I did ask them specifically if they would cancel the taxi, because

that was an add-on and it did seem to me to be easy for them to do it.

When I cancelled the holiday, Thomson made absolutely clear

that from their point of view, they were keeping all the money

that had been paid and they weren't prepared to reach any compromise.

Taken aback by Thomson's stance, Bruce did some digging.

He discovered that the refusal to refund him

any of his holiday was because the company could argue

they were unable to resell any part of it at such short notice.

So he decided to put it to the test.

I actually went onto Thomson's own website

and, through their own availability services,

I checked to see whether the flights were available or not.

I found within 24 hours, the flights had disappeared from availability,

so they'd obviously resold them. I found within four days,

the room type at the hotel had disappeared from availability,

so they'd either resold that or they'd handed it back to the hotel.

Package holiday regulations state that cancellation fees should not

be set at a higher level than

the actual losses a company has incurred.

And Bruce believes that as Thomson had managed to

re-sell his holiday,

they hadn't actually lost anything.

I then contacted the managing director of TUI.

TUI are the company that own Thomson

and a number of the other major holiday brands. And...

I said to him that I believed that he'd made no loss on my holiday.

They said that they thought their terms were clear,

to which I said, "They may be clear, that does not stop them

"being unfair under the terms of the regulations."

So Bruce challenged TUI's argument by taking the company to court.

Throughout this process, I decided that I was going to act

for myself in it. When we actually got to the court hearing itself,

initially I was slightly nervous because it's the first time

I'd ever done anything like that,

but, you know, if you know your facts,

you soon become more confident when you're presenting to the court.

And Bruce's tenacity paid off.

The judge agreed that as TUI had resold his holiday,

it didn't suffer any financial loss

and instructed the company to refund the full cost of the holiday

and pay all the costs.

I was pleased because, actually, I thought it was quite

a significant achievement.

By this point, Bruce's travel insurance had already paid out

for the cost of the holiday.

But he'd continued with the court case as a matter of principle.

And when he won, he gave the insurers their money back.

Sadly, throughout all this, the health of Bruce's wife, Kay,

had continued to deteriorate, and she died three months later.

My wife supported what I was doing in the case throughout,

because she, like I, thought that the way the holiday companies

were acting was very unjust.

The industry has been quick to stress this case does NOT set

a precedent.

And when we spoke to Thomson, it told us that whilst it understood

the "difficult circumstances" around Bruce's cancellation,

it was "surprised and disappointed by the outcome of the case."

The company went on to say that it

"regularly reviews its cancellation policy"

so that it can take into account

the "reasonable estimate of the loss" that it will suffer.

But Bruce hopes his victory may encourage others to take

a similar stand.

This case wasn't about me any more.

But what I knew I was doing was I was establishing a case

which potentially

would be of value to everybody

who booked package holidays in the future.

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

more of your stories, and not just about holidays.

Are you confused over your bills

or do you feel that you're paying over the odds?

I begrudge having to pay that kind of money out.

Unsure what to do when you discover you've lost out

and that great deal has ended up costing you money?

If people are buying into this, I did, you know.

And are they going to be as awkward with them as they were with me?

You might have a cautionary tale of your own and want to share

the mistakes you made with us so that other people don't do the same.

-I'm more wise now, but I was taken in.

-Yeah.

You can write to us at...

Or send us an e-mail to...

The Rip-Off team is ready and waiting to investigate your stories.

Well, a huge thanks to everyone who's shared their story

with us today. And of course, that's what this programme is all about.

Now, some of those cases are a real reminder that however much

effort you put into the planning of your holiday, things can and do go

wrong - usually because of factors completely outside your control.

And that's when you get a pretty good idea of the level

of customer service that some companies can offer.

And I have to say that in some of the stories that we've seen today,

some of those businesses have not exactly covered themselves in glory!

But I tell you what it is does prove - that if you think you've got

a case that's worth pursuing, keep at it, don't give up, even if

there are times when you think that perhaps you're not getting anywhere.

Absolutely. Take it as far as you can.

And if all else fails, bring it to us.

We do love to help.

And at the very least, your experience might help prevent

others from ending up in the same boat.

But that's all we've got time for today.

We'll be back to investigate more of your stories very soon,

so until then from all of us...

-ALL:

-Adios!