Episode 3 Rip Off Britain

the programme and thank you for coming and thank you for watching,

and up next it is Rip-off Britain. We will see

Welcome to another live edition of Rip Off Britain with some

devastating examples of the kind of pension fraud I'm sorry to say is on

the rise. Savings built up over years and years have effectively

vanished, leaving people tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket

and facing, when you look at it, a very uncertain future. The thing is,

you may well be approached by companies offering plans for your

money so we're going to have advised to let you decide and recognise if

they really do want to make your pension grow or just disappear

altogether. We asked you to tell us what has

left you feeling ripped off and you contacted us in your thousands.

You've told us about the companies you think get it wrong and the

customer service that simply isn't up to scratch. Once they've got your

money, they are not interested in coming back to you or to give you

customer service. You've asked us to track down the scammers who stole

your money and investigate the extra charges you say are unfair. I think

prices are going up and nobody is actually doing anything to improve

that. And when you've lost out but nobody to blame, you've come to come

to us to stop others falling into the same trap. Just leave me alone!

So whether it is a genuine mistake or a blatant rip-off, we are here to

find out why you are out of pocket and what you can do about it. Your

stories, your money. This is Rip Off Britain.

Hello, and welcome to the halfway point of our week

We're loving being here - and we're thrilled by the response

we've had on the topics we've covered so far.

Yes, I'm delighted to say we've been inundated

So many thanks to everyone who's taken the trouble to get in touch.

And we hope you'll do it again today!

If you are going to do it, it is very simple.

[email protected] is the best way you can

Or we're on Facebook - just look for BBC Rip Off Britain.

And we're sure you'll have plenty to say about the subjects we'll be

with wedding season about to get under way - we'll see if some venues

might be pulling a fast one by holding onto the money if you end

We'll also be asking if the smart meters we're

all being encouraged to install are always quite as clever

And my friend Aled Jones will be telling us why he leaves everything

We'll be back outside with our experts as they get

to grips with more of your problems at our pop-up advice clinic.

Today it's personal finance whizz Sarah Pennells and our legal expert

Gary Rycroft who'll be stepping up to the plate.

There they were, standing by ready to answer your questions later in

the programme. But before all that,

new figures from the City of London Police show that more

than ?8 million was stolen from our collective pension pots

during the month of March. That's ten times as much

as was taken in the previous month. But those figures -

however shocking - Because after seeing this report,

it's the impactof losing those savings that will stick

in your mind the most. My heart hit the floor. It was

devastating. I don't really know where my money is and I'm just

scared that half of it could of gone, three quarters. I have no idea

where it is at. Both these men should be making the most of the

money they've paid into their pensions all their working lives but

they're not because, effectively, their money has gone. And if you've

got a pension, there may be people targeting yours in a similar way.

But, for John Fowler from Harrow in west London, it began in 2012, when

he received a call out of the blue from somebody describing themselves

as a pensions advisor. Normally cold calls I give short shrift to. I'm

not rude but I just say "No thank you" and put the phone down. Since

he knew who I was and where my pension was, that's when I thought,

if they knew where it was, maybe somebody at that side of it was

quite happy for them to approach people. It gave it a bit of

legality, I suppose. John was told the pension he had had with a

previous employer, with ?212,000, wasn't performing well and could be

invested more wisely. Not only that, the caller said that right now John

could have a tax-free lump sum from his pension of ?75,000. I couldn't

believe my luck and because my daughter had been through

university, my son was in university, I had a car that was

older than myself, the windows were falling out, and if I was sitting

outside sometimes, I thought we would get the windows done, which we

had been bidding for years, and the car. I thought, I can get a car now.

John agreed to transfer his pension pot to a particular company and was

given his lump sum. The rest of his money, he assumed, was being

invested wisely but in 2013, he was shocked to learn that following an

investigation the pensions regulator had appointed new trustees to the

scheme and a key part of their role was tracking down what has happened

to investors' money - in other words, it wasn't clear where his

savings had gone. I told my wife and she said, what does that mean? I

said, I think I've done something really stupid. I think I've

transferred into a company and they've wandered away with our

money. My heart hit the floor. It was devastating. It isn't just my

pension fund, sorry. It's my wife's as well. It is our pension-fund. And

I had stupidly, you know, chucked it the way. But, believe it or not,

worse was to follow. It turned out that the lump sum John had received

wasn't, as he'd been told, tax-free. He would only have been eligible for

any tax-free sum if he had been 55 and, sadly for John, he was just

short of that. So HMRC slapped him with a huge tax bill. He would have

to pay back over ?41,000, 55% of the lump sum he took out on the advice

of the company. It is just distressing because it is on my mind

all the time. I go to bed worrying about it. Wake-up worrying about it,

and worry about it during the day as well. Of the ?212,000 pension pot

that John had diligently saved for years, it seemed only 33,000 is

left. Meanwhile, two of the directors of the company had simply

gone on to set up another company. There must be some mechanism that

would allow them to catch these people and bring them to task. How

they are walking around free at the moment, I don't know, with all that

money gone missing. Just ridiculous. But it seems John is just one of a

string of people whose pension pots were decimated after they got

involved with 5G Wealth Management. At the pensions regulator, Andrew is

in charge of tackling pension fraud and scams. First of all what I did

was to attract about ?60 million of pension money from innocent

consumers and legitimate pension schemes and they invested that in a

variety of overseas unlisted and unregulated investment vehicles.

When we intervened, that 60 million had dwindled to less than ?1

million. Three weeks ago, the pensions regulator announced it had

banned the directors of 5G Wealth Management from going near anyone

else's pension ever again. But that is bittersweet news for John, who is

no closer to knowing if he will oversee the rest of his money again.

We got in touch with the directors of 5G Wealth Management Limited. One

of them chose not to comment for legal reasons, and the others didn't

get back to us at all. But the pensions regulator has a huge task,

tackling pension fraud, with so many people's savings having been

targeted. We know from the police that they get a lot of reports of

fraud and theft in relation to pension schemes. If you total it

altogether from the various agencies, you get to a number that

is many billions of pounds. Some people would say it is as high as 9

billion or 10 billion. The answer is, we don't really know. A lot of

people are really embarrassed if they have been scammed. They don't

like to tell their family or admit it to their friends and they don't

even tell the authorities about it, so I suspect that the true number is

very much higher than the numbers we know about. Another person who has

lost their savings through a different company is Gary Bradley

from Manchester. He only realised what had happened after we

highlighted on this programme how this type of fraud had increased

since 2015, when the industry introduced greater freedom on

investing your pension. At almost to being able to breathe because you

think, my goodness, what's about to happen here? Seeing that story got

Gary thinking. I ended up seeing this pension scam that was on there

and the more they went through these two case studies, the more I started

thinking I'd gone down a similar Avenue. I hadn't met the people I

was supposed to meet, it was all done on e-mails. And you're

thinking, these people have lost all their money. Am I going down the

same way? Have I gone down the same Avenue as they have done? Gary had

transferred just over ?54,000 from his pension pots to a company that

cold called him. He signed the paperwork in this very bar. He knows

his funds were transferred abroad but now the company he dealt with no

longer exists and he has been getting letters from another

company, saying his money has dwindled away to talk I don't really

know where my money is. I know where I think it has gone. I have some

paperwork from these people who have got it and it could possibly still

be with them but you just want to put it in a place and have them look

after it for you and I'm just scared that half of it could have gone,

three quarters, I have no idea where it is that. To help Gary try to find

out where his money is, we've enlisted our family Freud lawyer. --

fraud lawyer. I understand they had some concerns about the type of

pension schemes you were looking to move your money to. They had

concerns about the places it was going because they may be a bit

risky, and they thought, if you move them to these places, you could end

up losing money as well as gaining it. The whole thing to do with the

risk, and they said all the right noises. But I was still convinced

that I thought the one I was told, that these were the places that were

going to make is the best amount of money for a frozen pension pot, so I

was quite happy with continuing at that time. But whatever the company

promised, where the money has ended up is uncertain. I can say from

experience of investigating these cases, when you are having to deal

with parties overseas, if they are dishonest they know how to frankly

fob you off, they know how to tie you up in circles. You go around and

you just can't get to the bottom of it. That was their plan. Because you

are overseas, they may not listen to any court orders we have over here

or pay attention to those. The sad truth for Gary is that once you lose

track of your money in any pension fraud or scam you are unlikely to

see it again, which is something the pensions regulator sees frequently.

Our mission really is to try to prevent people from getting into the

scam in the first place, to make them aware of the hallmarks of a

scam, to stop them making the transfer. Once the scammers have got

your money, the chances of getting it back are very, very low indeed.

That's why the organisation has a website with simple advice on how to

spot if a scheme is a scammed. We've got this need to check list at the

bottom which sets out what the hallmarks of a scam are, so if they

bothered me a free pension review, if you text that box, it is almost

certainly a scam. Guaranteed return on your investment is the hallmark

of a scammed. Exotic sounding investments overseas is a favourite.

I click submit and that says, that is a scam. Run, basically. Andrew is

clear that one thing above all should sound alarm bells. No

reputable pension company will cold call you or come knocking at your

door or send you unsolicited texts. Any kind of unsolicited contact in

relation to pension schemes should be illegal. That won't stop it

happening but it allows us to say to consumers, if anybody contacts you,

it is a scam, definitely, because it is against the law to do it, so that

would help enormously. All this is too late for John, of course, though

he has his own tips on how to avoid falling into the trap he did. My

advice is just, do your checking. The internet is a fantastic

resource. You can really go through all the different avenues that are

available to you instead of actually listening to some sweet talking scam

artist on the end of a phone. They promise you the world and deliver

you nothing. I think it is worth reiterating the advice from the

pensions regulator. Whatever you do, don't be seduced

by the promises of anyone contacting you out of the blue

about your pension - however convincing

the line they spin you. We all felt so sorry but it is

savings that are hard to get and how to hold onto. Sorry for the family.

Well, a ban on cold calling about pensions has been mooted,

And, in the meantime, do let us know if anyone's

targeted your savings - particularly if they might be trying

If you can forewarn viewers that is the first line of defence.

Meanwhile, you sent us plenty of comments

You'll remember we revealed how used car

dealers may be breaking the law by not telling you about any

outstanding safety recalls on the vehicle you're buying.

Which prompted all manner of car-related emails.

One was from Denis Williams - a former policeman -

who got in touch to emphasise that under the Consumer Protection from

Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, anything that may affect a decision

to purchase must be declared at the point of sale.

He reckons that's something not all car dealers may want you to know!

I think our report yesterday showed that.

We also talked about the tactics some retailers use

And David Ashbridge emailed to say he occasionally buys things

from TV shopping channels - where presenters excitedly tell

you how fast you need to act if you don't want

David thinks they should be compelled to make clear how many

items are actually in stock - perhaps with an icon in the corner

of the screen that goes down every time one is sold.

That way viewers will know exactly what the true situation is.

David, interesting idea but who knows - perhaps

as the number went down, it would just add to the pressure?

And you may recall we discussed flight

delays yesterday too - after which Jen and Ian Aldridge

told us they'd been delayed five and a half hours a couple

But they got nothing back because the holiday company said

it was due to a bird striking the plane - and therefore

They ask, is that really a genuine excuse to not pay compensation?

To which the answer I'm afraid is now yes, after a test case

in the European Union Court of Justice confirmed the point

Next this morning, chances are you've had a letter

encouraging you to get a smart meter fitted to keep better track

But some of you have asked whether those meters are smart

enough when it comes to switching supplier.

I have come to fit your meter. With more than 5 million devices fitted,

Smart meter installation is well under way. You will be able to see

exactly how much energy you are using. As this advert shows smart

meters are aimed at making our lives easier by helping us keep track of

the energy we are using and on the whole the idea seems to have gone

down very well. I have got one and I think it is fantastic. It makes you

turn things off. Use things like this. I do not fill the kettle like

I used to. I have just had a smart meter put into a flat we have and we

are not always there though it is handy that I do not have to always

keep going and reading my meter downstairs. Because I have this

meter installed I tend to switch the lights off and I will say to my

wife, do not leave the lights on in the kitchen, switch it off and let

us try to save some money. The aim is that every UK home has the smart

reader installed by the end of 2020. Peter from a price comparison

website believes the idea is a good one. The benefits of a smart meter

are they provide information to the supplier for the consumption of

energy in the home. From a customer point of view it means the end of

estimated bills because it allows the supplier accurately calculate

how much the customer spending. This man loves converted mill outside

Sheffield and energy prices is something he has been wary of

particularly in the winter. A large part of your expenditures for gas

and electricity so the more you can save the better. About three years

ago we noticed the prices were going up so much and we were trying to

think of ways of reducing the cost. He was interested when his supplier

British Gas told about a new way he could monitor his energy consumption

even more closely. We had a lot of pressure to have a meter from the

energy company that we were with at the time. The thing that convinced

us in the end was that on a number of occasions the rural Michigan is

by the energy company of our meters. Our neighbour's meters were close to

ours and often they would read the wrong meter and it would take

several months to sort out and get the Bell correct. Ken was careful to

make sure that his new gadget would not become an issue if he chose to

switch supplier again in the future. I asked the engineer who installed

it whether or not we would have a problem if we moved another

supplier. He said no, it would not be a problem. In fact nine months

later when Ken fancied switching supplier it turned out it was a

problem and his smart meter was not smart enough to work with SSE, the

company he hoped to move to. We thought this would be a simple

change however we spoke to SSE and said we had a smart meter and they

said it is an incompatible system. Rather than have the hassle of

getting his new supplier's smart meter installed he decided to stick

with British Gas because he knows he is likely to switch suppliers again

and cannot bear the idea of having to change his meter every time, even

if that means he has been left without a meter that is no longer

very smart at all. It means we have none of the functionality we had

before. So that we have a monitor which is useless and everything has

to go back to as if it was a -- manual meter. Ken thinks the rush to

rule out manual meters it has not been made clear that a meter may

only work with one supplier. I contacted the regulator and sent

them an email saying that this seemed a ridiculous state of our

fears and as this was a government initiative I had presumed that would

be more effort put in the first place to make sure a standardised

meter was used. We got in touch with his old supplier who denied that its

engineer would have told him he did keep his smart meter if he switched

but they told a smart meters are not just about easier switching but have

a whole host of other benefits. It said it ensures that customers

switching to British Gas to retain their smart services but when

customers switch from British Gas it is up to the new supplier to make

sure the smart benefits are maintained. His new provider SSE

blamed the issues he and others had experienced on significant delays to

the UK smart meter infrastructure going live. SSE said that it makes

customers aware of this when they book a smart meter installation and

both companies stressed that steps are being taken to ensure that in

the future switching will not mean losing your smart meter

functionality. Ken is not the only person to get in touch about there

not so smart meter. We have also heard from you in Northampton who

was to discover his smart meter would not function in smart mode

after he switched suppliers. Stewart wrote to see how irritated he was

when after changing to a cheaper tariff he found his smart meter was

no longer quite so clever. One of the problems with the first

generation of smart meters is that the information that should go

between suppliers is not happening with some of those smart meters and

in essence that is leaving customers in switching Limbaugh not knowing

whether the right decision as to stay with their current supplier,

which might mean they are overpaying, or move to a new

supplier and potentially lose some of that smart functionality.

Fortunately there is light at the end of the smart meter tunnel

because it is expected that these early smart meters will be upgraded

so they are smart enough to do the job if you switch supplier and a

second generation of smart meters is being developed. These will

eliminate the problem is the current generation of meters have and will

allow consumers to switch supplier very freely. Unfortunately the

second generation will only be implemented later this year and by

that stage up to 10 million customers will be on the first

generation of meter. At the moment smart meters only save the average

customer ?11 a year but it is hoped it will rise to ?43 by 2020.

Consumers say it is not always clear that the benefits of those smart

meters will not always transferred to a different supplier. I felt so

strongly about this than I am not somebody who normally complains but

there seems to me crazy because you lose out.

Well, Smart Energy GB, which describes itself as the voice

of the smart meter roll-out, says that even if customers do

temporarily lose some smart functionality after switching

supplier, they'll be switching with more confidence,

because they'll have an accurate picture of their previous energy use

and therefore be better able to choose the right tariff.

It says eight out of ten people with a smart meter

Well, joining me is Lawrence Slade from Energy UK, which represents

Lawrence, we've sparred many times on energy prices,

so it's nice to be talking about something else.

I do, I have a smart electricity and gas meter. What are the advantages?

They are great. We moved house and change supplier and I kept my smart

functionality and it gave us a guide as to how the house, how efficient

it is and allowed us to save quite a lot of money. You're one of the few

where the functionality remained because some say 6 million, some say

a million, on the first batch of smart meters, they are not

functional. This is a huge programme. 53 million metres or

something in that nature. We are at the beginning of the programme and

while I share very much your contributors' frustrations of losing

that smart functionality there are programmes under way to make sure

you get that back and I want to make sure no one is put off switching.

You do not have to have your meter replaced. I am about to query my gas

bill and when the gas man came he said you have to put in a smart

meter. How much of a role with that cost me? About ?60 as an

installation fee including your bill in the same way as your current

meter cost. It would be on my bill. At my stage in life I am looking at

the figure, ?43 by 2030, I will be in a box by then. It seems a small

amount of saving. It is about saving and helping you understand your

efficiency and making sure you get accurate bills all the time so every

month of you want to pay by direct debit you are paying for the energy

you use so you're not rubbing up debit or credit with your company.

You can understand your energy better, get accurate bills and pay

for the energy you are using... What I do not understand, why it was a

meter not made that would do all? We are all being encouraged to switch,

why did you not make a meter that would fit everything? It is a

development of the meter so these were the first meters rolled out

nationally and a under way now to looked how we can make sure you keep

the smart functionality. When? As I discovered for some companies it is

there now and it will be rolled out over others over the next months.

Somebody said later this year, is that accurate or will it be next

year? Towards the end of this year, air early next year, it is a huge

programme that has had some challenges. We are talking about

moving from analogue meters effectively to digital meters and

they will give more benefits as we get down the line. Thank you. I am

sure I will see you again. I look forward to it.

Well, all this week our experts have been tackling your problems

We have all decided that by 2030 will not be in your box, you will be

on the box! Simon Marcus, who's had trouble

trying to sort an issue Simon, your home had damp

proof coursing installed by the previous owner and it came

with a ten year guarantee. So why hasn't the company

honoured its guarantee Tell me what the problem is. When I

bought the property I was told was a guarantee and there has always been

our problem with damp since I bought it. I was told it was guaranteed.

The guy said because I do not have a physical copy of the guarantee that

I cannot do anything about it. It is quite frustrating. It must be

because you have no physical proof this work was done. I have an

invoice that purchased the guarantee but I do not have the guarantee

itself. What is your advice? It is all about the paperwork. If you are

told there is a guarantee get the paperwork, and then make sure it is

assigned to you because you have to have a legal relationship with the

man who bids in the dump row. Should that be in the huge document we sell

it when we sell our house giving the new purchaser all the information

they need? Yes, the property information form. The seller should

disclose guarantees, the conveyancer should get a hold of the copy and

explained to you how you can get that assigned to you. You have to

have the benefits of the guarantee personally to claim later. Brilliant

advice for in a buddy watching. In the meantime you should talk because

he should be able to give you advice.

Hopefully we will have a better outcome to this one with Sarah

because we've had a letter from Margaret, who can't be with us

today, but she has a problem with a prepaid virtual visa card for

shopping online. I don't know what that is. These prepaid cards are

very similar to a debit card that you use the shopping. Charity-macro

key differences. The first is that you can only spend money you've

loaded up on in advance and the second is, you don't get physical

card but in your wallet or purse, you just get the details online.

Margaret says that the problem is that many of the shops she's tried

shopping won't accept the card because she's not been using it,

they are now charging her a fee because it is inactive and she wants

to stop the card and get all her money back. What can she do? The

problem with these cards is that many of them do have these either

for loading up or if you don't use them. The card company has actually

said they will help Margaret to close her account and they won't

charge her. All she needs to do is give some additional information and

to redress for compliance reasons. I can understand why she was

frustrated because having looked at the terms and conditions, it does

seem to imply you can use it anywhere visa card is accepted but I

will be keeping an eye on them just to make sure they do close her card

as they promised. Sarah is on the case so we will get that result!

Thank you very much. That's it from the Piazza. It's all yours!

Lots of consumer stories are making news again today.

Most papers report on the latest inflation figures, which show prices

rising at their fastest for four years.

You can see here the Guardian cites two main reasons for that,

Electricity Costs And Air Fares Push Up Inflation.

I smiled at her story in the Daily Mail today that says that eggs are

so good for you that they should be on the script and. I agree with that

because I love eggs and always have but when you read on in this report,

it is based on a study by the British egg industry council. Well,

you would expect them to say that but I do food programme last year

and the professor in question said an egg has everything in it that you

would want, even better than a stake. That is unexpected news! Have

a look at this headline. Figures say that an rise in adolescent obesity

is down to teenagers being hooked on their mobiles. No surprise there but

what does stand out is that it is you girls in Scotland that are

number one in the world for that. I wonder how they arrived at that!

They are probably not watching, they are on their phones.

Well, all this week we're updating some of the stories we've featured

And here's the latest on a couple more.

One of the biggest consumer stories of last year was the news that 5

million tumble dryers manufactured by one of the biggest names in the

business, Whirlpool, were at risk of catching fire. Investigators

discovered they had been linked to at least 750 house fires since 2004.

A review discovered potential safety issues where excess fluff in the

dryers could catch in the heating element. As we reported in our last

live series, one such fire in the home of John Wood from Hampshire led

to the death of a family pet, Holly. I broke down in tears that night. I

have been for the past few nights after that. The wife was devastated

because it was our first family pet that we had together. It was a

member of the family. The problem affected models sold under the

Hotpoint, Creda and Indesit brands, manufactured between 2004 and 2015.

Once it was discovered, whirlpool embarked on the biggest safety alert

in British history. Good afternoon, you're through to whirlpool,

speaking to Heather, how can I help? At the company was criticised for

the advice it was giving for customers while it was waiting

further dryers to be checked and modified. Whirlpool insists that the

drivers are still used to -- dryers are still safe to use the meantime

but just to be sure, the company has told customers not to leave their

appliance unattended when it is switched on and to check out through

the filter after every use. But on this programme, after a dramatic

blaze in a tower block in Shepherd's Bush, London Fire Brigade's head of

investigations disagreed. London Fire Brigade believes they should

change their advice to their customers, that they should not use

those tumble dryers until they have been fixed by one of their

engineering team. In February of this year, Whirlpool did finally

change its advice. The company issued a new statement telling

owners of affected models to unplug it and not use it again until the

necessary modification had taken place. The company says safety is

always its number one priority and that it has gone to extraordinary

lengths to trace owners of the affected products and rectify the

issue. It also says an independent review has confirmed that it has

acted responsibly. You can find out how to check if your dryer is

affected on our website. In April last year, we met these

unhappy brides, both of whom were horrified when the caterer they had

booked for their wedding failed to deliver the food she promised. It

was really, really embarrassing and devastating for us. I did a lot of

crying and no bride should have to go through that. Following that

report, it emerged that those two brides were among no less than 700

customers all let down by the same company, Bake A Cake Catering

Services, with a funeral and birthday parties world as well as

weddings. You shouldn't feel, oh, my wedding was ruined because I didn't

have any food, but it is part of the whole day and it is a day that I

should have been looking forward to, not dreading. And in March this

year, the woman behind the business was jailed for three years after

pleading guilty to several counts of fraud. The judge described her

actions as irresponsible, cruel and deceitful. Her husband was also

jailed for laundering the proceeds. Well, as someone knee-deep

in planning a wedding myself, Actually, that is not true, my

daughter is doing all the planning and I am just signing the checks!

I must confess that story filled me with horror.

But catering isn't all that can go wrong with a wedding.

And with me to discuss that are wedding expert George Watts

George, ?25,000 as the average spend on a wedding. That staggers me to

drop it is crazy and quite often people spend their whole life saving

for a wedding and with their families. It is a big investment so

you do have to spend wisely. You will find in some cases just

mentioning the word wedding adds 40 present a certain venue so you have

to watch carefully. What about the issue of the deposit? Supposing you

have to cancel your wedding, but because you have fallen out of love

with your intended but perhaps there has been a drama of illness or

something in the family, you have no alternative but to cancel, and yet a

lot of these companies won't give you back your deposit, even if you

give them lots of motors? The important thing in the beginning is

to check the schedule of payments and also the deposit, because it

should be quite a small deposit. Most good venues will just take a

small deposit in the beginning, so then if you do need to cancel, you

are in a better room to negotiate and barter what you can get back.

Gary, what is the legal position? Obviously, wedding companies are

entitled to be payback for their expenses but it has to be fair so if

you are cancelling three months before, you may be looking at losing

all the deposit, 12 months may be quite a lot of it but 18 months,

certainly not, that's not fair. Wedding companies would be able to

resell the date and mitigate their loss that way. Say you've given them

plenty of notice and they are still playing hardball, do you have any

redress? It is all about the terms and conditions, which should be

explained to you at the outset. It is not very romantic but sit down

and look about contract because that will be the basis of your argument

with the wedding venue and that should be explaining to you have the

deposit will be repaid. Gary used the word not very romantic but,

actually, you would endorse that. You've got to be very hard-headed.

You have to be very hard-headed. I have known venues charge to cut up

the wedding cake it up if you don't want a white tablecloth, you have to

pay extra, if you want the party to go on past midnight, you have to pay

extra. It is so important to look after those venues. Thank you very

much indeed. Next, it's time to reveal

the spending secrets But, as a consumer,

is his head in the clouds? He's been a household name for over

30 years. So we're a few days into the season of Lent. If you given

something up or have taken something on, our opening hymn should give you

some strength and encouragement. Aled Jones began his career as

Britain's most famous choirboys and now presents radio and TV programmes

including Songs Of Praise. He still makes records and on a recent album

even duetted with recordings of his 15-year-old self. Allott, literally,

you travel all the time, whether it is in this country or abroad, so who

looks after all the bills and the Finance in your household? OK, time

to come clean, Gloria. Who do you think doesn't it? My wife! I am

hopeless with money. The way I see it is, as long as I'm earning money,

then I can spend it, but how it all works, without my wife I would be in

a ruin. Do you never check the bills are anything? Would you know what

your electric and gas bill is? No, my wife does it all. Even when I'm

in arrest in the bill comes, sometimes I just pay without even

looking. That's so bad, isn't it? Does your wife do that on your

behalf? Yes, she is there in every aspect of bills and where the money

goes in the household. I'm quite lackadaisical. I've never told

anyone that! Do you ever go shopping together? She's completely useless

at shopping. I'm really, really good at shopping. If anyone wants to

check out your outfits, I'm your man. Love that one, Gloria, maybe

not that one. Mum and Dad worked really hard. Dad was an engineer,

Mum was a teacher so we weren't loaded. I think dad was very much a

saver. Did he teach you to save? No. I know you got two children, one

daughter, one son. Do they ever ask you to go shopping with them or to

take them shopping? My son is not interested at all. The only shop in

his life is one that sells bricks that go on top of one another, you

know where I'm going with this? He lives for Lego so would be much

easier in the grand scheme of things if I just gave Tampa sent my wage to

Denmark! It honestly would. -- 10% of my wage. It is lovely to see you

because I have been seeing you since you are in short trousers and you

had lovely knees either men! Thanks a million.

He is such a nice boy! We have to say apologies if anyone was offended

by an odd, that one of our contributors made on the pop-up shop

this morning! Sarah Pennells and Gary Rycroft

are still with us, poised to answer some of the questions you've sent us

while we've been on air. One for you and maybe you, Gary,

about the fact that he went into jury service and lost ?700 for the

two weeks he was in court because employer wouldn't pay. Is that

right? It is a great thing to do jury service, it is what we should

all do in a civilised society, and you should be paid for it so he

needs to have a word with the court service and they will advise him

where he needs to go. Sarah, I have one for you. Mick Buchanan has got

one for us. He bought hot air balloon tickets for ?260 but every

time he calls to book the flight is cancelled because of bad weather.

They won't give him a refund because he has on-board insurance. Help, he

says. This is a real problem with hot air balloon rides because, as

you can imagine, the weather has to be very calm, it can't be windy, and

there are cases where people have bought these as gifts and then can't

take the right. Unfortunately, the terms and

conditions of these contracts normally say that these rights are

weather dependent. What companies generally will do is extend the life

of the voucher. Some of them, if you've cancelled over a long period

of time, we'll give you your money but the that is and ex-grazier

payment and not something they to do by law. He might have to wait until

he is 120? Wait for a sunny day! I have a comment from Lorna Curran.

She says something that sums up what we are all about which is on the

pension story we told you about earlier. She says she has been

contacted by somebody offering a free pension review. Suspicion! She

said it was due on Friday and she will now decline and I think that is

a very good decision, Lorna. Well done. We've given you hopefully lots

of good information today but it's all we've got time for on this

programme but we will be back tomorrow, asking when we buy things

on social media, where everything is all about likes and how many friends

you have, are we all too quick to let down our guard?

We'll also be looking at why the age at which child discounts give way

to the full adult price can vary so wildly.

And we'll see why broadband speeds still aren't always

Have a good day and we will see you in the morning. Goodbye.