Episode 4 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 save hard all year,

we look forward to a holiday with our family.

We felt absolutely desperate.

This was never a three-star hotel.

I wouldn't give it two.

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 a special series of Rip Off Britain,

where we're looking into some of your holiday and travel disasters,

whether they've happened abroad, like here in Gran Canaria,

or perhaps somewhere closer to home.

And today, we're going to be getting to the bottom of those

situations that you tell us are totally unfair,

either because you haven't been treated in the way you

believe you deserve or that you didn't get what you paid for.

Now, that might be because you didn't get what you expected.

Or in some cases, it's all down to the rules and indeed prices being

a little inflexible, but either way, you'll see why the people who got

in touch with us might think that they've had a bit of a raw deal.

And as we find out if they're right,

we'll have advice for you to get you through the same situation yourself.

Coming up... Why hundreds of thousands of holiday-makers

may end up paying double

or even three times the typical cost of travel insurance,

thanks to illnesses they say are firmly in the past.

I've been cancer-free for four-and-a-half years.

And it is another penalty that perhaps I might miss out

on opportunities or travel without insurance.

And how one of the biggest names in travel booked

this family into a room completely unsuitable for their needs.

I said, "He can't stay where he is, he's blind." I said,

"The noise is going to keep him awake." I said, "He's epileptic,

"he needs his sleep."

And they just responded saying the hotel was fully booked.

Now, when you book a flight or a holiday, you're always going

to have every intention of taking it.

After all, these aren't spur of the moment purchases

that you can take back to the shop if you change your mind.

But sometimes, you might get some totally unexpected news that

gives you no choice but to cancel. And at times like those,

you'd probably hope the airline or tour operator would show a little

bit of sympathy and let you walk away with a refund.

Unfortunately though, that's not always the case.

Holidays with his wife, Lynn,

and daughter, Lesley, are some of Steve Harper's fondest memories.

All the best times were when the three of us were together,

whether it was holidaying in Europe or the three times

that I took them to Florida.

They were all fantastic times,

just being together.

But in 2011, just as they'd started planning their next trip to Florida,

Steve's 31-year-old daughter, Lesley, fell seriously ill.

Lesley was diagnosed with stomach cancer

on the 4th of July, 2011.

We were absolutely gutted, didn't know what to do.

It was a form of cancer that only normally affected

people of my age - late 50s and early 60s - and always male.

So...

I think right from the start, Lynn and I both realised that...

..she was fighting a losing battle.

Very sadly, Lesley died just eight months later, in March, 2012.

She was always more concerned about other people,

about Lynn and I especially,

about how we were going to cope once she'd gone.

Never lost her sense of humour.

And probably the bravest person I've ever known.

The family had been forced to abandon the idea of a fourth

holiday to Florida when Lynn's cancer had been diagnosed.

But with the place now holding such special memories for them,

a few months later, Steve and Lynn began making new plans to

return there, this time with their two nieces.

Lynn was excited about going away again,

especially having the kids with us, you know,

because it is...

..one of those places where it's a real enjoyment to be with kids.

Lynn went to her local Thomas Cook

and booked four flights to Florida with Netflights,

which at the time, was part of Thomas Cook.

She paid a total of £2,405.

She paid for it partly with a debit card, partly with her credit card.

The flights were booked for us to go on holiday.

But less than 12 months after losing their daughter to cancer,

Steve suffered a second devastating blow.

Tragically, Lynn died suddenly

after an epileptic fit.

February the 10th,

Lynn passed away.

Nobody could have foreseen

that Lynn was going to pass away suddenly like that.

Going on holiday was the last thing on Steve's mind.

About three weeks after...after Lynn had passed away,

I decided to go to the travel agents to...to cancel it.

I went in myself originally and was told no refund, so I went away,

and about a fortnight later, I went back with my sister-in-law

and that's when the travel agent

refunded the £312.84.

To his utter astonishment,

Steve was told he could only be refunded the taxes on his flights.

I was very, very angry, to be honest.

Try as he might, Steve couldn't get the rest of his money back.

He was told he wouldn't be refunded the remaining amount -

over £2,000.

So Steve turned to his travel insurance to see if he could reclaim

his money that way, only to discover that Lynn hadn't yet upgraded their

policy from European to worldwide - meaning that they weren't covered.

I was banging my head against a brick wall,

and I was just running out of places to turn,

running out of ideas of what to do next.

Steve then continued to see

if he could get his money back through Thomas Cook.

But other than a letter from Netflights asking to see

a copy of Lynn's death certificate, he says he heard nothing more.

They asked for a copy of the interim death certificate.

They got that last year, last November.

I would have thought somebody could have come up

with a reason as to...

a plausible or legal reason as to why they couldn't pay it

or are unwilling to pay it.

So, that's when Steve wrote to us.

And when we started looking into it,

we couldn't find any reason

why he hadn't been able to get a refund either.

We had to scrimp and scrape to put that money together

for us to go away.

Erm...

And that's gone, can't get that back.

When we contacted Thomas Cook about this case,

the company reiterated that it was only "the vendor"

while "Netflights handled the booking".

So we spoke to Netflights, which by now had been sold to

a different company.

Netflights told us it's "extremely disappointed" that Steve

"had to battle so hard to get what he was entitled to - a full refund."

It explained that Steve's original enquiry went

to its reservations department rather than customer services,

meaning the airline's cancellation policy wasn't checked properly.

Staff have now had training to prevent this happening again.

But the company says even when it was identified that

"a full refund was due", there was "a delay in this being processed."

It "apologises unreservedly" for its "system failures"

and has offered Steve "£2,500 as cash compensation",

as well as donating

the same amount to the hospice where his daughter, Lesley, was cared for.

So after months of trying, Steve finally got his refund.

And in May, 2014, he did at last return to Florida,

taking with him his sister-in-law, his niece and great niece.

I felt this year that it was time for me to get away,

and all three of them jumped at the chance to go.

All three of them had a ball.

Well, all of four of us did, really.

We just had a great time.

Now, here's a thought - should you have to pay more

for your travel insurance just because in the last 12 months

you've had, say, your appendix out?

Or what about if you've had cancer but are currently in remission?

Should that mean you pay more, too?

Well, very often the insurance industry says yes.

So even if, as far as you're concerned, whatever illness

you've had is in the past

and at the moment you don't have any signs of being unwell at all,

chances are you'll end up paying more for your policy.

And we've heard from quite a few of you who are not

happy about that at all.

For most of us, getting travel insurance is now easier than ever,

with comparison websites allowing us

to research dozens of insurers in just a few seconds.

But that's not the case for everyone.

We often hear from people who tell us they've either been unable to buy

travel insurance at all or they've seen their premiums skyrocket.

All because they're recovering from a serious illness -

in many cases, cancer.

Back in 2009, Anna Wallace was diagnosed with a rare

form of breast cancer called phyllodes.

I was quite a healthy person, rarely have a day off sick.

So then, suddenly, to be sort of hit with something that isn't

just a common cold, yeah, it hit me hard, really hard.

After operations to remove the tumours in 2009,

Anna felt she needed a break, and in 2010, decided to go to Nice,

in the South of France, for a long weekend.

But when she tried to arrange her travel insurance,

she was astonished by the cost.

I tried on three or four different sites. I then phoned a few people.

If they would insure me, it was at a vast amount. And I think it was

roughly about £2,000 for a premium for four days travel insurance.

What that meant was I went without insurance. I was still going to go.

Two million people in the UK have had a cancer diagnosis.

But Anna doesn't see why, if their illness is in remission, as hers is,

that should mean their travel insurance should cost them any more.

Five years down the line, I have regular checks with the hospital

and I'm on what they call active monitoring or watch and wait.

Apart from that, I'm all good.

And yet, research by Macmillan Cancer Support found

that two-in-five people affected by cancer are quoted higher

premiums and some are refused travel insurance altogether.

So we asked Anna to conduct a little experiment for us...

OK, I'm just going to look on a comparison website

for...that offers travel insurance for people with pre-existing

medical conditions and see what it comes up with.

We asked her to compare the cost of premiums on the four leading

price-comparison sites for identical trips to Spain

and America for a traveller with and without cancer.

"Are you currently having any treatment or is any planned?" No.

She found that despite having no signs of cancer for the last

five years, the cheapest cover she'd be able to get going to

Spain would be, on average, twice as much as it would have cost

if she'd never been ill.

While for a trip to the USA, her insurance policy would be

an average of three times the price.

I don't think that's fair and it is another penalty that perhaps

I might miss out on opportunities or travel without insurance.

As far as I'm concerned and the medical world is concerned,

I've been cancer free for four-and-a-half years.

The price comparison sites we tested pointed out it's the insurers

who set the premiums, not them,

but stressed that not all insurers are able to cover people with

pre-existing medical conditions. So while in these situations cover

can be expensive, it's important to have it in place when travelling

abroad, as specialist health care costs can be very expensive.

And MoneySupermarket.com told us it will be launching

a dedicated site for pre-existing cancer patients in the New Year.

But Anna feels that on comparison sites, she'll always be quoted

a higher price for her travel insurance.

So we've brought her to London to meet Graeme Trudgill,

from the British Insurance Brokers Association, to see how she,

and anyone else in the same boat, can bring the cost of cover down.

On the comparison websites, I had a look at some of those

for travel insurance, they don't go into so much detail,

certainly there's very little differentiation,

it appears, between one cancer type and another.

Now, there's over 200 different types of cancer.

And this is where we have a find-a-broker service

so we can help you find that right broker who has the understanding.

And then it will be much better to do that than just go out to

a comparison site, which probably aren't the right solution for you.

Where can we find out that information

and why isn't it better publicised?

We want to make it easier. There is already an agreement

in place between the insurance industry

and the government for older people who've had difficulty finding

travel insurance so that people with medical conditions,

no matter what they are, can be signposted, so a declining insurer

who says, "Sorry, I can't insure you

"because we don't have the expertise in that condition,"

would actually then pass that risk to our association.

We're talking to government now, we want to extend the agreement,

we're talking to the insurers and we're very, very hopeful.

But when we checked with the Association of British Insurers,

they said they had no plans to introduce

a compulsory signposting system

because there was "not sufficient evidence"

that suitable policies were unavailable or unaffordable.

And they say they plan to work with other organisations to

"improve public awareness" of the available options.

But for Anna, the idea that companies could one day be

obliged to flag up that there are cheaper alternatives is

something to aim for.

Until then, she's picked up some advice to help anyone else

struggling to get insured for their holiday.

I would say, phone up and speak to the specialist insurers,

disclose everything you have, perhaps get a letter

from your doctor or oncologist to say that you're fit to travel.

One of the companies specialising in insuring people with cancer

is run by Fiona McRae, who set up the business after

experiencing the same sort of insurance problems as Anna.

After I'd had my chemotherapy,

I was trying to get travel insurance,

and I was an insurance broker, and I knew it was going to be difficult,

but I didn't realise how difficult it would be. And...

I just couldn't get any cover at all

because the tumour hadn't actually been removed

and I hadn't had all my treatment.

And I just thought then, there's a far better way to do this.

Fiona's company introduced more precise health screenings

tailored to each cancer patient's condition.

That means their risk can be assessed on an individual basis

rather than assuming that everyone who's had a cancer diagnosis

has exactly the same risk.

We're only really interested in how well they're going to be

from when they book their holiday, where we're on risk for cancellation

to when they come back from their holiday,

which can probably only be a six-month period,

so that's what we're looking at.

So the survival statistics don't really come into it.

Hopefully, the message will soon get out there that this is the right way

to screen when you have a medical condition - ask more questions,

be more targeted -

and that's how the consumer will get a better price.

As for Anna, she's delighted that she's been able to find a way

to get cheaper travel insurance

and is now looking forward to her next break in Washington DC.

It's difficult to put a value on going away or having a break

after a cancer diagnosis.

I think insurance policies stop people from taking those trips,

stop people from doing something that makes them feel normal again.

Still to come on Rip Off Britain...

Two journeys home from the airport -

booked and paid for with the same taxi company -

but none of these holiday-makers was ever picked up.

So why haven't they had their money back?

I just got a reply back to say, "Oh, glad you're home safe,

"we were worried about you."

If they were that worried about me, why didn't they try calling me?

Rip off Britain is on the road again, and this year,

we've come to the Merry Hill Shopping Centre in the West Midlands

for our Pop-Up Shop, which this time is even bigger and better than ever!

We had plenty of people coming in with very similar

problems to the ones we heard about earlier in the programme -

they've had some sort of illness or medical condition that's sent

the cost of their travel insurance sky-high.

Hi Sandra, I'm Julia.

After finding that none of the major insurance firms will cover her,

Sandra Vaughan has come to see our travel journalist, Alison Rice,

to sound off.

I'm finding it really difficult now because I've got

chronic kidney disease, known as CKD,

but I'm not at renal failure -

and may never be at renal failure - which is obviously dialysis.

But now I'm finding that insurance companies don't want to insure me.

So, I'm having to look now at specialist travel insurance,

and I feel that's really unfair.

You know, if you look at me, you wouldn't think

I was that person that needed,

you know, specialist insurance.

But your medical notes possibly say otherwise.

The cost of medical health in lots of countries is

so expensive - especially specialists -

and they, understandably, don't want to take the risk

of you perhaps falling ill.

I think your best bet is to go to an insurance broker

and see if you can find a policy that will cover you for

everything except the complications of your renal problems.

How do you feel about trying to find a policy like that?

I don't think I'd want to take the risk because I think that

there are a lot of people who travel without proper insurance.

-Far too many.

-I know people myself, and it's potentially so dangerous

because we don't know what's going to happen.

Graham and Janette Pugh are having the same sort of problem.

They were shocked at the price of Graham's travel

insurance on a trip to Tenerife.

He's used to paying a hefty premium because of a pre-existing condition.

But they couldn't believe how much his newly diagnosed sciatica

ended up costing them.

-We were charged £326...

-For you?

Just for Graham.

-For ten days in Tenerife.

-Yes.

For a pre-existing problem. And then just for sciatica,

we were then charged another premium of £397.

Was your insurance cost more than the cost of the holiday?

-Most definitely, yes.

-Yes.

And because it happened just before you went away...

You hadn't got a choice. We hadn't got time to shop around,

-if that's the right...

-Yeah.

In the end, the conversation was take it or leave it.

Everybody else I talked to about the case

have all said, "What, how much?!"

I mean, it is true that a lot of medical conditions

insurance companies don't want to cover because they know

the expense of covering you

if that condition gets worse when you're on holiday.

Because what a lot of people do is think,

"I'll take a chance, nothing will happen,"

buy an ordinary policy, they get ill connected with a

pre-existing condition,

and the whole of their policy is then null and void

because they didn't declare the pre-existing condition.

First of all, have you complained to the insurance company?

-Yes, we have.

-If you don't get some financial redress, I'd go

straight to the financial ombudsman.

And as always with complaints, don't get emotional, just the facts

and what you expect in return.

Good luck, and I'm glad you had a lovely holiday.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you very much.

Graham's case is now with the Financial Ombudsman Service.

But as we heard earlier, if you go the extra mile

and seek out a specialist insurer, it is possible to find

affordable cover even with a pre-existing medical condition.

So don't just pay the higher price that you may at first be given

by using more familiar companies.

Just about every day we get correspondence from you

telling us about cases where you haven't got what you think

you've paid for.

But I have to say, it's not often that we hear about a case

where the gap between what people thought they were buying

and what they actually got was quite as big as it turned out to be

where the people that we're about to meet were concerned.

As you'll hear, not only do they say that it totally

ruined their holiday, it wasn't even suitable for their needs.

Many of us don't think twice about jetting off to summer

climes for our holidays, but for families with additional

needs, it's an altogether much bigger deal.

Carol and Steven Roger's son, Kyle, is profoundly disabled,

which means that a break away from the stress of everyday life

can be a particularly welcome relief for the family.

We go on holiday basically

because we feel as though we live a very stressful life

and it's just a time where we get away from hospitals, appointments.

We forget our problems at home, with Kyle's problems, and...

and that's what we try and do for a week.

Because of Kyle's disabilities, when the family started planning

a holiday for last summer, Carol was meticulous in ensuring

that she found the right accommodation to suit his needs.

We look for a resort that offers quite a lot to do, so we don't

have to get transport, transport's a big issue with a wheelchair.

A flat resort so there's not many steps or hills, or obstacles.

We look for a hotel that offers facilities for disabled -

toilets and ramps.

Carol found a trip with Low Cost Holidays to Gran Canaria

and was confident that it had everything she was looking for.

It was probably one of the best hotels, I thought,

I could have booked, cos it had so much facilities for disabled people.

It was showing us pictures of the hoist into the swimming pool.

It was showing us ramps. It was in a good area -

it was in an area that was flat. It ticked all the boxes for us, really.

Carol paid nearly £4,000 for nine nights, all-inclusive,

in two of the hotel's apartments.

She specifically requested one of the adapted rooms

so it would suitable for Kyle.

Carol also made clear that this room needed to be

away from the entertainment area, as any noise can disturb Kyle

and a lack of sleep means he is more prone to having an epileptic fit.

But when they arrived at the hotel,

there was an immediate problem with the booking.

On arrival, the hotel staff said, "You're on the third floor,"

which was right over the bar.

I said, "He can't stay where he is." I said, "He's blind."

I said, "The noise is going to keep him awake."

I said, "He's epileptic, he needs his sleep."

And they just responded saying the hotel was fully booked.

Carol pointed out that she'd gone through all the family's

requirements with Low Cost Holidays when she booked.

But the hotel insisted that they had no record of any of that.

So with no other rooms available, the family were forced to spend

the night directly above the noisy bar area,

with music blaring until late into the night.

But that noise wasn't the only problem

with their accommodation,

as the room they were given wasn't

the adapted one that Carol thought she had paid for.

We could just about squeeze the wheelchair through the main door.

We couldn't turn the wheelchair.

The bathroom door, I think, was two-foot wide, if that.

Obviously, I couldn't wheel him through the doors, into the shower,

so we had to physically walk in...

-Practically carrying him, wasn't it?

-Yeah. So...

It made it all too difficult.

The next morning, Carol tried again to raise these issues with

the hotel, but they were adamant that Low Cost Holidays had NOT

made them aware of Kyle's additional needs.

Carol spent the next four days trying to get the hotel reception

to resolve the situation.

But when it became clear that wasn't going to happen,

she called the Low Cost head office to find out why the family had not

got what they thought they'd booked and paid for

and to see how they could help.

I phoned Low Cost from the hotel.

She said somebody would get back to me within the next two days.

"If we can't sort something out, we will move your hotels."

Would you like a cup of tea, Kyle?

But when no-one from the company came back to them,

the family resigned themselves to the fact that, at this stage

of the holiday, they wouldn't be moving anywhere.

Thank you.

And they certainly wouldn't be staying in the specially adapted

room they thought they'd booked.

It just magnified the disabilities we live with every day.

Come on then!

'When you're put in a situation where you've got to live in an

'environment that is'

definitely not suitable, it was really hard work.

And as a final straw, Kyle had a severe epileptic fit

on the plane that flew the family home.

Carol believes the stress of the holiday may have contributed

to this.

Unfortunately, the flight was delayed

by five or six hours, I think it was.

Um...

Two hours into the flight...

..Kyle had quite a big seizure on the plane.

I think the lack of sleep because of the bar,

and because of our room being over the bar,

just complete exhaustion got the better of him, really.

So, from start to finish, I think it turned to be

a bit of a nightmare holiday.

Back home, and still furious at how the holiday had turned out,

Carol once again contacted Low Cost Holidays seeking an explanation.

The company wrote to her confirming that before the holiday,

Carol had indeed requested an adapted room for Kyle.

But, it said, its own internal booking system had broken down

and a "computer systems glitch" had stopped her details

being passed on to the hotel.

By way of apology, it offered Carol's family £75 off their next

Low Cost holiday.

After all they had been through,

Carol thought that was not acceptable.

I feel that we were fobbed off with a £75 voucher,

having written to them explaining just how difficult the holiday was.

Would I book with Low Cost again? No, probably not.

I've just lost trust.

Once Low Cost had our money, we were just forgotten about.

Absolutely forgotten about.

But when we contacted Low Cost Holidays,

there was more positive news.

The company told us it was "disappointed"

to hear about the problems the family faced -

and understands this must have been a "difficult" situation.

It explained that the company used a third-party supplier to book

the accommodation, but the booking was not passed through to the hotel.

So now, instead of simply relying on an automated system,

"agents are now calling all suppliers"

to confirm special requests.

Better still, to "conclude this unfortunate matter",

the family has accepted not just the company's apology,

but £800 cash compensation.

The hotel the Rogers stayed at has also said it is "sorry"

for what happened.

But this isn't the first time we've heard from viewers

who were unhappy about the poor treatment they received

after booking a holiday for a disabled traveller.

Last year, Michael Cooper and his wife, Lynn, told us

about problems they encountered with their holiday booking in Tenerife.

Are you collecting the vouchers?

After a bad start with a wheelchair unfriendly

vehicle for their airport transfer, they discovered a hotel room

that was anything but accessible.

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

It was awful, and I think they should have done more to help us.

Nikki Fox, the BBC News disability correspondent, says problems

with holidaying are all too common for people with additional needs.

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

to go when it comes to disabled holiday-makers.

Something is going wrong and it's not ideal, cos when you go away,

you kind of want to be as independent as possible.

And after the problems that Carol endured with her son,

Kyle, in Gran Canaria, she would agree that there has to be

a greater understanding of the needs of disabled holiday-makers.

'I don't think it was fair.

'I don't think it was fair at all.'

-No.

-It's the little things.

It's just being able to take his wheelchair into a room.

'It's being able to get into the shower...and we got none of that.'

We'd have been better staying at home.

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 - Portugal.

I reckon, among European holiday destinations,

Portugal is the best-value country,

and there are ways of making it even more affordable.

For example, if you're flying in on the national airline TAP to

Lisbon, Porto or Madeira, then you get a free ride into town -

just show your boarding pass to the airport bus driver.

Exploring the capital of Portugal - Lisbon - is relatively easy,

as it's got a top-notch public transport system.

Tram 28 is a great way to see the city.

It's an old school, hop-on, hop-off service that carves

an alluring course through the capital.

But be warned, it's also Portugal's leading location for pickpockets.

The Foreign Office even issues a specific warning about Tram 28.

You could try the cheap and efficient underground railway -

the metro - and the extensive bus network.

Or, if you don't mind a few hills,

then cycling around Lisbon is so much easier than it used to be,

and it's a great way to soak up the atmosphere.

And it's not just getting around Lisbon where you can save money.

Simon also knows how to avoid those pricey entrance fees.

My favourite day for visiting the marvellous Gulbenkian Museum -

Sunday, cos it's free!

But if you're heading for the coast rather than the city,

it's much more likely you'll be travelling by car.

Watch out for unofficial parking attendants -

this is a scam.

It's mostly common on the Algarve.

You're directed into a particular spot

and then told you have to pay for it.

You don't!

But the people can get quite menacing, quite intimidating,

so if you're not comfortable, find somewhere else to park.

Fortunately, there's plenty of room.

Now, I don't know about you, but the journey home at the end

of a trip away is one that I personally never look forward to.

Not only does it mean the holiday is well and truly over,

but everything always seems to take so much longer

than it did on the way out. So, to make things as easy as possible,

you might want to find a way to cut through the whole tiresome

business of getting your bags out of the airport and back home,

which is exactly what the people in our next film did.

By booking what's known as a meet-and-greet transfer service

from a company that promised friendly staff, unrivalled

knowledge and best of all, 24-hour support from the driver.

Now, it's a very impressive sounding package,

so difficult to understand why none of that is exactly what they got.

Two separate journeys with one thing in common -

the same taxi firm left both pick-ups stranded.

John and Lesley Eve from Bournemouth always enjoy getting away on holiday

with their family and Cyprus is one of their favourite destinations.

We love going on holiday because I love the sun.

And we love going to Cyprus because we used to live there.

While Pauline Blake from Poole also has a favourite hotspot

that she likes to escape to.

I try and get out to Barbados at least once a year,

sometimes twice if time and finances permit.

The journey from their homes on the south coast to Gatwick

and Heathrow airports is one they are all more than familiar with.

Sometimes we go by coach, sometimes we are lucky enough to park our car

in our daughter's front garden

because they live two miles from Heathrow.

And, um,

this time, we couldn't because we were all going on holiday together.

So John and Lesley decided that instead

they'd book a local cab to take them to and from Heathrow.

Pauline too plumped for a cab,

as her return flight was due to land in the early hours.

When you come back after a night flight,

it's sometimes a bit tedious hanging around, waiting for a coach,

so on this occasion, I thought I'd treat myself to a taxi home.

After searching online, both John and Lesley, and Pauline came

across the local firm Advantage Cars,

run by a man called Wayne Jones.

Now, its website boasts "unrivalled knowledge"

and of a "full meet-and-greet service."

It also promises a "24-hour telephone support"

and passengers will "receive the driver's name and number

"before you travel."

We thought, "Oh, this is a bona fide company,

"we're going to be safe paying up front."

Impressed with what they saw, they went ahead and booked,

and the company seemed to live up to its promises.

The journey out was absolutely first class.

The cab was there five minutes before he was due,

no hassle whatsoever.

We were at Heathrow in ample time for our flight.

Reassured that their return journey home was sorted,

all that was left to do was to enjoy their holidays.

It was the best holiday we've had. It was so relaxing because we were

there with our grandchildren, we went out in the evenings together.

It was the perfect holiday.

I had a lovely holiday.

I always have a lovely time in Barbados.

There's lots of local activities and things going on.

But the end of the holidays came all too soon

and it was time to come home.

John and Lesley's return flight

was an hour late, so when their driver wasn't at the agreed

meeting place, they weren't immediately too concerned.

After all, Advantage Cars states on its website that flight times are

checked in case of delays so pick up times can be adjusted accordingly.

Arrived back at Heathrow, no cab.

I was not amused, to say the least.

We tried three or four times to ring a mobile number that we were given,

nobody answered it.

John and Lesley began to fear their taxi wasn't just late,

it wasn't coming at all.

We were the only people left, there was no sign of him anywhere.

We were stranded, basically.

With no other way of getting back in the middle of the night,

John and Lesley felt they had no option

but to wait in a Heathrow bus shelter

for the first available coach.

It was horrible - it was cold, it was draughty, they were iron seats,

they're not comfortable.

You can just imagine how I felt after

a brilliant three weeks in the sun,

coming home, freezing cold,

and I was not amused.

So a one-off mistake?

Well, something very similar happened to Pauline

on the early morning she landed at Gatwick.

When I landed, the flight was a little bit early.

And so I looked out for my name on a board and nobody came.

After an hour, there was still no sign of her driver.

Pauline called Advantage Cars -

after all, they claimed to offer a 24-hour support,

so surely someone would know what had happened to her cab.

I tried calling the only number that I had,

but that was an office number,

which clearly wasn't a 24-hour number,

so that just went straight through to an answer phone,

and I left a message to say,

you know, "I'm waiting at Gatwick Airport for my driver."

Thinking it could have been a mistake on her part and the driver

may have been waiting elsewhere,

Pauline went to the airport information desk

to put out a call to the driver, but I'm afraid nobody appeared.

There was the coach leaving for Poole shortly, so I made the

decision to go to the coach ticket office

and get on the next coach.

So, two separate sets of passengers,

both expecting to be met by Advantage Cars,

and both having to make alternative arrangements.

When they did eventually get home,

John and Lesley found an e-mail waiting for them

from Wayne Jones at Advantage Cars with an apparent explanation.

To me, he sounded a little bit sarcastic.

On checking into it, he had sent the taxi to meet the wrong flight.

It appeared that Advantage Cars had been waiting for flight 633

from Athens, instead of flight 663 from Larnaca,

which was the one that John and Lesley were on.

Now, if he'd only monitored the right flight,

he would've known it was an hour late.

As for Pauline, despite e-mailing Advantage Cars as soon as

she got home, she doesn't believe she's ever had a satisfactory

explanation as to why the cab hadn't picked her up.

I just got a reply back to say, "Oh, glad you're home safe,

"we were worried about you." If they were that worried about me,

why didn't they try calling me?

They had my number, they could've called me and said,

"We know you've come in early,

"just wait there, we're on our way," but nobody did that.

Both Lesley and John

and Pauline asked for a refund for their journeys.

But Wayne Jones refused.

If he'd only held his hands up and said, "OK,

"my mistake, here's your money back,"

everything would have been forgotten.

And it seems these aren't the only disgruntled customers

of Advantage Cars.

We spoke to Dorset Trading Standards, who told us that

after receiving complaints, they've given advice to the company

and are monitoring the situation.

So what does the business owner Wayne Jones have to say

about all of this?

Well, he disputes much of what we've been told, claiming that John

and Lesley didn't give him

the full information about the flight they were on -

although we've seen the e-mail trail that shows they did -

and that his driver was at the airport for 90 minutes.

He says communication with the couple has now broken down,

so he is "unable to resolve this issue."

As for Pauline, he says she was waiting in the wrong place

and had her mobile phone turned off.

Again, he insists that his driver was there.

And he says each week the business completes

"around 50 airport transfers without any problems."

Even so, he went on to say that he is "not in the business of upsetting

"people," so both of these cases have now "received a full refund".

And, as a "goodwill gesture",

they've been offered "a free transfer the next time."

But while happy to have eventually got their money back,

it doesn't seem they'll be rushing to take up that free trip.

They clearly don't provide the service that they claim to

do on their website.

I don't like it to happening to me, but I am certain

I don't want it to happen to anybody else, if I can do anything about it.

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 feel you're paying over the odds?

I begrudge having to pay that kind of money out.

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, sometimes when you think you've been treated unfairly,

it isn't deliberate. It could be down to a miscommunication or

a simple mistake. But whatever the explanation, you can see why

some of the situations we've heard about today might, at the very least,

leave you feeling, shall we say, somewhat frustrated.

Or even completely hacked off. And frankly, who can blame them?

As indeed has been the feeling of quite a few of the people

who've contacted us about that travel insurance story,

after they'd been really surprised to discover just how much extra

an illness - whether it's something that's happened

in the past or more recently - can add to the cost of your cover.

And of course, all of that's a bit scary when you find it out.

But that's where we have to leave it for today

because we're right out of time. But we'll be back very soon to

investigate more of your stories. And, of course,

we'll have more advice to

make sure that wherever you're going for that well-deserved break, that

you don't come back home feeling in any way completely frustrated.

So until next time, thanks very much for your company,

-and we'll see you soon. Bye-bye.

-Bye-bye.

-Bye.