Episode 8 Rip Off Britain

We asked you to tell us who's left you feeling ripped off?

I think this is very, very, very wrong for what they have done.

The bank piles charges, upon charges upon charges.

Legally, it was right. Morally, that's where the question and doubt comes, in my view.

And you contacted us in your thousands,

by post, e-mail, even stopping us in the streets and the message could not be clearer.

-You don't always get a straight answer. They try and fob you off.

-I'm not happy with them at all.

There's always that very small print that's got the clause in that you didn't realise.

We're being ripped off, big-time

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.

Keep asking the questions, go to the top if you have to.

We do get results, that's the interesting thing.

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

Hello and welcome to Rip-Off Britain,

the show that investigate your consumer troubles

and then battles really hard on your behalf to try and get them resolved.

You know, your letters and e-mails have given us all plenty to get our teeth into.

So, as well as holding to account the companies, big and small, who've already let you down,

we'll have invaluable advice to stop you being ripped off in the future.

Coming up, more situations where you say the way you're been treated is completely unfair.

Like the residents getting parking fines for driving into their own homes.

My car is clocked by their camera

and because I don't then buy a ticket for the car park,

they send me a £60 fine, which quickly goes up to a £100 fine.

Should you pay more for your car insurance, just because you're unemployed?

I've got over nine years no claims,

I've not had an accident in over ten years. It was just the fact I was unemployed.

And face-to-face advice at the Rip-Off Britain pop-up shop.

Where do you go if you want to sell your car and get a fair price for it?

You could go to a garage, of course,

but these days many of you are turning to the growing number

of firms springing up online, offering to do all the legwork for you.

Some of them say that, as well as getting you the best price,

they'll even come and collect your car from your house.

Sean Thomas is a big car fan

and he was particularly thrilled with his latest purchase.

I've had my wife and daughter in it, I felt like their chauffeur.

All I needed was a peaked cap.

People would look at it and I was proud because I was driving a '05 plate BMW.

To me, it was a bargain.

But his dream didn't last long. Just a few months down the line,

with money increasingly tight, and a family to support,

Sean decided he had no option but to sell his pride and joy.

I was gutted. My daughter was upset, my wife was upset

but, at the end of the day, priority means must.

Sean tried to sell his car privately but with no luck.

So he turned to the Internet instead where he found a company

that promised selling it would be, "a pleasant and stress-free experience".

That company was ByeBuyCar.com.

The Wokingham-based firm - not to be confused with others

with similar names - even offered to collect the car.

Sean was promised £3,700 for it but when a man from ByeBuyCar.com

came to pick it up, the price dropped.

He knocked me down to 3,500

because he said it cost £400 to get the new tyres and wheels done

and a bit of spraying done. So, I agreed to that price

and the deal was done.

ByeBuyCar.com promised to pay him within a few days

but after five days, and with no sign of any money, Sean rang the company.

He was told they had had problems with his bank details

and the payment would go through shortly.

But, it didn't. When he called them again several days later,

he got a recorded message saying the company was no longer trading.

I was really, really frustrated and really angry with myself,

knowing that I had been suckered into something.

So Sean was not only owed several thousand pounds

but there was no sign of getting his car back, either.

He's not the only customer who's had problems with ByeBuyCar.com.

The same thing happened to Adrian when ill-health meant he too was looking to sell his car.

I'm now on long-term sick leave from my work

and I have quite a few limitations as to what I can and can't do,

be it walking, lifting and certainly driving.

I had essentially a brand-new car sitting on the drive doing nothing.

Erm, and obviously still costing money.

So we made the decision to sell the car.

After having no joy selling it privately,

Adrian decided to try his luck online with ByeBuyCar.com.

A salesman from the company came around,

gave Adrian's car the once-over and promised that once it had been collected,

he'd be paid £3,875.

They took the car away and I got an e-mail to confirm

that I would receive payment within three to five working days.

But there was no sign of the cash he was owed

and when he rang the company, he got the same shock as Sean.

The company had gone out of business, taking his car with it.

I was just gutted.

I just didn't know what to feel, it was a mixture of anger and upset.

And, I just felt like I had been conned and...

sick, very sick.

Adrian had been left nearly £4,000 out of pocket.

John McIlroy, from What Car, says selling a car online

is an area where you need to choose your company carefully.

The Sale Of Goods Act will protect you when it comes to buying a car from a dealer

but when it comes to selling, there's more of a grey area.

Some of the online buyers do offer a site where you can take your car.

It's a physical presence, which is a good thing.

Others will promise that the valuation guys

will wait with you while the funds are being cleared in your account.

We'd strongly recommend that you use one of those buyers.

Meanwhile, with no sign of the money he was owed for the BMW he had sold to ByeBuyCar.com,

Sean Thomas decided to do some detective work.

He'd been told that the company usually sold vehicles onto the trade

so he went online to look for his car and soon found something very familiar.

I went onto local websites and, believe it or not,

I found my car at a garage near them, looking...

Basically, upset me because it was looking like brand, spanking new.

The wheels had all been buffed up, had a bit of paint work done to it.

A nice shiny, gleaming car and the price choked me,

it was near enough double to what I'd sold it for.

Pretty upsetting.

The garage advertising Sean's car offered to contact ByeBuyCar.com

on his behalf and he then had a call from a man

claiming to be a director of the online car company.

I was basically telling them I wanted the car back, or the funds put into my account.

He said he would have to speak to the insolvency team and he would come back to me.

That seemed to do the trick because later that day,

more than four weeks after the deal had been done,

the £3,500 Sean was owed suddenly appeared in his account!

When I saw the money had gone into the account, basically, I jumped up and yippeed.

We managed to get in touch with ByeBuyCar.com,

who say there was no intention to scam or rip off anyone

and it they were simply a small business that fell victim to the recession.

ByeBuyCar.com stressed that the price Sean saw his car on sale for

is down to the garage they'd sold it to

and nothing to do with them

and they claim that prior to the two incidents we've heard about,

they've had many satisfied customers.

Of course, Adrian isn't one of them but since we filmed with him,

he's had good news as well. Though his car had been sold on,

because he'd never received the money from the original sale,

the police impounded the car and returned it to him.

If he tries to sell it again, it's unlikely he'll be doing that online!

Next, parking fines.

I know they're one of your biggest bugbears, I can see you going "Argh!"

Especially, when the charge you're being asked to pay

just doesn't seem fair. Here's a classic example of that.

People who genuinely didn't park anywhere they shouldn't,

but still got tickets totalling thousands of pounds

and, indeed, are even being chased by debt collectors,

when all they've done is drive perfectly legitimately to their own homes.

Hannah McCabe has a funny feeling she's being watched.

Every day she has a sensation that someone, somewhere knows exactly what she's doing.

They watch me when I'm coming into my flat, they watch me

when I leave my flat, 24 hours a day.

Musician Hannah lives in the flat above a shop on the high Street in Chawton in Manchester

and her only access to her property is through the back.

I have to go past them every time I leave the flat.

It's quite frustrating.

What is it she's so angry about?

These!

ANPR cameras are automatic number plate recognition cameras

which are positioned right outside her house.

They service the local precinct car park

and are operated by Excel Parking, which is a private parking company.

Only, they don't just photograph the cars in the car park.

When I drive in through the road that goes towards the car park, my car is clocked by their camera.

Because I don't buy a ticket for the car park, because I'm coming into my own house,

that sends a message to their computers and they send me a £60 fine,

which quickly goes up to a £100 fine.

The problem is, the cameras cannot differentiate between the cars

coming in to park and those which are just driving through.

As a result, Hannah says she and her flatmate,

and indeed all of their visitors, have managed between them

to rack up more than 50 tickets, which comes to more than £5,000 in fines.

Hannah hasn't paid a penny because, as far as she's concerned,

there's simply no other way for her to get to her own driveway.

The letters are quite aggressive.

My policy has always been to reply once politely

when I know I'm in the right and they've made a mistake

and then ignore any future correspondence that they send me.

But, it's different if you live here, because you feel responsible

for friends, family who come to visit who get tickets.

Her friend and fellow musician, Onya, has had two tickets.

The company waived the first fine that she disputed

but they've not been so accommodating with the second one.

I sent exactly the same e-mail to explain that I was parked in a private driveway.

They refused to waive that one.

Now in my second e-mail, I actually provided them with a photograph of my car parked on the driveway.

The car's registered to my dad

and he's been chased by debt collectors for the fine,

which is now £100. He gets text messages and phone calls from them, literally every day.

Hannah contacted Excel with her registration number

and for six months the letters and charges stopped.

When she got a new car, they started piling up all over again.

Within the first two months of having a new car,

we had about five or six tickets at least.

Excel Parking are taking a hard line on this.

They dispute Hannah's version of events,

particularly with regard to the number of tickets they've issued

and point out that they have cancelled many of the charge notices on appeal.

In any case, they stress, they are the rightful occupier

and there's no right of way across the car park to any adjacent premises,

with signs making it very clear that it's private property.

They say they've been totally reasonable with the residents,

allowing them to register their vehicles

so they can be exempted from the system and investing in additional technology

so that they can filter those vehicles out.

They also say, it's impossible for them to identify vehicles which are not registered at these addresses,

or indeed, keep up with the changing tenants, if they're not informed.

They totally refute any suggestion that their letters are aggressive

and stress they comply with all the requirements of the British Parking Association.

Since we filmed with them, Onya's dad has not received any more visits from debt collectors

and Hannah's moved out of her flat, well away from the watchful eye of the cameras.

Morning everybody, I'm very impressed that you turned up early, so you're first in line.

For one weekend only, we opened a pop-up shop in Manchester.

We had a team of experts on hand to offer consumer advice

and to try and solve your problems, in person, right away.

Without a doubt, you are in the right. Make sure you stand up for yourselves

and make sure that they do give you a full refund of everything.

One of the busiest parts of the shop was our special gripe box,

a place to really get things off your chest

and problems to do with where you live were high on your list of grievances.

I'm going to complain about maintenance charges in blocks of flats.

And now they're taking my conservatory down because it's falling down.

The council tax that we pay each year, obviously, seems to be increasing yearly.

We can't afford to put a deposit down on the house.

Also in the firing line were banks.

A mistake by his bank had left Ron feeling confused about

what to do next but, luckily, financial expert Sarah Pennells

was able to offer some much-needed advice.

You've been with Sarah quite a long time,

you've a mountain of paperwork in front of you, what was your problem?

The problem was I had tried to transfer my account from one bank to another

and it took ages. There were mistakes made and it never actually got transferred.

What happened because the money wasn't transferred?

Because the money wasn't transferred, they transferred the direct debits

and started to pay them.

-With no money in the bank?

-With no money in the account.

-What has this done to your credit rating?

-It destroyed it, completely.

What have you been able to do, Sarah? What help have you been able to give?

I can understand why Ron's been so frustrated.

It's something that should have been so simple

and it just went completely wrong.

What we have been able to find out is that there was a reason

why he wasn't able to open a bank account, or get credit cards after,

because the payments that went from his empty account, essentially,

showing up on his credit file as being late payments.

It might be worth him putting in a notice of correction.

This is basically a short 200-word statement that explains why you dispute the fact

that the credit rating company says you owe money.

By law, a lender has to read this information

before it reads the rest of your file and it at least puts it into context.

We know that it's money that you didn't owe, but they wouldn't know that.

I think you should get your credit file, first of all,

apply for that joint account that you said you want with your son

and apply for a credit card.

Don't do it on the same day because they might think there's something funny going on!

So another satisfied customer and we'll be opening up

our pop-up shop again one weekend this coming June.

For the latest information, keep checking our website..

Living in the heart of the Peak District, having a car is vital

for Martin Stores and, recently, more so than ever.

12 months ago he lost his job and his car has been crucial to help look for another.

The car's very important. I need it to pick my daughter up, she lives eight miles away.

I need it to go to the job centre, which is 13 miles away.

The nearest town is eight miles away,

it's quite rural around here, there's no shops.

No big shops, anyway.

Last June, when Martin needed to renew his car insurance,

he called Endsleigh, to take them up on the renewal quote they'd sent for his fully comprehensive policy.

He was asked a few questions, including his current employment status.

And, then, came the bombshell.

I said I was unemployed at the moment

and they said they would have to recalculate the premium.

They went away for a minute and it came back

over £200 more than it would have been if I had been employed.

I was completely...

I was astounded by it.

Erm, I asked why,

and they said it was something to do with their underwriters.

That was it.

The actual quote for Martin's 1.3 litre car had gone up

from just over £350

to £565 - that's a 62% increase.

The former IT manager says,

it can't be down to his performance behind the wheel.

Well, I've got over nine years no claims.

I've not had an accident in over ten years.

I don't drive like an idiot, I'm not a boy racer.

I haven't got a boy racer's car.

It was just the fact that I was unemployed.

Martin decided to try elsewhere, but was shocked to find

that he got the same response from other companies

when he tried to get quotes.

I found a lot of companies won't insure unemployed drivers.

I rang them up, asked them why and they said it was because they don't insure unemployed people.

One was a famous supermarket chain, they just won't insure you if you are unemployed,

which made me a bit mad because I buy my shopping there, why can't I buy my insurance there?

Very frustrated, Martin decided to see how Endsleigh's instant online quotes

compared with what he'd been offered over the phone.

First, he tried applying as an unemployed driver

and was quoted a hefty £945 for the year -

that's £400 higher than his renewal quote.

But what would they have charged if he'd been working?

Well, let's see... As Martin keys in his previous employment details.

The quote now is £380.05, which is ridiculous.

It's £600 less if I'm employed,

than it was when I was unemployed. I'm astounded.

It makes me feel victimised, or discriminated against,

that I'm unemployed.

Martin couldn't understand why not having a job made such a difference to his car insurance.

But, searching online for answers, he found various possible explanations

from drivers who'd been in similar situations.

One of the reasons that they gave was that unemployed people

have more time on their hands, they need to travel more to interviews

and another reason was because if you're unemployed,

you're more likely to make a false claim to get more money.

It makes you feel like you're a criminal.

Insurance industry insiders say many factors can work against the unemployed.

Perhaps they don't have the funds to maintain the vehicle in the same standard

as someone that is employed.

The new tyres, the new brakes, perhaps their credit rating

isn't as good as someone that is employed.

As anyone who has ever had a bank loan knows, credit rating,

the better it is, the better the deal you get from your bank.

They are rating factors that are considered by the insurance company.

We asked Endsleigh why Martin's job status should affect his premiums.

And they said that though they work with a range of insurers

to deliver competitive premiums, they're just the intermediary

and don't set the rates.

And, while they take equality very seriously, they say certain groups,

such as the unemployed, offer an increased risk, statistically.

And, this can be reflected by some insurers in higher rates.

They said they're very happy to speak to Martin,

or anyone else in the same boat to offer direct advice.

But they're too late.

The only way he could find an affordable premium, and keep his car on the road,

was to agree to a £400 excess with a different insurer.

Since we filmed with Martin, the future is looking a bit brighter.

He's now got a part-time job, so hopes that next time he comes to renew his car insurance

his premiums will go down, instead of up.

Now we're all finding more and more charity bags

pushed through our letterboxes asking us to fill them with our unwanted items.

On the face of it, a perfect excuse to clear out those cupboards

and help a good cause at the same time.

But, do you really know where your donations end up?

Because, not all these bags are quite what they seem.

In fact, doing what you think is a good deed,

could end up having an adverse effect on your local charity shops.

With so many collection bags arriving through our letterboxes,

it seems charity really does begin at home.

But according to one of the country's best-known charities,

only a third of the items we put into these bags

will actually end up for sale in charity shops.

The price of rag is the highest it's been

in my ten years of service with the British Heart Foundation

and that, obviously, encourages more commercial collecting companies to set up.

The glut of commercial collectors, at the moment,

has made it incredibly hard for us to get the stock we so desperately need.

It's not the competition worrying the British Heart Foundation -

they say most people don't realise

that when charities do deals with private companies to collect bags, on their behalf,

those companies are able to sell on the goods themselves and pocket most of the proceeds.

The items that the commercial collectors are collecting in,

are re-sorted and sold on to Third World countries.

The money that then goes back, sometimes it's as little as 5%

that goes across to the original charity.

The British Heart Foundation employs its own drivers like Joe

to pick up donated goods, but, after ten years in the job,

he's noticed doorstep donations drop dramatically.

I'll drive around the housing estates and there's just less and less doorstep donations.

The householders don't know what they are doing.

The charity claims that two thirds of the bags, dropped through our doors,

are delivered by commercial companies

and while many of those are working with charities, a growing problem

is that some collectors are doing nothing of the kind.

Over the last two years, we've lost up to

£4.6 million in bags that haven't been given to us.

There is a huge difference between the commercial collectors

who are giving a small percentage to charities,

but there's also a lot of bogus collectors out there

who are giving absolutely nothing to charities.

And that's why, in Ipswich, another charity, Mind,

has stopped delivering bags altogether.

It has become increasingly hard to find an area that hasn't been

blanket dropped by these massive companies.

I think it's vital that these private companies are regulated in some way

so that they show exactly how much profit they are making

from these charitable organisations so it gives the public an informed choice

about whether they should support these people or not

or whether they can support the charities in a different way

that could actually make a real difference.

In a British Heart Foundation survey,

65% of the people asked weren't aware that these commercial companies exist

and wrongly assumed that all profits made from their donated bags were going to the charity.

-Hello, did you want that one?

-Please.

-No problem at all.

So Gill and Louise are determined to get the message out.

I think that people would be absolutely horrified

if they realised what a small percentage was going back to the charity

and how much profit these corporates were making

on the back of what would appear to be a very charitable gesture.

My advice to the general public is, if they're putting their stock into a bag,

really read the detail on the bag.

Check with the local shops, check with the charities of their choice

but the best and most guaranteed way to get your stock

into your local charity is take it to the shop.

Here at Rip-Off Britain, we're always ready to investigate more of your stories.

Confused over your bills?

Trying to wade your way through never-ending small print that leaves you totally confused?

I might have been stupid for not reading it, or I read it, and not took it in.

I could kick myself. I really could.

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

and that great deal has ended up costing you money?

I thought, this cannot be true. It's totally unacceptable.

I was so angry.

Don't forget you can always write to us at...

Or you can send us an e-mail to...

Don't forget, the Rip-Off team is ready and waiting to investigate your stories.

I'm afraid that's all we've got time for in this edition of Rip-Off Britain

but I do hope that after joining us, you are going to be that little bit wiser about the things

that you can do to avoid being taken advantage of and losing out, as a result.

Whether it's pounds or pennies, there's nothing worse than knowing you've had a raw deal.

Keep your stories coming and we'll do our best to see if we can put things right.

We'd certainly like to live up to that reputation so if you feel like you've been had,

left short-changed or are out of pocket, then I hope you get in touch.

We'll see you again here very soon to tackle more of your rip-offs.

Until then, thank you for your company and, from us bye-bye.

-Bye.

-Bye.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd