Episode 18 Rip Off Britain

We asked you to tell us who has left you feeling ripped off.

And you contacted us in your thousands, by post, e-mail, even stopping us on the streets.

The message could not be clearer.

They are in it for what they can get, not to provide a service.

I didn't sleep, it upset me so much I did not sleep.

You've told us that with money tighter than ever

you need to be sure that every pound you spend is worth it.

How do might get my money back? Because I'm entitled to it.

Whether it is a deliberate rip-off, a simple mistake, or a catch in the small print,

we will find out why you are 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.

Today we have some classic examples of why so many of you

feel you have ended up getting a raw deal

or experiencing really bad service,

or maybe both at the same time.

When you feel you have been ripped off their doesn't actually have to be

a very large sum of money involved.

In fact sometimes it is just the everyday prices and costs

that we have to pay that really irritate the most,

isn't that the truth?

That's because at the end of the day we all like to feel

we are getting value for money

but unfortunately all too often we are not.

Today we are going to hear about situations where you feel

a bit short-changed, and find that what you can do about it.

On today's programme:

we have all seen their ads or probably even sung their jingles

but are comparison sites really as good as they want us to think?

I feel very misled by fact the advertised price

seemed cheaper than other companies, and really it wasn't,

when we looked at the fine detail.

The price of loyalty.

Why this family could have got much cheaper flights

without cashing in their airline points.

I've been a member of a loyalty programme for over 21 years,

and feel we have been really ripped off in a sort of a way.

And more of your problems solved at our consumer advice shop.

One of the most important pieces of advice

that we keep coming back to on Rip-Off Britain is "shop around".

It really is only by getting a whole range of prices

that you can be sure that you're getting a good deal.

These days, thanks to the internet,

there is really no shortage of companies and websites

that seem to make that whole process not just easier

but almost instantaneous.

But can you really be sure that they're giving you the whole picture?

Or when you compare the market,

should you also be comparing the comparison sites?

We all need a bit of help sometimes.

Ads like these claim that they will point us

in the best direction of where to get it.

They are for price comparison websites which have become

the first port of call for many hoping to get the best deal

on things like energy tariffs, and insurance.

There are now scores of sites out there all in fierce competition.

But it is the ones with the most memorable mascots

or catchiest ads that have become household names.

Which? magazine discovered that not all of these sites are necessarily

comparing every deal available to you, or getting you the best price.

This is an industry that has mushroomed

from apparently out of nowhere,

they're spending a fortune on advertising.

Simples!

Some of the biggest advertising campaigns

are being done by comparison sites now.

# Save your bread at Go Compare... #

But businesses that are putting their products on those sites

pay them to appear there.

Money Supermarket.com A great deal easier!

Don't assume this is free, impartial advice you can always trust.

# Confused.com! #

Which? magazine do have a comparison site of their own,

but just for energy.

And they are concerned that some comparison sites

don't take an impartial view.

They did their own tests to compare what you would be offered

when shopping for insurance.

We found that the 11 most popular comparison sites

for the most popular insurance products

never covered more than a third of the market.

They don't show you nearly 70%, in most cases,

of all the deals out there.

And as Billy Thomson from Merseyside found out, sometimes,

even when you're offered a good deal on one of these websites,

actually getting it can be a different matter.

I use comparison websites four or five times a year

and I think they're pretty good tools, sometimes you can find a good deal on them.

So when Billy wanted a new insurance quote

he knew exactly where to go.

I need to renew my house and contents insurance

so I decided to use a comparison website to get a bit of a better deal.

Billy's current insurer was quoting £185 to renew his policy

so he turned to Confused.com to see if they could offer anything better.

I entered all my details,

they eventually come up with a price of £154.

As he had hoped, he was offered a saving.

Swinton Insurance came up trumps,

offering a policy which cost £31 less than his current policy.

But in order to get this price

he had to phone the insurance company directly.

He could not seal the deal online.

They insisted that I needed to go through all the details again.

I did, it was nothing different,

and then they come up with a price, which was approximately £40 dearer.

Up to £190.

However hard he tried,

Billy could not get Swinton to match the price he'd seen on Confused.com.

Leaving Billy feeling... well, confused.

On this occasion I am at a loss

as to why there's such a difference in price when you come to buy it.

Both companies have confirmed that the price should have been the same.

Swinton told us:

"this was an isolated incident

"due to an error by one of their call centre staff"

and they have taken steps to ensure it does not happen again.

But Which? magazine found some surprising results

when they posed as customers on a range of comparison websites.

They found that prices varied

from £310.28 to £660.20 for car insurance policies,

despite entering the same details every time.

That is a 112% difference.

And it is not just the price that may not necessarily come out

the way you expected, as teacher, Jo, found out.

She lives in Manchester with her husband and daughter.

Last March she was keen to pay less for her car insurance.

We looked on a number of price comparison websites,

and TescoCompare.com came out with a very good price

with two different companies.

The two cheapest quotes were from Diamond and Admiral.

Price-wise there didn't seem to be much difference between them.

We decided to go for the Diamond policy and the website

instructed us to call Diamond directly

so my husband made the call.

However when the policy arrived, Jo noticed a bit of a problem.

When I looked at the policy documents

it specified it was a 10-month policy

rather than the 12-month policy we thought we had taken out.

At no point did it mention

it was anything other than an annual premium

on the price comparison website,

or during the phone conversation with Diamond.

I feel very misled by the fact they advertised a price

that seemed cheaper than other companies and really it wasn't

when we looked at the fine detail.

TescoCompare say they always offer annual policies

so again it seems an error was made

by the insurance company's call handlers.

Diamond tell us they can't find a recording of the phone call

when Jo bought the policy

but say they are sorry for the inconvenience caused

and are refunding the extra money

she was charged to change her policy from a 10 month to a 12 month one.

And they're sending her some flowers too.

Comparison sites would say such mistakes are rare

and that they have saved millions of people

hundreds of millions of pounds.

So will you always get a better deal by going online

rather than calling companies for quotes direct?

We did an experiment to see whether we'd get the best quotes

for car insurance on comparison sites or over the phone.

It wasn't a scientific test

but did give an idea of the variety of prices.

I have looked at the four best known comparison sites and it looks like

the cheapest deal I can get online is £450.

What's interesting is all four of those sites

had exactly the same insurance company at the top of their list

but there is a difference in the quotes of £40.

We then called the insurers direct

to see if they would match, or even better, the prices

we had found online.

That's actually more expensive then?

You are quoting me more than the comparison site offered me.

I'm looking for insurance for a car that I am hoping to buy.

So, really, I am better going with

the comparison site than doing it with you on the phone?

And it was clear that, today at least,

the websites proved to offer the better deal.

Well, that was a really interesting

and useful half an hour spent on the telephone.

I think the most important thing I've discovered is that those

comparison sites immediately give you a 15% discount

from anything the insurance companies will quote you on the telephone

simply because you are booking online.

In addition, by telephoning the companies,

what I have found is some of them will charge you

an administration fee, as much as £12.50, that'll bump up the price.

Haggling on the phone like I did may shave a little more off the price.

You might get a discount on the ancillaries, for example,

I got six pounds knocked off the cost of my legal insurance.

But, overall, going online will save you money

but do remember compare the comparisons.

That's the way to save money.

There is no doubt these sites have revolutionised the way we buy

but to be sure you really are getting the best deal,

try looking at a few of them and not just one.

Comparison sites may not always be as...

-Simples!

-As they appear.

If you'd like more advice on how to make sure you

really are getting the best deal then you will find plenty on our website:

Most big-name companies in the UK operate some kind of loyalty

scheme which we sign up to

because we think by collecting points or miles

we will end up saving ourselves some money or getting a better deal.

After all, that is what most of them tell us.

But here's a company, that despite promising the world,

left one family thinking loyalty counts for absolutely nothing.

After 28 years in the air, it's one of Britain's best-known airlines.

And Virgin Atlantic say they want flying with them to make you feel,

well, a bit like this...

# And I'm feeling good... #

They make big claims for their loyalty programme as well.

They call it the Flying Club and they say it's seriously rewarding.

The website invites you to see for yourself how

worthwhile your time in the Flying Club can be.

And that's exactly what this family has been left wondering.

And why they contacted us.

When Carol Atwood recently celebrated her 50th birthday,

her dad, Jack, bought her a very exciting present.

And what made it even more special was that her husband

and children could enjoy the gift as well.

They told me they had booked the flight for all four of us,

premium economy to Miami.

We were absolutely over the moon when we got the tickets.

Lovely sunshine, all the plants have grown up.

Carol was flying high.

Her dad Jack's generous gift meant she could take the family to

stay at her parents holiday home in Florida.

I think this will be our last family holiday going away

all four of us together.

My children are getting older now,

my son is going on a big trip next year with school.

He will be 17 by then and I imagine this will be the last year

he will want to go on holiday with his mum and dad.

Carol's dad Jack had bought the flights using the points he had

built up as a long-term member of the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

which has a seriously rewarding loyalty programme he was sure would give him the best deal.

My wife and I joined Virgin Atlantic Flying Club 21 years ago

and at that time I was doing a lot of business travel, internationally.

And we accumulated quite a lot of flying miles through Virgin.

The loyalty programmes were excellent.

We did very well out of it.

Jack had used 30,000 points which he had earned

from years of the loyal flying with Virgin.

We spent a considerable amount of money in order to

qualify for these points.

You have to take several trips to accumulate 30,000 miles.

He had cashed them in using the Flying Club's

"miles plus money" option.

Booking the flights with a combination of points and money.

The Flying Club said the most cost-effective way of buying

these tickets was to use a mix of cash plus air miles earned.

For the four premium economy roundtrips to Miami Jack paid

£5,102 as well as surrendering all those points which were worth £465.

Carol was delighted with her birthday present

but couldn't resist seeing how much more the flights would have cost

without the advantage of the loyalty club's rates.

So, she checked in the next day and was horrified to discover on

the general Virgin Atlantic website the same flights were

available for just £4,860,

a lot less than her dad had paid.

And you wouldn't need to hand over all of those precious points.

The difference in price between what my father had booked using his

miles plus money and what I looked at on the website was about £300.

I couldn't understand why that would be the case,

as I felt sure that you would get a cheaper flight

going through the Flying Club than you would do

just being Joe Public going into their general website.

And you can see why she might think that.

According to the Flying Club website,

"combine your points with cash,

"and you can access exclusive reduced fares."

But this fare didn't seem particularly exclusive,

never mind reduced.

Jack couldn't understand either.

We all know that flight prices can go up and down,

but surely on the loyalty scheme you'd expect to get the best deal,

not lose all your points

buying a more expensive fare.

I just feel disappointed, you know,

that I've been a member of a loyalty programme,

my wife and I, for over 21 years

and you meet this hurdle, you know,

in trying to do something for your family.

Feel that we've been really ripped off in a sort of a way.

Carol was not impressed.

She contacted Virgin to get an explanation

and to ask whether the £242 difference in fares

could be refunded as a gesture of goodwill.

They told me no, they would not refund the difference,

it was an unfortunate thing that had happened,

prices go up as well as down, and therefore,

it was basically tough luck.

I would love to cancel the flights.

However, when I asked that,

I was told that I was well within my rights to cancel the flights

but they were non-returnable and non-refundable seats.

Carol continued to check the flights as the holiday approached

but on the day we filmed with her,

she hadn't looked at the prices for three months.

I've gone on just now

to have a look at how much it is through the Virgin website.

For the four of us to fly,

it's now £4,400.

So it's gone down by £700 since January.

That's unbelievable.

You would imagine prices would go up instead of continuing to go down,

particularly with airline bookings.

So, as Virgin say, you've either got it or you haven't

and in Jack's case,

he's not getting anything back

because the airline says that the price he got

WAS the best at the time he booked.

Virgin Atlantic told us

their flying club does offer exclusive fares and discounts

and when Jack booked,

he got the lowest available price for his flights.

But then, a few days later, the airline released a sale fare

which reduced the price.

They say, as with all airlines,

fares are based on demand at a given time

so the price varies in line with this demand.

They're sorry that the family feels let down, and say

they look forward to welcoming Jack on board in the future.

And although Carol is grateful to Jack

for the family's holiday of a lifetime,

she feels her father's loyalty to Virgin

has ended up counting for a big fat zero.

What should have been an absolutely wonderful birthday surprise and trip

has left a sour taste in our mouth,

it's taken the gloss off it.

And I feel for a company with such standing as Virgin,

that it's been a very poor show on their behalf

for somebody who's been a loyal member of their flying club

for probably 21 years.

We all love our holidays

but when you're planning one,

it's hard to be confident that you've found the best deal.

So here's our travel expert Simon Calder with some advice

on things to keep in mind if you want to save money when you travel.

Going where the sun shines brightly?

Going where the sea is blue? Me too.

But there are all kinds of pitfalls

between you and getting a good holiday deal.

Here's my top tips for the best bargains.

To minimise your spending abroad, choose your destination with care.

In Western Europe,

Portugal is the cheapest country.

For a summer sun resort,

you can't beat Bulgaria

and going long haul,

the cheapest destination I know

is incredible India.

The ideal month for almost any far-away trip is November.

There are no school holidays,

fares are at their lowest, hotels are empty

and you'll be able to enjoy all the sights,

from the Taj Mahal to the Grand Canyon,

in splendid isolation.

If you just hate paying tax - and who doesn't -

well, choose a cruise.

Here's a thing -

if you go to Southampton,

check into a hotel,

you'll pay 20% VAT

but if you step abroad a cruise ship,

you pay no tax at all.

Having gone to all that trouble to get a bargain holiday,

don't squander the saving by changing money at the wrong place.

You have to shop around and ask the right question -

"How much in sterling will it cost me to buy 500 euros

"or dollars or Turkish lira?"

That is the only way to get a valid comparison.

Oh, and never change money at any UK airport.

Welcome to our Rip Off Britain Pop Up Shop

here at the Metrocentre in Gateshead.

We have a wonderful team of experts waiting to give advice

to all our consumers with any problem whatsoever.

So I think we should get the doors open

and get this show on the road, girls.

And as the shutters went up,

the consumer complaints soon came flooding in.

-So how much did you lose?

-Just under £1,400.

SIMON GASPS

If neither party wants to accept liability,

I'm afraid you'll have to go through the courts.

After enjoying a great holiday in Greece last year,

Philip and his family decided to try and book the same trip again -

this time directly with the hotel itself

in the hope of getting a better deal.

The hotel manager e-mailed us and said, "Yes, that's great,

"if you go online, book with us and pay a deposit of 15%,

"I'll guarantee you the best rate."

So that's what we decided to do.

So we went, Googled the hotel name,

went through to the website, very convincing website,

looked exactly what we expected it to look like, paid a 15% deposit.

A few days later, the hotel manager e-mailed me to say,

"I still haven't seen your deposit, did you definitely book?"

So I sent him an e-mail copy of my receipt

and he said, "That's not our website."

It actually turned out to be a third party agent.

So I contacted them to find out if I could have a refund.

The manager of the hotel said,

"You need to cancel that and book through a different website,"

but they've said it's a non-refundable deposit.

-So how much are you talking about at this stage?

-It's 900 euros.

-900 euros!

-Nearly £800!

This is a very straightforward rip-off which involves

a hotel website that is effectively

passing itself off as the real hotel site

when in fact, it's just a booking agency.

Thus it's going to cream off 15% -

in your case, nearly £800.

I'm really sorry, but buyer beware, especially when you are online.

But there was more encouraging news for Dave,

who popped in for some advice

on his ongoing dispute about his badly fitted new kitchen.

Basically, we decided to go ahead with purchasing a kitchen

after having a cold caller.

Basically, we were told it was a 14-day cooling-off period.

We decided after eight days it wasn't for us.

Someone from the company came round

and said categorically in the small print

that it was seven days' cooling off.

Since then, you decided to go ahead and have the kitchen installed?

Yes, we have, because we were pushed into it.

My wife asked the question,

"What would happen if we didn't go ahead?" He said,

"You don't have a leg to stand on because of the cooling-off period."

Tell me what the worst problems have been.

Incorrectly fitted washing machine, incorrectly fitted electric cooker,

the dishwasher has been refitted four times.

If you didn't receive the documentation

giving you your cancellation rights

-until the day you tried to cancel the order...

-Yeah.

That's actually when your seven days starts, not from when you signed up

and I know you've been in touch with Trading Standards

but I'd suggest you go back and ask for a template of a letter to write

to make sure you spell out very clearly

what you will and won't pay for.

Still to come on Rip-Off Britain,

it's one of the most expensive liquids you can buy.

So why does printer ink cost so much?

And are the main brands really any better than the cheaper ones?

Well, if I went and bought a car from Ford,

I'd expect it to be able to use anybody's petrol in it,

the cheaper the better.

I expect the same from a printer.

As you know, we love hearing from you

but most people who contact us here at Rip-Off Britain

do so because they reckon that they've ended up with a raw deal

after handing over their hard-earned cash.

And this next case is a classic example of that.

They wrote to us furious about what had happened to them.

When he isn't at home or relaxing with his family in their caravan,

Gus Whyte is jetting off to Europe on business.

He always prides himself on being organised, and in March this year,

he booked his latest trip

from Birmingham to Germany well in advance.

What I do is I book everything together on the internet.

So I book my flights, I book my hotels

and I book my car parking all at the same time.

'I booked the parking at Birmingham International Airport

'in the long stay car park.'

I booked it online for six days

and it cost me £42.89

for the space in advance.

Happy in the knowledge that everything was sorted,

Gus looked forward to a stress-free trip. But little did he know

that the stress would start before he'd even boarded his flight.

I arrived at the airport

probably with about an hour and 15 minutes to spare.

'As instructed by the booking form,

'I proceeded to the long stay car park.'

With the clock ticking, Gus needed to find a parking space

and check in for his flight.

When I entered the car park, I drove round in circles, basically,

along all the parking areas, looking for a space to park in.

'I was unsuccessful in finding anywhere.'

So Gus kept on driving round and round and round the lot,

looking for that elusive car parking space -

which, remember, he had booked in advance.

I was up against time because I had to book in for my flight in time,

'or I would miss it, and after 15 minutes of driving round,

'I could find nobody to ask for advice or directions

'as to where to find a space,

'or how to proceed.'

Gus was running out of time and options

and with no staff on hand to help,

he took what at the time he thought was a sensible solution.

Well, having spent 27 minutes driving round in circles,

I was very concerned that I was going to miss my flight

and I saw a space which was not a recognised space,

but was a place I could park the car

without causing any obstruction to any other users of the car park.

I decided that...to cut my losses and to park the car in that position.

With a space finally found, Gus did catch his flight.

But when he returned to his car four days later,

it was to find a parking ticket and a fine for £50.

The ticket that was placed on the car

was placed on three-and-a-half days after I had parked the car,

so it obviously wasn't causing any concern or any obstruction

or it would have been removed

or a ticket would have been fixed at a much earlier time.

Once he got home, Gus wrote a letter to NCP car parks

explaining the whole situation. After all,

he'd booked and paid for a space.

So why hadn't he been able to find one?

I was very annoyed, I suppose,

at the fact that I had pre-booked and paid in advance for a space

which wasn't provided by the car parking company

and no assistance was given to me

to find a parking space within the car park.

Therefore I felt it was a little bit unfair to charge me a fine

for parking in a space

when I didn't, in fact, use the space

that I had paid in advance for.

But when NCP wrote back,

they took a different line.

I got a reply back from National Car Parks

which stated that I had not parked between two white lines,

which is within their terms and conditions.

Realising that they were correct

and I hadn't parked within their terms and conditions,

I accepted that I was liable for the fine.

I therefore paid the fine

so that I didn't incur the £40 extra for not paying on time,

and requested that they refund the cost of the original parking space

as I hadn't used it.

It was the reply to his second letter that really shocked Gus.

NCP told him, it's clear from their terms and conditions

that booking and paying in advance

doesn't guarantee a space.

They insisted pre-payment is not a reservation

and all spaces are provided on a first-come-first-served basis.

Which left Gus somewhat perplexed.

I mean, if your pre-booking doesn't get you a space,

then what's the point in doing it?

Confusingly, when we got in touch with NCP,

they said something entirely different

to what they'd said in that letter.

They told us that pre-booking

does indeed guarantee a space on arrival

and the letter saying it didn't

had been sent as a result of an admin error.

They also say they looked very carefully at the figures

for the day Gus parked there

and insist that not only was the car park not full

but they had over 2,000 marked parking spaces available.

So when we put that to Gus,

he told us he isn't stupid

and if he'd seen a space, of course he would have parked in it.

NCP went on to say that they issued the ticket

because the car was causing an obstruction, and reiterate

that customers must park within the designated parking lines.

They stress that their parking notices

are issued within British Parking Guidelines

and a notice at the point of entry

reinforces that no parking is allowed in unmarked bays.

But they've said as a gesture of goodwill,

they will refund Gus the penalty charge.

And although that's a positive outcome,

Gus remains unhappy about the whole situation

and with what the company told him along the way.

I felt that NCP should have treated me as an individual,

with respect as a customer,

and they basically treated me as Big Brother,

telling me that I was wrong and they were correct.

When you feel you've had a raw deal,

it can be hard to know what to do or where to turn.

So to help you, we've put together

a new booklet full of practical tips and advice.

You can download the free guide on our website...

Or, to receive a copy in the post,

send an A5 stamped and self-addressed envelope

to the address we'll give you at the end of the programme.

A good chunk of the letters and the e-mails that we receive

are about what you have to pay for life's essentials -

things like energy, petrol, car insurance,

all things that you've told us you think cost too much.

And it seems that we can now add another thing to that list

and it's printer ink

for the printers that are attached to our computers.

They're used by millions of us at work, at home or both

but they're not always cheap.

In fact, it can be so expensive

that sometimes it would work out a lot cheaper

to just buy a whole new printer

rather than replace the ink in the old one!

Laurence King from Newhaven

is just one of the people to contact us about this

after being "bowled over" by how much he was paying.

As vice-captain of Denton Island Bowls club in Sussex,

it's the job of Laurence King to keep an eye on the club's finances

and make sure they don't overspend.

But he's noticed one cost that really adds up.

It's not the fuel costs of taking players between fixtures,

or the team drinks at the end of the match.

It's something that works out much pricier than either of those -

something that can cost

nearly £6,000 a gallon.

So what is this drain on the club's resources?

Printer ink.

And it's the cost of printing out all those notices and fixture lists

that's starting to frustrate him.

The bowls club requires a lot of printing, I don't do all of it

but I have to do a lot of printing to send out to people

and to copy stuff to people

and I expect my printing costs to be reasonable.

The Epson cartridge costs around £30,

and that's a lot for the sort of printing that Laurence does.

Mainly, I'm interested in the black cartridges

but you can't run the machine without the other colour cartridges.

They've got to be there, whether you're using them or not.

The fact that I'm only using the black one most of the time

is neither here nor there.

I'd like to put in four black cartridges!

So Laurence decided to shop around

to see if he could find cheaper ink elsewhere.

And he could - by buying what's called "compatible ink"

made by a different company than the one who'd made his printer.

This printer takes a set of four cartridges.

If I buy a set, I can probably get them for about £12.

Mainly, I were buying a set

and lots of black cartridges

cos I'm using mainly black cos the forms are printed in black ink.

Laurence says the only way

he can get his printer to work with this cheaper ink

is to keep trying different cartridges until one works,

and even then, it's hit and miss as to whether or not it'll print.

I put the cartridges in there and I shut the lid

and I get all set to print

and it just comes up on this little screen here -

"This cartridge is not acceptable."

Epson are trying to force me down a road I don't want to go down.

Why do I want to pay all this money for an Epson cartridge

when I can source a much cheaper cartridge

that looks and appears the same?

Of course, Epson isn't the only printer manufacturer

who would prefer customers to use its own brand of ink.

Most of the big names would say the same

and in almost all cases, their ink is much more expensive -

sometimes, costing more per millilitre

than vintage Dom Perignon champagne.

So why do they cost so much?

Alan Lu from Computer Active magazine can explain.

There are a couple of reasons why printer ink is so expensive.

First, there's a lot of research and development

which goes in to developing inks and costs a lot of money

so they want to recoup their costs.

The second reason is about,

when manufacturers sell you an inkjet printer,

the printer will usually cost as little as £50 or perhaps even less

so the way they make back their money, how they make their profit

is to sell you printer ink and paper at quite a high cost.

But Laurence doesn't see why the choice to pay less for his ink

should be taken away from him.

Well, if I went and bought a car from Ford,

I'd expect it to be able to use anybody's petrol in it,

the cheaper the better.

I expect the same from a printer.

You know, if Ford said to me, "You've got to buy our petrol

"but it's going to cost you three times as much as anybody else's,"

I'm going to be unhappy, ain't I?

Printer manufacturers themselves

would say that it's the quality of their ink

that sets their products above the cheaper alternatives.

And it's certainly true that some cheaper inks may quickly run out

or perhaps even clog up the printer.

So, does that mean own brands are the best?

To find out, we've done a test...

Comparing inks for three of the best-known printer manufacturers,

Epson, HP, and Canon.

For each big name, we bought three different types of ink...

An original branded cartridge,

that's the kind they want you to use.

a refillable cartridge from a high street cartridge shop,

and a compatible cartridge from the supermarket.

It's not a scientific test,

but it does give an idea of how different inks compare

for the sort of printing that someone like Lawrence does.

So, how did they perform?

Well, of the three inks we tried in the HP printers,

there wasn't much in it between HP's own brand

and the supermarket ink, except on price.

Both printed around the same number of pages,

but the supermarket ink was a fair bit cheaper.

With the inks for the Canon printers,

the refillable cartridge came out best overall,

as it had the lowest cost,

although the supermarket ink printed the most pages.

As for the Epson inks,

the refillable one printed the most pages

but it was the supermarket one that worked out best value,

again, because it had the lowest price.

So, for this simple job,

there'd be no need to splash out on those branded inks

when you could get as good a performance or even better

by spending less.

But when we contacted the printer companies with these results

they all stressed that neither price

nor the number of pages printed

are the key factors to consider when choosing ink.

They're confident that only their own genuine inks,

with all their research and development behind them,

will deliver the reliability and print quality that customers expect.

And while their printers won't stop you using cheaper ink,

HP described these compatibles as...

While Epson calls them...

..saying they can be unreliable and shorten the life of the printer.

For Lawrence's objections, Epson tell us

the message he gets when he tries to use cheaper ink

is simply the printer warning that the company...

'They say...'

'but they can only...'

'..if THEIR brand of printer is used with THEIR own ink.'

'But back at the bowls club, Lawrence remains unconvinced.'

I don't see why they couldn't produce a cheaper cartridge.

If other people can do it, surely Epson can with all their technology.

They just don't want to.

Epson would argue that their print quality is much better

than the alternative cartridges,

but so what? I'm not interested in that print quality,

I'm interested in a quality that I want,

not that they think I should have.

So many of the stories you tell us start with a cold call.

And we all know that when the phone goes out of the blue

and the person on the other end is trying to sell you insurance,

or a new kitchen or whatever, it can be really annoying.

It's also, incredibly common.

It's thought more than three billion of these calls

are made in the UK every year.

And unfortunately, it's very easy to find yourself

being talked into something you don't want.

TELEPHONES RINGING

'When I get cold calls',

they just try to sell me rubbish I don't want.

I just leave the phone off the hook and that sorts that problem out.

I think it's really unfair how they do just literally

go through the phone book in some cases and call up anyone.

Of course, telesales is big business.

It's estimated to provide work for around a million people

and most of those do a perfectly good job.

But it's the ones who are just that little bit too pushy,

or who don't quite tell you the whole truth

that cause the problems. So, if cold calls get your goat,

there's plenty you can do to make them stop.

'You can register free of charge

'with the Telephone Preference Service to cut unwanted calls.

'Their number is...'

'..and calls are charged at local rate.

'Once registered, you'll stay on the list for good

'and marketing companies are required by law

'to check if you're on it.

'Be careful which boxes you tick

'whenever you sign up to anything, either in writing, or online.

'Though some boxes opt you OUT of receiving calls, others opt you IN.

'So, if you don't want your details used for marketing,

'make sure you've ticked the right one.

'If you ask cold callers to remove you from their records,

'by law, they MUST do so.

'And if they call again, you can report them to the regulator Ofcom.'

Perhaps most important of all, never give any financial information

to someone whose cold-called you,

even if they claim to be from a company you know.

You can find plenty more advice on dealing with unwanted calls

on our website...

'Here at Rip Off Britain,

'we're always ready to investigate more of your stories.

'Confused over your bills?

'Trying to wade through never-ending small print?'

When they sit you down to sign up for things,

they don't give you the chance or the time to read through all of that small print.

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

'and that great deal has ended up costing you money?'

You feel like because you got a cheap deal

you are not worth their time in the same way.

'You might have a cautionary tale of your own

'and want to share the mistakes you made with us,

'so that other people don't do the same thing.'

I feel angry, I feel stupid that I'd allowed this to happen to me.

'You can 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.'

So as we've heard,

it's very easy to feel totally ripped-off

if it seems that you've paid over the odds

for something you could find cheaper elsewhere,

particularly if for whatever reason,

you thought you were getting a good deal at the time.

-That is so annoying, isn't it?

-Infuriating.

And although the best advice really is still to shop around,

that is no longer as simple as it sounds.

These days, you have so many deals and offers online,

not to mention all of those comparison sites.

Well, frankly sifting through them and actually working out

where to find the best value for money is quite a task.

-It's like a full-time job.

-It is.

-Sure is.

Well, even if someone INSISTS they're giving you the best price,

don't take what they say at face value

and keep telling us when something that seemed to be a good deal

turned out to be nothing of the kind.

But that's it for today.

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

-Until then, from all of us, bye bye.

-ALL: Bye.

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