Episode 4 Rip Off Britain

We asked you to tell us what has left you feeling ripped off,

and you contacted us in your thousands.

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

and the customer service that simply isn't up to scratch.

If I walk in somewhere and they treat me badly, then I walk,

and I will never go in again.

You've asked us to track down the scammers who stole your money,

and investigate the extra charges that you say are unfair.

You've paid for a service,

and you expect it to be the service that you've paid for.

And when you've lost out but no-one else is to blame,

you've come to us to stop others falling into the same trap.

As a customer, you've got to be more savvy

in terms of what you're buying,

and make sure it's something that you want or need

and not something that they're trying to trick you into getting.

So, whether it's a blatant rip-off or a genuine mistake,

we're here to 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 once again to Rip Off Britain,

bringing you a taste of summer from the island of Lanzarote.

Now, we've come to look into more of the holiday and travel stories

that you've asked us to investigate on your behalf.

Yes, because while most trips abroad do go smoothly and are hassle-free,

there are, unfortunately, exceptions.

So, as we hear about some of the worst case scenarios that can happen

on holiday, whether you're somewhere like this or much closer to home,

we're going to have what I hope is invaluable advice to make sure

that you are armed with all the right information

to protect yourself before you even travel.

Coming up, an extraordinary test

to find the best way to keep mosquitoes at bay,

after news of yet another illness that mossies can carry...

All my joints, my fingers, my shoulders, neck was stiff.

I couldn't move.

..and the hen parties caught out by the same lucrative scam -

how a devastating e-mail exposed the truth.

It just said, "Don't travel to Marbella,

"as there will be nowhere to stay."

I just burst into tears.

"Is there a doctor on board?"

Well, those are words that you may well have heard

in films and on television

whenever there is a sudden medical emergency in the middle of a flight,

but what happens in the rare cases when that kind of situation

occurs in real life?

Well, of course, the cabin crew do have some medical training,

but they really don't have the expertise

to deal with every condition,

and that is when the call for a fellow passenger to help out

can be the only available course of action.

But it turns out that there is one simple, common and, indeed,

relatively affordable piece of kit that could be a real lifeline,

and it's one that significantly improves the chances

of anyone who suffers a cardiac arrest in the air.

It was three hours into a flight from Amsterdam to Abu Dhabi

when there was a sudden announcement

that brought the training of medical student Craig MacLean

into the sharpest possible focus.

We'd had our meal, we were just settling in to watch the film,

and over the Tannoy, they interrupted and said,

"If there are any doctors on board,

"could you please make yourself known immediately?"

Craig told one of the cabin crew that he was a medical student,

but not fully qualified.

Before he could say another thing,

they rushed him towards the sick man just a few rows back.

He was unresponsive, and I got down and checked for breathing and pulse,

and at that point it became clear there were neither,

and it was a cardiac arrest.

The stewards were very helpful.

They said, "Look, is there anything we can do to help?"

So, the first thing I just thought was,

"Can you bring the defibrillator, please?"

And also another one of the stewards, "We've got to land

"the plane now, we need to make an emergency landing."

The cabin crew rushed to fetch the defibrillator,

which is a portable device designed to deliver an electric shock

to a heart that is not beating properly.

They also told Craig that the emergency landing

was going to take 45 minutes.

45 minutes is a really long time, you know. For every minute

that goes by, his chances are going to get slimmer and slimmer.

A Dutch nurse on the plane came over to help.

She took over CPR while Craig got the defibrillator ready.

And with the very first shock from the machine,

their patient's heart started beating regularly again.

Craig is in no doubt about how vital that equipment was.

The defibrillator gave this man the best shot of survival,

and had we not had that,

his chances would have been much slimmer than they were.

Now, although Craig is medically trained,

the kind of defibrillator used on this KLM flight

is designed for anyone to use.

-DEFIBRILLATOR:

-'Apply pad to bare skin,

'exactly as shown in the picture.'

Tracy Gard is a hospital matron with a background in cardiology.

Anyone can use these machines - we teach young children,

primary schoolchildren how to use them.

The machine will talk to you, tells you exactly what to do.

'Pull red handle to open bag.'

These simple and, at around £1,000,

relatively cheap defibrillators have undoubtedly saved numerous lives.

Press pad firmly.

So, it might surprise you that it's not standard practice

for airlines to carry them.

The European Aviation Safety Authority does recommend

they be on board aircraft which can take more than 30 passengers

and which are flying more than 60 minutes away from medical assistance

on the ground, but it is not a legal requirement.

That is in stark contrast to America,

where all planes must carry a defibrillator.

But, in Europe, it is up to individual airlines to decide,

and that's a decision which Tracy feels could be life or death.

After four minutes of no blood getting to the brain,

the brain's activity starts to cease.

So, the sooner that you can get a device like this

to a patient, the better.

Every minute that you waste,

you've got a 10% less chance of bringing that patient back to life.

We asked the 10 UK airlines carrying the most passengers

whether their planes have defibrillators on board.

Only five of them, Thomson, Virgin, Monarch,

easyJet and Thomas Cook told us that they carry defibrillators

on all of their planes.

British Airways says that they're standard on all

mainline aircraft but not on its BA CityFlyer routes.

Budget airline Jet2 only carries them on some flights,

while the fourth biggest carrier in the UK, FlyBe,

doesn't currently have defibrillators on any of its planes,

because it says it predominantly focuses

on domestic and short-haul travel.

The same goes for the Scottish airline, Loganair.

But, in the last year, Irish-based airline Ryanair,

which carries more passengers than any British airline,

has changed its policy on carrying defibrillators,

announcing in November 2015 that it would be installing them

across the whole fleet.

That came a year after 47-year-old Davina Tavener collapsed

with heart problems on a Ryanair flight to Lanzarote.

A surgeon who happened to be on the same flight tried to help,

but was surprised to learn that there was no defibrillator onboard.

Sadly, she was unable to revive Davina, who died on the plane.

And while, in this particular case,

a defibrillator may not have been able to save her,

the coroner who investigated her death made a point of urging

aviation regulators to rethink the rules and make defibrillators

compulsory on all European flights.

He said they were as necessary on shorter flights as they are

on long-haul ones, pointing out that a cardiac event

can take just seconds and happen at any time.

So, we asked the European Aviation Safety Agency

whether it does have plans

to force the airlines to have defibrillators on board.

It told us that it is now looking at this issue,

and has asked aviation authorities across Europe to give their input.

But it's clear that, for many, the question of whether or not

every airline should carry such a useful piece of kit

has an obvious answer.

Life is precious and, you know,

something so simple, a small piece of equipment like this,

which doesn't cost a lot of money, can save a life.

It's as simple as that.

-DEFIBRILLATOR:

-'Preparing to shock.'

Now, while many holidays booked in the UK are still organised

through big tour operators, there are plenty of trips abroad

that you're more likely to sort out yourself.

Take, for example, a hen party, which,

because of such a big group travelling together,

can't always be organised as a package deal.

Instead, chances are that everyone might be staying, for example,

in a large villa, so whoever has the joy of arranging it all

will need to either liaise directly with the owner,

or use one of the booking sites that advertise villas to rent

right across the world.

But we've heard from dozens of hen party revellers who,

despite doing both those things,

still came a very costly cropper indeed.

ALL: Cheers.

With so many hen parties now taking place in the sun...

Oh, you look lovely, Nikki.

..organising everything is a much bigger challenge

than simply arranging a night out for a few friends.

So, when Mel Allen was asked to be made of honour by her best friend,

Nikki Kerr, she knew that sorting out the hen party

was going to be a big part of her role.

We sat down one evening and said,

"Oh, it would be great if we went somewhere really special."

Being a bit more mature ladies, we'd have a bit of fun,

and so we decided we'd like to go to Marbella in Spain.

And the first priority was finding a villa big enough

to fit all 21 of them.

Mel searched online and soon found plenty of options

on the villa-booking website, Owners Direct.

Owners Direct hosts ads for thousands of private villas

all over the world. When you find one you like the look of,

you contact the owner directly to find out more,

and then you make your booking.

So, when Mel came across a villa that ticked all their boxes,

she did just that.

I made contact with the owners, which were called Rainbow Villas,

and it looked just what we were looking for.

And the lady was so friendly,

and it seemed like it was going to be the perfect weekend.

The owner of the Marbella-based company, Rainbow Villas,

not to be confused with other companies with similar names,

used the name Michelle, and agreed with Mel a total fee of £4,000,

which she said even included a fully-stocked bar.

The whole package sounded amazing, so we all got together and said,

"Yes, let's book this," and paid the 25% deposit.

But the hens were also told that they needed to pay by bank transfer,

something that made Mel a little nervous.

I asked if I could use a credit card,

but was told there wasn't that facility.

So, I went back on to the Owners Direct website

and it said clearly on there,

"It is secure to use by bank transfer,

"but we advise you make contact with the villa owner."

Which I had already done,

but I did just give Owners Direct a little ring to just check that out,

and was told, yes, if I'd made contact with them,

it was fine to go ahead and do that.

So, reassured that everything would be OK,

Mel collected the money from all 20 other hens

and paid Rainbow Villas in three instalments,

the last one being just eight weeks before they were due to fly to Spain

in June 2015.

It was very exciting, it was going to be a fabulous weekend,

and one that Nikki would remember.

Meanwhile, in Sheffield,

Olivia Parsisson and her hens were looking forward

to their long weekend in Marbella,

in another of Rainbow Villas' properties.

We had booked what was supposed to be a millionaire's mansion.

It had a hot tub, Jacuzzi, saunas, bang in the middle of Marbella.

It was going to be my last real girls' holiday.

Just as Mel had, Olivia contacted Rainbow Villas directly,

and agreed to pay the cost, £5,750, by bank transfer.

Everything seemed legitimate, there was nothing

to make me think otherwise.

I just thought she was lovely, really.

But, just three weeks before their departure dates,

Mel and Olivia both received an e-mail from Rainbow Villas.

It was just saying, "Do not travel, we have ceased trading,

"find alternative accommodation."

So, you can imagine, I was absolutely devastated.

It just said, "Don't travel to Marbella,

"as there will be nowhere to stay."

I just burst into tears.

Mel and Olivia both e-mailed back,

asking whether they would be refunded,

but Rainbows Villas didn't reply,

so Olivia looked online to see if there was anyone else

in the same situation, and she very quickly stumbled across

a Facebook group full of stories that sounded just like hers.

Worse still, there were other parties that had booked

into the same villa on exactly the same dates.

I couldn't believe it - the weekend that me and my hens were booked,

there was another hen party and another stag do.

That was just one weekend,

so in one weekend, that would have been...

close to £20,000.

Mel and Olivia both realised that, in all probability,

they had been scammed.

And with their travel insurance policies either not covering fraud

or situations where companies ceased trading,

they had little chance of getting their money back.

Both now faced having to tell their friends what had happened.

I rang Nikki and said, "I've got some devastating news for you,

"but this villa that we've been looking forward to

"for weeks and weeks,

"and planning sitting by that pool and in the hot tubs and whatever,

"it doesn't exist."

Both groups did ultimately have their big parties in Marbella,

booking and shelling out for completely different accommodation.

But, between them, they lost almost £10,000 to Rainbow Villas,

and we've spoken to four other groups of hens who were duped

in exactly the same way, and who also paid out thousands.

Although investigations are ongoing, police in the UK and in Spain

believe that Michelle at Rainbow Villas was taking

identical bookings for up to eight villas in and around Marbella.

Unfortunately, all the parties we've spoken to who lost money

to Rainbow Villas paid via bank transfer and, as a result,

I'm afraid they stand very little chance

of ever seeing all of their money again.

Now, when we contacted Michelle at Rainbow Villas,

we didn't get a response.

So we also spoke to the company our hen parties had booked through,

Owners Direct. It apologised to all those affected,

telling us this was...

It said it immediately removed the listings from its site

and offered financial support to holiday-makers who had lost money

and didn't have travel insurance.

Owners Direct also told us it's now enhanced protection

for those who book and pay through its website and, in future,

under its new "book with confidence" guarantee,

anyone affected by fraud will receive full reimbursement.

But I'm afraid that's come too late for our groups of hens,

and while they still did enjoy the replacement trips

they were able to book, the gloss, I'm afraid,

was very much taken off by what happened.

It's not just about money -

it's the cost of emotional...

and stress that it causes to everybody.

And there isn't a price on that, actually.

Mosquito viruses are on the rise,

and not just the ones you've heard of.

We can be spoiled for choice with all the products and repellents

promising to scare them off,

but, after an extraordinary test you won't want to try at home,

I warn you, we can tell you exactly which kind are the most effective.

Now, which of us while abroad has not heard that telltale

high-pitched whine that warns us that a mosquito is about?

One time I went to Turkey, and I must have been bitten 80 times.

I always get bitten, and the bites swell up and then go black.

I think your blood is attracting - you have a smell, somehow.

I don't think repellents change anything.

For most of us, the worst consequence of getting bitten

might be a nasty itch, but if you're bitten by a mosquito

carrying disease, it can be a very different story.

This year, we've all heard about the concerns over the Zika virus

and how its rapid spread dominated the run-up to the Rio Olympics -

but mosquitoes can carry many more diseases than you might think.

Syeda Sadiqa's family are from India,

so she and her husband try and holiday there as often as they can.

We decided that we would take a trip to India.

We had some family members there,

and they wanted us to visit for a short time.

Syeda has not only been to India many times, she is also a doctor,

so she is a well aware of the risk of contracting diseases like malaria

or dengue fever from mosquitoes.

She also knows that she is prone to getting bitten,

so she made sure she packed plenty of mosquito repellent

that she and her husband could use.

I don't take it, I will definitely get bitten.

Even if you are going out on the road, walking,

the mosquitoes bite you.

But when Syeda's husband headed back to the UK earlier than she did,

he accidentally took their precious mosquito spray with him.

By the time Syeda realised, the shops were shut,

so she had a night without repellent.

In morning time, I felt that my feet were...

Just scratching, I was scratching.

But it was only several days later,

after she too had returned to the UK,

that Syeda realised her bites were more than just an itchy annoyance.

I couldn't get up from the bed, it was all of a sudden.

All my joints, my fingers, my feet, my knee,

my shoulder, neck was stiff.

I couldn't move. Then I saw on my leg, here, a big rash.

It turned out Syeda had contracted a debilitating viral disease

called chikungunya, which is passed on by infected mosquitoes.

It took me three and a half months

to completely feel my joints free.

It is very, very depressing.

You may never have heard of chikungunya,

but cases of it are on the rise.

But, as with all mosquito-borne diseases,

it is preventable if you apply the correct repellent.

Trouble is, with so many different varieties on offer,

how can you be sure you've bought the one

that gives the best protection?

Dr James Logan of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

has been getting up close and personal with mosquitoes for years,

and he's got an experiment up his sleeve

to find out how to avoid becoming a tasty treat

for nature's ultimate bloodsuckers.

When you go on holiday, there's always some people who seem to never

get bitten by mosquitoes, and it's all to do with the way we smell.

So, we're going to test which of the products on the market

create a smell that really does drive the mossies away.

And the guinea pig for this experiment is none other

than Dr Logan himself. Rather him than me.

But, to start with, we need to make sure that the good doctor

is a really tasty prospect for the insects, so he's offering up his arm

to these thirsty little darlings without any repellent at all.

You can see already, it's just been a matter of seconds,

you can see the mosquitoes are starting to land and...

We've got one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten,

11, 12, 13, 14, 15.

We've got about 15 mosquitoes already,

just within about ten seconds,

landing on my arm. So, we've just completed the controlled test,

and there is actually 22 bites on my arm,

so, clearly I am attractive to mosquitoes,

which means I'm a good candidate to test these repellents on.

Oh, it makes me itch just watching.

Well, before testing the more conventional repellents,

Dr Logan is going to try three of the more unorthodox ones

that some people are convinced can work.

This is not the one I'm looking forward to...

Marmite, garlic and brewer's yeast.

So, it's been about an hour and a half since I took the home remedies,

so I'll put my arm back in the cage.

You can see them all buzzing around there, they're really hungry, still,

and... OK. Straight away, they are in there.

I can see ten already landed.

In fact, if anything, it looks like I'm slightly more attractive.

So, it's pretty clear that these home remedies just do not work.

OK, time to test some more common, off-the-shelf repellents,

starting with PMD.

PMD, or lemon eucalyptus, is a natural repellent.

Is it feast or famine for the mosquitoes this time?

Some people just spray it in the air and walk through it, like a perfume.

That's not going to cut it -

you have to cover the skin entirely,

because the mosquito will find the bit that's not been covered.

OK, so I've seen a few mosquitoes just sort of hovering

around the hand, but they haven't actually landed.

One sort of touched the arm and then took off again.

So, it certainly works - in this short period of time, it does work.

So, it's a tick for PMD.

The results are even more striking with repellents

using diethyltoluamide, or DEET to you and me.

I'm now going to try my left arm which has DEET on it,

it has 50% DEET.

DEET is a synthesised chemical used in many mosquito repellents

designed for high-risk locations.

So, not only have the mosquitoes stopped landing on my arm,

but they are resting on the side of the cage.

They just simply are not interested whatsoever.

So, there are absolutely no bites on my arm, with the DEET on my arm,

and that's because it works extremely well,

it's the best repellent on the market.

With DEET and PMD having such dramatic mosquito-repelling success,

it's clear what you should pack if you're going to a place

where you risk being bitten.

And Syeda, already planning her next trip to see friends and family

in India, will certainly never again let her mosquito spray

out of her sight.

When you go for a holiday or any trip to places

where you get mosquitoes, take the spray.

Now, when we're in a lovely sunny spot like this in Lanzarote,

we may be getting a little bit better at protecting our skin

from all the rays, but...

What about our eyes?

Well, of course, we rely on these, our trusty sunglasses,

but it's not always easy to work out which ones will be the most

effective, and while you might think that when it comes to the safety

of your eyes and it's all at stake,

it pays to shell out a little bit more to get the best protection

you can afford - in fact, as you will see,

that's not necessarily the case.

Round frames, butterfly, rimless, aviator, you name it,

there's a pair for you.

But, however high the fashion stakes,

the most crucial role of whatever shade you buy

is protecting your eyes from harmful ultraviolet rays.

But how much do you have to pay to find a pair of specs

that properly protect your peepers?

Well, we've brought five pairs of differently-priced sunglasses

to Liverpool Airport, to ask holiday-makers which shades

they reckon will provide the best protection from the sun's UV rays.

I want the end ones.

Are those the best? Right, we'll go that one for the best.

£195!

These are awesome.

I think, for the price, £20, that's pretty good.

-Just as good.

-The darker they are, the better it is, I reckon.

I think these are the best. £195 is quite steep for them,

but you get what you pay for, in my opinion.

Although we heard lots of theories about which sunglasses

would best protect our eyes from UV rays,

there was total agreement on one pair.

No-one thought that this £1 pair would cut the mustard but, in fact,

they were all wrong.

Whatever the price, every pair was as good as the others.

-Oh! Are you joking?

-No way.

I'm pleased, because I always buy cheap sunglasses,

because they either break in my handbag, get scratched or get lost.

MUSIC: Cheap Sunglasses by ZZ Top

And it's not just these five pairs that will protect your eyes

from the UV rays hitting them,

because every pair of sunglasses on sale

in the UK has to do that, whether they cost £1, £100, or even more.

Of course, that's not quite the whole story,

because, while you should be confident that you'll get great

UV protection from any well-fitting sunglasses sold in stores in the UK,

whatever the price, pick up a pair abroad

and that may not always be the case.

We asked Peter Black,

president of the Association of British Dispensing Opticians

to test passengers' sunnies as they head through the airport.

Most pairs passed with flying colours,

but then he met a holiday-maker with somewhat suspect shades.

Can I ask you where you got them from?

Some beachfront somewhere.

And how much did you pay for them?

Three euros at best.

Frames manufactured and sold outside Europe don't have to comply

with EU rules, and whilst you might think that they are doing their job,

some can offer dangerously low levels of UV protection.

To check these fake designer shades out properly, Peter shone

an ultraviolet torch through the lenses and onto a UV reader, so that

he could measure how much of the harmful light passed through.

This meter shows we've got about 234 units of UV coming out of the torch.

With your lenses, we've still got 150

and we should have zero.

If they were to British standards, they would give 100% protection.

Uh-oh. And, worse still,

wearing ineffective sunglasses like these could be more dangerous

than not wearing them at all.

If you have dark glasses and they don't give you UV protection,

what happens is your pupils dilate and it lets through more UV

to the back of the eye, so although they may make things a little more

comfortable cos they're dark, actually you'd be well advised

not to wear them and to treat yourself to some others.

I think so. As our holiday-makers depart

with all the knowledge they need to protect their eyes,

it's great news that a good pair needn't be an expensive pair,

and Peter is very pleased his tests have had such positive results.

I think the overriding message is that all of the sunglasses

we've tested from reputable dealers have all been really good

and have given 100% protection.

The ones that have failed the test have all been fake,

and I think there's a lesson there,

that we need to buy our sunglasses from a shop that we can trust.

If you've got a story you would like us to investigate,

then get in touch with us via our Facebook page, BBC Rip Off Britain,

our website, bbc.co.uk/ripoffbritain,

or e-mail...

Or, if you want to send us a letter,

then our address is...

Well, of course, the whole point of a holiday,

right from the planning stage,

is to make you feel good about yourself and really relax.

Clearly, though, there are some quick, basic checks and preparations

that you can do to make sure your trip goes according to plan.

Equally important is having the confidence

that whoever you are travelling with

has really got your interests at heart,

which is why I was so particularly taken with the story

about the safety equipment that not all aircraft carry.

Surely it's a no-brainer that something so easily available

and, for the big companies, so easily affordable

should be on board every single flight.

And if the fact that it isn't on every flight is something

that's left you scratching your head and wondering why,

I have to say, the story that really had me scratching all over today

was that report on mosquitoes -

and I don't envy what that doctor went through

one bit in the name of science,

but at least we do now all know

which type of mossie spray is the best one to buy.

I'm afraid that's all we have time for today, but we will be back

investigating more of your stories very soon.

-Until then, from all the team, bye-bye.

-Bye-bye.

-Bye.