Episode 19 Rip Off Britain

We asked you to tell us what's 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 is not up to scratch.

When you have to call them, it takes ages and somebody else

answers the phone who pretty much doesn't know what you're saying.

The customer is not benefiting and, no, I'm not getting value for money.

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

and investigate the extra charges you say are unfair.

They don't deserve to be in any form of business whatsoever

and they just want shutting down.

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.

They took the money out of my account and I don't even know

who it was that was scamming me.

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...

Hello and welcome to Rip-Off Britain where, as always,

our team is busy reading your letters and e-mails

to identify those stories that we would like to investigate next.

And what's interesting about the ones

that they've found for us today

is that most of them involve situations that,

for one reason or another, have left very large groups of people

feeling thoroughly cheesed off.

Cheesed off, indeed!

But it always makes us sit up and take notice

when more than just a few of you are telling us exactly the same thing.

Now, in some of these instances,

that's because there was a special event involved

with months and months of planning and anticipation,

not to mention all the saving up.

But despite all of that, the people we've been talking to

are adamant that they simply did not get what they paid for.

And on top of the upset caused by that,

they weren't having any luck getting their money back, either.

Well, it's at times like that, of course,

when we here at Rip-Off Britain try to step in and help.

But in some of these cases,

getting the lost money back is only half the battle because,

as we're going to see, if the big day in question has already passed,

there's very little that can be done to remedy the situation.

Coming up - you can leave your hat on, but it wasn't

so easy keeping the lights on at this outdoor Tom Jones concert.

So, why haven't disappointed fans had their money back?

-It was like someone had pulled the plug.

-Everything just went black.

Boomf!

And it calls itself the UK's most liked driving school so, why,

after their lessons were booked and paid for,

are these drivers not yet on the road?

This is now six months later and I've given up, really, to be honest.

I don't think I'm ever going to see the money again.

Now, there are concerts and there are CONCERTS.

And for many music fans, the bigger the act

and the more special the location,

the more likely it is that they're going to want to snap up a ticket.

But it seems that one particular and very eagerly anticipated performance

hit something of a bum note for a lot of the people who had

forked out to go there and while it's not unusual for any show

to draw a few complaints, it is less common when the star of the show

is one of the biggest names in the business.

Each summer for the last nine years,

Josephine and Chris from Rennington in Northumberland

have headed down to nearby Alnwick Castle

with their friends in the village to enjoy an open-air music concert.

We take a picnic, we take it into the pastures at Alnwick Castle.

-It starts round about five o'clock.

-Yeah.

We have something to eat, and then we dance, we listen to the music,

and then we all go home on the bus again at ten o'clock.

It's really good.

And in 2015, anticipation for the event reached fever pitch

when it was announced that none other than Tom Jones

would be performing in the grounds of the castle.

We were very excited.

I remember sitting in a cafe and phoning all my friends, going,

"Tom Jones is coming!

"We've got to go!"

# Sex bomb, sex bomb

# You're my sex bomb

# And, baby, you can turn me on... #

And elsewhere, in Amble,

the prospect of an appearance from the Welsh sex bomb was enough

to persuade sisters Liz and Joan to part with £45 each

for their first experience of a concert at Alnwick Castle.

We just heard about it. "Oh, the atmosphere's brilliant,

"you should go to one of these concerts."

We were up for, like, loud music and bopping.

Joan has problems with her mobility,

but she still likes to get out as much as possible.

Even though I've got MS, I don't like it to stop me doing things

and I do other things like go to football matches at Newcastle

and things like that, so it was just like, "Let's do it."

Aye, let's do it.

Chris spotted in the local newspaper

that the promoters of this particular concert,

Loose Cannon Events Management,

had introduced different rules from those at the concerts

they'd previously been to at this venue.

It was by chance we found out

that no food allowed within the venue area, within the event.

That meant not just an end to their usual picnic, but,

as they discovered on the day,

concert goers couldn't even take in drinking water.

I had a bottle of water and that was confiscated

and that was not a good start.

We even said to the lad on the gate, "Look, it's just water.

"Do you want to test it?"

In case he thought we were smuggling gin or something in.

We were searched as we went in,

which resulted in huge, huge long queues

so we were waiting for about an hour to get in,

so that made a lot of people, before the concert even started,

really quite frustrated with it.

And the disappointments continued when they got inside.

Joan made her way to the front of the stage on her mobility scooter,

only to be sent to the back of the crowd by the security staff.

The lady actually said, "This is for standing people only,"

which wasn't very good, you know.

So, we had to go to the back and I think we were probably

nearly as far back as anybody could be.

Josephine and Chris also found themselves a long way from the stage

where the sound was so poor,

they could barely identify the supporting acts.

Couldn't hear a thing. Couldn't hear a word.

We didn't know who was on the stage.

There were no screens at the side of the stage as there had been

in previous years so we couldn't see the performer on the stage.

And it didn't get any better when the man himself made his appearance.

If you asked me what he was wearing,

I couldn't tell you because we couldn't see.

-We certainly couldn't have thrown anything on the stage!

-No!

-Not that we had planned to.

-No.

No, no!

# And turn on the lights... #

And, finally, after about 50 minutes, disaster struck.

All the power went off.

-Like if someone had just pulled the plug.

-Everything just went black.

-Boomf!

-Yeah.

The generators had blown, plunging everyone into darkness

and the Welsh crooner was escorted off the stage.

The manager came on and just said, "The concert is cancelled,"

and Tom Jones just went out the back door.

Leaving a crowd of about 8,000 people to make their way

over the pitch-black fields to the green, green grass of home.

And then you've got to find your way out, in darkness, to the main gate.

There are cars moving across the field, there are...

It was utter chaos.

There are people carrying picnic equipment, babies, wheelchairs.

That wasn't ideal for anybody, but especially not on a scooter.

We did save a few people's lives

because she had a light on her scooter

so people were following her.

Actually, by the time we got out of the pastures,

we were a bit traumatised, weren't we?

Local MP Anne-Marie Trevelyan was also at the concert that night

and she's been campaigning ever since for her fellow music fans

to get their money back.

I feel very strongly that the punters who were there

with their families and kids were short-changed.

It was not what we all expected,

it was a partial Tom Jones concert in a very unsafe environment

with very unsatisfactory service provision

and that was not what people paid a lot of money to go and see.

But, unfortunately,

there is no specific legal definition of how much

has to go wrong at an event like this before the promoters

have to refund the entrance fee so in this case,

they haven't been keen to reimburse disappointed ticket holders.

There was a proportion of the concert delivered

and it was deemed that enough of it had been produced and given to us

as the viewers that they'd met their obligation.

Now, Tom Jones did put a message on his website apologising

for the abrupt end to his concert,

but Anne-Marie and the other disappointed ticket holders

are in no way blaming him.

And as the MP has continued her efforts to secure some sort

of redress, she has managed to get refunds for many of the people

who bought their tickets using their credit cards

as, under consumer law, the credit card provider is jointly liable

if you don't get what you've paid for.

Several hundred people who I'd been in contact with

were able eventually to get their money back,

or a good proportion of it, through their credit card companies.

But people who didn't pay that way,

which I'm afraid includes both Josephine and Chris

and Liz and Joan,

haven't received a penny back from promoters Loose Cannon.

The concert went wrong on the night.

These things happen, but no-one's taking any responsibility.

No-one's said, "That was my fault.

"We're going to organise something else,

"we're going to give you your money back." No-one's said anything.

And, unfortunately, they still haven't

because despite us putting all of this

to the concert promoters Loose Cannon Events Management,

we didn't receive a response.

We did, however, also contact Northumberland County Council.

It told us that it's carried out

a long and detailed investigation into the organisation,

licensing and management of the concert and, as a result,

issued advisory letters to the event organisers

and a number of other parties

regarding their responsibilities over any future events.

But the council went on to say that while it understands

the frustrations of concert goers...

That's yet another disappointment for the Tom Jones fans

who feel so let down and indeed for regular visitors

to Alnwick Castle, Josephine and Chris, who'd be rather more wary

of splashing out on similar concerts in the future.

If they do have another event,

we're going to have to make sure that we know everything,

you know, it ticks all the boxes that we want

before we buy the ticket.

And while Liz and Joan haven't been put off

visiting an open-air concert, they will make sure that next time,

they pay for it in the way that leaves their money protected

should things go wrong.

We'll certainly look into going to another one,

but make sure we get everything right before we go

and pay on our credit card and we'll get our money back!

Yeah, cos we didn't.

Passing your driving test is one of those watershed moments in life

and that's the case whether you're 17 or 70.

You've probably spent weeks or months,

not to mention hundreds of pounds, honing your skills behind the wheel

before finally taking that nerve-racking test.

But the people in our next film never even got as far as that

because the company they chose to learn with,

which claimed to be the most liked driving school in the business,

sometimes didn't even give them their first lesson

and, effectively, just drove off with their cash.

CAR ENGINE STARTS

Taking driving lessons can be a nerve-racking experience

for rookie drivers.

At the very beginning, even the basics can be hard to master,

like stopping.

-I did that too fast.

-So, it needs to be just a bit gentler.

-Starting again.

-Now, off your brake.

-Off.

And, of course, learning to control the clutch.

-ENGINE GROWLS

-Whoa! It's very finicky, yeah.

All of which 17-year-old Charlie Young is just starting

to get his head around.

Come back over to the left a little bit.

Today is his first-ever driving lesson,

-as you may have already guessed.

-Clutch up.

-Straighten up the steering.

-Oh, what have I done there?

Who knows?

And like most young men his age, he can't wait to get behind the wheel.

What appeals about learning to drive

is the freedom that it provides to, like, do what you want,

drive where you want with who and it also gives you independence.

The lessons were a birthday present from Charlie's mum Melanie.

He just couldn't wait for his birthday to come,

for his provisional to arrive and just to start learning to drive,

to get out into the big, wide world and be himself.

But the lessons Charlie's taking today

aren't the first ones Melanie forked out for.

In May, she signed Charlie up with a firm called Drive Dynamics,

which describes itself as...

And when Melanie checked out its website, she was impressed.

It's the competitive prices that draws you in first of all.

The testimonials all looked really good.

They post pictures of people who have passed their tests

and the fact that you can pay for the practical test as well

and they keep a couple of lessons back out the package for test week

so you think, "OK, everything's geared up for that test.

"That's what they're aiming for."

Melanie paid £378 for 20 lessons and a theory test

and Drive Dynamics told her a local instructor would be in touch

in the next five days to book Charlie's first lesson.

But that call never came,

despite Melanie e-mailing and phoning the company about the delay.

Meanwhile, Charlie was getting desperate to start driving.

So, with no response after more than a week,

Melanie e-mailed and asked for her money back.

I didn't want to deal with a company that I had to chase

for a service that I'd paid for. I heard nothing back.

I e-mailed them again. A few days later, I telephoned them.

I spoke to somebody in customer services

who said that somebody should call me back.

But Melanie had no joy getting either her refund or the lessons

she'd paid for despite some very determined efforts.

I've sent over 90 e-mails now.

Meanwhile, Charlie was no further down the road to passing his test.

I am rather disappointed about the situation, because, by just taking

the money and not providing the lessons in return, it's not right.

Well, Melanie and Charlie

are far from the only Drive Dynamics customers we've heard about

whose lessons never even got into first gear.

Plenty of other people didn't get them either,

despite the company being paid upfront -

among them, Terri Hughes from Derby.

Like Charlie, she got a course of driving lessons as a present -

this time for Christmas from her dad.

She was desperate to expand her small fashion and jewellery business

and needed to drive in order to meet clients and suppliers.

It's one thing to just send them an e-mail and say,

"Hey, look at my collection."

But it's another thing to actually be there in front of them

showing them it and being able to answer their questions directly,

and they can actually feel the fabrics and feel the clothing

and see the quality of it.

So, Terri used the money from her dad to book

a course of ten lessons from Drive Dynamics -

again after being impressed by the low prices

and positive reviews she saw on the company's website.

So, I booked a group of ten lessons with a theory test included.

I paid straightaway

and then got an e-mail straightaway from them as well saying,

"Thank you for booking with us.

"We'll be in touch with you soon

"once we've allocated you an instructor."

Obviously, I was excited, thinking, "Great, I've booked my lessons.

"They're going to be in touch with me soon, within a few days,

"and I'll be on the road soon."

But a week passed with no further word from Drive Dynamics,

so Terri gave the company a call.

So, I just said to him,

"I've booked my lessons and had a confirmation, so I know it's booked.

"The money has been taken

"so I was just wondering what's going to happen.

"When am I going to hear from my instructor?

"When do I get to book my lessons in?"

And he just reassured me.

He said, "Not to worry. It takes a few days for the funds to clear.

"Once the funds have cleared, we'll be in touch."

Terri thought that a little odd because she knew the funds

had cleared already, but she gave Drive Dynamics

the benefit of the doubt and waited a few more days

before calling and e-mailing again.

But the company didn't bother to respond, even when she'd

abandoned hope of getting the lessons and just wanted a refund.

This is now six months later and I've given up, really, to be honest.

I don't think I'm ever going to see the money again.

Terri felt that Drive Dynamics had washed their hands of her,

and one possible explanation for why that might be

can be found in its terms and conditions,

because, even though customers pay the company directly

for upcoming lessons, it's claimed that their contracts

are actually with the independent driving instructor

Drive Dynamics appoints to teach them,

and if, for whatever reason,

those instructors choose not to get in touch,

the wannabe learner is left high and dry,

having paid upfront for their lessons.

I just didn't understand why they wouldn't even tell me

what was happening with it and what they were doing with my money.

It was so frustrating.

When their refund requests went unanswered,

both Melanie and Terri did a bit of digging into Drive Dynamics.

Although they'd both checked out the reviews

on the company's own website,

neither had looked into the host of mainly negative reviews

found elsewhere online.

Since this experience, I have looked online.

I've looked closer into more reviews and they're awful.

I wish I had done this before.

But there's so many people out there that have had bad experiences

that are also waiting for their money back.

I wish I had checked with them first,

because I wouldn't have touched them.

I was really frustrated with myself

that I'd stupidly just fallen for the good reviews

that they had on their own website

and didn't actually bother to search anywhere else,

so I blame myself a bit for being so naive.

When we looked further into Drive Dynamics,

we found that all isn't quite as it seems, because, for one thing,

the company that used to operate as Drive Dynamics,

which was called Kan Kan Ltd, went into liquidation in July 2015,

because it had too many debts to be a viable company.

Before it was closed,

the directors of that business set up a new one

which also used the trading name Drive Dynamics,

and it was this new company that Terri and Charlie thought

they'd be having their lessons with.

As a business owner myself,

I would never treat customers the way that they've treated me,

and I hope that they don't do it in the future.

But when we contacted Drive Dynamics

the company was keen to stress

it had plenty of satisfied drivers, too.

It told us that, each week, it handles...

And it works hard to ensure clients get "a first-rate service."

It's apologised for what it calls the "rare occasions"

when it doesn't meet expectations,

but says it's keen to learn from such experiences and

has rolled out a "a raft of improvements"

to its aftersales and customer care,

in order to not just "enhance communications and response times",

but also "rapidly reduce the timescale for refunds being made".

And the good news is that both the cases we investigated

have now received their money back in full.

Back in Coventry,

Terri says she'll be using the money to pay for lessons

with a different company,

so she can start getting her samples out

to those all-important trade shows.

Going ahead in the future with my business...

I'm still determined to do it.

Obviously, once I can drive, I'll be going at it as much as I can

and doing as many events as possible.

Meanwhile, Charlie is at last getting behind the wheel.

It might be slow progress, but,

however long or short the journey, half a mile or a thousand,

it always starts the same way.

Charlie, check your mirrors.

-Check your blind spots.

-No-one's there...

Over your shoulder. Are we good?

Signal that we're moving off.

'I'm happy that I'm finally able to get on to the road'

and actually start learning how to drive like the rest of my friends.

Still to come on Rip-Off Britain...

The wedding photographer who plenty of newlyweds say

took money for pictures that she simply has not delivered.

She can't go around doing this to a number of couples

and ruining everybody's big day.

She can't take away memories like that.

Our pop-up shop is back, and, this time,

we took our consumer advice clinic to Manchester's Trafford Centre.

And, of course, our top team of experts pulled out the stops

to try and solve your problems on the spot.

-We think we can come up with a solution for you.

-Thank you.

No problem at all.

Among those who came in for advice was Jennina.

She came to see Trading Standards expert Sylvia Rook to talk about

a rather expensive watch that turned out to be faulty.

Hello, Jennina. How can I help you today?

I've been having some problems returning my son's watch.

Jennina had sent the watch off to be repaired, but, six months on,

it still hasn't been returned,

leaving her £325 out of pocket.

It's extremely frustrating.

I've had numerous conversations over the phone

and I wasn't getting anywhere.

-OK. And have you put anything in writing to them yet?

-I have.

-On many occasions.

-To whom have you addressed the letter?

-I've just basically e-mailed...

-OK, so you've just done e-mail.

The problem with e-mails is that anybody picks up an e-mail,

different people see it, they don't link everything together,

so what you now need to do is you need to put something in writing.

Keep a copy of it. Send it recorded delivery, sending it to head office.

You say exactly what was wrong, when you bought it,

how much you paid for it, what the problem was,

and you cannot understand

how they could possibly not manage to repair this in a reasonable time.

Send it to the chief executive's office. Go right to the top.

Sylvia also advised sending a copy of her complaint letter

to the manufacturer - a high-end designer label -

to help further her case.

If you don't get it back and you don't get it repaired,

then you're going to have to start thinking about whether you can

pursue them through the courts for the cost of the watch,

-cos you don't have the watch any more.

-No.

-That's great advice.

-Do you think that will help?

-I do.

-Thanks very much.

-All right. Good luck.

-Thank you.

As always, the best bit of our two days at the shopping centre

was meeting as many of you as we could.

Oh, thank you. Do I get all of these?

Marvellous.

And when Karen Goodwin heard about our pop-up shop,

she was keen to book in for some expert advice

on an expensive purchase that had gone badly wrong.

On hand to help were solicitor Gary Rycroft

and Martyn James from the Financial Ombudsman Service.

So, Karen, I know that you've got a big problem with your kitchen,

-haven't you?

-Yep.

-Would you like to tell them what happened?

'Karen had initially been quoted around £5,000 for a new kitchen, including fitting.

'The cost, however, then spiralled

'to more than she'd planned to spend.'

When we went to the showroom to sign up, he said,

"It's going to cost nearly 9,000."

But it was a kitchen that we wanted,

so we decided to go for it on 12 months, interest free...

'With a credit plan that made the purchase feasible,

'Karen paid the deposit of £895,

'and - at first, at least - things went smoothly.'

They came. They delivered the goods. Perfect.

But, once they fitted the kitchen, it was just not acceptable.

All the worktops weren't matching.

They blamed it on the fitters,

so they ordered a new lot of worktops,

and again they didn't match, and then they refitted the worktops,

and again they didn't match.

Gosh, how many times was this, then? This is three times?

I'm on to my fourth lot of worktops and I've still not got it fixed.

Outrageous, isn't it?

This has just been a series of disasters, really, hasn't it?

'But Martyn says that, because Karen entered into

'a credit arrangement to finance the kitchen,

'she may have extra rights now that things aren't up to scratch.'

Often with credit agreements,

the default setting for many providers of these services

is to just try to repair and replace,

but I think sometimes you just need someone pragmatic to step in and go,

"This isn't working. Let's just call it quits."

So, let's get on the phone to the credit provider.

'Gary's also confident that Karen has a good case,

'and he thinks she may have legal expenses cover

'through her buildings insurance,

'which would make pursuing the company through the courts

'a realistic and affordable option.'

The legal position seems really, really clear,

and you've got good evidence here of the fact that you do not have

a kitchen that is of satisfactory quality,

so you do have a valid legal claim.

Yeah, definitely.

-Lovely to meet you.

-Thank you.

Since then, the company has agreed to pay for another new worktop,

and they've reimbursed Karen

for some damage that the installers caused,

but, still not completely happy,

Karen's asked the Financial Ombudsman Service

to review her case and she's waiting for a final decision.

Now, in between all the advice at our pop-up shop,

we always make time for a photo or a chat.

'But, when we met Steve and Pam, we also seized the opportunity

'to share some particularly useful tips

'from Trading Standards expert Sylvia Rook.'

-Can I just ask you both, have you ever bought a second-hand car?

-Yes.

-When?

-Um, about two weeks ago.

We actually went to get some new tyres for my car,

and, while we were waiting for the tyres to be fitted,

-Pam went and bought a new car.

-Bought a new car?

THEY LAUGH

Expensive tyres.

Do you reckon you know all of your rights

-with regard to that car and how you bought it?

-No, probably not.

-No.

Well, you see, this lady is called Sylvia Rook,

-and she's from Trading Standards.

-Hello.

-Hello.

-And she knows all the answers.

-How did you pay?

-Debit card.

I would recommend,

if you have a credit card, and you can pay it off,

that you put it on a credit card,

cos, if you have a problem with the car

and the garage won't sort it, the credit card company has to.

Even down to just putting a pound on your credit card,

the credit card company takes responsibility.

So, that gives you extra protection...

I think that's something a lot of people probably don't know.

They think they have to pay for it all in full.

-That is very interesting.

-Well, I'm glad we've been able to help.

Thank you very much.

Now, it might be a cliche, but - for me, at least -

it really is true that your wedding day

is one of the happiest days of your life -

even if, over the years, you end up having more than one of them -

and, with the pictures being one of the few parts of the day

that WILL last forever,

it's vital that you choose a photographer you trust

to get it right.

But when the couple in our next film -

not to mention the many other brides and grooms we've heard from -

chose a professional to capture all those memories of their big day,

I'm afraid the lasting memories they ended up with

were the opposite of what they'd really hoped for.

Traditional Asian weddings

can be some of the most elaborate and colourful marriage ceremonies

celebrated in the UK,

but, however wonderful the day itself is,

most couples are going to want a wedding album

to look back and relive every detail and every memory,

especially if that's what they've paid for.

But that's not how Sarah and Noah say things turned out for them,

after tying the knot back in 2014 in Stoke-on-Trent.

We had a guest list of 1,200 people and it was a huge wedding.

We had people from all over the country.

The couple were first introduced to each other back in July 2013

by their parents, and, within three months, the wedding date was booked,

and Sarah began planning what she hoped would be the perfect day.

I think, for anybody, their wedding is the biggest day of their life.

It's something that they absolutely look forward to.

As you know, any big wedding comes with

a hefty price tag and paying for a top-notch wedding photographer

is always one of the costliest parts of any bride's big day.

I wanted to get the right photographer

because it's really important to get every moment captured

and to have somebody who knows how to do the job,

so you've got those memories forever.

With such a grand wedding planned,

it was very important for Sarah that she had a photographer,

not just of the highest calibre, but who also knew of the intricacies

of Sarah's and Noah's traditional Muslim ceremony.

And when they came across Sharan Sandhu online,

Sarah was convinced that she was spot-on for the job.

On her website, the portfolios, the pictures,

the short entries of videos, it really looks like

it was something that she's very, very good at.

I was expecting a really high standard service from her.

The package would include DVDs of highlights

of both the pre-marriage mehndi and, of course, the wedding itself,

plus specially printed photo albums, but, of course,

it would all come at a price.

Over some negotiation, we agreed to £1,200.

I thought it was something that, it was certainly dear,

but I'd get value for my money.

After months of preparation,

Sarah and Noah's wedding day finally arrived.

I was looking my absolute best and my whole family was there

and everything was perfect.

The photographer certainly made me feel

like it's the best day of my life

and I've got it for a lifetime to look back at and remember.

Well, that was how things were supposed to work out.

Sarah just couldn't wait to see the professional pictures from Sharan,

which she had been promised

would be uploaded to a website two weeks later,

so that she and Noah could choose the shots they wanted.

We thought, "We'll settle down, we'll have a look at the pictures,

"the videos, see who was there, see what we're looking like,

"the poses, the food, the lights, everything."

However, the first hitch came when it took not two weeks,

but two months, for the photographs to be uploaded.

She uploaded some pictures onto a website,

said, "Pick what you want and then I'll send out the albums."

Finally, Sarah and Noah were able to look back on their wedding day,

without having to rely on their relatives' snaps.

The professional photographs brought memories flooding back,

but the couple say before they had sufficient time to select the ones

they wanted for their albums, the site simply disappeared.

So, despite paying £1,200 for three albums and DVDs of the wedding,

they just didn't have anything to show for it and Sarah says

when she chased the photographer up, she struggled to get in touch.

Initially I thought, you know, it... She might be busy with other events.

I then started to text her, e-mail her, phone her,

leave voicemails and when she repeatedly failed to contact me,

I started to get a little bit worried and I thought,

"Something's going wrong."

So, frustrated with all the toing and froing,

Sarah started looking into reviews of the photographer online

and was alarmed to see other couples

who appear to have had similar difficulties.

I found a lot of other couples who were also in the same position as me

and that's when it started to...

you know, the questions started to arise.

Sarah continued to chase Sharan and finally, some months later,

after more hassles and delays,

the photographer did send the couple their photos and their wedding DVDs,

but the photos were on a CD-ROM,

not the printed albums that Sarah and Noah had paid for,

and the wedding videos, well, they wouldn't play properly.

And it wasn't until March 2016,

two years after the wedding,

that DVDs that Sarah was able to watch finally arrived

and, despite the long wait, she was happy to, at last, have something

to show her family and friends.

Getting the two DVDs after so long felt as though,

"At least I've got a video to show."

But two and a half years after the wedding,

they still haven't got everything they paid for.

As yet, there remains no sign of the wedding albums they were promised.

We still haven't got anything close to what we should have.

We should never have had this nightmare.

And, for Sarah, there's another reason why she feels what

they have just came too late.

One of the worst things that did happen is that the...

my videos and the photos, my grandma, my nan,

were not able to see.

They were the key people at the wedding as well as my family,

but it's something that I really would have liked them to see

before they passed on.

And, sadly, they didn't.

We've spoken to several other brides who say they had

the same erratic service after choosing Sharan Sandhu

to capture their big day.

Bejali and her husband Bahrad paid £4,500

for photos and videos of their wedding,

but they, too, say they haven't received everything they expected.

Nosheen and Shazad paid Sharan Sandhu £2,000

to film and edit their wedding video,

but it took 15 months and the threat of legal action

before the photographer handed over the unedited footage.

When we contacted Sharan Sandhu,

she disputed most of what her customers had told us

and totally denied failing

to deliver photographs and videos to these couples.

In the case of Sarah and Noah, in particular,

she told us that she was waiting for the couple to confirm the photos

they wanted in their albums before the order could be completed.

But Sarah says the photos were taken down from Sharan Sandhu's website

before she even had time to choose them.

Since we filmed with her,

Sarah told us that she and Sharan have reached an agreement

and the matter is now resolved,

but while the photographer's representatives might have hoped

that that would mean we didn't feature the case,

we can't forget how angry Sarah was when she first came to us.

I think that what happened really dampened my mood.

Being newly wed, you don't want to chase a photographer,

you want to enjoy your first few months,

or the year of being married,

whereas I had to chase her

and I constantly had it at the back of my mind

that my images and the videos may never arrive.

Back at our pop-up shop,

it certainly felt that this year our team of experts was hearing

more of your stories than ever before,

so we can't blame our technology guru David McClelland

for taking a quick breather.

David, looks like as if you're having a break.

Ah, I am, but I tell you what,

I've not had a rest for the whole of the pop-up shop.

-Well, that's terrific.

-I don't think we've ever been busier.

-No.

I certainly haven't been as busy as I have in the last few days.

What sort of things have people been coming in with?

A lot of people have been complaining about spam.

I think this is where we have a real issue. The UK, in particular,

-is receiving more phishing e-mails, targeted e-mails...

-Why is that?

-..than any other country at the moment.

-Why do you think that is?

Your guess is as good as mine, but the facts are absolutely there.

We are more likely, in Britain, to be targeted by fraudsters

by any electronic means than any other country.

And it was exactly those sort of e-mails

that were worrying Rod and Elaine.

Rod's seen a huge increase in the spam messages he's getting

and he's been particularly confused by the ones

that appear to have been sent by himself.

I'm getting a heck of a lot of spam, I am. 100 on there.

You're getting that many?

And the ones that concern me are the ones that are from me,

as though I've sent this e-mail and I haven't.

Any ideas at all about why he's getting spam from himself?

The reason that the scammers will use your own contact details is

because if you're receiving that,

you're more likely to read it if it's from somebody who you know.

So, it's in the scammers' interest to make the e-mails look

as familiar as possible.

And, of course, your own e-mail address

can be very easy for spammers to track down.

Unfortunately for you,

and this is one of the more extreme cases that I've seen,

your e-mail address appears to have made its way onto a number of lists

and these lists are shared amongst spam networks

and, as a result of that, you are being bombarded,

-it's fair to say, isn't it?

-Yes.

I was just going to ask you how frustrating you find the situation.

Well, it's just annoying.

Certainly something that I would look at if I were you

is to make sure that the antivirus on your computer is up to date,

all security patches are up to date,

because if your computer is infected, it could be exacerbating

the problem by sending out spam on behalf of these spam networks.

'David also recommends being doubly sure that your spam filters are on

'and if that doesn't reduced the amount of junk mail received,

'well, there is a more drastic measure Rod could take.'

Try a new e-mail address.

It's a bit of a pain to tell certain people that you've changed

e-mail address, but keep both running for a little while

and eventually gradually move over to the new one.

'But in the end, David says that like the junk mail

'that comes through your letterbox, spam e-mails in his inbox

'may just be something that Rod has to accept.'

It is a kind of a fact of life, of the age that we live in,

and the fact that, you know,

these fraudsters, these scammers, are out there.

-I hope that's been of some use.

-It really has.

-Thank you very much indeed.

-Thank you.

-Thanks a lot, David.

-Nice to see you.

-Thank you, Gloria.

And you can find more of David's tips for keeping your e-mails safe

on our website. That's...

Next in for some help was Dave Williams

who came to see Martyn James from the Financial Ombudsman Service

about a persistent case of mistaken identity.

It all started about five and a half years ago

when I noticed an error in my account

and then it became evident that I was linked to another person.

Dave's bank had another customer also called Dave Williams

with the same date of birth

and it had inadvertently confused their accounts.

The trouble was the other Dave Williams's balance

wasn't quite as healthy as this Dave's, which has had

a very unfortunate knock-on effect on his credit rating.

-He's had bad credit...

-Yes.

..I think from the beginning of the recession cos I could see

all his finances on my credit file, so, basically,

alarm bells started ringing.

Although Dave asked his bank to update his details,

almost six years on, that original mix-up is still haunting

his financial records and, most recently,

it got very serious with debt collectors chasing Dave

for money that the other Dave Williams apparently owes.

I was contacting these debt management companies saying,

"Although my name is David Williams,

"it's not the David Williams you're looking for."

Despite many attempts to resolve the problem,

he's getting desperate and he's concerned that debt collectors

will start seizing his belongings to repay a debt

that he just doesn't owe, but Martyn is confident he can help.

We can deal with the debt collectors really easily,

the debt managers, don't worry about the impact on your credit rating.

We can get all of that sorted out.

The most important thing is to make sure that this stops,

once and for all.

We can speak to the credit reference agencies and we can get them

to put what's known as a letter of disassociation on your file

and I think we'll also ask them

to look at the impact that this has had on you.

This is it. It's just... Well, it's not very good. We're not...

Myself and my partner and my children

are not in a really good position because of all this, really.

I think you've been incredibly reasonable.

I would be a lot more angry than you are.

I've had my angry moments, but... it's not getting me nowhere.

-Well, I'll get onto that first thing.

-All right.

-Thanks very much for coming in.

-Thank you.

-And, hopefully, you'll never have to speak to me ever again.

-Yeah.

Yeah, OK.

Since we filmed with Dave, there's been some fantastic progress.

Two of the banks involved with Dave's credit file,

along with the debt collection agency wrongly chasing him for debts

he didn't owe,

have all paid out compensation to the tune of over £1,000 in total.

And his own bank assures him

it's done everything it can to make sure this doesn't happen again.

So, while Dave will still be keeping a very close eye on his credit file,

he feels much better now that Martyn's team has investigated

and it's another great result from our pop-up shop.

If you got a story you'd like us to investigate,

then you can get in touch with us

via our Facebook page "BBC Rip Off Britain",

our website, bbc.co.uk/ripoffbritain

or e-mail...

..and, of course, you can always send us

a letter to our postal address, which is...

Not getting what you paid for is bad enough at the best of times,

but when you've got so much riding on it,

like your first driving lesson or a big event

for which you've got such high hopes,

well, it really is a kick in the teeth when it goes wrong, isn't it?

It sure is and when your expectations are so high,

even if you can get your money back,

it doesn't really make up for what's gone wrong,

so if you find yourself in a situation

like any of the people in today's programme,

then do please let us know because we all hate it when you lose out,

but we do, of course, at the same time, hope that we can help.

So, keep your letters coming.

We really do appreciate every one of them and who knows?

It could be your experience

we're looking into in one of our future programmes.

For now, though, that's where we have to leave it, so thank you

very much for your company and we'll see you again very soon.

-Till then, from all of us, goodbye.

-Bye.

-Goodbye.