Episode 3 Rip Off Britain

-JULIA SOMERVILLE:

-'We asked you to tell us

'what's left you feeling ripped off

'and you contacted us in your thousands.'

-ANGELA RIPPON:

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

'and the customer service that is simply not up to scratch.'

They should be looking after their customers and they don't.

Loyalty to the customers is a very low priority.

GLORIA HUNNIFORD: 'You've asked us to track down the scammers

'who stole your money and investigate the extra charges

'you say are unfair.'

Big companies, big corporations are more into the money and the numbers

than they are about the people.

'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.'

It genuinely feels like I'm getting ripped off.

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

'We're here to find out why you are out of pocket

'and what you can do about it.'

'Your stories, your money, this is Rip-Off Britain.'

Hello, and welcome to Rip-Off Britain,

the series that's here to make sure

you're getting the most from every penny you spend

and that your money goes where you want it to

and gets you what you need.

And, you know, it doesn't always have to cost a fortune

to get the best value.

Sometimes spending just a little can make a big difference.

As we'll see later on.

That is especially the case in one vital situation

for which too many of us simply have not planned.

You know, people may overuse the expression,

a matter of life and death,

but trust us, this one really is just that.

But while, of course, it's our job to bring you the best tips

on how to hold on to your money,

it's always great when it works in the other direction as well

and that you send us your own suggestions

on making your funds go further.

Well, we have a classic example of that on its way

and it's one that could save any pet owner a small fortune.

Coming up -

why I'm one of those pet owners quids in

thanks to this woman's advice on how to cut the cost

of keeping an animal healthy.

I was actually quite angry at the vets

and, you know, not really sure how they could justify

such a mark-up in the medication.

And how this man has been left devastated

after receiving not a penny of inheritance

that his father wanted him to have.

To lose it just on the stroke of a pen

is something that...

is very...

..very difficult to come to terms with.

As a dog owner, I'd do anything to make sure

that my two girls are happy and healthy.

And for one of my little dogs,

that means regular trips to the vet

and indeed, medication that she'll probably have to take

for the rest of her life, because it's a support for her heart.

But as any pet owner will know,

looking after poorly animals can be really expensive.

So when one viewer told us about a little-known way she'd found

to save some money on her cat's repeat prescriptions,

we just had to investigate.

And I have to tell you straightaway,

it has really saved me quite a bit of money since we made the film.

More than half of all British households are home to a pet.

Between us, we spend a total of nearly £5.5 billion on them a year.

And a big chunk of that figure goes on vets' fees

which have doubled in the last decade.

I have two dogs, two Cavaliers,

you've met them before on the programme

and clearly, I love them dearly.

But I must say that sometimes the vet bills and the medication

can be just that little bit eye-watering.

Now, this is Gemma and because of the breed,

unfortunately, she has a slight heart condition

which means that Gemma, although she looks quite fit and healthy

and runs well in the park,

she's going to have to be on medication for the rest of her days.

Gemma's prescription costs about £40 every month from our local vet,

who's been looking after our family pets for years.

And do you know, it never occurred to me

that there might be any other way I could get their medication,

until Sarah Dia-Briskey from Bristol wrote to Rip-Off Britain

with what, to me, was a genuinely surprising piece of advice

that could save any pet owner quite a wad of cash.

Because she's found a much cheaper way to get vital medication

for her cat, Bella.

I probably would do anything for Bella,

and I think most pet owners probably say exactly the same.

Sarah bought Bella as a young cat while she was living in Australia.

But as Bella grew up, she started to develop

some serious coughing and breathing problems.

She will crouch down quite low and cough for ages

and there's nothing you can do,

you've just got to let it run its natural course,

so that when it's finished, she's OK.

The vet's prognosis was that Bella had feline asthma,

which back in Australia was treated with steroid injections.

Come on, Bella.

Just over a year later, Sarah moved back to the UK

and of course, she brought Bella with her.

But the pet insurance policy she bought on returning home

effectively classed Bella's condition as a pre-existing one,

so Sarah thought she'd be stuck footing the bill

for those costly steroid injections,

until her new vet in Bristol suggested a cheaper treatment,

a feline inhaler.

We were keen to go down that route

because we did know that in the long term

it would be a cheaper option than the steroid injections

and it would also mean that we wouldn't have to keep taking her

back to the vet's every four to six weeks.

Bella's new feline inhaler was a lot like the kind used by humans

and although it costs less than her old steroid injections,

it still wasn't cheap, at around £90 for a three-month course.

The quote from the vet did seem incredibly steep.

It's crazy when you think how far the bill could potentially escalate.

If she kind of hopefully lived for 10-12 years,

it would definitely add up

and be, obviously, a bit of a financial burden in the long run.

But Sarah's boyfriend,

who's also an asthma sufferer,

noticed that Bella's inhaler used the same medication as his

and that set the couple wondering

why Bella's prescription was so much more expensive.

A trip to the local pharmacy found the same drugs

for the far cheaper price of £43.63,

almost £35 less than at the vet's.

I was very surprised I could find this medication at a human pharmacy.

I was actually quite angry at the vet's

and, you know, not really sure how they could justify

such a mark-up in the medication.

But when Sarah asked the vet

if she had to get Bella's medication from there

or if she could save money by buying it elsewhere,

to her surprise, she was told that she was free to shop around.

The vet would charge her £15 for the prescription,

but if she then went and bought the medicine at her local chemist,

Sarah would still save £20 a time.

I was really, really happy that I'd found an alternative way

of finding this medication

and that it's cheaper and more sustainable for me.

Now, like Sarah, I would go to the ends of the Earth

to keep my pets healthy.

But it was a big surprise to know

that I didn't have to pay through the nose

by buying medication from the vet.

So Gemma and I went along to see top vet Bradley Viner,

who is senior vice president

of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons,

to find out more.

Well, Bradley, this is Gemma.

-I thought I'd better introduce you first of all.

-Yes.

I must admit, you see, I've never thought about it before.

I just presumed that when I went to the vet,

the vet decided what was wrong with my animal

and then I took the prescription and it was dispensed from the vet.

So is this a fairly new thing that's been introduced?

Vets have always been free to write prescriptions,

but the requirement to make it clear that we do offer it

has been around for about ten years.

You may not have spotted it,

but every vet's surgery has to display a sign

telling customers they can shop around for their pets' meds

if they want to.

How do you work it? Where do you display it, by the way?

-We have a sign directly outside the consulting room.

-OK.

That fulfils the obligation that the Royal College actually imposed

upon all vets to make it clear to their clients

that they can request a prescription.

But I for one have never, ever noticed one of those signs,

nor had most of the dog owners we asked

at this agility class in Manchester.

No, I don't think I've ever seen a sign in my vet

telling me I can get a prescription and go elsewhere.

I didn't know I could get a prescription from my vet

and I could actually shop around.

However, there were some pet owners already aware

that by shopping around, they can make big savings.

I do get prescriptions from vets to buy medications online,

because I can get them at a cost that is cheaper

than they can buy them online.

Previously, I was given a prescription for human drugs

for a dog that was on serious painkillers.

Now, of course, not all human medication

and pet medication is the same.

So going down to the local pharmacy for your animal's prescription

isn't always going to be possible for everyone.

But you may not have realised

that different vets may charge very different prices

for the same medication,

and when our team called ten vets around the area where I live,

the prices they quoted for Gemma's heart tablets varied enormously,

with the cheapest coming in at £20.40

and the most expensive at more than twice that amount, at £43.20.

There must be some morality in it, as to how much you charge

over and above the assessment and the examination and so on.

Well, veterinary practices are businesses

and it's up to them how they structure their charges.

So there's no legal control over what you price

or how you price the drugs?

No, there's no legal control over it.

Shopping around the vets in your local area

is one way of saving a few pounds,

but prices can be even lower if you go to one of the online pharmacies

that specialise in pet medicine.

Of course, the dangers of buying online for animals

are the same as they are for people,

so you should only use a reputable site

that comes with a seal of approval

of the Veterinary Medicines Directorate, or VMD, as it's called,

which regulates the sale of all animal medication.

And when we did just that, searching online for Gemma's heart medication,

we found five sites that sold it at a far lower price

than any of the vets or pharmacists that we previously checked.

The cheapest price we came across was just £13.20 with free delivery,

saving me more than £26 a month.

Now, if I'd been buying it this way

since Gemma was put on the meds a year ago,

I could have saved myself a whopping £318.12.

When we spoke to the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons about

the price differences we found,

it told us that it's up to each practice

as to how much it charges for medication

and that competition should be of benefit to clients.

It reiterated that all practices are expected to advise customers,

by means of large and prominently displayed signs,

that they can get medication elsewhere.

But as Bradley is keen to stress,

cheaper prices online don't make up for everything else that you get

from a trip to the vet's.

In some cases, drugs may even be cheaper from a veterinary practice.

Also for short-term medication,

I think that many people want the ability

-to be able to give it immediately.

-Hmm.

So there is a price to pay for the convenience

and the confidence of knowing you're getting it directly from the vet

with all the associated advice

and the backup should there be any problems.

While I do really value the way Gemma's vet

keeps a regular check on her health,

I have to confess that I will now be buying

at least some of her medication online.

Which of course, back in Bristol, is exactly what Sarah does for Bella.

Every time she goes for a checkup,

she now walks out only with a prescription

and not a costly bag of medication.

When you look at the saving that I've made,

over the long term of say ten years,

I've saved myself an incredible amount of money

and just strongly encourage people to do the same.

Now, how about this for a shocking statistic?

It's said that more than half of British adults haven't made a will.

Of course, it's never going to be the cheeriest prospect,

making plans for when you're no longer around,

but if you bury your head in the sand and don't do anything about it,

the consequences for those you leave behind can be disastrous.

As the woman in our next film discovered,

even the simplest one really can make all the difference.

Singer Amy Winehouse,

comedian Rik Mayall

and the artist most of us always called Prince,

three big stars with one thing in common.

According to reports, none of them had made a will.

Who was it who said,

in life there are only two certainties - death and taxation?

Now, it turns out that more than half of us have not got a will.

So I'm going to go and find out what's going on.

I want to ask people, have you got a will? If not, why not?

-Have you got a will?

-I have.

Yeah. And what made you make your will?

Um, the kids.

What, you mean they said, "Come on, Dad, it's time"?

I think the wife said it's a good idea,

you know, before we got too old, so we could still make decisions.

What about you, have you made a will?

-No, I haven't got a will, no.

-Oh, why not?

-Why not?

-Yes.

-I don't intend dying just yet.

So what's going to happen?

Well, I don't think I'll have a lot left.

So, I don't... HE LAUGHS

But if you don't make a will or keep it up-to-date,

you could lose all control and influence

over who inherits whatever wealth or possessions you leave behind

and that can create all sorts of trouble

for those you might have hoped would benefit.

-Hi.

-Hi. Sue? I'm Julia.

Sue Singer's partner Paul never quite got his will finalised.

We were together for 16 years,

ran a business together, lived together,

had a child together, Toby.

And basically loved each other.

Sue and Paul also both had children from previous relationships

and though they'd talked about making a will,

they hadn't got around to sorting it out

and that came sharply into focus when they were on holiday in Turkey

and Paul decided to go parascending.

I knew the minute we saw people with their big parachutes and stuff

that he would be wanting to do that.

I knew.

And I would never stop him from doing anything.

But before Paul took to the skies,

Sue, partly joking, partly serious, thought it was the ideal moment

to bring up the subject of the will again,

and Paul took a spur-of-the-moment decision to make it happen.

I had been nagging and nagging him for ages, probably years,

to get round to doing this will and he'd not done it.

So I just said to him, "You're not going to do that

"until you make out the will."

So what did he do?

So he went up to the reception and he went and wrote the will.

-And this is the will?

-This is the will.

Let's have a quick look at it.

I mean, it's not just a simple, "I'm Paul and I leave everything to you."

Paul was very good at writing contracts and things.

He didn't have any legal training, but he was very clever.

And he knew what had to be said.

And he also knew that he needed witnesses because he's got two here.

-Yes.

-And who are they?

They just worked in the hotel.

They worked on reception.

And, you know, they'd got to know us.

They thought it was quite amusing at the time, actually,

"Why is he having to come and do this?"

But they were very happy.

It may have been a bit rough and ready,

but Paul was delighted

to have finally put his wishes down in writing.

As it happens, he made it safely back down to earth in one piece.

But a few months later, he began to feel unwell.

We went to the doctor's and after lots of tests,

found that he had lung cancer.

For the next few months, we were...chemotherapy,

radiotherapy, hospital trips.

But just a few weeks later, Paul passed away

and though he had begun the process of drafting a formal will,

he died before being able to sign it.

So, as well as losing her partner,

Sue now faced the prospect of losing her home and business, too.

But then she remembered the makeshift will

that Paul had hastily scribbled out at the hotel in Turkey.

It was a matter of looking and finding it

and then checking out

that everything was in there was actually valid.

Sue did find the will,

but discovered that although Paul had made a good effort,

he'd left out a key phrase.

The missing ingredient was that it had to say,

"Witnessed in the presence of..."

There's actually some very specific terminology

that are needed on a will.

And because of that tiny little bit that was missing...

Four Little words.

We had to then find the witnesses.

Sue's solicitor told her that she'd need to get

one of the Turkish witnesses to complete an affidavit,

a written legal statement taken under oath

to confirm he'd witnessed the signing in person.

But could sue manage to track either of them down?

-They might have left their jobs.

-They could've left their jobs.

What happened?

I went with a friend to see this lawyer in Lewisham

and he rang the hotel.

And one of the guys still worked there.

-Well, that was a relief.

-And he knew the other guy.

And he remembered us, he remembered the will

and he said that he would do the affidavit

to say that bit of sentence that was missing.

While that part of the process was relatively quick,

it ended up taking four years for the whole thing to be resolved.

Still, better than not having any will at all.

If we hadn't have had this will,

half of the assets would have gone to our son

and half would have gone to Paul's daughter.

So even though Paul and I had worked together to build up everything,

I wouldn't have got a penny.

Under what's known as rules of intestacy,

only married couples, civil partners

or some close relatives such as children

can inherit without the need for a will.

Catherine Crabtree is a solicitor who specialises in advising people

on how to write them.

There've been various attempts

to try and pass something else through Parliament

to give cohabitants more rights,

but they've never really been successful,

because the issue becomes so complicated.

And where there's a complication, there's a cost.

People sometimes come to me and they say, "I want a simple will"

and I have to say, "Well, do you have simple circumstances?"

It does cost, professional advice always costs,

but that's money really worth... well spent.

Or, at least, it can be.

Because Caroline warns that some lawyers may have hidden extras

that you shouldn't need to pay for,

such as a cost for simply holding the will on their files.

I would say, be very careful about paying for the storage of a will.

Solicitors will generally store a will for free and failing that,

I believe the probate service will store it for you

for a one-off fee of £20.

Under the mattress? Is that a good idea?

If the house burns down and you in it,

unfortunately, your wishes are not going to be represented.

But however you sort out your will,

the key thing is to make sure it really is going to protect

your loved ones in the way that you'd hoped.

Stuart Hurd from Essex believes his father didn't fully appreciate

how the will he made could turn out

and as a result, Stuart inherited nothing.

The total estate was about £300,000,

of which I would have received £150,000.

To lose it just on the stroke of a pen

is something that is very...

..very, very difficult to come to terms with.

After Stuart's mother had died,

in 1988, his father remarried

and set up what's known as a mirror will,

combining his estate with that of his new wife.

It meant that should one of them die,

the other would inherit everything.

I felt that it was only right that my stepmother should be looked after

during the remainder of her life.

Stuart and his father's understanding of what would happen

after that was that on the death of the surviving spouse,

the estate would then be divided equally

between Stuart and his stepbrother.

It had all seemed very straightforward.

I must admit, I'd never given any consideration

to the dangers of mirror wills that I've since found out.

That once the first person dies, then they can in fact be altered.

And that's exactly what happened in this case.

In 1997, Stuart's father died

and Stuart insists he stayed in touch with his stepmother

over the years and even exchanged cards and gifts

for Christmases and birthdays.

For more than a decade,

he assumed that his father's part of the estate

would eventually return to him.

But it wasn't until after his stepmother also died

that Stuart discovered she had changed the will.

When I looked at my stepmother's will,

I saw, to my amazement, I'd been disinherited,

and it said in the will that

it was due to a reason given in a separate statement.

The reason given in the statement was that there had been no contact

between them for over ten years,

which Stuart strongly disputes.

We'd stayed in constant contact with her,

we never missed a birthday or Christmas present

and, in fact, she sent me a birthday present

which went through my bank account days before making the statement.

And I was absolutely devastated.

Stuart has tried contacting his stepbrother to discuss the situation

but says he hasn't received a response and he remains distraught

at what's ended up happening to his father's estate.

I lost my family inheritance.

My daughter, his only granddaughter, also lost an inheritance

and I feel that it was just so wrong.

We contacted Stuart's stepbrother about the situation

and though he didn't reply,

he has previously disputed Stuart's version of events.

His stepmother was, of course, perfectly entitled

to change her will,

but things would have panned out very differently for Stuart

if, alongside that mirror will, his father had set up a separate trust

that would have guaranteed Stuart received his share

of his father's estate,

which Stuart is adamant is what his father would have wanted.

I've heard, many times, since I've been trying to contest my will,

that it's important to have a will.

The message I have is that it's not about having a will,

it's having the right will.

There are a number of ways you can make sure

a will does reflect your wishes.

A solicitor can draft one for you, typically at a cost of around £120.

Or, if you do a bit of reading up,

you can do your own much more cheaply

by buying one of the kits available at high-street stationers.

Best of all, if you're over 55,

a solicitor could draw up a standard will for you absolutely free,

in one of the twice-yearly Free Will Months,

usually March and October, so get in quick.

And you can find more details on how to go about it on our website.

Still to come on Rip-Off Britain...

the shampoos said to perform all sorts of miracles on your hair,

but how many of the claims made for them are true?

So, down to the nitty-gritty, what really is the difference

between buying a bottle of shampoo that may cost you £1

and one that may cost you anything up to 50 quid?

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

we were in the busy Trafford Centre in Manchester.

Now, the best part for us is meeting so many of you in person.

-Hi, how are you?

-Just recognised you.

-Oh, did you?

-Yeah.

-Oh, good.

-I said, "She's off the telly."

And we hope the best part, for you,

is getting top-notch advice to help save you money.

And it really does now need to go to that next level.

Booked in to see personal finance expert Sarah Pennells

was Joanne Makin, who was at absolutely the end of her tether

with her energy supplier.

Without any warning, her electricity bill had tripled,

but Joanne and her daughter were just baffled

because they hadn't been using any more power than usual.

The first they knew about it

was when the inflated bill arrived on their doormat.

I opened it and it said they were putting my payments up

from £24 a month to £79 a month.

And I just thought, "There's no way I am using that much."

Such a big increase meant that

Joanne couldn't afford to pay all her bills, leaving her most anxious.

I was angry, I was crying.

They were saying that I needed to pay this amount

because I was using that much energy.

After more than a month of frantic calls to her supplier,

she was eventually told that the only way to investigate

the situation was for her to shell out more cash.

So she said, "Well, there's nothing else we can do for you now

"unless you pay £93 to somebody to come out to check your meter."

-So this was going to cost you even more money?

-Even more.

On top of that, the money would only be refunded

if the meter did turn out to be faulty.

Joanne was wary of taking such a gamble and,

in any event, didn't have the cash to spare.

But after weeks of worrying, she turned to her parents for a loan

and, once the meter was checked,

it proved that Joanne had been right all along.

He opened it and he just said, "I can tell you now,

"before I've even checked the meter, that it's faulty."

-Gosh!

-And I have been going on and on for four weeks telling them

that the meter's faulty,

but they weren't having any at all.

By this time, Joanne had paid the company at least £100 more

than she needed to.

So, even when the energy supplier realised it was a mistake

and reduced her direct debit, she was still out of pocket,

all of which leaves Sarah distinctly unimpressed.

What's really so ridiculous is that they wouldn't believe you

and, presumably, if you hadn't been quite so tenacious,

they'd have carried on trying to bill you for £79 a month.

Unless you're living in quite a sizeable property

or you've got a hot tub that you keep running day and night,

you wouldn't use that.

And yet, despite the fact your electricity use

increased dramatically, they were still saying there wasn't a problem.

I want a good written apology for what they've put me through,

them not believing me,

because I've lost out on money I've paid out

and I want some sort of compensation.

-Proper compensation.

-Yeah.

Well, after we filmed with her,

Joanne was sufficiently galvanised to take her case

to the energy ombudsman, who found in her favour

and ordered the company to pay her £95 as compensation.

And while, as far as Joanne is concerned,

that still leaves her out-of-pocket,

she's relieved that her direct debit has at least been reduced

to a level that she can once again afford.

Someone else waiting for advice from one of our experts was Tony Bonnie.

-Hello.

-How are you doing?

-You've been sitting there patiently.

-Oh, thank you!

-Pleased to meet you.

-Made my day.

He was hoping for advice on his car insurance

from financial ombudsman Martyn James.

Tony had been with the same insurer for seven years

but when he recently swapped his car for a smaller one,

his new premium came as a bit of a shock.

My insurance went up from £409

to £709 in one go.

-You must've been shocked when they told you.

-Well, I was.

I couldn't believe it.

Baffled that downsizing his car was upsizing his premium,

Tony asked his insurer for an explanation

but, so far, he's not had any clear answers

and the increase remains a mystery.

Have you had any infringements or anything on your licence?

Have you got a nice clean licence?

-Yeah, clean licence.

-So you're a safe driver?

I've been driving since 1952

so, as far as I'm concerned, I'm a safe driver.

But it's exactly this lengthy track record behind the wheel

that Martyn suspects may be a potential explanation

for the hike in price.

How old are you, Tony?

-81.

-Oh, gosh.

-Going on 82.

Do you mind if I ask a very delicate question, Tony?

Do you think that your age has had an impact on this?

Well, if they were to say, it's an age thing,

well, to me, age is only a number.

Individuals should be assessed on their capability.

You know, you can't just say, "You're 82 now so you're finished"

because people are not finished at 82, are they?

Absolutely not, and this is the important thing.

Insurance should be about the individual,

it should be about your own experiences,

and any decent insurer should take the time to explain to you,

as a loyal customer, why that's happened

and if there's anything that can be done to reduce those costs.

Well, what are you going to do?

Right, I'm going to get onto the phone,

we've got some experts on stand-by.

And we'll give a call to your insurance company,

just to see, very honestly, if we can work out

what's actually causing the problem here.

Martin also advises that, rather than using a price comparison site,

older drivers should get quotes from specialist insurers

who are more likely to offer a better deal.

We'll see if they are able to actually come up with

something a little bit better for you.

-How does that make you feel?

-That makes me feel great.

Thank you very much.

When Martyn's team did get in touch with Tony's insurers,

the company insisted that

the price rise was nothing to do with Tony's age

but correcting an error that had stopped premiums going up

as they should've done.

But it said that it will be reviewing the wording of its letters

to ensure any changes are explained more accurately.

And after taking another look at his case,

they'll be giving Tony £100 compensation

for the trouble and the upset it's caused.

Tony is delighted with that result.

And for more information about specialist insurance

for older drivers, do visit our website...

Now, none of us likes to pay more for anything than we really need to

but, at the same time,

I think we'd all agree that it can be quite hard sometimes to resist

a really good marketing campaign,

especially one that sets out to convince us that we really do need

whatever life-enhancing product they're trying to sell us.

Take shampoos, for example.

Now, there are countless brands and variants on offer

and some of them don't simply promise to clean your hair.

Oh, no! That would be much too simple.

Instead, they offer all manner of other things

that they are able to do.

So you could get yourself into quite a lather

trying to separate the truth from the spin

with some of those claims.

So we've taken a much closer look

into how many of them really do stand up.

Whether it's been long,

a bit shorter...

..up, down or somewhere in between,

keeping my "do" in good shape has always required

a good deal of strict management.

Now, my hair is the bane of my life.

It's baby fine, dead straight

and, unless I pile it with lots of product,

leave it to its own devices,

I'm afraid it would end up just looking like a dish mop

on the top of my head. I wouldn't wish it on anybody.

So when a national newspaper declared that this

was one of the most influential celebrity cuts of all time,

it was a bit of a shock,

to put it mildly.

Top hairdresser Denise McAdam,

who's tended the locks of several members of the royal family,

told the paper that, when she started out, around the mid-1970s,

she was always getting requests for a style like mine.

And while I've tended to stick with what I know over the years,

I've tried and tested hundreds of different shampoos,

which can come with wildly varying price tags.

And, like many of you,

I'm never really sure if paying the extra is worth it.

I'd probably go for a little bit more expensive,

just because it probably does a bit more.

I would think it works better than a cheaper shampoo does.

I don't ever go for a cheap shampoo

but not necessarily the most expensive one that's on the market.

So I pay little bit more because I think the quality would be better.

And I think my hair would look better for that.

There is a bewildering array of shampoos available on the market,

with most of them making quite bold claims

about what they're going to do for your hair.

They are going to make it thicker,

they are going to make it straighter,

they are going to make it grow faster.

And with shampoos costing anything from less than £1

to more than 50 quid,

getting the right shampoo for you can be a very expensive business.

And if you've chosen a pricier product purely because of

the claims made on the labels or the ads,

you won't be surprised to learn that many of them simply don't stack up.

Or, at least, that's what consumer organisation Which? concluded

in recent research.

It said many of the manufacturers' promises are simply not based

on scientific evidence.

So I've come to meet a man that I'm hoping can cut through the hype,

hair expert Iain Sallis.

Well, I've spent years and quite a lot of money

buying lots of different shampoos and hair products

because I want to believe what it says on the bottle.

Am I wasting my money on that

or am I getting exactly what I think I'm paying for?

Well, the answer is - it depends.

When you start drilling down into what a shampoo consists of,

you've got your water and your detergent,

you've got your thickeners, you've got your preservatives.

Then you've got the added things,

which is usually what the claim is based on,

the botanicals, the added X, Y or Z.

And it's apparently those added extras that work magic on our hair

and, of course, make the difference between a bargain bottle of shampoo

and a posh pricey one.

So do these extras genuinely have any impact

on what a product can achieve?

Let's sort the shampoo superpowers from the marketing myths

and see how many of the most frequently made claims

really stand up.

First, hair repair.

When you see a bottle of shampoo that says,

"This will repair damage,"

true or false?

If you use a shampoo for hair damage,

a dry hair shampoo with conditioning agents in it,

it can smooth damage over but it can't repair it.

Whatever you do to your hair,

the damage will remain until it either falls out or is cut out.

It cannot react or repair itself.

Next up, something lots of us hanker after.

Please can I have lots of volume?

Volumising shampoos?

Volumising shampoos do work.

There are products in shampoos which can either puff up the cuticle

because they are silicates, which are heat activated,

so it does need you to blow-dry your hair.

But don't mistake bigger hair for more hair

because there's a world of difference

between volumising shampoos and products that go further

and claim they'll prevent hair loss.

Can any of those really work?

Let me pin you down. Is it possible for a shampoo to prevent hair loss?

There has been certain scientific studies that prove

that caffeine can increase the growing phase of hair

in a test tube.

How much that transfigures onto someone's head,

especially if they've got underlying issues

which is causing the hair loss, is anybody's guess.

What about those shampoos that claim your hair will grow quicker?

Using something on your scalp as quick as a shampoo,

which is literally put onto your hair and rinsed off

within two minutes,

isn't going to have any effect on hair growth whatsoever.

And sadly, the same is true of another claim

we might welcome for any part of our bodies, but our hair?

Anti-ageing?

THEY LAUGH

There's a lot hanging on this.

Anti-ageing is a nonsensical term.

Hair doesn't particularly age

because it dies and falls out

within about five or seven years of it growing,

so it doesn't age along with you.

There's nothing that will cause anti-ageing.

But there is, at least, some good news.

Shampoos claiming a benefit for sensitive scalps can work,

as can those that say they'll protect the colour of dyed hair

and anti-dandruff shampoos, too.

So that's four claims

that do have some truth

but another four

that look decidedly thin.

And yet, you'll find all those claims made on shampoos

widely available on the high street.

So, if those added ingredients won't achieve

the miracles we're encouraged to think they will,

is there any benefit in buying the more expensive shampoos

that include them?

Well, to find out, we've done a simple test

with the help of tennis players Daxa and Elena.

They've both long believed

that choosing the right shampoo is essential.

So we've asked them to switch their regular products

for one of the shampoos in these unlabelled bottles.

One of them retails at just £1,

whereas the second one typically costs over £20.

But which is which?

To see if they can correctly identify the more expensive shampoo,

Elena and Daxa will be taking note of how each of them smells,

how they lather up and how they make their hair feel.

Well, Daxa, I won the match so I get to choose.

-OK, go for it.

-Right.

I think I'm going to go with B.

-OK. So I get A?

-You can go for A.

Remember, one of these shampoos costs 20 times as much as the other.

So, when Elena and Daxa first try them, is there much of a difference?

I got bottle A, which has no smell

and is colourless.

My hair feels good.

It's been washed

and it feels the same as it is

when I normally wash it.

After wash,

the hair just felt a little bit dry

and really frizzy,

so when I dried it,

it kind of feels all right now.

It's back to silky.

But after a full week of washing,

those first impressions have given way to very definite conclusions.

I do think that I was using the more expensive shampoo

because of the feel of it,

because of the scent

and because of the consistency.

I've noticed that my hair isn't as shiny as it normally is,

and other people have noticed it as well.

So, for that reason, I think I've got the cheaper one.

Both of them think that bottle B, the one Elena was using,

is the expensive bottle

and bottle A, Daxa's shampoo, is the cheapest.

So are they right?

-Moment of truth.

-Go on, then.

-I'm going to open the envelope

and see who had the expensive brand

-and who had the cheaper brand.

-Go on, then.

-Three, two, one...

-SHE GASPS

-Go on, tell me. What's that?

-You had the expensive brand.

-I was right!

-And I was right.

But though they could spot the difference

between these two shampoos,

after discovering the more expensive one cost at least four times as much

as either of them would ever normally spend,

they're not remotely convinced that it's really worth it.

You still need to buy a good product

-but you don't have to spend a fortune.

-Yeah.

-Definitely not.

-I agree.

-You just need to find the right shampoo for your hair.

-Yes.

-Don't spend...

-Don't spend too much.

The whole point of shampoo, of course,

is that it's washed off and away pretty fast.

So by all means, pay top whack for a product if you particularly like it,

but you certainly don't need to.

So, down to the nitty-gritty.

What really is the difference

between buying a bottle of shampoo that may cost you £1

and one that may cost you anything up to 50 quid?

Well, the ones that are very, very basic,

you will literally get detergent in a bottle

with a few other bits and pieces in it

which will allow your hair to get clean,

and there will be very little in that which will enhance the ability

for it to do anything else.

As you get further up the range,

you'll probably find that, when you lather the hair up,

it feels a little bit more luxurious, the smell's nicer,

but it will do the same job, and it's as simple as that.

You're basically saying that, actually, when it comes down to it,

what's in that bottle from that manufacturer

or that famous hairdresser is pretty much the same as

what's in that bottle from the other one.

More or less.

If you are really straining to buy these products financially,

because of what it's promising,

there's always a cheaper alternative.

And it's exactly the same.

And that's all for now.

Our main news tonight is at 10.05.

Now let's take a look at the weather.

If you've 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...

..or e-mail...

And, of course, you can always send us a letter

to our postal address, which is...

Well, I can understand that it's not something we like to think about

but, all the same, it was a surprise to find out

just how many of us haven't made a will yet.

When you see what can happen if you haven't made the right plans

for the future, it really does make sense

to sort it out now to avoid an awful lot of bother and heartache

further down the line.

You know, I loved that tip about getting a professional

to do your will for free,

so do check where and when that applies in your area.

But it just goes to show

what today's programme is really all about,

and that is that you don't have to pay through the nose

to get the best products and services.

An awful lot of the time,

that is money that could be in your pocket instead.

Just where it should be,

and where a bit more of my money is

since I learned how to save two-thirds

on my dog Gemma's monthly medication through this programme.

And if you have any tips whatsoever to help save a few pennies,

please do share them with us all,

either on Facebook or by dropping us a little e-mail.

But for now, though, we're right out of time,

so thank you so much for watching and we'll see you next time around.

-From all of us, bye-bye.

-Goodbye.

-Goodbye.