Episode 1 Watchdog

British Gas, huge profits, Ikea tall stories, plus Innocent

Smoothies, Twinings Tea and that Dukan diet, it's Watchdog, the

Hello and good evening, welcome to this new series of Watchdog. We are

live, as usual, from Television Centre. Tonight: Soaring gas and

electricity bills, bad news for customers, billions of pounds in

profit for the companies. How do they justify it? The head of Energy

UK which represents them all here is here to answer. Also, the Dukan

diet, it whipped Carole Middleton into shape but a few things you

need to know if you want a body like hers. Plus, Ikea, cans willing

orders, upsetting customers, telling porkies. And MSC, celebrity

cruises, Cunard want you to tip staff before you even board your

cruise. Here is a tip if you are planning

to leave your car at the airport don't hand over the keys to this

company. Or they may drive it over the speed

limit, hello, 69 in a 40! Or have a chat at the wheel or even use it as

a bedroom. No wonder some owners come home to find their cars in a

worse state than they left them. Tonight we are going to bring those

airport parking rogues down to earth but be warned it's going to

be a bumpy landing. First, energy prices. Gas up by an average of 18%,

electricity 11%. The typical household bill now �1,200 a year.

Here is the puzzle. Wholesale costs, what the companies pay for their

energy, dropped over the summer. The streug regular -- -- industry

regulator is investigating whether the energy suppliers are giving

customers a fair deal. Here is Chris.

Feeling the heat over fuel bills? I certainly am. The price of

cooking, washing, lighting and heating has hit an all-time high.

Just as we are preparing for darker nights and colder weather. How

about that for timing? And this, the energy companies

announced their increases just as the price they pay for fuel was

falling. In fact, one of them, Eon announced a 18% gas price rise for

its five million customers on the same day that wholesale gas fell to

its lowest price of the year. Like them all the other main

suppliers buy their gas and electricity on the wholesale market,

where prices this summer were the lowest they had been since November

2010. Annoyed by that? Wait until you hear this. We have actually

seen prices in 20 2011 at the wholesale level about a third of

what they were at the peak in 2008. But yet we are paying historically

high prices and it's no wonder that people are asking whether or not

that's a fair price they're paying. Yes, you heard that right. Your

bills may be at a record high, but your suppliers are paying 30% less

for their energy than they were four years ago. Now that's a lot of

figures. I have barely just started. So I have my mate here, Benjamin, a

a street artist who is going to make lovely graphs and some experts

there who are going to explain all. First, that comparison between what

the energy companies pay, and what they charge. This graph on top

relates to electricity. The one below gas. Both cover the period

from January 2007 to the present day, wholesale prices in blue, the

price you pay in red. OK, I have the two beautiful graphs

here. Pretty much mirroring each other. I have noticed 2008-2009 a

whopping increase in the costs of our energy. What happens after

that? OK, what we are seeing here is the effects of the recession and

the impact on wholesale price. The massive slowdown in the commodity

prices, we have seen a period of volatility at a lower price from

the peaks in 2008. Compare that with the red line, the consumer

bill, you are seeing a period of relative stability over that period

but you can see the discount is small compared to the movement in

the wholesale price. What we have seen the last 12-18 months is an

increase in consumer bills at a time when the wholesale price has

moved lower. Critics liken these price movements to a rocket and a

feather. When wholesale prices rise, household bills go up like a rocket.

But when they fall, those same bills come down as slowly as a

feather. Just look how the red line hardly moves, even when the blue

line goes down. There are other reasons we are all

paying more. Dwindling north sea reserves mean companies have to

increase imports, distribution costs are rising, and the

Government's ordered them to invest billions in green measures. But

there's another factor, one the energy companies don't usually

mention. We have a good old- fashioned bar chart here. Centrica,

parent company of British Gas, their profits, how are they doing?

There's a general upward trebd in - - trend in the company's

profitability over the years. made �1.6 billion profit in the

first half of 2010 and �1.3 billion in the first six months of this

year. This one is almost as tall as you, this profit up here in June 10.

When we say healthy profits we are talking thousands of millions of

pounds, that's that's doing very well. What's important to note is

that Centrica is not alone in terms of healthiness of its profits,

similar performance has been seen by the other five of the big six

suppliers. Yes, just six suppliers who between them dominate 99% of

the market. No wonder, say critics, profits are so high.

The companies themselves say there is healthy competition in the

industry. Two years ago they they gave us almost 200 different

tariffs to choose from. Now they're offering 400. If you want a better

deal, they say, just shop around and switch. But are all these

tariffs more likely to confuse rather than help us?

Let's talk tariffs. This is a typical one offered by NPower. It's

the 45 tariff, you get a gift voucher to spend. But what about

Gas is charged at 9p for the first 4 572kilo watt hours. And 3p for

additional units. It says its based on a quarterly variable direct

debit and you also get an annual discount and energy bonus discount.

It varies depending on whether you Yes, I am just as confused as you.

But what about this lot? Is there anything on there you understand?

Um... No! Not really. It's complicated, isn't it? Really

complicated, yeah. For an older person for my mum definitely.

say an older person, you don't even know what's going on! There can be

no excuse to have hundreds of tariffs. It's the same gas and

electricity, it does the same job. They want to mystify people. It's

all mumbo-jumbo to me. If you manage to wade through all the

tariffs on offer, you may wonder why you bothered. Yes, you can make

a significant saving if you are changing a supplier for the first

time. But what then? You know those hundreds of tariffs, the difference

between the very best and the very worst is just �22 a year for dual

fuel customers. There is competition but not so much in

terms of price at present, it's based more on areas such as energy

efficiency measures, for example. Offering certain types of metring

or insulation. Most people will price competition. Indeed.

they're not getting it? Not in the current structure, no. So a lot of

figures and a lot of reasons to ask if the fuel bills you are getting

are fair. The companies say they are. They also say there's no

reason for the Competition Commission or the politicians to

change things because the energy market is already competitive and

working just fine. But wait until you see our last graph. This lot

just have. Here is that graph. Each coloured

line represents the prices kharblged by -- charged by the six

different energy companies over the last three years. As you can see,

they've been moving their prices up and very occasionally down, almost

exactly in tandem. Remember, these are the same company who is say

there's healthy competition in the industry. From this it looks like

there's very little choice at all. OK, with me now Christine McGourty,

director of Energy UK which represents the six big suppliers.

You call that competition? Well, it's totally wrong to suggest

there's no competition. These companies are fierce rivals. One

key thing that was missed out of your programme is that the gas

price in the wholesale market, where the companies have to go to

buy the stuff they sell to us is up 40% this year and in the all

companies have put prices up, they don't put them up by exactly the

same amount at exactly the same time. The key thing is that they

have to buy the stuff on the international market. I spoke to

our analyst today, including one on the film and prices now peaked this

week are at a three-year high. is a creepy coincidence? The prices

are lower than they were in 2008. It's inexplicable to people paying

for fuel why their prices are going up. You can understand that times

are difficult for everyone. They might be struggling with a load of

household bills and no one wants to see prices going up. In addition to

the wholesale price, which makes up about half of your bill, there's a

load of other costs. You referred to them in the film, green taxes,

cost of the metre, the network. And all those are going up too. We have

one of the most competitive markets in Europe, if not the world. We

have the cheapest gas price... other thing that people don't

understand, perhaps you can explain, the profit line doesn't seem to

waver in the same way. �4 billion profit by RWE, British Gas will

double profits probably from last year. It's interesting to see the

ones you mentioned. There are other companies, it's a diverse market.

Some years some do better than others. Some were making losses

this year, them was talking about a possible redundancy programme of

about 10,000 jobs going. So it's a very mixed picture and as you

referred to, we are expecting these companies to come to Britain and

make the investments in the power plants we need to keep the lights

on for the future. I don't think it still explains why our prices, our

fuel is going up, when fuel prices are coming down, doesn't make any

sense. Every time you explain, the first thing you say is that

wholesale prices have gone up. Wholesale prices have gone up

dramatically. They're at a three- year high. It's not just those

prices, it's all the other things in the bill. They're still only

where they were in 2008. They're at a three-year high now. In 2008 was

a crazy year, they all -- the oil price went through the roof. There

was a peak for a small period of time. The thing viewers need to

know is that they can make big savings by switching around. You

mentioned there was only �20,... They can save �200 by shopping

around. The tariffs, which you are referring to, can I take one at

random. Dual fuel, customers will receive a discount of tier two

consumption charges of 0.196kilowatt hour, prata across

billing period. Consumption rates and night rates where applicable up

to a maximum of �40 a year. Could you explain that? We have been

talking to... Could you explain that? I can't deny that sounds

confusing, no doubt about it. That's what what they all read like.

How can we make savings when this may as well be in another language.

There's lots of ways to switch and save money. The switching sites, as

an example I went on one and in ten minutes, it might take ten minutes

to locate the last bill and you - they help you make sense of it.

Which, for example, have a good one. The detail, of course, can be

confusing and the companies accept that. We have talked to people,

they've told us they like the varied choice of tariffs there is

out there. The language, you know, we are looking at that. I have to

move you on. Can I talk about people trapped in what's called by

the Government fuel poverty, which means that their income is so low

that 10% of it goes on fuel, it's nearly one in five. What we are

looking at is grannies shivering, unemployed not being able to afford

prices, what are you going to do We have held a lot of people

through this whole plan, we have spent 150 million, a lot of schemes

to help them. I have to stop you there. Thank you.

You can see the individual companies's responses are now

website: to comment on this or any other stories, please send any e-

Coming up, Ikea making false claims about watchdog. -- about Watchdog.

And at the Dukan diet, a big help to Carole Middleton, a let-down to

others. Back from your holidays? Leave your

car at the airport? Maybe you used a valet, or a meat in a great

company. Hopefully, not like the one we are featuring tonight. One

that promises a professional service, and his promises are just

Life, as I'm about to discover, is full of mysteries. What are we

doing here? I decided it would be so. We are going to meet some

unhappy customers, but we are going to do it my way. Hey? What you have

been at mucking about, I have been busy. I am available for hire. This

It turns out that all the time I have been working with him, he has

been secretly studying for his And hiding the truth is also the

subject of our story tonight. Set at the UK's biggest airport. On

average, 180,000 passengers used Heathrow every day, many leading

their cars in the hands of people they have never met. Total

strangers. Until tonight, because we present SecurePark Heathrow

Limited, not to beat confused with companies to have very similar

names. Here are a few of their customers. Check out their

expressions. They have some serious complaints. I got back to find

paint on the car. It had been poured on the roof, it had rained

on to the windscreen. This was a substantial amount? Yes. Not a

holiday snaps he was expecting. But things get worse. When the guy

handed back the keys, did he make any mention of this? No, he tried

to scrape it off, he tried to do it with the khaki before giving it to

me. So you have got to the paint, and scratches as well, on your car,

which was supposed to have been parked securely? Yes. He called the

boss, who had another surprise up his sleeve. He didn't introduce

himself, walked up to the vehicle, spat on the windscreen, tried to

wipe off the scratches. Nice. Here is the man himself, caught on

camera. One of the bosses of SecurePark Heathrow Limited.

said, I have cleaned it off with my spit. I said, no, you can see the

scratches clearly, it has gone into the glass. At that point, he said I

was being too fussy. Other fussy customers have found cracks India

windscreens, and dents in the sides of their car. This family came home

to find part of their car missing altogether. We were just leaving

the airport, my husband said, this sounds really noisy. What did it

sound like? Like a tank. Quite hard to miss. My forced first -- at

first thought was, maybe the exhaust has gone. You get home and

find a really big hole, where they should be a convertible stop the

catalytic converter was missing? large section of the exhaust pipe

as well. That is remarkable. would never think he would leave it

in the car-park and someone has stolen the catalytic converter.

wouldn't disagree! Mind you, at least the rest of the car was there.

Another customer came back to find his vehicle had been stolen

altogether. This family were initially quite pleased with

SecurePark Heathrow Limited's service. We even gave them good

feedback. 30 days later, we get tickets through the post, parking

tickets, �120. Where had it been parked? It was the High Street in

Slough. I love Slough Town Centre, but it is not secured. How did the

company respond? Fate contacted one of the boss man. He said, send me

all the documents we have got. We sent everything to him, and since

then, we haven't had anything. are the guys involved in running

the company. Dominic Almond and Matthew grunt. Neither has given a

cities factory explanation to any of the customers we have spoken to.

You see now why they look so stern! That sounds bad. Airport parking

should be secured. That is real! It is definitely not business as usual,

then. We have no house, no actor, we just need some cars, these will

do. All of these, rigged with trackers and secret cameras. Out

gorges team will hand them over to SecurePark Heathrow Limited, and we

will see what happens to cars they are supposed to look after. Who are

you? I and Tim, the expert. I have got the map. What do we do next?

put our cards in. And then we see where they end up. Expert Pym, what

should we expect? Are locked compound, security lighting and

cameras, no unauthorised access. The car should be driven straight

there and back. So what will happen to our cars? When we put them in.

Come-on, obviously something bad. It certainly is. If Dan have any

pilot's licence isn't enough to Speeding, mobiles at the wheel, and

falling asleep on the job. All in your car! Our secret cameras are

ready for play back a little bit later.

Next, Ikea, the world's largest furniture retailer, with huge

stores throughout the UK. In July it offered this made-to-order sofa

online, normal price �1,800, reduced it to just �204. A quarter

of the price. Not surprisingly, customers applied in droves. Ikea

accepted their orders, debited money from their cards, and gave

them delivery dates. Great, until they started contacting customers,

telling them they wouldn't get any sofas after all, claiming the

models were out of stock. Strange, seeing as they were supposedly made

to order. Even more strange when some customers discovered Ikea were

still selling them in stores in Europe. They contacted the camp ash

macro company, demanding it honour their orders in the UK. Ikea

refused, but promised refunds and give cards. It also sent e-mails to

customers who have threatened to take their complaints to Watchdog.

Did we agree to that? What do you think? Probably know. Correct. So

why did I care say we had? company has given us an apology. It

said these were unverified e-mails, in other words, not authorised from

above. No confusion or offence was intended, and customer service

training will be improved as a result. What about the so for

deals? Are it is a genuine error meant a significant number of

orders went through the system, well beyond the number of sofas it

had available for sale. It accepts it has let customers down, giving a

�50 gift cards for the inconvenience. Further gift cards

equivalent to 30% of the value of their orders. It is also determined

to deliver on its promises in the future. A lesson for any companies

wanting to use the Watchdog name without approval, don't! Next, the

Dukan, the diet of toys for pepper and Carole Middleton. Subscribing

to the online personalised plant was a bit more costly than the book.

So, three months, around �90. Worth Come on, who watched the royal

wedding and didn't dream of having a figure like that? All that? And

how many he did straight for the nearest bookstore to by the Diet

Book of the year? The Dukan diet, developed by Dr Pierre Dukan, gives

you 350 pages on the Virgin of high protein, low carbohydrate meals.

Plenty of water and lots of bran. It sold more than 250,000 copies in

Britain, leading to massive press coverage. But what if you like your

diet advice to be more personal? You can always turn to the Dukan

website, which promises unique and a truly personalised weight loss

coaching. A personalised relationship. And they promise that

Dr Pierre Dukan, that's him, personally monitor your progress

throughout your tailor-made coaching experience. Nice to meet

you. All this comes at a price, up to �1 a day, for as long as they

estimate it will take to achieve your so-called true weight. And to

keep that weight off. Bad value, according to some Watchdog viewers,

who also found the personal touch lacking. I signed up for six months,

for �107. I regretted it almost immediately. The instructions were

not clear, I was hoping for the personalised insights and guidance.

It wasn't a personalised to me at all. One of the questions was, how

motivated did you feel? When I said I felt very motivated, it said, you

are clearly very motivated. To go through a hole questionnaire like

that and to get fed back to you what you fed them, seems a waste of

money. After complaining, he received a refund. But he and

fellow subscriber Karen also received some strain -- strange

messages from Dr Pierre Dukan If the waste product stagnate, your

engine will go out. Like a lot left in the embers. Perhaps the doctor's

messages might be clearer if, before launching a website in the

UK, David Payne -- paid more attention to the translation. It is

not just the crammer, look at the But enough of that. Adding a new

dimension to the programme. What about the one on one advice? The

personal monitoring from Dr Pierre Dukan that customers are paying for.

I don't find any evidence that he monitors my progress. When I e-

mailed the support team to complain in general about the lack of

monitoring, they said to me that Dr Pierre Dukan only provides advice

in very specific cases, and this was just not to this factory to me.

I'm not surprised. A programme that can cost more than �100, with a

cross the border advice and bizarre musings, in poorly written English,

it can't be like this for everyone, can it?

Rebecca and four of our resort just signed up for the plan. The first

four days of the plan is known as the attack face, no cops, only

protein and some oat bran. -- no carbs.

This is the questionnaire. 91 questions that will determine my

personal plan. When did your weight start to become perturbed?

Perturbs? Moving on. Your physical activity. What type of protocol do

you associate spontaneously with yourself. I don't know, running? A

bath? The website gives me my target weight. I now have to submit

a report of my progress every evening. I must also follow their

news. Tonight, smoked salmon and cream cheese parcels, and green tea

and Ormond to finish. That took more time than I would normally

have. I don't think I would be able to do that twice a day. Looking at

the menus for lunch and dinner, I think it is to be pointing. They

are very expensive. Not only that, but a lot of them were not

anglicised, so very popular in French cuisine, but not for the

English palate. Although you do have the option of excluding

What sort of thing did my daily e- mail advise? Remember I am still in

the attack phase when I supposedly can't eat vegetables. You eat in

front of the television too often. Eat before you settle down to watch

TV, and start off with impact foods, such as vegetables, salad, or soup.

Why are you saying start with vegetables when you know I can't

eat vegetables for four days and it's killing me!

In the midst of this I began to experience one of the diet's well

known side-effects, constipation and as it was the weekend being

good was getting tougher. It's day five, it's a Saturday and Saturdays

are when I usually eat lots of crisps and drink wine. I wanted to

e-mail my coach to get support through this time. This is very

strange, there usually a button where you can submit a question and

that button has disappeared and there's a message saying that

customer services are only there from Monday to Friday and not at

the weekend. Oh, Dr Dukan, just when I needed you most you deserted

me. So, no answers to questions. But there are still the daily e-

mails. Trouble was, they often offered baffling and very general

instructions. Move forward in single file. So you don't wake up

the wild beasts around you which you and I know just give bad advice.

And whenned instructions -- when the instructions were personal,

they were very personal. Make love more often. Or go and have a

massage. My Watchdog colleagues were also receiving similar

messages and while the instructions were supposed to be personal, three

of them received exactly the same one.

More seriously the website didn't seem to be taking notice of all our

team's daily progress reports. It congratulated one researcher for

handling the attack phase with real gusto and recommended she move on

to the next phase of the diet. Great, except that she hadn't

reported any weight loss or even submitted a daily report. I think

it's incredibly worrying if someone is advanced on a diet without

having that feed back and communication because you don't

know whether the individual is going off message or not and that's

a potential health risk. And as for Dr Dukan's claim to be present on

the site for one hour per day including weekends to answer

questions, well, he wasn't. For the past month it's actually been his

assistants, Sonia, Kathy, and Marie. It seems like you are paying a lot

of money for a comment that's not always personalised or relevant to

your particular circumstances. The information available online was an

confusing. The exercises appear good but you can get them for free

elsewhere on the web. Overall I would say it's a careless and

confusing website and doesn't seem to deliver on the promises that it

claims. The good news, I stuck to the diet

and exercise plan and lost 4lbs in 14 days. The bad, it cost me �100

upfront whether I stuck to the diet or not. Really I could have lost

just as much weight and saved a lot more time simply by reading the

book. You look fabulous in a wig. Thank

you, my favourite was the red one. Be careful, he has announced his

engagement, he is getting married and that's devastated millions of

female viewers. You can be my bit on the side. I am devastated as

well. OK. This is from Dr Pierre Dukan himself. He is upset to hear

some dieters using his online coaching service in the UK are

unhappy and humbly apologises and gress the service can be further

improved and it will be, he is concerned that people who may need

to lose weight may now be discouraged from using his methods

because a survey has shown that the vast majority of users have a

positive experience and reach their true weight. What about the

personalised service people are paying for? He says this relies on

what he calls artificial intelligence but does take into

account the detailed profile of each customer and their reports,

plus all questions are answered individually by his team. Unless

you ask one at the weekend when they've gone home? Yes, there's

been no answer to that but he does say if customers are unhappy they

have the right to cancel within seven days and those who have had

specific problems have been refunded. Coming up: The cruise

companies that want passengers to tip staff before they go on board.

Back to SecurePark Heathrow Limited now, a valet company that promises

to look after your car when you fly from the UK's largest airport. We

heard from customers who found cars damaged and parts or even entire

vehicles missing. What will happen? -- what will happen when we leave

our own cars there? A Toyota A Mercedes and an Audi

will hopefully answer that. Over the past month our team have been

handing over these cars to SecurePark Heathrow Limited, all of

them rigged with with secret cameras. Wherever the cars go, we

go too. What do we discover? Welcome to the state of the art

Rogue Traders Central command. Yes, it's an plane hangar.

Plane one is on the move. It's going down Sipson way. Where are we,

he has left the vehicle? It's a recreational ground? Yeah. Not a

private car park, public land owned by the council which they don't

even have permission to use. Tim, would you class that as secure?

Parking in a council owned car park is asking for trouble. It's full

access to the public. It's not secure, not fair. The car was there

for almost an hour before being moved on to a compound. Next, we

tracked the Mercedes. The real one, that is. They're supposed to drive

it to the secure car park and leave it there until we get back. But

hold on, what's this? Use the Mercedes Monday morning?

Use our car for their business? That's what it seems like. The

Mercedes then joined the Toyota in a compound off a main road where

they were both left for several days. A compound so secure that its

gates were left wide open during the day. The night before the cars

are due to be returned to us they're moved again.

Dan, reposition the Mercedes to Maple Avenue, please. What is

there? A normal residential street. Parking in residential streets is

not secure. Cars do get damaged, they get scratched and broken into

and stuff pinched out of them. anything could happen to it.

are right, Dan. The Mercedes was left in the street, while the

Toyota was driven to the council car park. Both unattended all night.

The next morning, almost three hours before our Mercedes was due

to be returned to us, it seems to have become a taxi for staff. So

that's what was meant by this: They're taking the Mercedes and

ferrying their drivers to and from Heathrow. This is en route to

Heathrow. This is ridiculous, you paid this company to look after

your car, you don't expect it to be used as a taxi. That's nothing.

Look at this. They're supposed to be looking after your car but check

out his right foot. Bad words. And aggressive driving. But not as bad

as speeding. We are tracking that, too. Look, check the needle. Hello,

69 in a 40! Speeding is completely unacceptable, apart from anything

else a customer could get a ticket in a few weeks. Then driving while

you are on the phone or phoning while you are on the drive. And not

just once. Isn't that illegal. is three penalty points.

Right, is there anything else they can do in our cars? Oh, hello! It's

sleepy buy bye-byes. If you are going to have a kip, you might as

well in a Mercedes. Finally, on their last run to the

airport we hear staff discussing This is lots of cars, they're being

trusted to keep secure and safe and they're parked on the front drives.

Yeah, that's customers' cars as What about our last car, the Audi

I feel like I have had someone's finger in my eye. We have been

busted. Yeah. Hi. Or maybe we haven't after all, because the next

day our tracker inside the Audi records one of the drivers doing

100mph in a 50 zone. Twice the speed limit, and an instant driving

ban. OK, enough is enough. We are back on the road, usually transport

this time. So we can find somewhere quiet to do what we call a piece to

camera. They're driving each other around, speeding, parking

insecurely and could be doing that in anyone's car. What are we going

to do? Find the bosses and put together intelligent and relevant

questions to ask them. OK, how are we going to find them? Well, we are

going to wait here. Just wait? All right. Just over here, actually.

It's nice. There's a rabbit there, look.

Well, we had to wait a while as it happened, because it turned out

that the company boss doesn't actually have an office at Heathrow.

He runs this pub, ten miles away. I am going to track him down there in

about ten minutes. I hope I don't get barred.

Now, just going back to our earlier story about soaring gas and

electricity prices. There is a free-phone number to call if you

are you are struggling with bills and want advice. It's the Home Heat

Helpline run by the energy companies themselves. The number is

on the screen now. We have a few texts and e-mails to

go through, mainly on that subject. A couple of tweets about the

confusing tariffs they offer. One says they might as well be in

another language. This viewer says it took her three weeks to

calculate the best one. And a few others saying they simply gave up.

So, lots more e-mails, keep them coming in. You know the addresses.

Thank you. Now a new series, old face, much older than mine, Rik

Wakeman is back. His subject tonight is tipping, no wonder he

looks grumpy. Tip, a bonus given in addition to

required payment. A gratuity or gift. A voluntary donation. Trouble

is, the whole thing is a minefield, who expects to be tipped? Do they

keep the money? The big question, how much do you give them? I look

somewhere in the area of ten to 15%, if it hasn't gone well, then

certainly I am fully prepared to walk out without tipping. I don't

mind tipping, I would tip on most occasions. It's not as prevalent

here as the States. I like to feel free to offer a tip or

acknowledgement if I want to. Whatever the sum, most people agree

that tipping should be a matter of choice. Mind you, if you visit a

restaurant in a large group it may be that you will have no choice.

Hey, you lot check out this bill! Many restaurants will charge a

service charge for a larger party, perhaps 6-8 people or more. A

typical service charge will be between 10-15%. A lot of customers

believe if they're unhappy with the food or the service they can have

the service charge removed from the bill. However, if the service

charge is a mandatory service charge, and it's labelled as such

on the menu, this forms part of the contract between the customer and

the restaurant. And the customer will be liable to pay the amount.

think I will eat alone in future then. If I went to Strada they add

a 10% charge, whatever the size of the party. At least it's

discretionary, so you can get it removed if you can take the

embarrassment of asking, that is. Until 2009 restaurant companies

were able to pocket service charges and tips, then use the money to top

up the pay of their staff. Some of whom were on less than the national

minimum wage. And a new law was supposed to change all that. You

might be surprised to learn that the tip you leave still doesn't

necessarily go to the staff, not all of it anyway. If you are paying

by card, many restaurants will take a slice as a so-called admin fee.

Of the ten biggest restaurants changes in the -- chains in the UK,

Do you know, there are some days are when I never seem to have my

hand out of my pocket?! Things could be worse, though. Could be

going on one of those. Yes, cruise ships. Passengers have always been

expected to leave hefty tips to the lowly paid Crewe. Now they are

being told how much did hip, before the ship has even set sail. We had

booked hour cruise with MSC Cruises, and in the small print, it said,

there will be a service charge, at $12 person, per day. We thought

that was our greatest. I went on a cruise with the Royal Caribbean,

and because we chose the taxable dining option, we have to pay �65

gratuity for my daughter. I don't believe any of us should be paying

gratuities up front, let alone an eight-month-old baby, who received

nothing for her money! We went on the Princess Cruises's website. We

looked at their policy on Rasheed - - committees, which dated each

person would be charged $11.50, we felt this was excessive. I pick the

principle of being told what you should pay for a service prior to

you're getting it is totally wrong. Marie and Ken got some of their

money back, but of the 10 biggest cruise companies operating out of

UK ports, eight now add an auto gratuity to all passengers on all

accounts. Prices range from a �4 per day to �9.20 per day.

concept of adding pips to your on- board account automatically

originated in America, where, of course, pipping his part of the

culture. But it is not here in Britain, or in Australia. And after

P&O Australia introduced the system, there was such an outcry, they had

to scrap it. Not much chance of other companies follow suit here.

In fact Fred Olsen have introduced or to gratuities on all of their

gratuities, while Royal Caribbean have just increased their daily

recommended Peps from �6 a 5p to �7.23. I am sure most passengers

don't begrudge paying pips for good service, but are some of these

customers not going overboard? Are you a good paper? 10%. I am a

great depart, I was once a waitress. I would give you 20%. A few

responses to that. Royal Caribbean say 60% of UK guests are happy to

pre-pay the gratuity. They add that their policy allows all crew

members to benefit. MSC Cruises and Princess Cruises say that so-called

Order gratuities are the fairest way for all crew members to benefit

and customers can amend the amounts on board. Based a customers can see

all details on their website and brochures before booking. All

passengers treated her dead charges reduced. His -- here are a few more

stories. Enjoy a cup as soup? You may have

to go on a four-day week. Batchelors have cut the number of

sachets in each box to four, to bring them into line with rivals,

apparently. The price you pay it in the shops hasn't gone down, though.

It comes after Dairy Crest admitted reducing the size of their

cathedral to teach at a packed but keeping the blocks the same length,

but making them narrower. But after Innocent withdrew their one Lisa --

one-litre cartons. They say they did set the price in the shops, but

that hasn't impressed customers on their website, whose verdict can

beats -- summed up in one word - guilty.

Kronenbourg 1664. Yes, a beer from the medieval city of Strasbourg,

eastern France, where according to the makers Heineken, the pace of

life is a hurried and the locals enjoy a relaxed two-hour lunch

break. This would be welcome in Manchester, where the Beero is

actually brewed. Heineken have defended the advert, saying the

beer has French heritage and is made Yuri -- re-using hops from the

Alsace region. But the ban has been -- advert has been banned, because

there is no French connection with Manchester.

Poynings, the company that launched at Earl Grey after 180 years, has

tampered with the recipe. The new flavour include citrus and extra

bergamot, and has outraged customers. Twinings insist the

latest a blend was the result of rigorous testing and customer

feedback. They have clearly not launched a peak -- sought the

Last call for boarding at Heathrow. SecurePark Heathrow Limited, to be

exact. We need to clear up a few things before our departure. Why

did this valet company drive one of our cars, at 100 miles per hour, in

a 50 his own? Why did one of their staff fall asleep in another? Why

were all three vehicles left unsecured? So many questions. All

of which need answers, and quick. I used my accelerating pointy fingers.

And look, he has got one too. Dominic Almond, the man his back on

a customer's car to get rid of paint from the windscreen. -- the

man who spat. How did that paint get on the car? Maybe it was an

accident. And the stolen catalytic converter? They don't sound like

accidents. Then there is Matthew grant. Both men seen to be calling

the shots. We know that Dominic is still involved in the company,

because when they delivered hour how deep, they were quick to blame

It seems that Dominic is in the wrong business, because Secure

Parking is definitely not their strong point. We checked out what

appears to be their main, secure compound. It was locked at night,

but when we visited in the day, the gates were wide open and there was

a sign of CCTV. You could drive straight in and touch the cars, we

even found customer flight details, in car windscreens. When we got 10

-- contacted the council, they told us the landowner does not have

permission to park the car here. Question time is approaching.

Heathrow Airport, isn't it lovely? What a beautiful day for it. We are

hoping to meet up with the bosses of SecurePark Heathrow Limited, and

to ask them why, when you go on holiday, your car could end up

having a holiday of its own? Like this. Just in a car-park in the

recreation ground. All this place, with the gate wide open to stop

these are all valid questions, we feel. Tracking down the bosses

isn't easy. But we did some digging, and found that Dominic Almond also

runs at this place, a pub in Old Windsor. Anyone fancy a pint? Hello,

Dominic. How are you doing? We want to talk about SecurePark Heathrow

Limited. Interesting term, it would suggest, that the parking is

secured, rather than left at any location that we have found here.

This, for instance, gates wide open, not secured. Easy access to the

public. This is outside one of your driver's houses. I don't run that

side of the company any more. what is your role? We understand

you're the boss, director, in charge? You are the face that get

to put up as soon as there is a problem. I will look into the

problems. There is a piece of paper that will detail all of them. But

they are the same problems customs have been talking to you about for

months, and when they come to you, they don't get an answer. We're not

talking about the little things, dense and scratches, we're talking

about whole vehicles being stolen. We're talking about parts. Can I

look into this and get back to you? Do you not think it would be nice

to look into it on the customer's behalf when the problem arises? We

can understand why there are problems with these cars when you

see the locations. I am not at the company recently. We know that is

not true, we know you have been It is your company, and you have to

take responsibility for it at the end of the day. Are you telling us

you have sold the company? I don't run the company, I am nothing to do

with that side of think so. We know that is not true. Can I get back to

you, I would like to get back to you and give you some proper

answers. When customers try and get in touch with you, you have given

them an address where they can't contact you. Can I look into this

and get back to you, I would rather do it properly? That would be

fascinating. I would like to do that. When you talk to your drivers,

can you make sure they're not driving at the time. I am not there

at the time, and Mike? We have seen your drivers on the phone, driving

without seat belts, just so you know, when you speak to them, up to

twice the legal limit, as well. can't comment on that, because of

the stick, I am not there. -- because obviously, I am not there.

Thank you very much. See you again, We have since tried, repeatedly, to

get that proper, formal response that Dominic Almond promised. But

we are still waiting. He said he wanted to go through the proper

channels. We are the proper channels. You are watching BBC One.

We have managed to speak to Hillingdon council, it says it is

investigating the use of its land for commercial purposes. And

intends to take action against any company found to be doing so

without permission. Not sure we will be able to avoid their

questions, Dominic. Meanwhile, take a bow. You become the first face on

our new rogues gallery. If you if you have been sending in

texts and e-mails. Loads contacting us about energy bills, especially

some wholesale costs, lower than they were three years ago. They

want to know why, and also, we have got loads of you are unhappy about

Chris companies wanting to paid Peps before you board. -- cruise

companies. Amanda says she booked a cruise for 20 Clough, but wasn't

allowed to book the flexible dining option unless the gratuities were

paid up front. If you tea drinkers, some say they like the new Earl

Grey blend, but many saying the old recipe was a fine, why bother

changing it? This e-mail, Miles went to New York, leaving his

Porsche with SecurePark Heathrow Limited, guess what, stolen. The

police managed to track down, when he got it back, his iPod had been

taken. How about that part as a venue for your wedding? -- that the

pup?. Keep sending us your stories. Just to visit our website. When you