Episode 4 Watchdog

Fitness First, we expose their Fitness First, we expose their

shocking sales tactics. British shocking sales tactics. British

Airways, easyJet, we reveal the truth about their special offers.

Plus Holiday Inn, B&Q and the iPhone 4S. We've asked lots of questions;

so very odd answers. It's watchdog, the programme you cannot

Yes, hello and good evening. Welcome Yes, hello and good evening. Welcome

to watchdog. We are live, as usual, from Television Centre. Tonight:

Undercover at Fitness First, how they break the rules when signing

you up. Consumers are not being given these contract terms to read

through and that's outrageous. Also tonight, when

sale not a sale? When British Airways advertise price cuts

this. Plus Crowne Plaza, Marriott, Holiday

Inn, staying with one of them over Easter? Best leave your laptop

home. And the iPhone 4S, Apple promised your own personal

assistant. Pity he can't answer even simple questions. Well, does he know

where we can find a decent gardener? Someone who comes with the

tools and doesn't have a fight a tree stump, because we could

certainly do with one. He is just laying on his back now and Kung Fu

kicking it. It's unbelievable. BLEEP.

Yes, you don't mess with Lawrence of Yes, you don't mess with Lawrence of

Arboria working for Buildline Arboria working for Buildline

Arboria working for Buildline Landscapes of north London, and be

Landscapes of north London, and be Landscapes of north London, and be

Yes, you don't very careful if you are dealing

the man in charge of that Chris Marino, because

Before that, British Airways, Before that, British Airways,

easyJet, Thomas Cook, they've all had sales on lately but if you took

advantage to get a good deal, prepared for a shock. I may not

an expert in all things linguistic but when I see the world "sale",

expect that to mean lower than usual prices for a limited period in

I can bag myself a bargain. Or, to put it another way, prices will be

cheaper during the sale than before or after. But when it comes to some

of our best known airlines, not always the case.

Graham Wright booked two flights in Graham Wright booked two flights in

the British Airways winter sale in January. That was for a trip to St

Petersburg this month. My wife has a landmark birthday in April. I

on the British Airways website because I knew the sale was on and

saw there were only five seats remaining to St Petersburg at �580,

so I thought I had better book them now because otherwise the price

be going up when the sale ends and these five seats have gone. But

week later, after the sale had finished, Graham looked at the

prices again. So then decided as it's a landmark birthday maybe we

should upgrade the flight to make it a bit more special so I went back

onto the website and saw that flights were now �200 cheaper. I was

angry and shocked, duped into buying them then because there were only

five remaining at that price. One angry customer, one strange sale. Is

BA allowed to do this? BA may be contravening the consumer protection

from unfair trading regulations that it is falsely suggesting that

product is only available reduced price for a limited period,

so that it encourages the to take an immediate decision to

purchase, rather than reflecting properly on the transaction.

We found other airlines potentially We found other airlines potentially

committing similar breaches, like Thomas Cook. Sharon Jackson

monitored the price of her flights to Turkey throughout its sale in

October. On the very day that sale ended she bagged herself a flight

for �201 only to discover, less than 24 hours later, a seat for the same

flight was more than �50 cheaper. But that's nothing compared with

Cricket lover Nicholas Waldock was Cricket lover Nicholas Waldock was

Cricket lover Nicholas Waldock was planning to watch England's Test

planning to watch England's Test planning to watch England's Test

Cricket lover Nicholas match in Sri Lanka in March.

there was a three-day global sale he began monitoring online prices with

Qatar Airways. The prices time were �510 to Colombo. The first

day of the sale we looked at the website, expecting prices

come down but in fact they had gone up to �573. Yep, you heard that

right, the price was �63 more expensive during the sale. We left

it for a couple of days towards end of the sale but realised the

prices weren't going to change so we took the plunge and bought the

tickets at that price. You can probably guess what happened next,

the sale ended and just hours later the ticket prices dropped by �78 to

�495 each. We were very, very angry. We did feel very misled. We felt the

promotion had misled consumers completely and we wanted some sort

of explanation. Sadly Qatar Airways didn't provide one. When Nick

contacted them, they simply replied: fares are subject to

depending on the seat availability. But should they be? The airlines

claim that the price may fluctuate due to supply and demand. It's not

applicable here. If demand has gone up during the sale then by the end

of the sale there will be fewer seats available and so logically the

price ought to go up even higher after the sale. In fact, the price

A trend we thought we would put to A trend we thought we would put to

A trend we thought we would put to To find out how volatile its prices

To find out how volatile its prices To find out how volatile its prices

A trend we can be, we monitored

its leap year sale in February. The message in the ad was clear: get in

early as prices may rise during the sale period, and book before

midnight on Wednesday when the sale ends.

18 flights did go up after the sale, 18 flights did go up after the sale,

but two didn't. So, say I had wanted to book a flight from Manchester to

Tenerife on Saturday 2nd June 2012, well, if I booked early on day one,

because remember prices may rise, I would have paid �186.46.

have been a bargain? No, because by day four of the sale the price has

gone down to �140.99. So, have kept my nerve and seen if

price would drop any further, but it didn't. In fact, by the sixth

final day of the sale, the warning about price rises came true and

cost had shot back up to �191.99. So, should I have booked

before midnight when the sale ended? It's a good thing I didn't because

the very next day, with the sale now over, the price was �6 cheaper. It

is certainly confusing, airlines know it. When they

advertise a sale price, they tell us what the previous price was.

It means we don't know if we are getting a good deal or not and it

means they are potentially consumer law. Breach of regulation 6

can lead to administrative sanctions being taken or even a prosecution

for a criminal offence. There is no reason at all for airline ticket

sellers not to have to comply with these provisions. They apply to

traders in general and airlines should comply with the requirements.

Rebecca Willcox reporting there. Rebecca Willcox reporting there.

Now, BA says it takes its legal obligations seriously and

to Graham Wright. It says: this was an isolated incident and not an

attempt to mislead. His should have cost more after the sale

ended but declining demand and competition meant they maintained

lower price. Thomas Cook says prices can vary at any

the number of seats left and the departure date but Sharon Jackson's

case was exceptional and they refunded the price difference and

provided her with free inflight meals. Qatar Airlines apologises and

says the confusion was due to two different sales promotions running

at the same time. Only a small number of passengers on the easyJet

flight will end up paying more, say, and the airline will now

the difference. .

Coming up, Britain's health clubs Coming up, Britain's health clubs

under investigation by the government. Our cameras undercover

at Fitness First. Its boss has questions to answer.

Now, spring's here, the sap is Now, spring's here, the sap is

rising, the garden needs Feeling active? Whip out the mower

and shears. Feeling lazy? Call the professionals, but be careful

who you choose because some have some very funny ideas.

It's the height of garden cool, It's the height of garden cool,

relaxing and tranquil, the contemporary Japanese style. This

goes down a storm with the smart set you know but some others have yet

catch up. What no landscape, based on Japanese

paintings of hillsides and reduced in size to fit the available space.

I wish they had done a painting of a barbecue and blownup arm chair.

That's what is missing. He might right. Tell you what, there's

personal touch there. That's better. Yes, another man with very different

garden ideas is Chris Marino, operating round north London he used

to run a company called Garden Base Ltd. Looks can be

Marino has no connection with a major retailer or any other

companies which may have similar names. He now runs Buildline

Landscapes, the trading name of Lloyds Mint Ltd, and he

connection with Jenny him and his team last August.

Right, what exactly did you want to have done? Well, I wanted new

pathways and a new patio area at the back and a wider path. At what

stage then did you start to think: hold on, this is not quite right. I

just said to my son, I think you ought to get over here and have a

look. He said: this isn't right. What have they done here? Oh, he

said, this is just rubbish. And no wonder he wasn't impressed. Partway

through the job, the walls weren't straight, bricks not cut properly

and the patio was a mess. Marino claimed there was nothing wrong with

the work carried out by his lads. However, after an argument with

Jenny's son he agreed to send so-called expert

right. The result? It was worse even than it was before. There were

bricks that were loose, not cut properly, some steps seemed to

higher than others. The walls up side of the path were not straight.

Nearly two months after they started work, and despite Jenny's concerns,

Chris Marino claimed the job was a good un, and the charge? �12,000.

Have you spoken to somebody else to get it right? Yes, I have spoken to

three other landscape gardeners and they've told me roughly what it

would cost to put it right. Which is what? Round about �6,000.

Jenny, would you like me Chris Marino and possibly

him? I would. Well that's will do.

�12,000? These gardens don't come �12,000? These gardens don't come

cheap. And Chris Marino is not just a shoddy noddy. It turns out

been taking money out of people's accounts without their say-so.

Trading Standards have investigated him twice. It's time to see the cut

of his jib. Hey? Let's secret film him. Oh that, yes, sorry. To

fair, it is what we always do. You know, secretly film, so we need an

old lady, a load of cameras, big garden and an expert

Hello, Mark. Hello. Good to see Hello, Mark. Hello. Good to see

you. Nice bike. Thanks, mate. You've had a look at the garden

then, what do you make of it? It's very straightforward, a big garden,

needs a lot of work doing to it we've identified three projects that

need doing straightaway. There's a hazel stump to take out, right in

the middle of the garden. There's an old fruit tree on the right-hand

side, and a laurel that needs cutting down to ground level. A bit

more scrub, some rubble, plastic guttering, a steady day's work for

one man. In terms of cost? I would say max350. OK, we will crack

then. Can I give you anywhere? No, that's very kind but

he gets a bit funny. Cheers, Mark. No problem. OK, we are teeing off.

Home owner Alison is practising her swing. Coming up the drive is Chris

Marino, check out his little buggy. He is charging us �12 just for a

quote. Par for the course apparently. He is coming! That's

enough about golf. My name is Chris. Formalities out of the way,

Alison shows him the garden. Everything tidied up

horticulturally? See all this rubble stuff over there - OK.

Could you clear that away for me? We can do, yes. Go on, show him our

stump. We will cut it down to ground level, then inject a poison

into it. Nice. Who is he getting to tackle this monumental challenge?

it Titchmarsh? Lawrence is a great horticulturalist, grade

been doing it all his life. Now for the all-important price.

waste removal, which is 165. Squeeze my sectures, including VAT that's a

whopping �1,100 for a simple tidyup. Pay by credit card. You have to

pay before? Half before and half when the job is done. OK, we agree

to pay him �550 but guess what, later that day he takes the entire

sum from our account. He is not just for hire, he is a very naughty boy.

Yes, actually he is a bit worse than Yes, actually he is a bit worse than

naughty because the courts have already warned him not to take money

from people's accounts without their approval, so it seems Chris

is up to his old tricks, where payment is concerned. But has he

learned a lesson when it comes to workmanship? Join us in the garden

in about ten minutes. Next, Fitness First, LA Fitness,

between them more than 600,000 members in the UK. Now, the

of Fair Trading is currently investigating gym chains to make

sure they are not breaking the law when it comes

procedures but surely the biggest chain is playing it by the book.

Well, you would hope so. First each year and we have been

hearing from members who wish they hadn't. I signed up to Fitness

First, they were promoting a summer deal for four months which suited

really well because I the end of that period. I spoke to

them over the phone originally and then went in and signed up,

the paperwork, and away I went. I went to join Fitness First in

autumn and I wanted a four-month contract. I specifically was

after four months, which the end of January, your

will be over, and if you want can renew it. So as far as I was

concerned, at the end of January, that would be it. But for these

members neither contracts they believed it had. Four

after the end date, the gym took another payment from her bank. I

called and spoke to the Fitness First representative and he said I

was supposed to give one month's notice if I wanted

cancelled which was never made clear. So I agreed to that, said OK

I give my one month's notice, then he said now because it extends

1st March you will have to pay for the rest of March. So Katia had to

pay another two months' fees, �90, to get out of her contract but for

Charlotte it was even worse. It was only after about a year that I

realised they had taken almost �450 out of my account. Both had been

caught out by Fitness First's strict cancellation policy but they

got to know about that policy after they had signed up. When I was

signing up I wasn't shown any terms and conditions. I was quickly given

the contract to sign. The employee filled in all my details so I didn't

get any time to look at it at all. A gym chain signing people up

without showing them the terms and conditions first? Aren't there rules

about that? Actually, yes, and here they are, the guidance of unfair

terms agreement. This was published by the Office of Fair Trading in

2002 and when you read through it, it clearly says that the gym should

give any potential member the opportunity to read and understand

their terms before they come bound by them. Now, we've already heard of

two cases where Fitness to do that. Will we find anymore?

Time for a watchdog undercover investigation. Welcome to Fitness

First. Two researchers, ten branches and a road trip around the UK.

We wanted to find out just how We wanted to find out just how

upfront staff are about all that contractual small print. The answer?

In fact, none of the ten branches In fact, none of the ten branches

offered to show us the details.

We had to ask for them. At the We had to ask for them. At the

We had to ask for them. At the Hammersmith branch in London, we

Hammersmith branch in London, we Hammersmith branch in London, we

We had to were told no such thing existed.

He did eventually produce them. He He did eventually produce them. He

then expected us to read the entire 2,295 words in just 33 seconds.

Incredibly, in five of the branches staff ticked the box on our behalf,

certifying that we had read the terms and conditions, even

hadn't. You have already ticked terms and conditions. In two

branches, Bristol and London Embankment, they said they would

send the contract to us, but we had signed up.

In terms of presenting the terms as In terms of presenting the terms as

a whole to customers, the should have an opportunity to

through those terms. Consumers are not being given these

to read through. The people trying to sell them the memberships are

pretending that they've read them by ticking the box themselves, in place

of the person signing up. That's fairly outrageous. So we've seen

the OFT guidance on terms and conditions isn't being followed but

what about another section in this document, the one that says that

gyms should make an effort to highlight and explain important

contractual provisions? Now, if you have a direct debit with Fitness

First your membership will continue beyond the expiry date unless you

contact them to cancel it, plus have to get in touch with them

whole month before you want it to end. Pretty important parts of the

contract, I would say, but not all the staff shared that view.

Only five branches volunteered the Only five branches volunteered the

fact our membership would automatically roll over. One gym,

Cardiff, failed to tell us at all, and four only told us after we had

asked them about it. .

Two branches didn't mention anything Two branches didn't mention anything

Two branches didn't mention anything about the month's notice we would

about the month's notice we would about the month's notice we would

Two branches didn't have to give to cancel. One of the

things the consumer protection from unfair trading regulations says is

that you can't material information. If the company

doesn't show any terms and conditions or doesn't run through

the main important points verbally then they are actually deceiving in

terms of the overall presentation. Gym membership doesn't come cheap.

At Fitness First there's a joining fee of �34.95, although sometimes

they waive that fee so you sign up there and then. Then you have the

monthly subscriptions ranging from �14.95 to �67.95. No surprise then

that some people have second thoughts once they've signed up. The

OFT says all gyms should provide a cooling-off period during which time

would-be members are allowed change their mind. The

contract does allow you ten days, but two branches didn't tell us

about this and at Hammersmith, well, let's just say they were reluctant.

So if I sign up now, is there a cooling-off period?

So after all that, what's the legal So after all that, what's the legal

verdict? Well, there are a lot of issues here. The regulators

obviously looked at this about ten years ago. I think in light of

this footage they should be taking quite a close look at it

years later. Some of the practices we've seen seem to be very shoddy at

best, and potentially those are breaches of the consumer protection

from unfair trading regulations. OK, our cameras have also been inside LA

Fitness. We will show you that in a minute, but with me now the chief

executive of Fitness First, Chris Stone. Thank you for coming in, Mr

Stone. So, hiding information, falsely ticking boxes, failing to

mention the cooling-off period. You saw the lawyer there describe it as

deception. What would you call it? Well, I would say that it is not in

line with the policies or behaviours that we expect of any our members

or, sorry, any of our employees Fitness First, and it's a very sad

day for us to see that behaviour in one of our clubs.

not just in one of your clubs though, is it? We went to ten clubs.

Not a single one of them offered us and volunteered the terms and

conditions, so we are not talking random here. Well, again, I would

apologise on behalf of the to any of our members that feels

that they have been sold a membership without the full

information they need to make correct decision. If you had

treated like we were in one of those gyms, would you

mis-sold? A membership? I wouldn't have thought that the treatment that

they received in the club entirely to mis-selling, but clearly

what did happen was they were given all of the information they

should have been given to be able to make the full decision about

to join. Mr Stone, ten gyms are not one of them - and not one of them

volunteered the terms and conditions. Well, as I watched

video earlier, I didn't see that all ten gyms behaved in that way but

it's certainly clear that the gyms that you visited did not treat the

prospective member in the way we expect them to be treated. Are

your people on commission? Every salesperson in our business does

receive a commission, yes. Is that the reason that - no. - They are

ignoring and hiding detail? We changed the conditions and

for all of our employees a couple of years ago, to move to a balanced

scorecard way of paying them so that they get more of their - But it's

clearly not working and why does it take watchdog - this abuse is

clearly widespread - why has it taken us to show it to you? We

started a programme over a year ago of mystery shopping on our own.

It's not working though, is it? would say it is working. As your

tape showed, we have 190,000 people that joined our gyms last year,

we received less than about the membership-joining

process. I will have to stop you there, I am sorry, our time is up,

As we said, we also took our cameras As we said, we also took our cameras

into LA Fitness, that's the third largest gym chain in the

more than 200,000 members and we found OFT guidance being ignored

Six out of ten branches didn't tell Six out of ten branches didn't tell

Six out of ten branches didn't tell us our contract would be

us our contract would be us our contract would be

automatically renewed if we failed automatically renewed if we failed

Six out of to cancel. Half of them failed to

warn us we had to give a month's notice before leaving. Four failed

to show us the terms and conditions before we signed up and four

actually ticked the box on our behalf, which is all bad enough, but

it gets worse. Staff at LA Fitness

forgetting to tell people things, they've also been breaking their

promises and misleading customers like Caroline. I went into LA

Fitness, I wanted a three-month membership because I was finishing

uni and moving house. He said to me after three months that I could

bring in proof that I was home and he would cancel it

straightaway. When I queried this, he said "I am the manager of

memberships and it's not a problem, I promise you". Two months

Caroline did bring in proof that she was moving away but the assurance

was worthless. They were rude to me and were bankrupt about it that you

had to be further than 20 miles away from the LA Fitness branch in order

to cancel. One time the guy told me to cancel my direct debit as they

to cancel my direct debit as wouldn't be able to take any more

money out of my account. I did this and in turn had debt collectors

calling me at all hours. Caroline had received false information

signing up. LA Fitness' terms and conditions don't allow you to

if you move, but if a salesperson makes a verbal promise that induces

you to join then as far as the is concerned that's as binding as

anything in writing. If a consumer is clearly told they will have the

opportunity to cancel if they move away, it doesn't matter that's

in the contract. It must be followed through. If a consumer wouldn't have

signed up if they weren't told that, that is potentially a breach of the

Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations. LA Fitness has

since introduced a pledge which does spell out members' rights,

the right to cancel if you move away. As a rule of thumb this should

be at least ten miles nearest branch. Clear and simple

enough, so why did three gyms tell us this?

Here is something else that might Here is something else that might

Here is something else that might Reassuring, but is it true?

Reassuring, but is it true? Reassuring, but is it true?

Here is something else According to the new company

LA Fitness will "work with you if you lose your job". There's no

guarantee that you will be able to cancel your membership. It even says

it might "freeze it" instead. If somebody going in to sign up was

told that they can contract if they lose their

that is a promise with no caveats, no carve-outs, it is what it is.

company policy is actually different to what they were told, if

untrue, it's a breach of the Consumer Protection from Unfair

Trading Regulations. And what about a cooling-off period?

pledge couldn't be clearer. If you want to leave within ten days of

joining, you can. No hassle. Have these staff actually read it? No

cooling-off period. .

The problem is they are giving The problem is they are giving

information to the consumer which is just wrong or missed out or

inaccurate. If you go in and sign up because you are told something

misleading, you can look to get that contract set aside. It's also

separately possibly a criminal offence under

Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations. You shouldn't have to

put up with that. LA Fitness they are disappointed by findings

which are not typical of what members can expect. They say they

followed the industry code of conduct, their Member Pledge goes

above and beyond their contractual commitments and has helped

their service and sign-up procedures. They say 50% of new

members stay for more than 12 months, the average length

membership is 22 months. They accept that mistakes can happen and

they do they address them. Still to come, the iPhone 4S, it has

personal assistant. Good job he doesn't work for me.

Time to catch up with Buildline Time to catch up with Buildline

Landscapes of north London now. Their boss, Chris Marino, has quoted

us �1,100 to tackle our garden and, although he was only supposed to

take half that sum from our account before work gets underway we know

has already taken the lot. So that work had better be good.

Well, it should be because he is Well, it should be because he is

sending round one of his best men, Lawrence Phillips, and we are

expecting the best manicure this side of Kew Gardens. Here he is.

Home owner Alison shows him round Home owner Alison shows him round

while expert Mark gets in position. Right then, first up, Lawrence is

taking on our tree stump. Immediately Mark spots a problem. He

has actually got a panel saw. That's a carpentery saw as opposed to a

garden saw. He has the wrong piece of kit. If you have the wrong kit,

the job will be a toughie and a lot more time-consuming. He is just

laying on his back now and Kung Fu kicking it. It's unbelievable.

After much huff and puff, Lawrence After much huff and puff, Lawrence

finally kicks out our stump. Now onto our fruit tree. OK, we will

Now we are back, and it looks like Now we are back, and it looks like

we are heading for a rumble in the jungle. I believe he is psyching

himself up. Grrr. Now, I like Buildline's Lawrence but then I like

this small fruit tree. Which one is better? There's only one way to find

out. Fight! He is actually wrestling the thing

on the floor now. It's more like WWWF really.

Yes, you could say that. Anyway, end Yes, you could say that. Anyway, end

of round 1, small fruit tree ahead on points. It's time

phone break. When you are ready, mate. And round 2. He is really

The tree is on the floor. It looks The tree is on the floor. It looks

The tree is on the floor. It looks like a second round knockout. It

like a second round knockout. It like a second round knockout. It

The tree is on could be all over. Boom indeed,

Lawrence. He has really got beaver up now. Take that. Oh. BLEEP.

Ouch. Well, the fight is over, but there's still work to be done. It's

time to move a whole ton of but Lawrence hasn't brought a

wheelbarrow so he is going to have to use this old rickety one that he

found lying around. You don't use clients' tools, it's completely the

wrong wheelbarrow for this. He is going to ruin the grass. Oh no. He

is kind of struggling a little. Oops, don't worry about that one.

Right, after all the rubble, it's Right, after all the rubble, it's

time to dispose of the green waste. There he is, and - no, no, Lawrence,

that's the wrong way. Didn't we pay them to take that away?

certainly did. He is dumping more green waste down the bottom of the

garden. Run Lawrence, content with hiding waste at the

bottom of our garden he has got a present for someone else too. Oh no.

He is chucking it in the neighbour's garden. At least it's not our

garden. Dan! He has messed all day long, hasn't a clue what he

is doing, running out of light, just dumping stuff to get off the job.

The job isn't finished but Lawrence is and before leaving he calls his

boss, Chris Marino. Remember, Marino has already taken the full

from our account. It seems he even more.

would be another �550 which we definitely not going to give him. I

will just have to tell him I haven't got a cheque. Not many

now. So Lawrence goes, we are with an unfinished job, a mess of a

garden, all for 1100 quid. Do you realise that works out at

about �107 an hour. For that money you can get almost anyone to work

your garden for you. That's Keith. Can you take a bit more off

the top? Yeah. I reckon we should call Chris Marino back out, give him

another go. Yes, in the name of value for money. Oi, I've got

change for you by the way. Cheers, Cheggers. Chris finally agrees to

send his man over to finish the job off for free. How kind. This is

Lawrence, he has got rid of some rubble but how is he going to get

rid of the rest of our waste? Looks like we are about to find out. This

is actually unbelievable now, he is doing. He is looking to stash

the plastic that he is contracted to take away. It's dreadful. Absolutely

dreadful. Is he playing hide and seek with our stuff? Dan?

A quick cut and blow dry and he is A quick cut and blow dry and he is

out of there. Now Lawrence, tell us what you've done. Trees, plastic,

everything has gone now. very much. You are more than

welcome. Turns out Lawrence is a grade one porky-culturallist.

he goes. Time for an expert's opinion. Chaotic and shambolic.

didn't dig out the stump, he ripped half of it out, Kung Fu kicked

He has left us a trip hazard, a badly cut down stump, then he left

some really bad pruning at eye level. The rubbish, he kind of

it under the bushes in little piles so we wouldn't see it. He has

brick rubble and all the dust and rubbish. Bits of plastic that he

should have took away, it was like a comedy act. It would have been

quicker just to take it away. work for that money, what

make of it? It didn't stack the

in the viewing. He could easily have done it within seven hours with

right equipment. He made a lash of it. Buildline Landscapes are taking

the Mick with the plastic in garden and in your wallet. Chris

Marino has dug himself a hole so it's time to fill him in. We've

arranged another call-out for and instead of a little old lady

being there to meet him, it will be me. Next, the iPhone 4S, the most

amazing yet because of its intelligent assistant, Siri,

help. Did Mum email that recipe? Here is a recipe from Mum. Tell me

Paris will be nice this weekend. Should be pretty nice this weekend

in Paris. Sounds impressive. Does it work? Let's get close. We will

ask it a deep question, ready? know some, do you? What's the

meaning of life? Life, a principle or force that is considered to

underlie the distinctive quality of animate beings, I guess that

includes me. And me. It gave me deep answer there, but there are

things that it can't tell you. When Apple launched Siri in America they

made play of the fact it can help you find landmarks and things like

petrol stations. What's the Pacific like around here? Here's the

traffic. Trouble is, if you live here in the UK that feature doesn't

work. Ready? Try it. OK, what's the traffic like in West London? BLEEP.

Sorry Chris, I can only look for businesses, maps and traffic

United States, and when you are using US English. If I said it

an American accent? Yes, or shouted at it as you did there, I don't

think it helps. Exactly disappointed customers have told

watchdog. I saw the advert where it showed - the fellow on the phone

asked is his brother nearly here yet and it brought his brother up on a

map at Nottingham football and I thought that's pretty good.

I'm a one-man band electrical company,

ask if there's a local wholesaler a little village, get what I need

from there rather than having to drive to a major town in order to

get a light bulb or something similar. Can I buy

around here? Sorry, I can only find businesses in the United States. It

wasn't worth paying the hundreds of pounds to upgrade it. What do Apple

say? They insist they never said location services would work in

UK. The ASA has rejected complaints about the ads also. Listen to this:

what date is Easter Sunday? BLEEP. I have no idea what the date is in 11

minus 48 Wide City Close. How is that? Yes, how silly is that.

What do you think of that? You are rubbish. Now, now. Is he telling me

off? I think so, I think he was saying: calm down, dear. Sort it

out, Apple. These phones cost up to �699. Earlier we looked at holiday

flights. Cheaper perhaps to stay a hotel at home. But don't take your

laptop. I love surfing the web. Email is

fantastic and these social sites are a great way of

communicating with friends and complete strangers.

Oh well, there's a downside to Oh well, there's a downside to

everything. What's good though is that, if you do want to go online

with one of these, you don't have to be tied to your home or office.

There are wi-fi hot spots all over the place and lots of places like

this one now offer free access, so for the price of a latte, you can

So here is my question: if some So here is my question: if some

So here is my question: if some restaurants, fast food joints and

restaurants, fast food joints and restaurants, fast food joints and

So here is my coffee shops now let you go online

for free, why don't more of our hotels, which are already charging

us a fortune to stay there? And when I say "fortune", just listen to some

of these top of the range London deals. The Sheraton Park Lane hotel,

�149 per room for a night. internet access. The Dorchester,

cheapest room �235; the cost of going online, �19.50.

The Ritz, rooms start at �255 a day. The Ritz, rooms start at �255 a day.

Want to get connected? That will be an extra �26 per day.

Of course most people will never set Of course most people will never set

foot inside such swanky hotels but that doesn't mean we won't get stung

because many of the less expensive ones are at it too, charging for

service which these days lots of guests regard as a basic essential.

That's all very well, I hear hotel owners say, but we are running

a bit here, how can you expect us to give you something for free when it

costs us to provide it? Well, I don't know how much it costs them

do this, but this fella does. Sinclair runs a London hotel where

wi-fi access is free for all guests. What's the damage? Internet access

costs us, I don't know, �300 a month, we've got 150 rooms so that's

�1.50 per room per month. Blimey, what about installation costs then?

It costs quite a bit to put internet access throughout the whole hotel

but it costs a lot to put flushing toilets in too. There you have it,

5p per room per night. No wonder Sinclair can afford to provide it

for free. Like other hotels, including the Langham,

and all Best Western hotels. Why don't the rest follow suit? Here

an even bigger mystery. Why do some chains charge you one price in some

of their hotels, but a in others? Take Crowne Plaza.

wi-fi in your room at their Birmingham branch? That will be �5

for the day, please. But stay at their St James London branch and

it's �10 a day. And if you are booked into their New Bridge Street

hotel a few minutes' walk away will be stung for �15.45 for the

same service from the same chain. It's a similar story with Holiday

Inn. Fancy their Poole hotel Bank Holiday? Internet access is

a day. A bargain compared to their Cheltenham branch where the daily

charge is �12. Call me cynical, I think these charges have something

to do with these things. Hotels to make a mint from guests who made

their calls from their bedside phones. But thanks to mobiles, not

many of us use them anymore. They've got to make up for lost profits

somehow. I am sure every hotel will deny that, of course.

some of them are coming up with more imaginative ways to get money from

us. Take Marriott. They not only charge for internet usage in their

rooms, they also slap on an additional cost per device. So, if

you want to connect on your laptop and phone, brace yourself for the

bill! What wheeze will they come up with next, hey? Internet access

as essential as a bed or a sink in a hotel today. My guests

function without it. Some take advantage of this. I think

that's short-sighted. I did find a good deal at Firmdale hotels, or

least I thought I had. You see, here they don't insist on you having to

pay for a whole day of access. Instead, they let you pay by the

minute. 30p a pop. Hold up, that means if I want to spend just one

hour online, it's going to cost me 18 quid! And are!

18 quid! And 18 quid!

OK a few responses. Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza do offer free wi-fi at

some hotels. Marriott told us the prices reflect the competition,

loyalty programme members get wi-fi for free and they say the

costs of providing access greater than we said in our film.

for the others, The Dorchester say their prices reflect the high level

of broadband service. The Sheraton's owners say they are looking at

offering free access in public areas and Firmdale say not all customers

use the service so they've chosen to charge rather than inflate the

prices. Thanks for been in touch about that story. Here

are a few more. Flight taxes have gone up, just in

time for the Easter break. How handy is that? British flyers already pay

the highest taxes in Europe but week's hike in air passenger

or APD, will add another 8% onto the cost of a ticket. As the duty is

loosely calculated on miles flown it means domestic passengers won't be

hit too hard but a family of four travelling to Florida will pay

total of �260. Airlines like Bosnia, Virgin - BA, have all condemned it

as a tax as a tax tourism. A family of four

flying to Australia by 2016 will be paying �500 in taxes. Strewth.

Feed a family of four for seven days Feed a family of four for seven days

for 50 quid. Not as easy as Sainsbury's made out. It launched

its cheap eating campaign last May, claiming you could serve up a total

of 84 meals for the specified amount but it didn't make clear those meals

provided just three quarters of a family's recommended calorie intake

and you would need to buy additional drinks and snacks to make up the

other 25%. Also, the �50 worth of goods didn't include store cupboard

ingredients that you needed to make the recommended meals. The

Advertising Standards Authority now banned the ads for being

misleading but Sainsbury's said they were providing nutritious,

cost-effective meals surprised by the judgment.

surprised too. Only 25% of my calories come from snacks?

B&Q, Britain's leading DIY chain, orange logo, green pledges about

helping the planet and recycling, but not so eco-friendly after

say environmental groups. They've criticised the chain for increasing

the amount of peat in its own brand top soil and say draining peat bogs

not only threatens wildlife habitats, it releases carbon

the atmosphere. As the biggest seller of top soil, accuses B&Q of

setting a bad example. B&Q admit it contains peat but that doesn't

explain the website's promise to try to eliminate peat altogether.

Final call for Buildline Landscapes Final call for Buildline Landscapes

of north London now, not to confused with companies of similar

Chris Marino is his name. He took Chris Marino is his name. He took

our money, more than he should, and even when he said he wouldn't.

Meanwhile, our garden got sliced and diced and our stuff was stashed, all

when we weren't looking. And he charges more than Cheggers, talking

of which, come on. Keith, you can knock off now. Cheers. You remember

I told you Trading Standards made Marino sign an undertaking not

rip people off anymore? Yeah. With that came a suspended prison

sentence. If he carries on doing what he is doing, that's where he

likely to end up, behind bars. didn't he overcharge us, do

rubbish job and take money from without asking? Exactly. We've

called Marino out to garden in Enfield, north London. He

is now on his way to give us a quote for work. Which costs �12, of

course, but we are not really interested in the quote. What we are

interested in doing is Marino what could be a vision of his

future. And this is the vision. Remember what I said about that

suspended prison sentence? Well, he continues taking people's money

without permission, it could an actual one, so we thought we

would get him used to the idea. We've brought this lot in to help

with our garden tidy-up, just as boss of Buildline Landscapes

arrives. It's Chris Marino, isn't it? This is the garden, as you can

see it's a bit tired looking. Looks in quite good condition. I was

thinking of having that rounded. Here comes our chain gang, ready to

start work. .

All right, Chris, here is a bit of a All right, Chris, here is a bit of a

vision for you. If you carry on the way you are going, that's the sort

of thing you could end up doing, a bit of gardening at Her Majesty's

pleasure. Matt from Rogue Traders, as I think you may be aware.

have taken the money out of our account without our author, it was

supposed to be 50% down, 50% when it was finished. You took the lot out.

She authorised it. No, she didn't and we have records of you

that previously. That was the undertaking, you did exactly what

Trading Standards asked you not You are going to end up in

You have already had a suspended sentence for doing this.

stripes? No, I don't. What you saying is absolutely correct, I did

receive a two-year suspended service, through the civil courts,

not the criminal courts, and since then we've adhered to do everything

correctly to that undertaking. What you've said is nonsense. That's

your opinion. When we have it on film, Matt from the BBC, we have on

film that the work your guy did was terrible. He ended up hiding bits of

plastic around the garden. Come you know that's not accurate. It's

on tape. You managed to charge an hour for Lawrence's time. Do you

want me to write the figures down for you? He doesn't even come with

his own wheelbarrow. For nearly 45 minutes Chris tries to defend his

actions. I really don't see what we've done wrong, honestly, hand on

heart, we've done nothing here. It was clear there was no

getting through to Chris Marino. Time to call it a day. You can

on standing here. You've got the allegations, if you want to come

back to us you know exactly where we are but we are finished here. All

done. Bye. Bye-bye, Chris. See you later. That's Chris Marino of

Buildline, and there's not much I can add to that because it's

pretty encyclopaedic. Well, Chris Marino still denies our allegations

but points out that he didn't do the work and that if he had known we

were still unhappy he would have things right. He says he has

been pleased with Lawrence's previous work and that it was

mistake that some of the money was asked for twice. He says he has been

responsive to Jenny's complaints and has offered her some of the

back and he will decide whether we will get any money back once he has

seen the programme. Well, evening Chris. You can see yourself on our

rogue's gallery. Thanks, Matt. A big reaction to our

story on gyms. Lots of you are saying you weren't given terms and

conditions before signing up and loads are saying it was difficult

cancel. The problems on the iPhone, Kurt says it keeps calling him

"curious". A lot of love in for Cheggers tonight too.

You can write to us or email us. You can write to us or email us.

Coming up next week, Admiral, car insurance rates for new

customers; sky high quotes for loyal ones. Everest, sponsors of the

Home Show, these homes far from perfect. And KGB hunting out the