Episode 4 Watchdog

mis-selling, Thomas Cook, monarch refusing compensation. The real

value of discounted wine at Tesco's, Sainsbury's and ASDA. Plus Ed

Miliband here to explain his plan to freelies your Energy Bill. It's

watchdog, the programme you cannot afford to miss. .

Hello. Good evening. Welcome to Watchdog, we're live, as usual, for

the next 60 minutes. Tonight, Curry's, PC World, staff making

promises about their care plan. Anything happens to the telly, we'll

later repair it or replace it. Anything happens, it's covered.

Literally, whatever happens. Buff it's not true. Their staff are

engaging in something that seems to be illegal. Also tonight, Monarch

Thomas Cook refusing to play out for flight delays. Plus, Ed Miliband is

here. We'll ask him if his plan to freeze energy bills is the best

option for consumers. Oz Clarke on supermarket wine, he says avoid

buying anything at half price. There he is using a wooden plonk in

a vain attempt to level our garden after churned it up with a

rotavator, but he hasn't taken the old grass away. The new job looks

like this, lumps, bumps and humps. Prefer yourself of Jonathan Hill of

like this, lumps, bumps and humps. Perfect Turf in you aries, and watch

-- in Surrey and watch as he digs himself into a world.

PC World and buy anything over £150 and for a fee you can get their

"whatever happens" aftercare plan. In return they will repair or

replace your product. When Watchdog went under cover, we secretly filmed

Curry's, PC World staff making promises they couldn't keep.

It's a fast paced world and we keep buying more and more things to fill

it with. Flat screen TVs, laptops, tablets, but with so much going on

around it things can happen that are out of our control - trips, falls,

smashes, spillages. Don't get me started on the kids and pets! To

keep us protected in this hectic day and age, Curry's PC World offer

their "whatever happens" aftercare service. In exchange for a monthly

fee they repair or replace a gadget should something unexpected occur.

What kind of accidents are you covered for? The promise the name

suggests is a bold one - whatever happens they will cover it. From a

minor hiccup to a major mishap. Simple, right? Wrong actually. Just

ask Andy. He took out a premiere plan when he bought a TV from

Curry's in 2007. Signing up to pay 9. .99 a month for six years and the

shop promised he would be protected. He never had reason to doubt them

until last month. I was decorating my living room. I moved the TV and a

stand to the middle of the floor. As I was going up the step ladder with

stand to the middle of the floor. As a tray of paint I tripped. The paint

went over the toff and the TV smashed off the floor. The TV

cracked. Andy wrapping the help line and -- wrang the help line and --

rang the help line and someone was sent out. But their conclusion - no

repair or replacement. The reason? An exclusion clause stating goods

aren't covered if anyone neglects, abuses or misuses the protect.

Because of the paint on the back of it, they told me it wasn't an

accident. So in other words, it was deliberate. Which obviously it

wasn't. Deliberate or not, Andy had been assured that he was covered

whatever happens. When we bought the policy we were told it covers

absolutely anything. No exclusions, anything at all. And that's why I

took it. It's peace of mind. Take a look at the small print and you'll

see that despite the name, you really aren't covered whatever

happens. So what isn't included? Well take a close inspection of your

direct debit form and you'll find what isn't covered, everything from

cosmetic damage, weather, fire, even insect infestation. Andy is adamant

he wasn't made aware of any of the small print when he signed up. We've

heard others saying the same. We thought we'd check out how this

policy is being sold for ourselves. We visited ten branches of Curry's

and Curry's PC World from Bristol to Birmingham to London to find out

exactly how their Whatever Happens Birmingham to London to find out

plan is being sold in store. We know it doesn't cover everything, but try

telling that to these Curry's PC World sales staff. Anything happens

to the helly, we'll -- telly, we'll repair or replace it. Anything

happens, it's covered. Literally whatever happens. The only thing we

don't cover is theft and loss. But we know this isn't true. Yet many

staff were adamant that we could do anything and we'd still get a

replacement. If you could bring it back to us, even if it's in 100

pieces, as long as you bring it back to us, if we fix it or can't fix it

we'll give you a new one. You're watching football, like Arsenal

United and they're getting beat and you wing a controller at it and

smash it, we'll get you a new one. What about a case like Andy's

involving a ladder, a TV and some paint? If I'm up a step ladder and

doing painting, fall off? Anything. Get paint in it, whatever? Anything.

OK. That's why we call it Whatever Happens. In five of the stores there

was at least some understanding of the exclusions of the policy. Minor

scratches they wouldn't do that. But none of the staff told us about all

of the exclusions and we often got the standard line that everything

was covered whatever happens. Except for loss and theft the other five

stores made no mention whatsoever about the existence of exclusion

clauses. No small prints. No question ask. It's pretty simple.

What does a consumer lawyer make of this? Well it was clear that they

were not sure or clearly didn't know what was covered and what was not

covered by the extended warnts and -- war an toys and were unaware of

exceptions. They kept saying "whatever happens" you're covered.

That is their headline. That clearly is incorrect. Their staff are,

whether intentionally or not, engaging in something that seems to

be illegal. So why is this happening? According it a former

Curry's PC World employee, staff are barely trained on what is covered by

the Whatever Happens plan. We were not aware of the terms and

conditions. We had to go on two days training course and it only lasted a

few hours per day and that was to sell the plan and find out how to

approach customers. It was not right to me that we were selling an

agreement that no-one knew exactly what it covered. In the eyes of the

law, that means the company is at fault. High Street stores have an

obligation to train their staff about extended warranties. Otherwise

their staff is mis-selling the product other-wise that's a serious

breach. If the staff don't know about the limitations in the policy,

what hope is there for the rest of snus -- rest of us?

Curry's PC World say they resolve 99. 4% of all the cases in favour of

customers. And this justifies the Whatever Happens name. They insist

their staff are fully trained to explain the product and the

exemptions and that these clauses are highlighted in the written

information given to customers. However, they promise to follow up

on the issues raised. They have resolved Andy's case. If you have a

story for us. E-mail us or text us and make sure you start your message

with the letters "WD" or join us on Twitter.

with the letters "WD" or join us on Coming up: Discounted wine, ever

wondered how supermarkets can have so many bottles on offer so much of

the time? Oz Clarke has the answer. So Ed Miliband in tonight. Bit of a

buzz about the place. Flowers in reception and bleach in all the

loos. An yip's even polished her glasses so -- Anni's even polished

her glasses. Laying turf is like being the leader of the opposition.

You spend a long time laying the ground work, raking around, trying

to get grass root support. Just when you think you've finished, it all

gets watered down and fertiliser spread over the top. At least that's

the way it should be done. It's summer or autumn. Is it? I

don't know, I'm confused. What is it? Doesn't matter, it's when we're

at our most British. The Frenchmen have their gravel. The Egyptians

their sand. The Germans have their autoban. Across this land it's grass

that makes us British! If someone hurts my British grass, it makes me

want to cry. What a load of xenophobic old

nonsense. There's grass all over the world. Not in Pyongyang. Yes! Get

out of it. Go on. It's not a complete pile of John bull. We do

love our garden grass. The snoozing in the sun, drinking tea on and

playing fetch with lazy dogs. A lawn to love is exactly what Chris

wanted. So he called purly based business Perfect Turf and paid them

£1800 to lay a brand new lawn. Remember, they're called Perfect

Turf. It looks kind of green and OK. But when you get close it's not so

good. Tom Jones. Yeah, except it's not so much green,

green grass, but more Gordon Brown, patchy and kind of dead grass.

Chris, that's a pretty dreadful lawn. It is. This is after about two

months of work just to get it looking like this. Yeah, this is

actually an improvement on what the garden looked like when Perfect Turf

had finished with it. These are the pictures I took about ten days after

the lawn was laid. It just wasn't fitted correctly. None of the joints

are in place. It looked very brown and old. It was patchy and lumpy.

Within two weeks the weeds were coming through. It's just so uneven.

It was almost dangerous in places. Over the four weeks following the

job, Chris called and E-mailed numerous times to explain but never

got a satisfactory answer. Chris had to take matters into his own green

fingers. The part nearest the house was so bad was so bad I dug it up

and replace today with a patio. I've thrown away a third of the lawn.

This is the Frankenlawn. Who was responsible for this soily shambles?

Well this man, Jonathan Hill, the boss of Perfect Turf.

This is my game. The hills it would seem are alive, even if patches of

Chris's grass are not. Croquet, because I think it's time to

investigate Perfect Turf for ourselves. As I don't really know my

grass from my elbow, I need someone who does. And that's what got --

we've got. If you hit my ball, you can take mine, put it next to your

ball and use it. I think that's what it is. It's been a little while. OK,

so even though Dr Tim Lodge doesn't know one end of the mallet from the

other, he's still the man for me, an expert in lawns with a pH D in turf

maintenance, there's not many of them about! When it comes to grass,

he's the doctor I walk to talk to. What will he make with Perfect

Turf's selection of mug shots? That's pretty dreadful. Shocking.

Yes, you can make out the lines between the turf in a well laid

lawn, but if it's within looked after and well constructed, then

those lines will disappear very quickly. Thank you, Tim. I think we

have a story. That means a sting, yes. We find a

house with a lawn that needs completely relaying and call Perfect

Turf out to do the job. Team member Hannah is posing as a croquet loving

homeowner, but she owns no ordinary home. No. It's full of cameras,

small cameras, some so small we set them up and then lose them. Tim's on

hand to see how they get on. Slip into your mankini because turf's up.

If it isn't the heavy roller himself, boss man, Jonathan Hill.

This is it. Does it look all right? Jonathan and co set to work. They

Griff the grass a once over with the mower. So far so good. Here's the

starter for ten, task one, remove the old grass correctly. One would

normally either remove the turf of the existing surface with a turf

cutter or spray off with total herbicide and kill the grass. What's

this? It's not a vacuum cleaner or turf cutter. It's the rotavator.

He's skipped a whole step. Surely he'll realise he's ignored step one

and go back to the beginning again? Apparently not. So, instead of

removing the old turf, he's just churning it back into the soil.

Speaking ridge makally ---ure ridge makally -- Eurythmics we will be

falling on broken grass. It doesn't end, watch his attempts

to lead us down the garden path in a little while.

We get through a staggering 1. 5 million bolles of wine a year. Watch

out, the deals are often poor value. I've been a wine writer,

broadcaster, critic for almost 30 years and in that time, the wine

industry has changed out of all recognition. There are more wines

available to us now than ever before from countries all over the world.

Thanks to the supermarkets, much of it can be bought at prices that

won't break the bank. But recently, along with a lot of other wine

critics, I've found myself increasingly irritated by the way

some supermarkets are marketing wine to us and concerned about the way a

lot of us have got into the habit of to us and concerned about the way a

buying it. I usually go for whatever is the special is or the deals are

in the supermarket. Price deal is always really good. Or sometimes if

you get two for, I don't know, it £12 or something, that's what I'd go

for. If it's half price, you think it's a good deal. We've become

addicted to deals. And they're available everywhere, walk down any

wine aisle and you cannot miss the labels advertising bargains. Over

60% of the wine we buy in supermarkets is discounted, most of

it at half price. Now, is it just me, or do some of these bottles seem

to be at half price for an awful lot of the time? And if that is the

case, are we getting some amazing deal when we pick up a half-priced

bottle of plonk? Or are we having the wool pulled over our eyes by

some smart marketing device? To find out, we've tracked how the price of

some supermarkets best selling discounted wines fluctuated over the

last year. The average amount we spend on wine is £5. We've

concentrated on bottles that have been discounted to around that

price. You might want a drink after you hear what we've discovered.

First, seveningo. This is advertised as a 9. .99 bottle. For a third of

the year it was sold at 4. .99. It's a similar story for Hardy's. The

price zig zagged all year, but was on deep discount for about five

months. Next, Sainsbury's. Their 11. .99 was sold at 5. 9943% of the

time. For six months you could get this red for a fiver. At ASDA, for

more than half a year this £12 wine was just £7. The 7. .50 Jacobs creek

was discounted to a fiver or even longer, 62% of the time. If a

supermarket is selling a wine worth £10 for only £5 and for a period of

time which could be 37% of the year, that supermarket is going to be

making a loss. And they simply wouldn't do it. The truth is the

only way to make a profit out of these wines they sell so many

bottles of is if the wines were never worth more than £5 in the

first place. To be sure, I felt I should really taste one of these

supposed bargains. It's all right. It's quite smoky, a bit earthy.

Slightly jammy sort of flavour, not very fresh. Quite acid in the mouth.

I taste thousands of wines, one thing I can say, this is not a o £10

bottle of wine. Don't just take my thing I can say, this is not a o £10

word for it. Take Alan's. He's a consultant to the wine industry. He

was head of wine at Sainsbury's for nine years. He disagrees with the

supermarkets current practice. You retail it at a price, say £12 and

then you decide having got your stock in, you may not have sold very

much at that price, by the way, you then put it into a bigger

distribution, more shops around the country and you halve that price, so

12 becomes £6. The trouble is it's not worth £12 in the first place.

It's a 6 quid wine. If you had £5 worth of wine if that's what you had

to spend, you wouldn't have much to complain about. Only problem is that

isn't what happens. Let me explain why looking at a typical £5 wine.

The first £2 of that is taken up in skies duty. Then -- excise duty.

Then there's 11 p if it comes from outside the EU, plus 20% VAT. That

mean it's 2. .94, well over half your money, goes on tax. Transport,

storage and packaging accounts for another 60 p. And the supermarkets

takes around 30% after VAT, 1. .25. After all that, the money you have

left is the amount that is spent on the actual wine. And how much is it?

Just 20p. Not only might your £10 bottle be worth a mere fiver, but

that £5 bottle might actually have just a few pence worth of wine in

it. So you might want to think twice

next time you see all those enticing offers. I would say as a member of

the trade, the industry is not doing us any good, our reputation.

Ethically, it's something that I personally would like to see the

back of. All three supermarkets deny they

deliberately mislead customers on price. Desko -- Tesco say they take

their responsibility to cut mefrz very -- customers very seriously and

Sainsbury's say wine prices are dependent on various factors. But

that they work hard to keep those costs down. Meanwhile ASDA told us

they aim to have the lowest prices for longest and say that unlike

their competitors, they don't run what they call misleading half price

or third Ovcharov -- third-off deals. Os is with me now. Welcome.

Please cheer me up. I'm depressed. Remember we said on a £5 bottle of

wine all the fixed costs, excise duty and all those things take up 4.

80. You only have 20p left on the liquid in the bottle. Go up to 7.

50, you have 1. 66 spent on the liquid in the bottle. Those costs

stay the same. Yes, we go to a £10 bottle of wine, it's 3. 13 spent on

the liquid in the wine. That's 15 times as much. Up to £5 - I'm

sweating a bit. Up to £15, you have 6. 04 on the liquid you want to

drink, 30 times as much money being spent on the wine as in a £5 bottle

of wine. I'm looking for bargains. Is there such a thing? If you want

to look for discounts the best ones are generic discounts, when a

country is, has all its wines are generic discounts, when a

knocked back. Australia, 25% off, Spain, Portugal, whatever. Those are

knocked back. Australia, 25% off, always very good. The quality is not

compromised on those wines. Are there any countries that I should

look out for and say they're the ones to go forment They change all

the time. At the moment South Africa's currency is relatively weak

and there are good wines. Eastern Europe, people don't take it too

seriousily. Hungary and Romania have very good wine. This is from

Romania. Oh. Very nice. It is. Delicious. What about supermarkets

own brand. The thing about own brands is that the supermarkets take

a smaller profit margin, they don't have promotional costs and there are

a smaller profit margin, they don't rats all over the world full of wine

that actually needs to be drunk. The supermarkets drain the rats, put it

in a bottle, sell it at a lower cost for our benefit. I have one there.

That's 4. 50 of house beaujolais. What about the superior ones. Before

I taste this one? Things like ASDA extra special, Tesco's finest, taste

the difference, with those wines you get some of the best wine value and

the best quality in the supermarket. That is absolutely delicious.

Cheers. Next, energy prices. Watchdog has

been campaigning for the big six providers to come in and explain the

continual rise in the cost of gas and electricity. Particularly as

more and more families are unable to pay their bills. At the Labour Party

Conference Ed Miliband added his opinion. If we win the election in

2015, the next Labour Government will freeze gas and electricity

2015, the next Labour Government prices until the start of 2017. ? In

-- 2017. Your bills will not rise. It will benefit millions of families

and millions of businesses. Well, the Labour leader is here now.

Welcome to Watchdog. Great to be here. That's a great vote catcher.

Do you think the energy suppliers are profiteering? Yes. I think

what's happening is they're taking advantage of a market that's not

working. I think families at home will know what happens, when

wholesale prices go up, you end up paying more. When wholesale prices

come down, you still pay more. That's why I'm determined to act, if

we win the next election, we will freeze prices until 2017. You will

freeze prices, but you have 18 months before that. There's nothing

to stop the energy suppliers thinking, right, if that's going to

happen, we'll raise prices even more to cover that period of 20 months.

There's also the analysts saying it will curb investment, that jobs will

be lost and actually, the supply of energy is at risk. I want to get

into Government as soon as possible to bring in that price freeze. Let

me clear about this, we're going to bring in not just a freeze, but a

regulator who can cut prices if the companies are misbehaving. You still

haven't got any control for the next 18 months. I want to get the control

as quickly as possible. Let me answer the point on investment. The

companies are having these scare stories about how it's going to

affect investment. You've been running a brilliant campaign on

this. They're overcharging people, making big profits and they want to

carry on doing it. I'm determined to speak up and act on behalf of

families. When they say their profits between -- profit is between

5% or 7%, is that too much or don't youibly them? I don't believe it

when they say they don't make excess profits. They're lying? They're

wrong. You must believe they're lying. Let me tell you why I believe

they're wrong. When you see a spike in wholesale prices that's all

passed on. Because they have such a grip on the market, this is what

families at home will know, then prices don't fall when wholesale

prices fall. That's why we're determined to act, not just to

freeze prices, but to reform this market. Ive think it's right that

somebody -- market, I think it's right to somebody speaks up on

behalf of families and businesses in this country who are really finding

it hard and find the energy companies overcharging them. The

consumer gets a bill, but they've really no idea, first of all, what

costs what in that bill and how much the energy companies take. Also,

your green tax, which you introduced, that's not clear on the

bill either. Are you going to find a solution to that? We definitely do

need greater transparency. Let me pick up on the so-called green

taxes. That's another excuse the companies are using. Again, it's

just an excuse. Actually the vast majority of the increase we've seen

in people's bills is not to do with that. It's because the companies are

taking advantage of what's happening. The green tax? On the

issue of the other costs on the bill, some of that is helping

pensioners to have lower tariffs. We've set out plans to keep control

of those costs, but the real way we keep control is by freezing prices

and having a tough regulator with teeth. Unless you have a regulator

with teeth and can actually act, then I'm afraid this problem may

recur. It's not just about the freeze, it's about the reform of the

market. On the green tax, why don't you put that on taxation, so the

poorest in the land aren't paying for the green tax? There's different

ways in which we help the poorest in the country. We should keep looking

at the best ways of doing that. We set out plans to keep costs under

control. But it's when the companies say, oh, it's not us, it's to do

with these other costs, actually that's not right. It's the companies

making the money. Competition, will there be competition with your plan?

Yes, there will. One of the problems we've got at the moment is that the

companies generate the power and then sell it on to themselves in a

sweet heart deal. We're going to say to them, you have to auction that on

the open market, so there's more competition and a better deal for

consumers. The next 20 months, we won't see rises before you get

there? They've announced rises even before my speech, that's why I want

to get into Government as quickly as possible to clamp down, take action

and let me be clear, through your good offices, I'm going to make sure

this is a real and meaningful freeze. If you want to have me back

on after the election, to hold me to account, I look forward to it. Will

you promise that the lights won't go out? Absolutely. You'll promise?

Absolutely. When the companies tell those scare stories - and they'll do

that. They want to keep a grip in the next 18 months. They don't want

me to win power and freeze people's bills. When they say that it's a

scare story and people should know that. Thanks, Ed Miliband. Thank

you. Next week, we'll be putting your

questions to one of the big six energy companies, E.on and we'll

hear from Energy Secretary Ed Davey before the end of the series.

Still to come: Monarch and Thomas Cook, the steps they take to avoid

paying out flight delay compensation.

Back to Jonathan Hill of Perfect Turf in Surrey now. We've hired him

to lay a new lawn. But things in our garden are still far from rosy. He's

already skipped the first and most important step, removing the

original grass. Instead, he's simply gone mechanical.

Yes, like Michael Owen at the 1998 World Cup the rotavator has made an

earlier appearance than anyone anticipated. Unlike Michael Owen

this machine isn't a natural finisher. Having churned up our old

grass into the soil, instead of removing it, he's now using the

machine for the task for which it was meant, cultivating the soil.

Except he's doing that wrong as well. Task two, rotavate the soil

deep enough to cultivate the ground, simple isn't it. You need to fluf up

at least six inches of the top soil to get good turf establishment.

Where he's skimmed over it's just scratching the surface. Dear me.

He's struggling a bit. It's only me, but I might have considered taking

the washing line down before I started this job. The reality is

Jonathan isn't stringing this one out. It looks like they've finished,

but we've still got all these lumps and clumps of grass and soil which

need to be broken up. They're going onto the next stage. Task three:

Level out the soil making a nice, even surface. There's a bit of

raking, which is good, but not enough. Then he turns to something a

bit more piraty. He's walking the plank. I've never seen a plank being

used for anything like this. It's nuts really. ( It's not really

doing anything at all. I'm not entirely sure. That's going to be a

very uneven surface. What a plank, hey. What should Jonathan be doing

now? Oh, yes, task four, fertilise the ground. We've paid for

fertiliser but we don't see him putting any down. Now, he could have

mix today in beforehand, but either way the turf is going to struggle

because what he's using contains compost. And we know this because he

tells us. It's a high quality top soil with compost in it. When the

turf is cut, it has all its roots sheered off. Yeah, but by laying

compost underneath, Jonathan is turning our lawn into the garden

equivalent of a trifle, which may sound tasty, but it's really not.

The more layers under the turf, the harder to establish itself. So water

won't get through the layers and it will eventually dry up. So trifle is

bad? Here comes the cherrien on top as they lay their perfect turf.

Do you grow the turf yourself? Yeah, I do. Typical garden stuff is it?

Yeah, this is. This is general purpose turf. Right. Task five: Use

cutters to cut the turf. Do not tear strips off because it's just silly.

Is he tearing it? I can't see any sharp implements being used here.

That's a shame because one of the nice things about turf is that you

can cut it cleanly to fit around whatever it is that you're fitting

around. It looks tidy. Because it's such small sections and tearing it,

it's probably going to die. These tiny pieces? They haven't got much

future in them, I don't think. But it's good enough for Perfect Turf.

With that, our lawn is apparently, finished. Now we just have to look

after this. And that means water, lots of water.

Have you got a hosepipe and sprinkler, because it's going to

want watering. It will want it every day. The guy knows what is going to

happen. That compost material will get very dry. That particular turf

with require an exceptionally large and frequent amount of water. We

paid £685 to Perfect Turf. After watering it, as instructed, and

leaving the lawn to bed in for three days, our expert Tim comes to have a

look. We've got thick weedy bits. Is that

acceptable? It wouldn't be acceptable. There's a tolerance

level which you're prepared to put acceptable. There's a tolerance

up with up to a point. This has gone over that. Even worse, this turf is

far from flat. This isn't level. I mean looking around this garden,

it's a bit like the Brecon beakens in -- Brecon Beacons in profile. The

lumps aren't going to go away. They're permanent features. Then the

compost-based top soil. Remember, think trifle. So you're moving from

a layer of clay here into this layer of almost pure organic matter back

into a clay soil. The turf's not going to like that jumping over that

gap. What does the future hold for this lawn? It is going to dry out

pretty rapidly. All the greenness will be lost from it. All of these

undulations and gaps will get worse and worse. Then, the weeds will

start to come up through the gaps. It's going to look pretty much like

start to come up through the gaps. a field rather than a lawn. It's one

of the worst jobs I've seen. Nothing else for it, then, let's call

Jonathan to complain. Except getting hold of him... This

you for calling Perfect Turf... Isn't as simple as we thought. We're

unable to take your call at the moment. Perfect Turf don't pick up.

Nor the next day. Nor the next. Or the... Well, you get the idea. The

only way we're going to get a chance to talk to Perfect Turf's boss is by

calling him out to another job. That might sound like your typical end of

programme, here we go round the mulberry bush. Let me assure you,

it's anything but. The Hills may have eyes, but will I ever have the

Hill? It's a good question. We haven't

been able to track him down so far. Will we come up smelling of roses?

What do you think? Watch us grasp the nettle in ten minutes.

Monarch, Thomas Cook and flight delays, if you land in the EU, on an

EU airline or take off from the EU on any airline and are delayed by

more than three hours, you're enable for compensation. What's more, you

can claim from any incident over the last six years, in Scotland, the

last five, except if there are and I quote "extraordinary circumstances"

when are outside the airlines control. Such as terrorism, strikes

or extreme weather. But if the airline's at fault, it must pay out.

Take a look at this from the last series.

Scrord circumstances do not include normal technical faults. The courts

have made it clear that technical faults are things which airlines

should expect and prepare for. They should have adequate maintenance and

they should have stand by aircraft if an unexpected fault occurs.

Pretty clear. Also in that report, we revealed that some airlines were

citing the extraordinary circumstances clause even when it

seems obvious that the delay was their fault. Five months on, and not

only has that practice continued, it's got a whole lot worse.

When it was decided in October last year that you could claim

compensation for delayed flights, we thought it would be a simple and

easy task for passengers to get their money. But perhaps it was too

much to expect airlines to become models of fairness overnight. We

know of tens of thousand of you have applied for compensation after your

flight has been delayed, as is your legal right. Only to have the

airlines reject your claim. The reason? It seems they're prepared to

do anything they're cannot to pay out. Why? Well, lawyers tell us up

to 10 million people could have a valid claim, leaving airlines facing

a potential bill of 4 billion euros. These are big numbers, they're scary

a potential bill of 4 billion euros. numbers. There's a concern that

there will be a pandemic. We've heard the phrase "flood gates will

open". It's these flood gates that some airlines are desperate to keep

close. -- closed. Monarch has one of the worst punctuality records in the

UK. It's no surprise they're keen to say it isn't their fault when things

go wrong. Colin and his family were delayed a staggering 28 hours coming

home from the Greek islands. When Colin wrote for compensation, he was

told the delay was due to the old Colin wrote for compensation, he was

excuse of extraordinary circumstances and told he wouldn't

be getting a penny. But it wasn't severe weather that delayed Colin's

plane, it was a faulty fuel pipe. It wasn't a bird strike. It wasn't the

pilot becoming really, really ill, very, very quickly. It was a

mechanical problem that could have been picked up, in my opinion, at a

routine service. Colin didn't take his case further, presuming he stood

little chance of victory if he stud his case further, presuming he stood

up -- stood up to such a big company.

But there is meant to be someone else you can turn to for help - the

regulator. In the UK that's the Civil Aviation Authority or CAA. But

it's facing a mountain of appeals, having received over 24,000 in the

last year alone. This is causing a back log of months. Further proof,

if you needed it, of the extent of this problem. And these are just the

cases that occurred in this country. The CAA can only look at your case

if you were delayed in the UK. If it happened in another EU state, you

have to appeal to the regulator there. Becki wrote to the Spanish

regulator, after Monarch turned down her claim. She had been delayed 11

hours travelling from Malaga to Gatwick rat -- last year. The

company couldn't get their story straight either. The captain told us

it was a problem with the nose landing gear, a hydraulics problem.

When I started asking for compensation, it change today a

cracked windscreen, which they said comes under extraordinary

circumstances. Following a complaint the Spanish regulator replied saying

that Monarch hadn't shown evidence of extraordinary circumstance and

should pay compensation. Becki was certain they would pay out now. But

their response: "As I'm sure you can appreciate compensation payments

cannot be enforced by the said regulatory body."

It's really frustrating that nobody listens even when the Spanish

authorities say we are due compensation. I don't know what else

to do. If Monarch isn't prepared to listen to the regulator, what hope

do customers have? Unfortunately, it seems the best option is to fight

their airline alm the way. That's what Rachel did. Her Thomas Cook

flight was delayed travelling to Turkey. Like Monarch, Thomas Cook

doesn't have punctuality records to Turkey. Like Monarch, Thomas Cook

boast about. When the company said no to compensation, she decided not

to take it lying down. Recalled just before going on holiday, that I'd

watched Watchdog and they were very clear that mechanical fault is not

an extraordinary circumstance. Refusing to accept Thomas Cook's

rejection, Rachel took the company to small claims court and lo and

behold, as soon ises a court date was set, Thomas Cook paid out. They

were waiting to see whether I would have the necessary to go down there

and make the effort to actually put in a court hearing date, pay for

that and still have the courage of my conviction that I was going to

win. Rachel's story is not an uncommon one. Since our last report

in May, Thomas Cook has settled at least 300 cases before they reached

court. Monarch has done the same for 70. Both airlines know that like --

the likely outcome were the cases were to make it in front of a judge.

It's always been clear that the airline should be able to deal with

technical issues. It's not inherent in an air career -- carrier. They

must take all recautions to prevent the delay. You can take the airlines

on and win. Is it fair that you have to take a powerful company to court

yourself because they are choosing no the to re-inspect the law? The

CAA can bring prosecutions and says it will if airlines systematically

ignore the rules. But surely that's what the airlines are doing? So why

isn't the regulator taking action? The volume of complaints and

correspondence means they should provide it with proper resources.

They're not doing that. It seems to us they're almost treating this as a

minor inconvenience rather than properly enforcing passengers'

rights. Joining MEP now from the Civil

Aviation Authority is Iain Osborne. Welcome back. Is it a minor

inconvenience for you? Not at all. Looking after passengers is what the

CAA is for. Passengers should get their compensation if they've had a

long delay and if it's the airlines fault. This question of fault

created confusion. That's why we have guidelines out. The airlines do

now after our publication in the summer, know what is expected from

them. We expect to sort out the claims during the autumn. How bad

does it have to get before you do something drastic? Now that we've

got clear with the airlines what's expected, over the autumn we're

expected to sort it out. We are monitoring carefully how airlines

are responding to passengers. We have know we can and will take legal

action against them. Why has it taken a year to produce clearer

guidelines? Over this last year, we've dealt with a lot of cases. We

have over £500,000 worth of compensation for passengers. We work

through the detail. Last autumn it was very unclear what the law meant.

Would it surprise you to know that Thomas Cook are going back to the EU

for clarification of extraordinary circumstances, despite all your

work? Thomas Cook like the other airlines know clearly what is

expected of them. They're not taking any notice. They know the CAA

expects them to sort out these cases. Not doing it. We will monitor

what they do. If we see systematic abuse, we will - There is systematic

abuse. We will take legal action. A lot of passengers do get the

compensation without having to go to court or... You were keen last time

that no-one bothered with the small claims court. Everything gets moving

once up go to small claims court, much more than when you come to you.

We have the guidelines out. We're expecting the airlines to sort

people out. We will take legal action if they don't. We're still

here if people want to come back to us. What about the 24,000 cases?

What have you done with those? About 6,000 of them, we've sorted. We have

compensation. The rest are back with the airlines. You just

pass-the-parcel? We have got clear now what the guidelines - How long

are they going to wait? You've sent it back to the airlines. Thomas Cook

is saying, we need more explanation. This could go on forever. Not at

all. Over the autumn we expect it to be sorted out. We are monitoring

what will happen. The airlines know we can and will take legal action

against them. If people still aren't happy they can come back to us for a

free advice service. Keep an eye on you Mr Osborne. Thank you.

Monarch say safety is paramount and passenger welfare is their first

priority. They maintain the delays to Colin Molyneaux and Rebecca

Baxter's journeys were extraordinary circumstances and that neither

qualify for compensation, in Colin's case they say the fuel leak wasn't

caused by a lack of maintenance and couldn't have been picked up

earlier. They admit they gave Rebecca two reasons for the delay,

but one was sent in error. Thomas Cook say they would like further

clarification from the EU on what constitutions -- constitutes

extraordinary circumstances. They constitutions -- constitutes

point out all aircraft are inspected on arrival and departure. They

apologise to Rachel Cavanagh. The say they agreed to pay out, not

because Rachel took them to court, but because new information about

her case came to light. Both airlines say delayed customers are

provided food, drink and accommodation where appropriate.

Keep your stories coming. In the meantime, here's a few more: Virgin

Trains is set to overhaul its fleet in an attempt to rid carriages of

nasty smells coming from the loos. Known to passengers as the Pendolino

pong. The odour is thought to affect all 56 of the rolling trains on the

West Coast services. The stench was originally thought to have been

caused by effluent tanks spilling over when the trains tilt. Virgin

now thinks it's because they placed air conditioning vents too close to

the toilet. The flaw will be corrected as part of an overhaul

programme costing around 3. .5 million. Virgin, you shouldn't flush

all that money away. Especially when standing in the station.

Halifax Building Society shocked a mother this week when they insisted

on talking in person to her six-month-old baby. Last Thursday,

Jenny Nicholls rang the bank after a direct debit payment failed to make

it into her son Harry's Kids Regular Saver account. When she made it to

customer services, she was told the bank was only authorised to speak to

the account holder, so she would have to put Harry on the line. Jenny

explained that Harry was a baby and couldn't talk yet. Halifax insisted

they could only deal with him. Halifax have now admitted they made

a mistake. A spokesman said those accounts can't be managed over the

phone and that should have been made clear straight away. Harry says in

response: (Baby gurgles) vment one in five cars registered in 2010

failed their first MoT. Price comparison site TootCompare

discovered in total between January and August 253,000 vehicles failed

the test due three years after purchase. The website was also able

to identify the best and worst performers. Top of the list: The

Toyota IQ with a 92% pass rate. Bad news for our friends across the

channel. The poorest performers were all French. Two Citroens, the C4 and

the bow Lynningo. -- Lolingo. And the Renault Kangoo was bottom. The

cost to boy a new one up to £16,000. Not exactly va-va-voom.

Time for a final round of tea and cake on the lawn with Jonathan Hill.

He's the boss of Perfect Turf. In return for our 600 quid he's left

us grass that's shonky and wonky. When we explained, try as we might,

we couldn't track him down. Has he gone to ground? Westminster, it

would appear -- well, it would appear so. Over the next two months

we try to entice Mr Hill out on two separate occasions. Hi, I'm Gemma. I

wonder if you can give me a call. Our attempts somewhat back fire.

Rogue Traders, Matt frustrated take one. His van has broken down. Take

two. He can't make it. Take three. He wants to reschedule. Take four.

He doesn't call us back. And walk out.

You know, you get the picture. Need turf now. Once my turf rage had

subsided we hit the road to find Jonathan Hill, a difficult task when

he seems to dislike answering his phone or returning our messages and

when the address on his website is incomplete. As we rack up the miles,

an evening turns all dusky and there's no sign of Perfect Turf. We

start to wonder if we'll ever see Jonathan Hill again. It looks like

the end of the road and back to studio.

What? What? That's not how the show ends.

No, stop, come on. We never give up. Three months on, and we get a break.

We've booked a new job with Perfect Turf and we hope Jonathan Hill.

We've gone back to basics, a jungle of a garden, another house with

cameras and our homeowner Janice playing a gardener in distress.

But as the team sits back to wait for Jonathan to arrive, it's clear

once again, our plan has failed. Who's Jonathan? It's neither of

them. It's not that guy. No it's not Jonathan who's turned

up. He sent two colleagues instead. As we have no beef with these two

bear huggers. Janice makes her excuses and cancels the job. I'm

going to have to go now. Sorry. Curiously not long after his

going to have to go now. Sorry. colleagues have left, we receive an

e-mail from a rather suspicious Mr Hill. "Please can you tell me, who

you are and who it is that's trying to catch up with me by insisting

that I'm on a job that we carry out in person? No-one's made a formal

approach to contact me, so I have no idea what this is regarding. Is

there a telephone I can call you on. Kind regards, Jonathan." It seems

like the chances of meeting are looking slim. We send our phone

number. We can't play his voice. This is precisely what he says.

Hello there. This is Jonathan Hill calling. You sent me your number.

It's Matt from Rogue Traders. I've been better. Can you understand why

we've been trying to get in touch with you? Erm...... Well, I think

that's probably better people to try for. The experience we've had has

been really negative. The work that you do, the turf that you provide is

very, very poor. Can I tell you something that is 100% true, I bet

you haven't had any complaints about our turf in the last four or five

months because we've switched providers now. The turf that you

provided for us on April 30th was appalling. You know, the preparation

work you do on the ground is very poor. You don't rotavate properly.

There are basic things that you're missing out.

Jonathan all you have to do is remove the turf correctly, use a h

eerbicide, don't tear it, only charge customers for fertiliser if

you use it and answer the phone. We do have a lot of people that are

happy as well. I have e-mails all the time that I can forward to you.

People just can't believe how cheap we are compared to competitors.

We're half the price. It's no good being cheap if the lawn is no good.

You can't call yourself Perfect Turf if it's anything but perfect. If

people pay for the extra services, removing the old lawn, not being

turned over, they get the perfect lawn. That's not an extra service,

that's a basic. That's like 101. You should call yourself like slightly

bodged turf, or really not that good turf, but what do you expect for the

bodged turf, or really not that good money. Do you want to come and meet

us and talk this through? We can give you simple pointers about how

to lay perfect turf. Right, OK. We do go around to people's jobs and

people are upset about it. With turf, it tends to rectify itself a

lot of the time as long as it's looked after properly. The main

problem with it is that when people do complain, they can't get in touch

with you. You came and did the job for us, it was a terrible job. I'm

going to go now OK. OK. You're going to change your name,

you're not going to call yourself Perfect Turf any more? I don't know,

we offer the perfect service, different service, different people

with different budgets. I'm going to go now, O'-Kay? -- OK? Jonathan

Hill, hard to contact, until you tell him he's going to be on the

telly and this is what you get. Eight different letters from his

lawyers, presumably at great expense. Jonathan says he only

receives a tiny percentage of customer complaints and these nearly

always come from customers choosing the wrong turf or not carrying out

proper after care. He says his firm never takes deposits up front and

only takes payments when customers are satisfied with the work. He

admits when we secretly filmed him it was his busiest period and the

company was overstretched. Great news, he's now expanded the business

to accommodate all that popular demand. However, for now, he becomes

the latest face on our rogue's gallery.

Last week we said the bosses of the big six energy companies were

reportedly eligible for discounted bills. British Gas and Scottish

Power wrote in to say their staff don't get money off.

Labour leader Ed Miliband tonight said the energy companies are

profiteering, the lights won't go out. He invited us to hold him to

account if he becomes Prime Minister. Keep letting us know what

you think of all that and send us your stories and tip-offs. Geep to

the website -- go to the website, click where it says "your story".

Energy Secretary Ed Davey is coming on later in the series. See you

then. Coming up next week, Halfords

autocentres, it are you getting the service you expect? Sports direct

think you've had a free gift, check your invoice. Plus the energy

companies, I'll put your questions to E.on. That's all on Watchdog next

Wednesday at 8pm. Until then, from you after us -- of us -- from all of

us, good night.