Episode 15 X-Ray

I'm Lucy Owen. And I'm Rhodri Owen. You're watching X-Ray. Bringing you

the stories that matter. Excel Parking has taken over this

car park in Ebbw Vale - dozens of residents are up in arms.

Offers, offers, offers, everywhere you look. Don't miss our guide to

working out the best. And meet the Arnolds. They were

left waiting by a coach company who Tonight we're in Ebbw Vale. Here in

the town centre, there are people out getting their shopping done.

recent weeks, though, parking's been the talk of the town and the

arrival of a private parking company has been the cause of much

anxiety for some residents. Rachel We're often encouraged to support

our community, avoid the big retail parks, and stay local when we shop.

But in many of our towns and cities, finding somewhere suitable to park

can be a real headache. So that's why well-placed car parks, near to

shops and amenities, are invaluable to the people that use them. People

like the Morgan family rely on them, in fact. Melvyn Morgan has severe

arthritis of the spine. He and his wife Glenda are carers for their

son Melvyn John, who has Down's Syndrome. Melvyn regularly takes

Melvyn John shopping and they park here at The Walk car park in Ebbw

Vale. I take my son Melvyn John there because he loves shopping and

he's handicapped and it's near. This is the reason we use it every

Wednesday and we have done for a number of years. In the past,

parking charges weren't enforced for blue badge holders using this

car park so Melvyn and other disabled drivers thought that

parking was free for them. But after using the car park in October,

the family received some very unwelcome mail. Two notices from a

car parking company saying they had to pay �60 for each time they had

parked at The Walk without paying. I think a lot of people were

unaware they had to pay in the disabled bay in front of you. There

was no sign indicating you had to pay. Later on, we were told it was

on the machine, but if you were a disabled driver you wouldn't think

of going to the machine. It was really upsetting because we never

get things like that. We couldn't believe why it was sent, you know,

at first. Glenda and Melvyn had fallen foul of a new regime which

had come into force at The Walk car park in Ebbw Vale. Excel Parking

Services Limited recently took over the running of the car park here

and installed cameras to monitor vehicles as they come and go. The

Automatic Number Plate Recognition system, or ANPR, means registration

details are fed back to the company running the car park so they can

obtain details about the registered keeper from the DVLA in Swansea.

People using the car park are expected to put their car number

plate into the machine at the car park when they buy a ticket so the

parking company knows who's paid. But a lot of people who use this

car park hadn't realised what they needed to do. In fact, while we

were filming at The Walk, we met people who needed help

understanding how to use the So what does the law say about all

of this? Christopher Rees is a barrister. You have a situation

where signage is put up by the companies which is supposed to

indicate you have to pay a fee in order to park. If you refuse to pay

any penalty notice that's issued by the firm, the only redress is to

take you to the county court and try to sue for breach of contract,

based on the fact you ignored the signs which were clearly visible

and decided to park there without paying the fee. In fact, Excel

Parking Services Limited recently lost a case at Stockport County

Court after one motorist refused to pay their charge. He argued the

writing on the company's signs in a car park in England was too small.

The judge agreed with him and ordered Excel to pay his costs.

What about this car park where disabled badge holders have parked

for free in the past? If one drives the car in and looks at the sign on

the entrance, I would suggest it's so small it would be impossible to

read it on parking. If you approach the disabled bays there's no

signage at all. I would suggest there ought to be a sign at the

disabled bay informing them they have to pay as well. Melvyn and

Glenda Morgan aren't the only blue badge holders who've received

letters after parking at The Walk without paying. Diane Wilkins is a

care worker. On the day in question, I was parked over in the disabled

bay with the service user. I've always used this car park. Under

the old system you didn't have to pay if you was a blue badge holder.

The company then issued me with this notice saying I had to pay a

�60 fine. Mary Askew also got a ticket. I really object to the sign.

It should be a double sided sign because it's not visible from the

disabled bay. And I think the signage is inadequate. Gary Cook is

refusing to pay the charges after receiving several letters from

Excel Parking. I'm just not going to pay them. I'm going to court.

Well, I can't pay them. I haven't got the �500 which is what it's

basically going to work out to. Excel Parking point out that there

has been a charge for all parking, including in disabled bays, at The

Walk for many years. Although local people say many didn't realise this

as the charges were never enforced. And it's not just blue badge

holders who've been affected. Julie Morgan and her husband Melvyn also

use The Walk car park regularly. They've always paid to use the car

park, but they recently ended up receiving two parking notices from

Excel Parking. We received two fines but had proof of purchase of

one. The second one, we couldn't find the ticket, so we paid that

fine with a letter saying we knew we paid. They must have checked the

data because we had a letter back confirming that we had paid. What

we're up in arms about is they now want to charge �10 per fine for

cancellation admin fees, which I feel we shouldn't pay because the

error is theirs not ours. Car parks nearby only require drivers to

input the last three digits of their registration number. When new

machines appeared at The Walk, many people assumed it was the same.

They too have had to pay up. appealed against the actual parking

fine, saying if you look at your computer you'll see I purchased a

ticket with typing the last three letters in. I had a letter saying,

you have paid, saying, we will withdraw the charge. But they

charged �10 admin because we had to get in touch with the DVLA to find

out the registration. They've charged �10.30 for parking for 40

minutes. Excel says when a motorist incorrectly enters their

registration number they incur processing charges which is why

they charge an administration fee. While we were in the car park, we

were approached by dozens of people who feel they've been unfairly

charged. Amongst them was Claire Gittins who parked at The Walk for

25 minutes when she rushed to help her teenage daughter - a diabetic

who was taken ill in the town. She admits she didn't buy a ticket, but

appealed to the company to waive the charge because of the

circumstances. I received a further letter saying they'd be taking

everything into consideration which, in my opinion, obviously they

hadn't. But they couldn't waive the charges because I was in breach of

the terms and conditions. What do you think of that? I'm absolutely

disgusted. Taxi drivers tell us they're boycotting The Walk after

being charged for picking up customers, many of whom are

disabled. I'm doing my job. For picking a �3 fare up, I've got to

pay �60 out, like. In one of Wales' most deprived areas, feelings are

running high. I think they should get from here. Get from here please,

get from here because it's upsetting a lot of people. They

don't want to come in here and park because they're too afraid to park

in case they have a fine. The shops, the whole town is suffering.

the local MP has stepped in to try to help. Nick Smith has written to

Excel Parking and the British Parking Association to try and

resolve the problem. What we need is effective communication between

the car park managers and the local community using this important car

park. Local people are very cross about it and word of mouth is

really important in valley towns, so it's important it doesn't affect

trading. Shopping is important. There's a lovely market and they

shouldn't be put off by this cack- handed parking management at Ebbw

Vale. Excel Parking Services say they have acted properly in their

running of the car park and they say the signs are appropriate. When

they took over the car park they allowed a period of 17 days for

people to adjust and be educated in the new arrangements before they

began to enforce charges. And they follow guidelines set by the

British Parking Association. They are now writing to blue badge

holders who've received multiple notices and will only charge them

for the first unpaid ticket. So is there any legal advice for people

who feel they've been unfairly charged? I would suggest if they

feel they weren't bound by the terms and conditions, they didn't

see them. It wasn't properly signed so if they weren't aware of that,

then they should write to the company concerned and inform them

that they're not going to pay the ticket and give their reasons for

not doing so. Is it worth the company taking you to court?

suppose they may take an economical view of whether chasing someone

after one ticket. It's for the company to decide whether it's

worth time and effort and expense of doing that.

And while we've been filming here, we've heard a lot more complaints

from people here about the car park. Cllr John Rogers is with me.

Feelings are certainly running high here, aren't they? People are

outraged and quite understandably so. And not only outraged, but

they're extremely worried about the draconian and insensitive way this

firm has dealt with the opening of their car park. It is quite

appalling. What do you think about the way the changes were

introduced? Were people given enough notice? No, quite frankly,

they weren't. It should have been made patently clear at least a

fortnight before this firm took over that this was what was going

to happen. That disabled bays would be charged for and that people were

made totally aware of everything they were expected to do in the car

park. This clearly didn't happen. If it wasn't so serious, this would

be laughable. Disabled people do now have to pay for their parking.

Do you think that that change is being made clear enough? This

morning, I've noticed that they have got a sign on one of the bays

which says disabled people have to pay, which is readable. All the

other signs you have to have 20:20 vision and a stepladder to get that

information. But what I would suggest is, this sign is OK, but

they need at least another one. there has been a new development,

hasn't there? Yes. Our planning department have said quite clearly

now that the cameras in this car park haven't had proper planning

permission. The situation at the moment is, the firm is disputing

this, but our planning administration and this dispute is

ongoing. But it does beg the question of whether these cameras

are legal or not. Councillor John Rogers, we'll keep an eye on that.

Rhod. Yes, and remember, if you've got

anything you'd like us to investigate, please get in touch.

Our contact details are on the screen now. Next, Lucy's in

Pembroke Dock meeting a family whose annual holiday got off to a

For Julie Arnold, a holiday is not a chance to take a break from the

family, it's a time to take them all away with her. And when it

comes to travelling in a group that large, it is best to make your

journey as easy and as comfortable as possible. Just a big holiday. We

have my brother, my mother, my children and cousins. We just go to

Minehead every year - Minehead Butlins. One year it was my

daughter's wedding. It was her honeymoon and it was just brilliant.

Really special. You say all of you, how many of you? Nineteen.

there are a lot of children that go on the holiday as well. Eight

Last year with suitcases, train changes, young children and family

members with disabilities it was a struggle going by train. So this

year Julie decided to book a private coach, and came across a

company that looked ideal. How did you find Southern Coaches?

I found them on the internet, looked them up. They looked a

lovely company, really nice, tidy, comfortable looking buses,

disability access and everything. And that's the one we decided to go

with. Julie thought she'd found the perfect option. Southern Coaches

gives itself a great write up on Southern Coaches is not just a

coach hire company. It's an all- encompassing travel service to suit

the individual needs of each and every customer. Because providing a

service in today's competitive business environments is no longer

about price alone, it's the whole experience, from point of contact

to arrival at your destination. Julie paid �600 for a 24-seater

executive coach to travel in style. And on April 25 the family all

headed here to the Swann Inn, for But they waited, and waited, with

no sign of the coach arriving. just didn't turn up. It was

supposed to meet us up the road. We went up and there was no coach.

There was one of us up by the local shop, one of us went down to our

local Asda's - we all scattered round just in case the coach had

got lost and was parked up somewhere. And we just It never

turned up and we had no explanation or nothing. So you were waiting for

hours. How were you all managing? We had to sit out in the front

garden cos there was 19 of us. We had to give the children a little

picnic to keep them quiet for a while. We had them breaking their

heart thinking that they weren't going on holiday. They were

devastated and of course we tried telling them that we'd sort

something, but children don't believe you, do they? So they

honestly thought they weren't going. Julie tried to contact Southern

Coaches and its director Richard Powell, but she got no answers

about her missing coach. It was four of us on phones trying to find

out what was happening with Southern Coaches. We got through to

them in the end and he told me he was out and about and that he'd go

back to the office and see what was happening and he never phoned back.

Five hours later she found a 16- seater coach for part of the group,

the rest went by car. It cost �600 and they started the holiday

seriously out of pocket. We had to dip into our spending monies and

pay for it between us and what not, which was money we weren't

expecting to spend on another form of transport. So it was a bit

devastating then. The family had now paid twice to get to Minehead,

a total of �1,200. They were counting on getting their money

back from Southern Coaches but that wasn't going to be so easy.

We looked into Southern Coaches' track record. Whilst the company

boast ten years experience, its director Richard Powell is just 25.

It seems he's no stranger to newspaper headlines featuring

complaints about missing coaches and passengers let down right

across the UK. There were wedding guests in Kent,

late for a party. A hen party in Billericay who had

to abandon celebrations. Groups of girls stranded during

21st birthday celebrations in Essex and in Glasgow.

Not to mention those 57 Stoke fans left stranded on their trip to

Wembley. In these cases, Richard Powell told

newspapers that Southern Coaches is a coach broker who books other

coach companies to carry out the journeys..

They never gave no inkling they were a coach broker at all. When we

looked on the internet, it just said Southern Coaches. That's what

was on the buses. We just assumed it was a genuine bus company.

Nothing said about it being a brokers at all. If Southern Coaches

takes money then they are responsible for delivering the

service, even if they get another firm to provide the coaches. As far

as I knew, if another company would have turned up, I wouldn't have

wanted to get on it cos I wouldn't have known it was that company, cos

we honestly thought it was Southern Coaches. We've written to the

company about Julie's problems. And just like the letters of complaint

that Julie wrote, they've gone unanswered. Mr Powell has rung us

and told us he'd investigate the case, but we are still waiting for

his response. Which means Julie and her family

will be facing Christmas still waiting for their money.

When you save up all year, it escalates from the money we had to

use, it escalated up to the Christmas time, so it is like some

of us are still paying the money back from then, like, so yeah it is

hard for us now, really hard. But what can I do?

Oh, dear. Last week you might remember we featured Celia Smith

from Crymych. Celia's elderly father Tom had a boiler installed

at his home by a company called Eaga. When her dad went into a home,

Celia had the boiler serviced and discovered it had been left

unearthed and potentially fatal. Carillion who have now taken over

Eaga have told us they believed this was a one-off, but it seems

not. Now we've heard from a number of

viewers who have experienced serious problems with boilers and

central heating systems they obtained from Eaga. Mark and Lynn

Llewellyn from Caerphilly had a boiler fitted by Eaga in 2009. Just

before Christmas that year, after problems with the electics, the

Llywelyn's discovered the boiler had no earth wire fitted. And a

similar story from Rita Jones from Benllech on Anglesey. She says

she's had endless problems with her boiler including the lack of an

earth wire. She also says that she's contacted Carillion many

times but she feels she's been fobbed off. Most worrying of all,

though, was the story we heard from Fiona Neave from Nannerch near Mold.

Her boiler was also fitted by Eaga in 2009 and there were problems

with the water temperature. And in January last year, her disabled son

was severely scalded when he climbed into the bath. He had to

spend three weeks in hospital but so far no one's accepted

responsibility. We've passed these complaints and a number of others

we've received on to Carillion, the company which replaced Eaga. They

say they are investigating as a matter of urgency and will be

contacting all those who've complianed as soon as possible. The

study of General officers of the ever pale steelworks. Inside, they

are holding a Christmas market. Wherever you look, there are deals

to be had. Shops are pulling out all the stops to get your custom.

Will this be the cheapest Christmas ever? And in Cardiff doing

Christmas shopping. Last year, 3.3 million people visited the city

centre in December. They spent over �100 million. How can we expect

this Christmas to be different to the last? We asked the man in the

know. The next four weeks for all

retailers is critical. It has been a hard year for all of us. For all

retailers, the. Everyone is slashing prices. According to one

firestorm manager, desperate times call for desperate measures. With

money being tight this year, we are doing massive promotions within the

store. We have been looking for where people can save their money.

For of July be able to get a bargain?

I need some advice. This man is an expert.

Be clear run what you are buying and get a list. There are some

fantastic bargains this year. What of the stores have started early

with the sales with 30 to 40% off. I need to get something for Lucy,

something for my son, and for my mum and dad. I have a list and I

have done some research. I will haggle using online prices and I

First I want to go Lucy a nice pair of black gloves for Christmas. It

was confusing, there were some great offers. Marks & Spencer, 25%

of, Debenhams, 30% off, you look, three pairs for the price of two.

And these were by one get one have price. Lucy loses things all the

time but I am not buying her all of these clubs. But it is confusing.

Yes, daylight to make customers feel they are getting a bargain.

Next up, a Christmas present for my mum. She loves us so can the bat

and she likes hers melees so I printed about her online and

managed to get �7.60 off this. Researchers are good but some

customers still feel lot to take the vouchers to the shops. They

feel uneasy. Like they are asking for something they are not entitled

to. But other consumers are quite happy about them. Eventually I

think we will all get used to that because they are extremely common

now. Finally, a present for my son. I

tried haggling. I found this DVD on line for �11, printed that off and

then went to Reg Empey and Argos to see if they would match that price

but they would not. Most of these major nationals, you

would probably have better luck with an independent because then

you can speak to the owner of the manager.

Is it cheaper to buy online or on the high street? We did a survey of

what are expected to be some of the top Christmas presents this year.

We checked online prices using a cashback website which gave extra

savings. We compared this to high street prices.

I will pull our cracker with a Christmas elf. I can reveal that

the difference is... �460. It is obviously a lot cheaper to buy

online ban on the high street. Yes and you generally have more

choice. On the other side of the crime, you cannot really see what

the product is like until you get it and it is generally easier to

return on the high street. Our shoppers out there are finding

the best bargains? Using a mobile phone application that can read

barcodes, we will find out how they are doing.

How much did you pay for these? �22. I can tell you that at another shop,

you could have got it for �16. is a big difference. It is. What

have you got? It just in be there alban at -- annual. The most

expensive is a pound 46. How much did you pay? A 399. Can I look at

one of these things. A clever gadget. A Harry Potter box-set. So

maybe barcode. You could have got that for �18.83. Turn it around

again, you paid �28. That is a big difference. It is. Another present

I could have got. That is quite expensive now. Whatever your

shopping plans this Christmas and whatever your budget, I hope you

find time to have a little fun. That is all for this week. Next

week we will be finding out what you should not be buying next