:00:00. > :00:00.your shopping? Just about. Maybe one or two little people that I haven't
:00:00. > :00:11.forgotten about at all! All that on this week's Your Money.
:00:12. > :00:24.Hello and welcome to Your Money here every weekend on BBC News. Bargain
:00:25. > :00:29.hunt, we will discover the tricks we need to do to get the lowest prices
:00:30. > :00:32.for our Christmas shopping. We will get our rights if it is the wrong
:00:33. > :00:38.colour or doesn't work or we don't like it anymore. Toxic tipple, Brian
:00:39. > :00:43.Milligan discovers that cheap booze maybe fake and could damage your
:00:44. > :00:48.health. So the shortest day is upon us.
:00:49. > :00:52.Surmer is on the way! A couple of long days of Christmas shopping to
:00:53. > :00:56.get out of the way first. We are taking a look at how to find the
:00:57. > :01:03.last minute bargains and what your rights are if the goods just aren't
:01:04. > :01:10.right. With two very special shopping elves, sue Hayward and
:01:11. > :01:15.Sarah Pennell. Welcome to both of you. Sue, preparation is everything
:01:16. > :01:20.when it comes to hunting down the bargains? It is being prepared. You
:01:21. > :01:24.don't want to run out in a random rush and grab the first thing you
:01:25. > :01:28.see. You need to, before you leave home, print off discount vouchers.
:01:29. > :01:32.There are lots of websites you can do this. If you print them off, when
:01:33. > :01:36.you see the bargain you can get more discount. With these vouchers, it is
:01:37. > :01:40.a case if you are using a voucher, you can't take advantage of an
:01:41. > :01:44.instore discount, but in the run-up to Christmas lots of shops have been
:01:45. > :01:48.offering double discount so you can get discount as well as your
:01:49. > :01:55.voucher... Does this mean you need to know before you leave the house
:01:56. > :01:59.what you are going to buy or do you bring a load with you? You need to
:02:00. > :02:05.think where you are going and what you are going to buy. There are a
:02:06. > :02:08.couple of apps, Voucher Cloud is a good one. It will send you the
:02:09. > :02:14.vouchers and the discounts on your phone to the nearest shop. If you
:02:15. > :02:19.are going in and think, "I forgot that voucher." You can use the app
:02:20. > :02:22.to get the discount. It is all hi-tech. You can show your phone and
:02:23. > :02:26.the app to the store and get it there and then which is great.
:02:27. > :02:32.Why would you do your shopping in advance? You do it because you are
:02:33. > :02:37.Miss Organised! And that's fine. 72 out of 100 stores on sale right now
:02:38. > :02:41.before Christmas. The average discount according to Price
:02:42. > :02:46.Waterhouse Coopers is 46%. That's nearly half price? The reason I do
:02:47. > :02:50.it. I was disorganised a couple of years ago! You learned that lesson.
:02:51. > :02:55.The advantage of doing it in advance is you can get what you really want
:02:56. > :02:59.and I think I think I buy better presents or more thoughtful ones
:03:00. > :03:03.when I am not under time pressure. I might have missed out on the good
:03:04. > :03:05.discounts, there isn't any guarantee that something that is well
:03:06. > :03:11.discounted will be in the shops or in the online retailers by the time
:03:12. > :03:15.you come to get it, it is a game of chicken and if you think I have got
:03:16. > :03:20.lots of friends I can buy a variety of presents for, I want to get the
:03:21. > :03:27.most with my money. And you don't mind the scrum, fine. You can get
:03:28. > :03:30.more choice if you put more thought into it.
:03:31. > :03:34.A lot of people would like to order something online, pick it up from
:03:35. > :03:38.the local store, but not many days left until Christmas. The clock may
:03:39. > :03:43.have run out on that? That's true. Some stores particularly Debenhams
:03:44. > :03:49.say they need up to five days for the Click and Collect service. Are
:03:50. > :03:52.they carrying the stuff to the store on their back or something? They
:03:53. > :03:58.said it is five days from dispatch. So when it leaves the ware White
:03:59. > :04:02.House John Lewis and M and Boots, you can click and collect and you
:04:03. > :04:05.can do it to 2pm on Monday and you can collect it the next day. If the
:04:06. > :04:09.high street is busy, sometimes it can be worth paying for a next day
:04:10. > :04:13.delivery to save you the car park charges and the hassle of looking
:04:14. > :04:17.for a parking space. It is swings and roundabouts sometimes.
:04:18. > :04:20.Check. Check. Check. Absolutely and make sure it is in stock and they
:04:21. > :04:23.won't say guaranteed Christmas delivery with a lot of these. It is
:04:24. > :04:28.a case that you are taking your chance unless they are guaranteeing
:04:29. > :04:31.it for Christmas. You mentioned apps. There are apps that allow you
:04:32. > :04:36.to check the price of something while you are in the store and tells
:04:37. > :04:41.you where if you can get it cheaper somewhere else? There is a good one
:04:42. > :04:45.called Red Laser. You can use your phone to zap the barcode and it will
:04:46. > :04:52.tell you where you can buy it cheaper. You may decide, quickly go
:04:53. > :04:55.on your tablet or decide to buy it there and then. If you do and
:04:56. > :05:00.discover it cheaper, if you keep your receipt, a lot of stores are
:05:01. > :05:04.generous with the returns policies which means you can take it back and
:05:05. > :05:07.get your money back and buy it elsewhere.
:05:08. > :05:10.We will talk about your rights when you are shopping during the sales
:05:11. > :05:15.and Sarah will have more information on that in a few minutes. It is time
:05:16. > :05:18.to see what the Secret Santa of news brought us. MPs want to tighten the
:05:19. > :05:21.rules on pay day loan companies. They say the lenders should be
:05:22. > :05:25.banned from advertising on television when children's
:05:26. > :05:28.programmes are on the air. The MPs say borrowers who get into trouble
:05:29. > :05:35.should only have their loans extended once. That might prevent
:05:36. > :05:38.them from clocking up bigger debts. Fewer people are worried about their
:05:39. > :05:41.debts. There has been a drop in the number of households concerned about
:05:42. > :05:45.the amount they borrow. But did warn that future rises in interest rates
:05:46. > :05:51.and it is a matter of when they go up, not if, it warned more expensive
:05:52. > :05:56.borrowing costs could squeeze households with big mortgages.
:05:57. > :06:02.The council for mortgage listeneders says -- lenders says lending in
:06:03. > :06:08.November was 30% higher than a year ago. It insists that's not a boom.
:06:09. > :06:13.There is an old rule when it comes to money, if something looks too
:06:14. > :06:18.good to be true, it probably is. Christmas shoppers have been warned
:06:19. > :06:23.booze maybe fake as it could damage their health. Here is Brian
:06:24. > :06:27.Milligan. In this bar in Sheffield, students
:06:28. > :06:31.celebrating the end of term have been warned about the dangers of
:06:32. > :06:38.drinking fake alcohol. Some admit they found bottles of cheap vodka
:06:39. > :06:42.tempting. In my first year, I was silly enough to buy stuff from a
:06:43. > :06:47.corner shop which came under the counter and was not a properly
:06:48. > :06:54.manufactured alcohol product. I had friends who suffered from temporary
:06:55. > :06:58.blindness. Fake alcohol is being sold at shops like this one. The
:06:59. > :07:02.owner was found after 600 bottles of counterfeit vodka were found under
:07:03. > :07:08.the counter. The number of bottle being found in Sheffield alone has
:07:09. > :07:13.quadrupled. Most contain industrial alcohols used in cleaning flundz or
:07:14. > :07:16.antifreeze. It is not tested. There is no quality control. These are
:07:17. > :07:20.criminals that are manufacturing there are. They are not concerned
:07:21. > :07:25.about the council sume -- consumer's health. There could be anything in
:07:26. > :07:35.it. Seizures of fake vodka are growing. In August a nightclub in
:07:36. > :07:41.Leeds was fined. At cairn Rhine, 13,000 litres were sold and this
:07:42. > :07:48.month a pub in Chelmsford was fined for selling fake Smirnoff. Many of
:07:49. > :07:52.the changes are not reversible. You can lose your eyesight or your
:07:53. > :07:56.ability to walk like a normal person. You can lose your life.
:07:57. > :08:03.Spotting a fake isn't easy. On a small bottle like this, this one
:08:04. > :08:08.appears to have the UK duty paid stamp, but that's the wrong size. If
:08:09. > :08:12.you look closely, you can see sediment in the bottom of that one.
:08:13. > :08:18.On this larger bottle, it tells you on the back that it comes from
:08:19. > :08:25.somewhere called Russia-Berlin. On a big bottle like this, the duty and
:08:26. > :08:33.VAT alone should amount to ?8.89. If you are paying ?9 a bottle,
:08:34. > :08:37.something is wrong. The advice being given to drinkers be careful where
:08:38. > :08:39.you buy your alcohol, check the labels and if the product looks
:08:40. > :08:52.suspicious, do not drink it. Thousands of elderly and poor
:08:53. > :09:00.customers with NPower are to get at least ?25 back. It is a total fine
:09:01. > :09:07.of ?3.5 million. The payments will be made to customers who get the
:09:08. > :09:12.Warm home discount. The competition watchdog says we pay
:09:13. > :09:16.too much for car insurance and blamtion the high cost of -- blames
:09:17. > :09:19.the high cost of replacement cars and repairs.
:09:20. > :09:23.It gives a whole new meaning to money laundering. The Bank of
:09:24. > :09:26.England unveiled the plastic banknote it will bring in from 2016.
:09:27. > :09:30.People in Northern Ireland will know what they feel like already because
:09:31. > :09:34.we have had them for years. The new fiver will feel slimmery and bounce
:09:35. > :09:38.back if you scrunch it up and survive a spin in the washing
:09:39. > :09:42.machine. It will buy just as little as a paper fiver!
:09:43. > :09:45.Emergency this on Christmas Day, those presents that you ordered
:09:46. > :09:51.online, well, they didn't arrive. The shoes you did get, they don't
:09:52. > :10:03.fit and auntie doesn't like the colour of her cashmere jumper,
:10:04. > :10:09.grumpy old bag! There are a number of scenarios,
:10:10. > :10:14.first of all, something doesn't fit? If it doesn't fit and you brought it
:10:15. > :10:17.on the -- bought it on the high street, you don't have a right to
:10:18. > :10:22.bring it back, but many shops will let you. If you have bought it as a
:10:23. > :10:32.present get a gift receipt. If you forget, write a note saying, lovely
:10:33. > :10:35.jumper, gifted to Declan cap Curry. Online, you have got seven working
:10:36. > :10:38.days from the day after the goods arrived to reject the goods and
:10:39. > :10:44.cancel the sale. There are a couple of exceptions which are common
:10:45. > :10:49.sense, food and fresh flowers. If you were to buy a pair of shoes and
:10:50. > :10:53.clothing and decided you didn't like them, you can cancel the sale. Do
:10:54. > :10:59.that by e-mail and you can get a refund. You say seven days and
:11:00. > :11:04.that's for stuff done online? Yes. No time limit for stuff you buy over
:11:05. > :11:10.the counter? There, you don't have a legal right to bring it back. It is
:11:11. > :11:15.at the shop's discretion. I often ask when you are buying, it is often
:11:16. > :11:23.28 days, but it is often until the middle of January.
:11:24. > :11:27.You have the right to bring stuff back. The law here is very clear. It
:11:28. > :11:31.doesn't matter where you buy it, whether you buy it online, you buy
:11:32. > :11:36.it in a high street or whether you pay full price or not. If it is
:11:37. > :11:39.faulty, you have got the right to return it and you can get a refund
:11:40. > :11:43.depending on when you return it are o a replacement or repair. When I am
:11:44. > :11:49.shopping, you can imagine I am eagle eyed and I see signs saying "No
:11:50. > :11:53.refunds. No returns on sale goods." That's illegal. They can't say that.
:11:54. > :11:58.If you see those signs, that's not correct. You can argue your case. I
:11:59. > :12:01.imagine you are a nightmare when it comes to shopping in the store. Sue,
:12:02. > :12:04.that's an important point if you are buying something in the sales and
:12:05. > :12:08.you are picking up a bar gain, those signs are there and they are wrong?
:12:09. > :12:10.Yes, that's right. They are wrong which is the case very much
:12:11. > :12:15.sometimes you need to actually, if you are not clear, ask for the
:12:16. > :12:17.manager and check the details because sometimes I found when you
:12:18. > :12:21.are taking things back to stores, the staff simply don't know the
:12:22. > :12:25.rules. So it is worth not being fobbed off. Going home thinking
:12:26. > :12:29.about it and checking details online and you can go back and argue your
:12:30. > :12:33.case. You could argue cash is more personal. You can decide what you
:12:34. > :12:37.spend your money on. Vouchers have been popular, but they are risky?
:12:38. > :12:42.They are. The problem is as we have seen over the last year, some stores
:12:43. > :12:53.have, when they have gone to the wall, their company won't accept the
:12:54. > :12:58.vouchers. If you feel uncomfortable about giving cash, give one of the
:12:59. > :13:02.vouchers that are not restricted to one store. If it is a big high
:13:03. > :13:06.street store, the chances are you would be OK. Go cash or a voucher,
:13:07. > :13:10.you can use amongst several stores. Is there better protection if you
:13:11. > :13:21.pay for something on a credit card rather than cash or cheque or debit
:13:22. > :13:26.card? You do get some protection under what is called chargeback if
:13:27. > :13:30.you pay by debit or credit card. It is no minimum spend limit. If you're
:13:31. > :13:35.buying something online and you see a bargain, it is made from a company
:13:36. > :13:42.you haven't heard of and the ASCII to pay by bank transfer, do not do
:13:43. > :13:47.it. It is like paying in cash. If it turns out to be bad, you have
:13:48. > :13:50.absolutely no comeback. Thank you very much. That's all from Your
:13:51. > :13:53.Money for this week.Advice on saving, borrow and spending all week
:13:54. > :13:57.long on the Your Money pages on the BBC's website. It's bbc.co.uk/money.
:13:58. > :14:05.You can get updates by following our feed on Twitter. We're @BBC Your
:14:06. > :14:15.Money. We're back again in early January. From all of us here, have a
:14:16. > :14:24.Merry Christmas. Thanks for watching today.