Rip-Off Britain Coming To BBC One
Angela Rippon, Jennie Bond and Gloria Hunniford are teaming up to help the nation in its battle against Rip-Off Britain (working title) for BBC One Daytime.
At a time when every penny counts, this brand new five-part series will investigate the sharp practices by some of the biggest names in the High Street; exposing the hidden costs and the deals that really are too good to be true.
The Rip-Off Britain presenters will dig into the facts to show consumers what they need to do to fight back.
The series will also reveal the results of an exclusive BBC Daytime survey into the top rip-offs which are making Britain fume.
Controller of BBC Daytime, Liam Keelan, says: “I am really pleased to have three seasoned journalists in Angela Rippon, Jennie Bond and Gloria Hunniford tackling a subject that’s very close to viewers’ hearts.”
Rip-Off Britain is a 5 x 45-minutes series that includes a new nationwide survey, investigations into how companies don’t always give consumers the best deals and information aimed at helping consumers make informed choices about their finances.
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Hi,
My daughter is starting University this year and will be staying in the halls of residence, i feel totally ripped of as she needs to buy a TV lience. 6 student will share a kitchen and common room and each student will have to have a TV licence if they have a TV or LAPTOP. I live in a three bedroom house which has 4 TV’s and 2 laptops yet i only have 1 TV lience. How can this be fair. My daughter and other student are trying to improve their lives and will be living on a shoe string.
Look at the practice of charging a handling fee when booking theatre/show/rugby/football etc. tickets.
Example: St. David’s Hall Cardiff £2-50 per tiicket for the John Edward show on Monday 14th Sept 2009
My mum, Kathleen owns a bed and breakfast in Northern Ireland. She received a call in June 2009 from a man saying he was from Google adverts. He explained that Google were offering a three months free trial in advertising. After a long conversation about this she agreed to the three months free trial but she had to give her credit card details. One month later she received her credit card statement which showed that £828.00 had been debited from my account on the 17th of July 2009.
She contacted her bank immediately and they acted on her behalf to get in contact with the company. The company that had debited her account were trading as First Page Management not Google that she thought she had signed up to. First Page Management is a company neither my mum nor I have ever heard of before and she did not sign up with. My mum’s bank got in contact with the bank that debited her account which was Lloyd’s Tsb. Lloyds then got in contact with their client and explained the situation. In return a letter from a Mr Ken Davis dated August 7th 2009 was sent to my mum’s bank from Lloyds Tsb.
Mr Davis was the Group Accountant and knew about the business and the transaction. He also sent paperwork including the deal form which showed 1 month’s trial and costing £60.00 plus VAT which my mum did not agree to. He also sent a page of figures showing how many times people clicked on my site.
After receiving Mr David letter I replied to my bank disputing everything he had said and explained the situation and what I was explained. I heard no more from Mr Davis and my bank just encouraged my mum to contact Mr Davis my telephone to see if she can received any money if not all back as the service he claimed he was providing she did not receive.
From this evidence my mum and I knew Mr Davis knew about the company and was the only contact we had in trying to resolve this matter, so I decided to contact the number on the top of his letter on behalf of my mum to speak to Mr Davis and see why they charged my mum’s account when she did not agree to it. When I contacted the office I was told Mr Davis was not in. I left my name and number for him to call me back but I got no response. This was September 15th 2009. I telephone the next day 16/09/2009, and as soon as I said my name I could hear in the background someone saying ‘no’. They receptionist then said sorry Mr Davis is not in. I explained that it was serious and I needed to speak to him regarding First Page Management and that I left my number the day before. The lady told me he would be back in 1hour and 1/2 and for to ring back then.
However, I received a phone call from Rachel Alice 15 mins later explaining that there is nobody in that office working for First Page Management and that the company wasn’t trading anymore. She insisted that Mr Davis wouldn’t know anything about the matter. When I explained that Mr Davis was involved in the debited of my mother’s account and that I wanted to speak to him she just said to phone back. Ms Alice wasn’t able to tell me when the company stopped trading or anything about the company.
I contacted my mum’s bank to tell them of this conversation which happened this morning and they are going to contact card services on her behalf.
I don’t know what else to do and I was wondering if you would know what I should do next. I was watching Gloria Hunniford, Jennie Bond and Angela Rippon on BBC News this morning and i would be greatly appreciative if they could help me in this situation.
Hi
I would like to ask how I can apply to xpose and huge rip-off that is currently happening in the uk, this has been reported by BBC and channel 4 before but nothing seems to have happend, please if I could get some details on who to write to about this. This would make a very good investigation for the show.
Kind regards
Oliver
Glad you have such talented ladies doing this prog. and not some bright yg things.! Will their brief look into the scandal of female pensioners who paid a reduced stamp like myself and now have almost zero pension. Good luck girls and more power to yr elbows.
eloise
Just the sort of programme we need. My husband is out of work, like many others. I have three children, one of whom is disabled with cerebral palsy and hydrocephalus. He cannot walk and the cerebral palsy is in all four limbs, so I am his carer and therefore cannot work. I have an account with LLoyds TSB, I had an original overdraft of £200 approx 18 months ago. I have paid them £50 per month to clear this overdraft and they now say I owe them £1368.35. I have used this account once in the last 18 months and that was Christmas 08 and I had £170. I checked with the bank before I took this money out and they said I was cleared to take it. Now they are threatening me with court and saying if I do not clear this money it will affect my credit rating. I have spoken to them and tried negotiating with them but they say their charges will stay. I think they are exhorbitant and totally unjustified. Please look into this on my behalf. Go girl power!!
I am a disabled senior citizen with a terminal illness. Where I live exacerbates my condition so I am desperate to leave ASAP. After looking on the net (may have clicked on something)I received 4 phone calls from ‘Pure Aquisitions’ offering to find me a home as to my specific requirements but they wanted a fee of £230 to start. That is a lot for a pensioner but I was/am desperate so I paid the fee. Since then I have received nothing remotely suitable and after many complaints I asked for my money back. This has been refused and I still receive emails full of useless properies. I googled them and found a blog where another person had a similar experience and lost money. Would be nice to show them up to save others. I have kept a folder of all emails and the unsuitable properties. As a single woman since 1987 I have experienced many rip offs and convinced woman on their own are targets for the unscrupulous.
Regards
Kay
Hallo, this is my second try,I don’t know why my first e-mail disappeared. We bought travel insurance from the Post Office costing 120 pounds,for travel we did not take, we asked the Post Office if we could travel at another time,they refused. The change in the travel arrangements was not our fault.So we hope you can help? We were already at a disadvantage being over the age of 69(72) yours Tom Young.
There is an advert on TV that says you get a free guide, but you don’t cos you have to buy 3 months worth of magazines before you get your “free” guide. They don’t mention that in the advert!
Best wishes
Virginia from France
I am a widow and retired and in the years since my husband died (2001) I have taken Powergen and BT to task and won.
My biggest regret is paying £3,750.00 in 1999 for laser eye treatment at St James hospital in Leeds,and finding out,in 2004 when I visited same hospital for irrigation,after disinfectant splashed in my eyes, and that even now my eye problem cannot be corrected by laser treatment.EG. Nystagmus and Astigmatism.
I think this new programme could run much longer,a lot needs investigating,and that is just for myself. Mrs.J
In my opinion one of the biggest rip-offs is perpetrated by the government – they are called Home Information Packs.
When these were proposed it included a conditon report, in other words a survey of the property. I’m Chartered Building Surveyor and have been carrying out surveys of residential properties for 30 years. However the government decreed that even highly qualified and experienced surveyors like myself were not adequately trained, and therefore had to undergo further training. I decided it would be worthwhile doing that and personally it cost me £1600. I have heard that other people without any prior construction knowledge have spent up to £10,000 in training costs in order to benefit from this new government requirement.
Because of the widesperead uproar of HIPS in general, the government did a bit of a U-turn. They removed the condition report/survey, probably the most valuable aspect, as a mandatory part of the HIP, but made made it a voluntary part only. That obviously means that most people do not choose to have condition report, and has left me and probably hundreds of others, thousands of pounds out of pocket. If the government had removed the survey as a requirement, rather than just make it voluntary part, they have avoided re-funding people like me, and possibly legal claims to recover costs incurred as a government requirement, but suddenly reversed due to a change in government policy.
Everybody I speak to about HIPS are of the opinion that they are a waste of time and money.
For the wider public, they are paying the government an extra fee because the Home Inspector has to register his report onto a government website. A HIP has to be carried out every time a property is sold, and this assesses the thermal insulation of the property. Whilst this has some benefit, in reality many (essentially those built prior to the 1950’s)of the properties in this country have external walls which cannot be insulated without a great deal of cost and disruption, way beyond the abilities of a householder, and is effectively impossible.
I am firmly of the opinion that the whole process is purely a revenue generating scheme for government.
In August I arranged for Virgin Media to call on 16 Sept. to install wireless broadband. A gentleman(?) arrived and fitted some to the back of the existing Virgin Media TV system and then told me that I needed a wireless router. Not knowing any better, and assuming good will, I went to buy one from PCWorld. This NetGear product sis not work because it seems that the software CD crashed the system. I phoned Virgin Media and the technician told me that I should have been supplied with a router on installation – rip off number two. Of course, I have complained mightily to Virgin Media, but I don’t know how to get in touch with Richard Branson or else I would have. The NetGear rubbish is being returned to PCWorld today. Dear God! What is world coming to?
Booked what I thought was a bargain cheap night at Manchester airport Travelodge.
At no time during booking or when I checked in was I told that I had to pay extra to park my car in their car park.
I arrived late and it was dark with heavy rain.
When I left in the morning there was a £50.00 `parking notice` on my windscreen. If I pay Britannia Parking (who are they?) within 21 days of the `offence` I will get a discount to £25.00.
I feel totally ripped off no one told me of the charge and if they had I would not have used this hotel. As it was dark and raining heavily when I arrived I did not see the pay and display machine. Rip off
I wouldm like an enquiry into facilities for disabled person. Hotels say that they have frooms with disabled access, but the shower is over a bath – albiet and lower than normal bath. That is no good for most disabled people. Beds are either too low and a standard double bed which makes sleeping inpossible. They give you larger rooms but that doens’t compensate for the other problems. In al hotels only pay lip service to disabled peopl.
I certainly hope you will be including E-ON on your programme. In the last 12 months alone, I have paid £2708 for Gas and Electricity. Despite regularly reading the meters and leaving in a prominent position in our window, they continuously ‘estimated’ our bills. I have since moved to British Gas at a third of the average monthly cost of E-ON and since had another ‘final’ bill of £495 !!
I worked out on average that we were paying, during the summer £6 a day for Gas & Electricity and £10 in the winter. When I complained, their response was to offer advise on conserving energy – it’s not conserving energy that is the problem…it’s their prices !! …put the issue back onto your customers!!!
I am 69 and a widow and have just been ripped off by “cowboy clampers”.I did not see the sign saying Private Land but stress I was not posing any danger,blocking access or stopping antone else parking.I was on my own in a lonely spot and had to go to a cash point to find £275 to give to company who clamped my car or it would be impounded. This must be one of the biggest rip-offs! My crime did certainly fit the punishment and I felt frightened and intimidated!–Can Gloria help please?
Should say certainly did NOT fit my punishment!Sorry!
My parents came to Britain in the 50s from Jamaica. Answering the call of the mother land to rebuild and make a new start for themselves. Both worked very hard through all the adversities 50s 60s 70s and 80s Britain threw at them. They raised five children and have some 9 grandchildren. Having worked hard all they lives and made every penny count. The where not only able to buy a home in the UK. they saved to build a retirement home back in Jamaica. Have done all the financial calculation they put they plan into action. Dad retried first so he oversaw the building of they dream house. By the time mum had retried all was ready and the dream retirement was to begin.
Then tragedy mum was involved in a serious car accident just days before she was due to fly out. It would be four months before she would be well enough to fly. I was very scared for her but felt assured in the knowledge. Mums covered by the NSH as both her and dad have paid into the system all they working life. The can fly back and be treated if need be.
But then things do change when retried people have left the country. And when they do there is no one to stick up for the elderly. And the government just walk all over them. Sometime around 2003 or so, the law was changed. And people living out side the E U would lose they NSH entitlement. My farther will be 80 years old in a few weeks. Like most people of that age he needs medical attention. Unlike most people he has to pay for his treatment. He can receive he’s pension in Jamaica but not the NSH benefits he’s entitled too. Labour the instigators of the great British rip off. Where MPs spend thousands on second home. and nothing on British pensioners abroad.
Cleveland leicester
Hi Angela Gloria Jenny,
I was very interested to see you all on Breakfast TV. I don’t suppose there is anything that you can do to help but here goes.
I am a pensioner living in sheltered housing with a communal heating system, the cost of our heating is split between the flats at the site. The law allows a 15% admin charge on top of the heating bill. The admin charge for this year to each tenant (and there are about 37 of us) is £65 each. This seems to be an extortionant amount to me, I have appealed to the chief exec of Servite Houses asking them to lower the amount on moral grounds but the answer I get is we only charge a 10% admin charge when the law allows us to charge 15%. I have written to Age Concern but as yet have not received an answer.
I really believe this to be a rip off. How can they justify a charge that runs into nearly £2000 pounds to pay a bill for one site. This obviously also affects all tenants where communal heating is in situ.
I live on the minimum income and this money could be used to buy me more than a weeks groceries. We also pay admin for everything else as well so I really don’t see why we are charged again. Hope you can help girls. If not I understand, seems there are some things we just have to put up with.
Thanks for listening to the moan,
Kind regards and wishing you well in your venture,
Sue |McArthur.
Start with the banks,never mind the small fry.They blackmailed the government- with a help us or else Britain goes down the pan.
They went to the bookies and gambled our-your money on a “dead cert” called SUB PRIME MORTGAGE and lost the lot.These super parisites will get their money back by increasing their charges.And theres me thinking Al Capone was dead!
I have a new Golf Plus 1.9 Diesel auto, 6 speed DSG purchased late 2005. The dual mass flywheel has broken up. Causing damage to gear box. Only 67,759 miles. This is not a service item. I have used Block Exemption and VW parts as required by legislation. VW will not confirm that I should expect this vehicle to cover a greater mileage! I have information and figures to prove the car has not been abused. This must be a design or manufacturing problem, not an owner problem. The vehicle has not been usable since late May of this year. I have purchased a replacement car, at more expense, to keep me mobile. I have been quoted approximately £5,500 to repair the vehicle.
I have tried the ‘Sale of Goods Act’ route but none of the companies will take responsibility.
This has got to be a Rip-Off!
Is this something you are able to look into, or can you recommend who to contact.
Good luck with the new program,
Colin Gooding
You should also know that your clock is one hour slow!
have been arguing with EDF over bill for 3months, they ask for £426.10 for 5months, yet I only paid £373 for 13months with previous supplier, when I queried this saying it was incorrect, EDF simply say they can only go by readings given to them on changeover.
I received a letter saying they would seek court order to install a prepaid meter, then get a phone call from customer support(LoL!!)to say they are dealing withis matter.
I’ve written to the manager at payment address in london, and sent a copy to customer support asking them to speak to each other, and send me a copy of the bill so I can ask the energy ombudsman to intervene.
What else can you do with companies that have different depatments, sending out different messages, and not speaking to each other.
Have Gloria, Angela, or Jenny any other suggestions on how to deal with this problem?
Rip-off Britain: a nice distraction for day time TV.
But instead of more soma, perhaps the BBC could do a program for mature adults on what a rip off Britain’s debt-based fractional reserve money system is, including an inquiry into just *who* is the beneficiary of the interest on public debt paid by the UK taxpaying paeons – and investigating in particular Bank of England Nominees and for whose benefit they hold the debentures in the Bank of England ostensibly (but not in economic reality) nationalised in 1946.
All else is secondary.
http://www.moneyreformparty.org.uk/
I do hope that the tv Licensing FEE/TAX rip off is included and discussed in the programme. HOWEVER I WONT HOLD MY BREATH!!
We hope our comments will help other holiday makers to carry money belts!
Dear Gloria, Jenny and Angela.
A few years ago, a new scheme was set up to help consumers who were purchasing a car through a Finance Cmpany, the scheme was called Shortfall/ Gap Insurance, the idea being that if a consumer bought a car under finance, they had piece of mind knowing that if their car was written off following an accident, and there was no one else to claim against, the Shortfall/Gap Insurance would pay off any outstanding finance, the consumer would be left with no debt.
Does it work, well in my experience it does not I am in a situation where I am in court in a weeks time to prevent the Finance Company from making a charge on our property of almost £2000, the orignal gap was just over £800.They have refused to explain why they have not claimed on the insurance, which they made me pay for as part of my finance agreement.
I would like to know if there are other people who have been ripped off by a similiar scheme.I belive this is worthy of investigation to prevent others from being Ripped off.
Yours sincerely
Joseph Pierce Lowe
I need some help regarding being overcharged for my overdraft of £10,000 which is now over twice as much through unfair and excessive bank charges. And my bank is Barclays.
After reading some of the complaints this sounds quite trivial but it really gets on my nerves!! Car parking ticket machines that will accept overpayment and then don’t give change…AAARRGGHH!!! Why not charge £1 or £2 or whatever but not £1.70/£1.90 it’s criminal in my mind to penalise users for not having the correct change. How many people would go into a shop and buy £4.60 worth of shopping, hand over £5 and then accept if the shopowner said “sorry I can’t give you change?! These machines have the ability to give change but the carpark owners choose not to have them programmed to do this for obvious reasons…CORNWALL COUNCIL YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED!!!
How are Virgin Media getting away with charging £60 a year
to non-direct debit customers, even when they pay straight
away with a debit card on-line or by phone?
They also charge £15 a year for printed bills.
I am nearly 68 years old and I recently renewed by car insurance. Going through the details over the ‘phone I was asked if I had lived in the UK all my life. I said yes and was given a very reasonable quote. Unfortunately I mentioned that I had lived in Belgium for 2 years 1969/1971. Lo and behold my quote went up £ 5.
I questionned this and of course it was company policy. I spoke to Customer Services who came back to me that it could not be changed. I might not understand the road signs!! Obviously it has something to do with all the foreign people coming over – this was implied.
I was charged £6150.00 for buying one get one free chairs
from The Britsh Mobility.
I did phone them to get a chair for my husband who is house bound and I have a lung problem, so when the sales man came he measured us up so we both could have a chair and said we would get a two seater settee free
He said they would take 4-6 week, when he said the price I said no way could not afford that, then he said as a special offer I could pay half intrest free and pay the balance in a year. So I gave a cheque for £3150.00 I feel we have been Rip-Off
Hi – glad to hear about the new programme. I hope you’re going to cover the classic rip-off – RYANAIR charges – the ones you don’t know about until you’re almost booked! I know what to expect these days if I look for a ‘cheap’ or ‘free’ fare, but I know others who’ve been completely taken in. My biggest gripe is that Ryanair chooses to call it’s charges ‘OPTIONAL’. Whilst it might be optional to take a suitcase or not, it’s certainly not optional to check in! Check-in with Ryanair (no matter how you do it) incurs a charge – how can this be ‘optional’!?
Hi, i have been paying Halifax & Lloyds for 9 yars the minimum payment but my balance has gone up! I have spoken to them and they refus to stop interest basically making m in debt to them for the rest of my life. After years of letters and about 20 phon calls a day i have written to them now 7 times asking them to stop all contact as it is harasment and to take me directly to court where we can deal with it. They refuse to do this and continue with the harasment. I have rung th police who will not help and all i want them to do is to take me to court if they think they are right! If not and they won’t go to court how can they be allowed to haras me and my partner?
Dear Gloria,
I have just seen you on ‘Saturday Kitchen’ and am hoping you will be able to support myself and the other 59 people in the same situation.
Back in 2006 a very well known building company created a scheme where first time buyers could buy a brand new flat with the prices starting from £60,000. Part of the sales pitch included details about amenities that were going to be included on the estate. For example: landscaped communal gardens, gym, play park, local shop etc etc. None of which has appeared. In fact the area where they were suposed to be built is now being turned into flats.
I moved into my flat in March 2007 and the estate was due to be finished within a 2 year period. Here we are 2 and a half years later without roads and footpaths and a half finished estate. We are hoping with the support of yourself and the rest of the ‘Rip off Britain’ team we can take them head on.
I hope to hear from you soon
What a fantastic idea for a programme!
A family member has recently been charged an extortionate £3794.28 for a water bill which the company are refusing to reduce. This is completely unreasonable as the property only consists of a toilet and small basin!!! No matter what we say they are refusing to reduce the amount claiming that they are correct to charge this amount because the property is an unmetered one!
It would be great if we could get some help on issues like this.
Like the Poll Tax, the TV License takes no account of your ability to pay, nor how much (if any) of the service you use. It hits the lowest incomes hardest by percentage of income.
When it started, there was only one use for a TV set, and only one broadcaster so a kitty type setup was fine, this has fragmented so much now that the BBC are a minority entertainment service that you can’t unsubscribe from.
It’s nothing short of a legally enforced extortion racket.
The BBC forces itself onto the airways and we are required to pay for its upkeep regardless of whether or not we watch it.
If we want to watch ANY TV channel we are forced to pay for a TV Licence, I only watch the movie channels but I still have to pay for the BBC channels that I DON’T USE.
What ever happened to free choice?
The BBC is a public broadcast service but it competes for viewers as if it were a private company. This is its biggest downfall. 20 million for Ross is a Joke. £850,000 a year to the guy who runs it Mark Thompson is appalling.
Im sure there are plenty of qualified people who would do this job for a fraction of the cost.
All the shows on the BBC have premium phone numbers to call for competitions and the like. Shouldn’t those calls be covered in our service charge?
The BBC sell advertising space on all their sites, all you need to do is visit the bbc website using a proxy from a different country and you can see links to buy advertising space. They make money from selling DVD’s, Books, The BBC Magazine goes out to 88 million people a year, they must make a fortune.
This is a complete monopoly.
You wouldn’t pay £140 a year to tax a car that you dont use would you?
At £139.50, The Tv licence is a joke.
Every other channel funds itself by advertising, so why can’t the BBC do the same. They are already screwing us over by showing BBC programs on Dave and the UKTV Network. Where shows are 40 mins apart instead of the usual 30 mins.
They can’t have it both ways.
Im not saying get rid of the BBC, I just want them to fund themselves or allow us to opt out of their service.
Hello Gloria and team
I do hope you can help me with this as it has made my blood boil and I feel I have been ripped of.
Virgin Media have been taking money from my account for a dial up service that I have not been using because I already have broadband from them and although they have acknowledged this Virgin will not refund the money to me, saying I should have checked my bill.
This MUST BR WRONG, how can anyone take money they are not entitled to and than take no responibilty for returning it.
Hi Team,
I would just like to stress that the biggest rip off merchants in the UK have to be the travel companies. They have such a monopoly over the travel market that they can promise you the world, make you pay through the nose, and when the holiday falls way short of expectations, take no responsibility whatsoever.
We recently booked with First Choice but travelled with Thomas Cook. Despite having specified and paid for a 4 star hotel in Tunisia, the actual hotel was more of a two star standard. When we complained at the resort we were moved to a 4 star property but at an additional cost of £215.
We have now contacted ABTA regarding our complaint as I do not feel we are being unreasonable in asking for a refund of the additional money we had to pay.
However, ABTAs process is very long winded and complicated and could cost me a lot in fees if I pursue this complaint. Do you have a solution?
hi we have just changed the taxation class on jennys car (she has cancer) to disabled so gets free road tax the dvla offer a very good service normally you can tax your car on the phone or online and the new disc arrives in a few days however try and get a refund out of them and it takes 30 working days i sent jennys tax disc back for a refund on the 29/08/09 still nothing back yet as you can guess money is tight here and every penny counts just another rip off i think
Dear Gloria
Just seen you on Saturday Kitchen, what a great idea. Ford Motor Company must be one of the biggest Rip of merchants. An airbag fault has occured on my fiesta just outside of the warrenty. The part that has failed on my car must have been faulty when the car was manufactured but ford motor dont want to know. It will cost £250 to put right.so i now have to pay up for a part which should not have randomly failed. I have not been able to get anywhere with the customer care line and they refused to give me an addresss to contact someone higher in authority. Britian at its best????
I need to have a root filling to one of my teeth (Molar) but my NHS dentist send he could not do for mr I ask why “I do not get paid enough” you will have to private this will cost me £610 I am going to Hungary as it will cost me about £150.
We pay much more for things here than in Europe eg council tax here £1200 per year France 600 euros.
I could go on and on about rip off britain, but one is that fact that none of the party leaders have had to live and budget for life as they have always had every thing handed to them so what they do does not effect them.
Gloria,
Just seen you with Jmaes Martin on Saturday Kitchen and am glad to bring to your attention the charges incurred when you book a Ryanair flight.
Charges for putting a bag in the hold is all well and good but charging you to check in online using your own facilities (Computer and printer) is outrageous.
I go back to Northern Ireland, regularly to see my parents and family and fly with Ryanair into City of Derry airport as it is very convienent but the charges incurred as now ridiculous, not only to check in online, ther eis no other option but to pay for the flight…you use your own bank ebit card and they charge you £10 per passenger per leg of the journey…
We need an upfront fare advertised when you book the flight and get away from all these hidden charges which are illegal elsewhere in the EU!!!
Help, can you please advise me. I have been having my water supplied vis water meter for some 10 years so i am very very careful on the amount of water i use and my bills are around £50 to £60 max, so you can see my shock when i just got a bill for £1,835.62. they say i must pay it i have had my property checked for leaks ( nothing) Please help me i have NOT used that water i could understand it if i had a family but its just me.
hi i wonder if anyone has noticed the standing charges on their water bills,on my bill i have a charge of £112.70p forwater standing charge and £106.10 on the sewerage.i do not have a meter and don,t want one as they will be able to charge what ever they like once they have everyone on one,but we have to find the money for anything that goe,s wrong on our property.so why am i being asked to pay this obscene charge,it seems that these utility people can charge what ever they like and are never challenged about it,something should be done about it.
i am interested in advice on how i can sort my messy financial situation as I feel I am not in control on how my bank, credit cards are chagrging. I have worked all my life and take ful responsibility in usage of credit cards as weith lots of people. But I know tht the credit they gave me was temptation but not exactly fair. Now my situation has changed and have seperated and am a lone parent. I am trying to pay off my credit cards and have gone through gov debt management and followed advice and written to them explaining my situation and offereing a an affordable payment but they are not responding still adding interest, still charging me ppi which i have numerously asked them to cancel and have given me bad credit, although i my pay is taken up with bills, this situation is sinking me further and further into debt and the same goes for my previous bank that i was with for over 30 years. will not help but were quite forward in supplying loans to me in the past. please help and give me advice the problem i have is time, i hae to commit myself to work, i cant affor a land line, my mobile cost is high, as left holding on with these awful automated services you know get where you cant even speak to a human being.regards a very hard working british citizen.
Good afternoon Gloria
I saw you at the weekend on saturday kitchen, Please please please can you mention on the show about the shocking cost of a TV licience. I know this is a BBC show so its unlikley to be mentioned, but i just carnt understand how in this day and age its still justified to have to have to pay!!
I have been reading through a lot of the comments above and I see this matter has been mentioned a couple of times. I understand a lot of people have a constant strugge with holiday and utility companies, but I realy feel this topic should be brought up if only to justify as to why we have to pay a compulsary charge that we cart even opt out of the service
I look forward to hearing about it on the show
Megan
Hi Gloria and Team. More power to your elbow ladies !!
All this shock about bankers and financiers payouts and bonuses. I have sat in front of several solicitors a few times recently.They brieze into the room saying “I am charged out at £230 perhour” I dread to think what a barrister is charged out at?? We all pay for this when our insurance quote asks for legal protection click here !!
My partner involved in a road traffic accident ( the other party admitted full responcibility at the scene) her solicitor is £230 ph, my partner is a nurse at £7.00 per hour. SOMETHINGS WRONG HERE ?? the legal profession need exposing just like the bankers. Thats why we have these “no win no fee” clowns they are not daft, the big money is IN THE COSTS !!!
Is there anything that can be done to reduce the interest rates on credit cards. Mine has recently gone up to 34.9% with the option to opt out, which I have done of course. This is apparently to get rid of any customers that the credit card companies no longer want to deal with. What I didn’t realise is that I am already paying 27.9% which is obviously too high and I will never be able to pay this debt off.
Hi Gloria, I saw you on Saturday Kitchen recently and I was delighted to hear you announce that you, Angela Rippon and Jennie Bond have teamed up to help expose to the nation the various ways in which the public are being ripped off and being given absolutely no choice but to pay up or else. It is indeed a battle against Rip-Off Britain. Some of the biggest offenders are the large institutions. I am now referring to Blackpool international Airport and its ADF scheme (Airport Development Fund). This is where the airport makes every departing passenger over the age of 16yrs purchase an ADF ticket which costs £10. The passenger receives nothing in return and is forced to make the purchase there is no choice. This is a not voluntary action by the departing passenger
I have put my views on the matter to Susan Kendrick, Customer Relations & Communications Manager, Blackpool Airport. She finally admitted in one of her emails NO ADF TICKET – NO ONWARD FLIGHT. I have listed below all the correspondence numbered in sequence of events 1 to 13 on the matter. Emails 1 to 9 refer to correspondence by email between Susan Kendrick and myself. Emails 10 to 13 refer to correspondence between Trading Standards and myself.
Email Correspondence:
1st Follow up request to Trading Standards to their response on the 19-07-2009 (12)
1st Response from Trading Standards 19-05-2009 (11)
2nd Response from Trading Standards 10-10-2009 (13)
ADF Fee final message to Blackpool Airport 07-05-2009 (8)
Complaint re ADF fee to Trading Standards 15-05-2009 (10)
Copies of ADF Tickets
Enquiry re ADF Fee 30-3-2009 (1)
Out of Office Auto Reply ADF Fee 07-05-2009 (9)
Out of Office Auto Reply Third enquiry re ADF fee 04-05-2009 (6)
Re Third enquiry re Blackpool Airport ADF fee 04-05-2009 (5)
Reply from Blackpool International re ADF 15-04-2009 (2)
Response from Blackpool International 07-05-2009 (7)
2nd Enquiry re Blackpool ADF fee 04-05-2009 (3)
3rd enquiry re Blackpool Airport ADF fee 04-05-2009 (4)
I did at the time stand close to the machine where departing passengers had to purchase the ADF tickets. I heard nothing but complaints about this compulsory purchase in order to get the onward flight which the passenger had already paid for. I did contact the Trading Standards Office in Belfast and they confirmed that they were aware of the problem, but recommended that I contact the Trading Standard Office that covered Blackpool Airport.
I still have the original ADF tickets. I believe this is one, that I think you three ladies might enjoy looking at and at least give it some consideration. I would be happy to forward to you all the correspondence and copies of the ADF tickets that we had to purchase they do make interesting reading. If you decide it is at least worth looking at, let me have an address where I can forward all the correspondence to you at the BBC.
I look forward to watching Rip Off Britain
Many Thanks
James Orr