- 3 hours ago
Rip off Britain - Season 17 Episode 24 -
Excluded from cheap energy tariffs because of where I live
Excluded from cheap energy tariffs because of where I live
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00:00Can't get the cheaper tariffs they are entitled to.
00:03The engineers conclude that it just hasn't got a connection to the wireless signal that's required.
00:08It's just incredibly frustrating.
00:11So there's really no hope unless something changes with the signal.
00:16Plus, the festival goers left fuming after their tickets got cancelled, not once but twice.
00:22So is ticket insurance ever worth it?
00:24Keeping more of your money in your pocket, this is Rip Off Britain.
00:30Hello and welcome to Rip Off Britain, turning up the pressure on companies so you don't have to.
00:41Now today, from our HQ in Salford, the miraculous health products whose promises just don't stack up,
00:47we expose the dubious claims made in adverts that now have been banned.
00:52Help, look and feel your best, reduce anxiety and stress.
00:56All of them would entice me to buy that one.
00:58Plus, in our advice clinic, the viewer whose blow dryer went missing in action when they returned it to the seller.
01:04So just who should get the hair dryer treatment in this one?
01:08But first, back to a topic that we've put in the spotlight before, smart meters.
01:12We're still keeping a beady eye on this one and today it's one particular type of customer that's been left tearing their hair out.
01:19Yes, we're talking drivers of electric vehicles.
01:22Almost 400,000 of them were sold in 2024, up 20%.
01:26And the marketing that goes with them often sells the benefits of a cheap overnight charging rate via a smart meter.
01:34On paper, it's a very tempting offer.
01:37But it all hangs in one fact.
01:38Your smart meter has to, well, work.
01:41And as we find out in this program before, that isn't always a given.
01:49Roger Mills from North Yorkshire seems to know rather a lot about his neighbour's energy supplies.
01:56This guy here's got a working smart meter.
01:58This guy here, he's got a smart meter that doesn't work.
02:03He knows all of this because smart meters are the talk of his village.
02:07Sleights just outside Whitby.
02:09He's got a smart meter.
02:11Because for anyone who owns an electric car like Roger and his wife Tracy,
02:16a smart meter can slash the cost of charging up.
02:20When they got their EV, their electric vehicle, in October 2023, they did some calculations.
02:27Their usual energy tariff with OVO charged them around 28 pence per kilowatt hour of electricity.
02:34So charging their Audi from empty to full would set them back 21 pounds 56 pence.
02:42But if they switched to OVO's EV charging tariff, that same full charge would cost a quarter of the price, just 5 pounds 39 pence.
02:52All they'd need to access that cheap rate was a smart meter that fed readings back to OVO.
02:58So as you expect, that is exactly what they asked for.
03:04Unfortunately, as soon as it was fitted, the engineer hit a problem.
03:09He said that it wasn't connecting to the wider area network, so he didn't think that it would communicate.
03:19So he said he'd report back to OVO and they would get in touch with us to see what else they could do to try and get us a functioning smart meter.
03:29To send the data that generates our bills, smart meters use one of two different systems.
03:37Cellular technology, as used by mobile phones, is used in the Midlands, southern England and Wales.
03:43But in Scotland and northern England, where Tracey and Roger live, the vast majority of meters rely on long range radio frequencies, which can cause problems.
03:56So if you are in perfect line of sight of the radio signal straight line, then you will get connectivity.
04:05But if there's a hill in the way, it can't get across to the other side of the hill.
04:10And in this part of the world, hills aren't in short supply.
04:16But assuming that energy companies wouldn't offer these tariffs if there wasn't a fix, Tracey got on to OVO.
04:23They said I had to wait 42 days to see if the smart meter connected, which it never did.
04:30And then they just kept coming up with excuses.
04:33It was constant me having to get in touch with them to try and find out why the smart meter wasn't working.
04:42This went on for months.
04:44And every time they charged their car, it was costing them four times what they could have been paying.
04:50It's frustrating. It's stressful.
04:53It's costing us more money than what it should be to charge our car.
04:57There's a tariff in place, but yet we can't access that tariff.
05:01With no fix in sight, the couple referred their case to the energy ombudsman,
05:06which told OVO to pay a goodwill gesture of £125 in recognition of the poor customer service they'd received.
05:14But while that recouped some of the extra they'd had to pay to charge their car, it didn't fix the problem.
05:21The smart meter still didn't work.
05:26But five months later, they tried another approach.
05:30Rival supplier Octopus was offering a £90 incentive to switch to one of its EV tariffs.
05:37So I thought in swapping to them, I could get something from them that I haven't had from OVO and they would maybe be able to get the smart meter working, hence why we swapped over.
05:50And Octopus came to install a new smart meter, but the engineer was singing a now familiar tune.
05:58He said, doubt very much that this is going to connect because of where you live and that you would need a cellular hub, which would make your smart meter work.
06:10The engineer's suggestion would give up on the radio frequency network that most smart meters in the north use and instead connect to the cellular network our phones and smart meters in the south typically use.
06:23While it wasn't an officially approved method, it was technically possible.
06:31As Roger found out himself, he spoke to one of his neighbors' fellow Octopus customer, Ken.
06:39Morning, Roger. How are you?
06:40Yeah, not bad, thank you. How are you?
06:42Ken's now a bit of a smart meter guru.
06:45The bit at the top is a communication hub and that actually transmits the reading.
06:52Cellular hubs were only used by Octopus in exceptional circumstances, such as when all other efforts to get a signal had been exhausted.
07:02So Roger and Tracy asked Octopus to connect them in the same way too.
07:06But the company said there was no compatible equipment that would work with their meter.
07:12You're with Octopus, we're with Octopus.
07:14We're on the same street, pretty much everything's identical.
07:18All it takes is that cellular hub and why would Octopus treat one customer differently to another?
07:25Fed up, they complained once again to the energy ombudsman.
07:29But its response said Octopus had taken all reasonable steps to resolve the issue because the problem was with the network, not Octopus.
07:39It felt like another dead end.
07:41Tracey and Roger had owned their EV for 15 months but had not been able to charge at home at the cheapest rate, even once.
07:51I feel like I've made enough noise with a complaint going to the ombudsman.
07:57I can't do any more, basically.
07:59While Tracey and Roger's meter has never connected to the network, over the Pennines in Brampton in Cumbria, Isaac Wharton is stuck with a smart meter that did used to work.
08:14It was installed by E.ON in March 2023.
08:17This is the location of our smart meter.
08:21When we had the first one fitted, it worked perfectly.
08:25It was easy to use.
08:27In fact, you didn't have to open this box at all.
08:29You would just look at the in-home display and it would tell you exactly how much energy you'd consumed and how much it would cost you each day.
08:36But Isaac says just two months later, the smart meter stopped working.
08:41The engineers conclude that it just hasn't got a connection to the wireless signal that's required.
08:48After three years, an estimated five engineer visits and a complaint to the energy ombudsman, the meter still won't connect.
08:57The energy ombudsman's investigation concluded signal coverage was to blame.
09:03It's just incredibly frustrating.
09:06So there's really no hope unless something changes with the signal.
09:12When we got in touch, E.ON put this all down to insufficient signal coverage and it explained that although network communication isn't its responsibility,
09:23it's offered Isaac a gesture of goodwill in recognition of the inconvenience.
09:28What Isaac didn't know when we filmed with him is that there is hope after all.
09:35Remember Ken?
09:36The bit at the top is a communication hub and that actually transmits the reading.
09:43Turns out that by installing that communications hub, Octopus was breaking the rules.
09:48But in a good way.
09:51The smart energy code sets the standards for any equipment energy companies might install to help meters communicate.
09:59But Octopus told us that by installing the communications hub that got Ken's meter working, it was actually in breach of that code.
10:07Nevertheless, in April 2025, Octopus did the same for Tracy and Roger, got their meter working properly and gave them a £252 gesture of goodwill.
10:20And soon after, Isaac also got connected.
10:24He switched from his old supplier E.ON to a new one, Outfox the Market, which, you've guessed it, used a cellular hub to make sure his smart meter worked properly.
10:37Perhaps one reason those firms were happy to break the rules is that the rules were due to change.
10:46And in May 2025, cellular hubs were finally approved for use in the north of England and Scotland, giving suppliers a new way to fix communication problems that have plagued so many.
10:59But when it comes to smart meters, we are no stranger to bold promises that aren't always delivered.
11:05Joining me in HQ now is someone whose whole business relies on those promises working, Greg Jackson, founder and chief executive of Octopus Energy.
11:16Octopus has more than 7 million U.K. customers and describes its main EV tariff as the U.K.'s most popular.
11:24I started by asking him just how many smart meters in the U.K. don't connect to the network.
11:30A year ago, about 9 out of 10 of our electricity smart meters had good connectivity.
11:38The work relentlessly being done means that we're now at 95% of all the electricity smart meters are connecting successfully.
11:46And for new installations, it's 97%.
11:48So this network is getting a lot better because we're finding technical solutions like this.
11:53Yeah, I mean, you say it's getting a lot better, but for those 5% who are left out, it's incredibly frustrating, isn't it?
12:00And very often might be costing them money because they will not be able to get on these tariffs.
12:06It's incredibly frustrating.
12:07Our company and maybe some others that started creating really good value smart meter tariffs mean that the importance of working smart meters is greater than it's ever been for the people who want it.
12:19And that's why, you know, we spent so long talking to the regulated buddies that, you know, we are forced to use for the communications smart meters to try and get them working in every case.
12:31What can you confidently tell Octopus customers about the issues that they're having and what will you do to get them resolved?
12:37The most visible issue is when your in-home display doesn't work.
12:42But most of the time when that doesn't work, we're still getting the data at the back end and you can see it in your app and in the website.
12:49And so the majority of kind of smart meter issues don't stop you getting the cheap tariff.
12:54The second most common set of issues are to do with gas meters, but you don't have smart tariffs to gas meters.
13:01So if that's an issue, you can just submit your meter readings as usual and you're not losing out.
13:05And in the remainder, we're working on solutions like bigger aerials and hopefully sooner or later, you know, connectivity by different rates.
13:12What strikes me with, for example, you might buy an electric vehicle and you've been told by marketing from your company, perhaps others as well, that you'll be able to access this particular tariff.
13:24But then you can't.
13:27So you might have spent tens of thousands of pounds on something that you're hoping you'll get this tariff.
13:31So do you think you should do something about managing people's expectations?
13:36Yeah, I think we are clear that all those tariffs require a working smart meter.
13:41And I definitely suggest that if people are in areas where they're worried about smart meter coverage,
13:46they check that before they can be certain that they'll get the cheap tariff on their electric vehicle.
13:53So that's a very important point that you think people buying, for example, an electric vehicle should check whether the smart meter works before they do it.
14:01That's right. And so typically they can phone up an energy company and give them reasonable guidance.
14:06But you never really know to get to the house because I think, you know, for example, sometimes the meter might be in a basement.
14:12So even if you've got a signal, it can be hard to get connectivity.
14:16So the only way to be sure is to get the meters first, check they're working OK and then get the electric vehicle.
14:23Do you think you should put that higher up in your marketing?
14:26It's not just that. For example, when the car companies, the car dealers are selling the electric vehicles,
14:31they'll be telling people about cheap tariffs too.
14:33So I think we all just have to be clear that it requires a working smart meter.
14:36Greg Jackson, founder of Octopus Energy. Thank you.
14:41We also spoke to the Smart Energy Code Company, which sets the rules for how smart meters work and communicate.
14:48It told us that as well as updating the code to allow 4G communication hubs to be fitted across the country,
14:55it is also making significant progress analyzing and addressing the root cause of non-operating meters
15:03to increase the success rate of first-time installations.
15:06Now it's time for our advice clinic, where Lisa Webb from WITCH is here to help Mike Schumann from Surrey,
15:16who's got a serious case of buyer's remorse over a very pricey hairdryer,
15:22which he paid for with Buy Now Pay Later.
15:25Now, Mike, you got in touch with us after a return order of a hairdryer from Boots went wrong.
15:32First of all, why did you decide to return it?
15:34Well, at £330, we thought it just wasn't worth it.
15:39So we decided to return it.
15:41So we used the Boots app.
15:44We selected the products and then gave us a return option,
15:48click on the link to arrange a return.
15:51So we clicked on the link and it gave us two options to have the item collected or to drop it off.
15:57I mean, that all sounds pretty straightforward.
16:00So what went wrong?
16:00Extremely straightforward.
16:02Well, we selected the option to have it collected because me and my partner, we both worked full-time.
16:09The parcel was collected.
16:10We had a label.
16:11It was printed off with Boots on it, our address on it.
16:15We sent it off.
16:15We tracked it all the way back to Boots and Nottingham.
16:19All was fine.
16:21And then it was just a case of waiting for our refund.
16:23Then we were just basically a week later, no refund.
16:27Mike called Boots and, to his amazement, was told that despite the retailer offering the option on its returns portal,
16:36it wouldn't be able to accept the return via the collection method that he had selected.
16:40So Boots said it would send the hairdryer back to Mike.
16:44And have you got it now?
16:46No.
16:47Oh.
16:47Because it was never sent back to us.
16:49So as far as you know, Boots have still got it.
16:52Is that right?
16:53They've still got the products.
16:54Yeah.
16:54OK.
16:55Well, I think this is the moment at which Lisa ought to be brought in.
16:58What are you making of all this?
16:59I don't know whether I should be laughing or not at this story.
17:03Because the fact that you use a returns method that's offered to you by the retailer,
17:10and the retailer says they've got the return item, but we're not going to accept it doesn't make any sense at all.
17:17And you're totally within your rights to change your mind with a product.
17:21If you've bought something, you've got a statutory period to return it.
17:25Boots itself actually offers even longer than the statutory period.
17:27I looked it up on their website earlier.
17:29They offer you 35 days to return.
17:31Provided you do that, they will give you a refund.
17:34So it is genuinely bonkers that Boots decided that this particular return method that they offered suddenly wasn't acceptable.
17:43Very strange, in fact.
17:44So that was one part of our arguments.
17:46And then the second part was, well, just return it back to us.
17:49We just want it back now.
17:50So you're not refining us.
17:51We've accepted that.
17:52Just return it back to us.
17:54I couldn't agree more here.
17:55Why even offer something that you're not willing to accept as a return?
17:59Now, interestingly, with these sorts of things, it can sometimes depend on how you pay.
18:04So, for example, if you use Buy Now, Pay Later, and the retailer's still being difficult to deal with,
18:09you can actually try the Buy Now, Pay Later provider to see if you can get your money back that way.
18:14But it's always a bit hit and miss.
18:17It's no guarantee.
18:17But hopefully, if you can provide proof or evidence that you're in the right and you return something,
18:23even the Buy Now, Pay Later organization should be able to see, sense it.
18:27When we got in touch with Boots, it shed some light on what exactly had gone on,
18:34explaining that it doesn't use the Royal Mail collection service that Mike chose for returns.
18:40Customers can either return unwanted items to a Boots store or by dropping them off at a post office,
18:47while anyone who can't get to a post office can choose for a courier to collect their returns.
18:52It said it appreciates the inconvenience this has caused you and, I'm happy to say, will provide a refund.
19:00How does that make you feel?
19:02We just want to thank you guys for taking us up and, you know, looking into reaching out to Boots
19:08and the responsible Boots.
19:12Well, I'm glad we managed to get you some satisfaction.
19:15Lisa, thank you very much.
19:24If you'd like your complaint aired in our advice clinic, email us, ripoffbritain at bbc.co.uk,
19:30including a phone number for us to give you a call back.
19:33Or you can send us a message via WhatsApp.
19:36The number is 033 0678 1321.
19:40Or via Facebook.
19:42All you have to do is search for BBC Ripoff Britain.
19:45Or you can send that letter.
19:46The address is Ripoff Britain, BBC, Media City, UK, Salford, M52LH.
19:53Next, we get so many emails about this one.
19:56Health products that you purchase in good faith,
19:59but then turn out to be a bit of a letdown or sometimes a downright ripoff.
20:04For example, Amanda Vince Claydon emailed us about so-called slimming patches that she says were nothing like what was advertised.
20:12And she now says she feels extremely stupid for falling for them.
20:16But Amanda, I don't think you should feel stupid because the marketing behind so many of these products can be extremely convincing.
20:23And there are so many adverts bombarding us with all manner of claims like this.
20:28Yes, in fact, shortly we'll be speaking with the Advertising Standards Authority,
20:32which has been pulling thousands of these adverts off our screens.
20:35And they'll be sharing tips on how to spot the genuine claims in health product ads from the ones that are just more dubious.
20:41But first, to show you just how long these kinds of claims have been on our radar,
20:47here's a story about one type of health product, a so-called juice detox,
20:51whose claims, quite frankly, don't quite stack up under medical scrutiny.
20:58Feeling run down?
21:00Low energy?
21:02Poor digestion?
21:04Well, according to some, you need to detox.
21:07When we first aired this film back in 2015,
21:10the detox industry was big business,
21:13with no shortage of companies peddling regimes
21:15that claim to rid your body of nasty toxins.
21:21That message really appealed to health writer Eliza Flid from London.
21:25As well as running a blog reviewing health food and products,
21:29she was also keen to keep her own body in tip-top condition.
21:33So when one business asked her to try a new kind of juice detox,
21:36she jumped at the chance.
21:37You're sent a whole box of juices and there's eight for each day,
21:43for three days, and that's a mixture of different fruit and vegetable juices,
21:48and you generally have these every two hours.
21:50I had heard that I could expect to feel lighter, more energised,
21:55my skin could be better, I could sleep better.
21:58The juice company's website made some bold claims about detoxification.
22:04This fasting causes our body to move from the sympathetic nervous system
22:07to the parasympathetic nervous system,
22:10where it can begin to detoxify and heal.
22:13To find out if any of these claims stood up to scrutiny,
22:17we took Eliza to meet clinical dietitian Lucy Jones.
22:20Is it possible to detox your body using products that are out there at the moment,
22:26such as you've got tea bags, the smoothies, juices, etc.?
22:30There is no evidence that you can detoxify your body with any of these products.
22:35So not one of them has a single scientific study to back up the use of its products,
22:40because we never really know what it's doing.
22:42But that didn't stop the producers of some detox products,
22:46making claims that Lucy found astonishing.
22:49Fatigue, allergies, weight gain, low energy, poor immunity,
22:53and many other health conditions are all signs that we are not detoxifying properly.
22:57That's an unbelievable claim.
22:59So basically what they're saying is no matter what's wrong with you,
23:02all you need to do is use their product.
23:04And there's absolutely no evidence to back this up at all.
23:07Of course, unsubstantiated or overblown claims are not just the reserve of detox products.
23:15In the decades since the film was broadcast,
23:18a whole host of companies have been wrapped on the knuckles for making wild health claims
23:22relating to anti-ageing, weight loss, and even stress reduction, to name a few,
23:27that just don't stand up.
23:30And social media has meant that we're even more susceptible
23:33to such adverts carrying these claims.
23:36Step in the Advertising Standards Authority,
23:40which has been clamping down hard on these companies with the aid of AI.
23:44And we invited them into HQ to hear more about their work.
23:49Now we welcome Nikki Baker from the Advertising Standards Authority,
23:54alongside Ripoff Britain's very own Katie Sochi,
23:56who will be explaining these very interesting products on the table in just a minute.
24:00But Nikki, what are the rules? Just spell them out for me.
24:02Well, when it comes to health products and supplements and weight loss aids,
24:06there are really strict rules in place for how you can advertise them,
24:09and for very good reason.
24:10Because if your product is not a licensed medicine,
24:14then you can't claim that it can cure, treat, prevent, or diagnose medical conditions.
24:19What you can do is make very specific health or nutrition claims for certain vitamins or nutrients,
24:24but only if they are officially authorised on the GB Register of Nutrition and Health Claims.
24:31And to get claims onto that register, you have to have a huge body of robust scientific evidence.
24:37What you can't do, for instance, is claim that vitamin E can vastly improve memory in older people,
24:44because that's not an officially authorised claim for vitamin E.
24:47Even though we know that vitamin E is very good for the system.
24:50It might be very good in general, broad terms, but you can't make such a specific claim like that.
24:56The bottom line is, claims for these sorts of products have to be clear, factual and evidence-based,
25:03responsible and not misleading.
25:05When the ASA finds claims that don't stand up, it steps in to stop adverts running and ensure that packaging is changed.
25:14And on the table in front of us is a whole host of products bearing claims now banned from their advertising by the ASA.
25:23So Katie, now we come to you.
25:24Now you've got a great variety of bits here, so explain what you've got.
25:28We've got lots of different supplements here, from weight loss to menopause.
25:33We've got some slimming patches.
25:35We've got some driving glasses.
25:37And then we've got a natural salt inhaler.
25:39Now all of these products are by the same brand, Dr. Rob's Remedies,
25:44which you probably haven't heard of because it doesn't actually exist.
25:48So we made up the brand, yeah, and we made up that brand so that we could set up our own stall.
25:53And what we wanted to find out was what members of the public made of some of these claims,
25:58because all of the claims that you can see here, including on the supplements,
26:03are lifted from ASA rulings against real adverts that violated the advertising code.
26:10And those adverts were taken from a mixture of sources,
26:13so newspapers, magazines, websites and social media.
26:17Which I'll be having a look.
26:23So do you tend to trust claims that you see in adverts?
26:28Sometimes.
26:30Depends on the company, maybe.
26:32If they're, like, well-known.
26:34Most of the time, yeah.
26:35I would definitely check reviews.
26:36I'd be a little bit cynical.
26:38I'd definitely read it and think, well, yeah, maybe, but probably not.
26:42Now to have a closer look at what Dr. Rob's Remedies has on offer,
26:47we have anti-glare specs, which promise the wearer to drive safer at night.
26:51Memory supplements, which can apparently prevent ageing and protect your brain.
26:57And stress-relief supplements to reduce anxiety and stress.
27:01Having a look at the labelling and the descriptions here,
27:04are there any of these products that would particularly entice you to buy them at all?
27:08Not the memory loss one.
27:10Maybe the weight loss one.
27:12But I'd obviously research into it a bit more.
27:14Probably with the stress one, really, yeah.
27:16And what do you make of those sort of claims on the bottle?
27:18Yeah, they seem OK to me, yeah.
27:19To me, these supplements are too vague.
27:24They don't even give, like, which chemical works and that kind of thing.
27:29Help look and feel your best.
27:31Reduce anxiety and stress.
27:33All of them.
27:34All of them would entice me to buy that one.
27:36Are there any lines in particular that you're sceptical about?
27:39Prevent ageing and protect your brain.
27:41I'm not sure I've seen anything like a tablet that could prevent ageing or protect your brain.
27:47Say goodbye to glare and crystal clear vision.
27:49Anti-glare, polarised, driving glasses.
27:52I love it.
27:53I'd definitely buy them.
27:54OK.
27:54I'm sold.
27:55Well, I can tell you that Dr. Rob's Remedies is not a real company.
28:01OK.
28:01And Rob stands for Rip Off Britain.
28:04OK.
28:04So all of the claims that you can see are taken from real adverts for health products that
28:10were banned by the Advertising Standards Authority.
28:13Right, OK.
28:13Because the claims that they were making in those adverts were either untrue or not backed
28:18by any evidence at all.
28:20OK.
28:21Yeah, that is surprising.
28:22That is crazy.
28:25It just shows you what marketing can do, though.
28:27It doesn't surprise me.
28:29I'm relieved to find out that those are those happy bandmen.
28:32Could I look for a receipt when I get home?
28:34That's it for sure.
28:39So what's your reaction then to all of that?
28:42Well, it's really interesting, isn't it?
28:43And I think people probably assume that because something is on a shelf or exists in real life
28:48that it's legitimate, don't they?
28:51Yeah, I think there's a high level of trust as well as there being a healthy level of
28:54scepticism at play.
28:55I'd like to talk about how seriously you take it, whether somebody gets in touch with you
28:59and say, I don't believe this or don't trust it.
29:01How seriously do you take the whole issue?
29:03We take it really seriously.
29:06Mostly when we publish a ruling and we decide for or against particular claims, it draws a
29:12line in the sand.
29:12And most of the time, advertisers listen and they'll either change their ad or pull it all
29:18together from circulation.
29:20But sometimes we have to go a bit further.
29:22So we don't just leave it there.
29:24We follow up and make sure that the changes fit.
29:26But do you have teeth to actually take it legally further?
29:28If we make a request that something is non-compliant, the platforms are obliged to take it down on
29:34our request.
29:34And in instances of repeated, persistent rule breaking, we also have other escalation routes.
29:40So, for example, we can make referrals to enforcement bodies like trading standards.
29:45Mostly it doesn't come to that.
29:47And advertisers are generally keen to try and abide by the rules.
29:50And we're here to help them work out how to do that.
29:53Give me an example of something that you have banned that you've just said that would work.
29:57So we've seen instances of advertisers claiming that their supplements can help with things
30:03like ADHD and anxiety.
30:04And we even saw one that claimed to be the secret weapon for parents with kids with autism,
30:11which is really quite cynical and terribly misleading.
30:15So that's why our work in this area is so important.
30:18Well, we'll all be looking at it all differently when we go into the health food shops from here
30:21on in.
30:22But thank you both very much indeed.
30:29Now, I don't know about you, but getting some exciting events booked into my diary is a
30:33real tonic.
30:34I like having a few activities to look forward to.
30:37And that's exactly what the people in our next film did when they planned a weekend away
30:42at a summer festival full of music, yoga and fitness.
30:46Do you know what?
30:46I think it sounds like your kind of thing.
30:48You could have come with me, Julia.
30:50But sadly, for the festival goers coming up, it was a big fat case of disappointment.
30:55Shortly, we'll be finding out what your rights are when an event you've paid for is cancelled,
30:59whether it's a festival like this one or simply tickets to see your favourite artist perform.
31:04First, though, here's the story of these particular festival fans whose hopes were well and truly
31:10dashed.
31:14This looks a good spot.
31:15Shall we go here?
31:15Best friends, Emily Bentley and Emily Piccinini-Eddleston, are both doctors who enjoy a bit of yoga
31:23and wellness in their downtime.
31:26I've been doing yoga on and off since I was 15 or 16.
31:30And then over the years, got into adjacent kind of wellness activities.
31:36When you work at A&E, it's very stressful.
31:39So just to soften, breathe a little bit and just process the day, it's really important.
31:43Emily and Emily are such yoga fans that in November 2023, they excitedly booked weekend
31:52tickets for the following year's Seoul Circus Festival.
31:56As this promotional video shows, it's a summertime event in the Cotswold countryside with plenty
32:02of opportunities for yoga and a chance to let your hair down.
32:06There were lots of photos of all the different activities that they were doing.
32:10It just looked vibrant and restorative.
32:13It looked really wholesome, exactly what you'd expect from a well-being festival.
32:18Tickets set them back £150 each, which they paid for on one credit card, along with an extra
32:25ticket for a friend.
32:26And as August 2024 approached, the excitement grew.
32:30Had all the gear ready, all the camping things.
32:33We were really excited and really up for it.
32:36But just six weeks before the festival came a surprising email.
32:42The whole thing was cancelled.
32:44It felt very out of the blue.
32:46We hadn't heard anything from them.
32:48They'd kind of said that we'd had to wait like one or two months for further information.
32:52I was really disappointed.
32:55It ruined what was going to be a really nice, like, gathering.
33:01Seoul Circus said the cancellation was due to, quote, a dramatic rise in operational costs
33:06and that proceeding with this year's festival would risk significant financial losses.
33:13It said tickets would be automatically rolled over to the following year.
33:17But instead, Emily and Emily asked for a refund and Seoul Circus pointed them to an online
33:24form which they filled in and sent off.
33:28A month later, they'd heard nothing.
33:32So, Emily tried again.
33:34And again.
33:36But there was no response, nor could she find any other way to contact the festival organisers.
33:42I went on their social media and I couldn't comment on anything.
33:46They'd stopped the ability to comment on any of their posts.
33:49I thought that was really odd.
33:51With their options running out, they checked the online terms and conditions to try and
33:56work out what was happening.
33:58But there, they noticed a clause that really confused them.
34:03Seoul Circus stated, all refunds are discretionary.
34:07I think at this point, we'd kind of had a bad feeling about getting the refund already and
34:12knowing that it was discretionary and they basically got to decide whether or not we got
34:17one, which is what it sounded like, I think.
34:19It didn't feel hopeful.
34:21Emily went back to her credit card company to see if it could reimburse the £450 that she'd
34:27spent on tickets.
34:28But it refused, pointing to a line in the T's and C's stating tickets were non-refundable.
34:36But all was not lost.
34:38The tickets would still be valid for Seoul Circus 2025.
34:42Right?
34:43Wrong.
34:44We realised that Seoul Circus was being liquidated and that the 2025 event, like, categorically
34:51wasn't happening.
34:52We didn't have a ticket and we didn't have a refund.
34:55So much for well-being and relaxation.
35:00It's just been an absolute nightmare.
35:02Nothing's easy.
35:03No one makes that process easy.
35:05It's been really stressful, to be honest.
35:07Also in the queue for a refund is Lara Norris from Manchester, who's been attending Seoul
35:12Circus since 2018.
35:15We had an amazing experience.
35:16We enjoyed it.
35:17Went to about four yoga classes a day.
35:19It was lovely.
35:20In fact, in 2020, Lara enjoyed it so much, she splashed out £495 for a lifetime festival
35:29ticket, meaning she could make it an annual affair.
35:33But just a few days before the festival in August 2024, Lara's plans for meditation were
35:40replaced by feelings of trepidation.
35:43I was all set to go to the festival and I saw something on Facebook saying that the festival
35:50had been cancelled.
35:52It was nothing more than a rumour, so Lara checked the festival website for confirmation.
35:58It said tickets had sold out, suggesting the event was still on.
36:03So, in an attempt to figure out what was really happening, Lara says she called one of the organisers.
36:09I got her voicemail, which says, we can't answer the phone right now.
36:14We're in a field building, looking forward to seeing you at the festival.
36:18Feeling reassured, Lara made the three-hour trip down to the Cotswolds.
36:23But when she arrived, the festival vibe seemed a little off.
36:28There's normally flags and signs saying, Soul Circus this way, parking this way, traders
36:33this way, and there was nothing.
36:36And I went up and down the road, and there was a woman, she said, you all right?
36:39I said, yeah, I'm looking for Soul Circus.
36:40And she said, it's not on this year.
36:44Lara was shocked, and with nowhere else to go, she was forced to spend £70 on a hotel
36:50room for the night before heading home.
36:54What these Soul Circus goers didn't realise was that the company's records showed a troubling
36:59state of affairs and growing debts dating back at least six years.
37:04And their final statement of affairs denotes a total debt of over £400,000, with £68,220
37:13owed to customers like Lara and the Emilies.
37:18And sad as that makes loyal Soul Circus fan Lara, she feels far more let down by the lack
37:24of communication.
37:25I just think that when something like that happens, you have to be accountable.
37:30They should have come out with something like authentic and sincere and apologise.
37:34We approached Soul Circus about the issues faced by Lara, Emily and Emily.
37:43And we were directed to the insolvency firm handling the company's administration, which
37:48declined to comment.
37:50We also sent emails and letters to Soul Circus's directors, but we heard nothing back.
37:57Back in our Salford HQ, I asked consumer expert Nikki Stopford what she makes of all this.
38:03Well, sadly, Julia, it's becoming all too commonplace.
38:08So people are spending hundreds of pounds on tickets for events or festivals.
38:13And then when they're cancelled, they're often being left in the dark.
38:16If it's postponed, then you might be offered a new date, which, you know, of course you
38:21can accept if you can make that.
38:23But the bottom line here, and this is the important point, is if you pay for a service and it's
38:28not delivered, then you are entitled to a refund.
38:31And if you're paid on credit card, then you are covered by Section 75.
38:35Now, this makes the credit card company jointly liable.
38:38And actually, a credit card company can't hide behind unfair or restrictive terms and
38:45conditions.
38:45So it's really worth pushing back if you have been fobbed off and told that you're not
38:50covered under Section 75.
38:52Now, what about, on the subject of guarantee, companies which offer additional what they call
38:58ticket insurance?
38:59Is that worth it?
39:01So ticket insurance can be limited, especially in situations like this.
39:05So you might often see big insurance providers having clauses in their terms that say things
39:12like no cover for cancellation, abandonment, postponement or relocation.
39:17But the important thing here is obviously to look at the terms and conditions and see what's
39:21available there.
39:22And organisers cannot hide behind terms and conditions that are unfair.
39:26So it's really worth pushing back in instances like that, because the law does override a
39:32company's policies.
39:34The word is stand your ground.
39:35Absolutely.
39:36Stand your ground.
39:37Pursue a claim by your banks.
39:38If necessary, take your claim through the small claims court.
39:41But definitely stand up to these companies and hold them accountable in situations like
39:46this.
39:46Thank you, Nicky.
39:49Since filming, the financial ombudsman upheld Emily's complaint and she received a full
39:55refund from her credit card provider, plus interest and a gesture of goodwill.
40:00Time now to put more of your questions to our experts.
40:08And today we have got serious girl power on the sofas.
40:12Lisa, this is so brilliant.
40:13One for you.
40:14Rachel Foulding says she needs help after entrusting her beloved watch to an online repair company.
40:20She paid them £600 up front.
40:23The watch has now been with the company for six weeks with no communication and their phone
40:27lines are out of order.
40:28That sounds really worrying.
40:30Oh, that is a concern.
40:32So in my view, I think that one of two things could have happened here.
40:36So if the company has gone into liquidation, there is a process to follow with liquidators.
40:42So you have to file a claim with the liquidator and they should be able to recover the watch
40:46for you, but you might not see that money again because basically what happens is you
40:50join a very long queue of other creditors.
40:53If it's a scam, then you're going to have to tell your bank, tell Action Fraud or Police
40:59Scotland if you're in Scotland and you're going to have to try and recover your money
41:02from the bank.
41:03The other thing to note for both of these scenarios is if you paid by credit card, try a Section
41:0875 claim through your credit card provider because you might be able to get the money
41:12back that way, but you might not get your watch back.
41:14On that point, actually, can I just ask another question?
41:17So would your insurance cover you for the watch?
41:19Because it could be worth thousands of pounds.
41:21Well, if we think that this is a scam and the watch has actually been stolen, then absolutely
41:26yes.
41:26And actually, if the watch is now missing as a result and it's covered by your house insurance
41:31or contents insurance or any form of insurance, even if you've got specialist watch insurance,
41:35definitely look into that because hopefully you can get some sort of coverage back from
41:39that.
41:40But if it's an important item, you might not see it again.
41:43And that's really sad.
41:44Nicky, we're going into the building trade now because Vernon Stewart has been in touch
41:49and says that she hired a builder to transform the front and back garden and paid him in
41:54installments.
41:55As soon as he got all the money, he did not return to finish the job.
41:59The garden has now been left in a shocking stage.
42:01So what can she do, if anything?
42:02Well, look, it's really frustrating, obviously, but not only is it a hassle, but it's also a breach
42:07of contract.
42:08So the first thing she needs to do is actually get back in touch with the building.
42:13Now, she may not want to, but she does need to give him the opportunity to complete the
42:17work and he must do that with reasonable care and skill.
42:22The other alternative is to ask for a partial refund.
42:25And any evidence that she's got, whether that's photos of the unfinished work, any emails that
42:31she's had with the trader during the course of their engagement is all really helpful and
42:36receipts as well.
42:37So put all that in writing.
42:39If she gets nowhere, then, of course, there are other options.
42:43She could look to see whether the builder is a member of a trade body that could offer an
42:47opportunity for some form of alternative dispute resolution or, of course, pursue a claim through
42:54the Small Claims Court.
42:55Very disappointing.
42:56Really disappointing.
42:57Well, I'm afraid that's almost it from us for today.
43:00But if you've missed any of the advice that we've packed in from smart meter troubleshooting
43:04to whether ticket insurance is really worth it, then catch up on today's programme and
43:09many more on BBC iPlayer.
43:11But for today, that's all from us and all of the Rip Off Britain team.
43:15Thank you so much for joining us and goodbye.
43:17Bye-bye.
43:18Bye-bye.
43:48Bye-bye.
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