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Episode 13

Welsh consumer magazine. Omar Hamdi goes on patrol with police at Gatwick airport to investigate the rising number of complaints about meet-and-greet parking firms.

Omar Hamdi investigates the rising number of complaints about 'meet and greet' parking firms. He goes on patrol with police at Gatwick airport and speaks to viewers from Cardiff and Caerleon whose cars have been damaged, driven at speed and used as a taxi! Rachel Treadaway-Williams looks into a Carmarthenshire-based outdoor equipment company which has left customers high and dry. And Lucy Owen reports on Japanese knotweed, the plant which is invading gardens and houses across Wales. Could a recent legal case bring new hope for homeowners?

30 minutes

Last on

Fri 24 Feb 2017 19:30

Meet and Greet parking gripes

Meet and Greet parking gripes

If you don鈥檛 want the hassle of parking when you go on holiday, then you can pay a company to do it for you. In fact, 鈥榤eet and greet鈥 parking is soaring at UK airports 鈥 but so are the number of complaints.

Retired electrician Lyn Bigmore from Cardiff left his brand new SUV with WCP Bristol Airport Parking when he went to the Canaries last May. But when he got back to Wales he noticed new footage on his dashboard camera that stunned him.

He told X-Ray: 鈥淚鈥檓 seeing this vehicle of mine being driven and it鈥檚 doing like 76 miles an hour, something like that, and it has overtaken three vehicles in the hatched area. Dreadful driving for a professional driver.鈥

He鈥檚 since received an apology from WCP Bristol Airport Parking and had half his money back. The company says it's also taken disciplinary action against the staff involved.

But in Caerleon, there was a nasty surprise for another X-Ray viewer, days after she returned from a family holiday last October. Kathryn Bevis had made the mistake of entrusting her Golf to an unapproved meet and greet firm at Gatwick Airport.

In a letter from Sussex Police, officers explained that her car had been found in a street six miles from the听airport 鈥 not in a secure compound as she鈥檇 expected.

The officers who found her car are based at Gatwick Police Station. Sergeant Darren Taylor took X-Ray鈥檚 Omar Hamdi on a tour of the parking blackspots close to Gatwick.

Sgt Taylor said: 鈥淭hese people who are scamming are undercutting the approved meet and greet companies because they鈥檙e not paying their insurance, they鈥檙e not paying their tax, their VAT and they鈥檙e getting away with it.鈥

As well as visiting the street where Mrs Bevis鈥檚 car was abandoned, they visit a muddy field where, last summer, over a thousand cars were dumped by meet and greet companies.

鈥淵ou couldn鈥檛 even actually distinguish what some vehicles were, the mud was that thick, let alone what the registration was,鈥 said Sgt Taylor. 鈥淎nd the keys were strewn round everywhere. I mean it really was chaos.鈥

At Gatwick, airport bosses are urging passengers to ditch the dodgy parking firms and only use ones on their approved list, which can be found on the airport website.

Whatever airport you鈥檙e flying from, it鈥檚 worth looking out for the blue 鈥楶ark Mark鈥 symbol 鈥 it means the parking company鈥檚 been checked out and is up to scratch. And before dropping off your car, it鈥檚 also a good idea to take photos of its condition, inside and out, and the mileage 鈥 in case there鈥檚 a dispute.

Japanese Knotweed

Japanese Knotweed

Two men from Maesteg have won a landmark case against Network Rail because of Japanese Knotweed growing around their homes.

Neighbours听 Robin Waistell and Steve Williams took the company to court because the presence of Japanese Knotweed on the railway embankment behind their properties has left them struggling to sell their houses.

Japanese Knotweed was first cultivated by the Victorians; its roots can grow up to three metres in length and it spreads quickly. It can grow through walls and burst into homes. Anyone with Japanese Knotweed within seven metres of their property could struggle to get a mortgage unless they have a specialist treatment plan in place.

After Network Rail tried and failed several times to get rid of the Japanese Knotweed, Robin and Steve took them to court.

Earlier this month, Robin and Steve won their case and Network Rail were ordered to pay more than 拢4000 to each of them to get rid of the knotweed. The pair were also awarded an additional sum of around 拢10,000 each because the value of their homes had dropped.

A Network Rail spokesperson said: 鈥淎ll Japanese Knotweed sites reported to us by our lineside neighbours are included in our chemical control programme and sprayed on an ongoing basis.

鈥淲e are continually reviewing our processes for controlling Japanese Knotweed. This includes working closely with experts within Network Rail and with third party organisations.鈥

Rodger Burnett was the lawyer who represented Robin and Steve in court,

鈥淚've spoken to hundreds of people who are literally at their wits end, banging their head against wall, tried to get Network Rail to listen to them, hopefully with this judgement these people will be able to take on these big landowners and be able to sell their property.鈥

If you鈥檙e trying to sell a house with Japanese Knotweed:

-听 听 听 听 听 -听There's a property information form with a very specific question about Japanese knotweed. If you don't declare the presence of knotweed you could be faced with significant legal action from an unsuspecting buyer

If you鈥檙e considering buying a house:

-听 听 听 听 听 -听Lenders won't lend against property unless there's a treatment programme in place, that treatment is carried out by a competent contractor and the treatment programme is underpinned by an insurance backed guarantee

Mobile phone misery

Mobile phone misery

A family of loyal Vodafone customers from Killay in Swansea say they鈥檝e come to the end of the line with their mobile phone provider. Despite Vodafone鈥檚 assurances of being 鈥榓 network you can depend on鈥, over the last two years postman Mike Harries, his wife Penny and their 19-year-old son Luke have been cut off dozens of times, through no fault of their own,

The Harries family pay 拢73 a month for a family plan which allows them to share minutes and data.

The Harries have always paid by direct debit but Mike keeps receiving text messages from Vodafone saying they鈥檝e not paid their bill and soon afterwards, everyone in the family finds themselves cut off and unable to make calls or send texts. Despite repeated complaints to Vodafone, who鈥檝e promised to resolve the issue, the problem keeps happening.

In frustration, Mike contacted X-Ray.听 Presenter Omar Hamdi was shocked at the number of text messages the family have received from Vodafone. Omar met with Mike and also 19-year-old Luke, whose personal training business has been affected by the problems with Vodafone.听

Mike told Omar the texts first began in 2015 and he鈥檚 spent many hours on the phone to Vodafone customer services. Every time it happens, Vodafone apologise and reactivate their contracts and Mike says they assure him it won鈥檛 ever happen again. So far it鈥檚 happened at least 15 times and happened as recently as last week. Mike says the signal in Killay is so patchy, Vodafone has the most reliable signal. 鈥淚 pay the bill, but they don鈥檛 supply a service. I am basically stuck鈥, he told X-Ray. 鈥淚nside I am absolutely boiling and I just can鈥檛 do nothing about it.鈥澨

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Lucy Owen
Presenter Omar Hamdi
Reporter Rachel Treadaway-Williams
Series Producer Joanne Dunscombe

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