大象传媒

A conservatory seemed to be the ideal addition to a house with spectacular views over the Mawddach Estuary in Gwynedd. Homeowner Julia Wilson has now spent around 拢13,000 鈥� but has been told her conservatory could fall down at any time.

She hired builder Ian Green from Caernarfon to do the work 鈥� but his son James, from Fairbourne, did most of the building. The pair now refuse to accept there is anything wrong apart from a couple of leaks.

X-Ray asked surveyor Chris Armstrong to look at the conservatory. He found numerous faults 鈥� most importantly the lack of a proper steel structure to support it. He said: 鈥淚 am very worried. I am very concerned any kind of change in the weather or a strong wind we could be having real problems here. This thing could come down at any time.鈥�

Julia said: 鈥淚 can't believe it. I broke down when I heard this morning that the whole structure is so dangerous. I can't afford to rebuild it. It hasn鈥檛 hit home yet how severe this is.鈥�

The builders deny the work was of poor quality. They both blame Julia because they say she changed her mind and asked them to alter the approved plans during the work.

James Green has told us that the conservatory has withstood gales and snow this winter - which proves it is safe. He does admit there are minor "snagging" problems, and his dad Ian says he is willing to go back and fix them.

But the charity Care and Repair Gwynedd, who are helping Julia resolve the problems听are advising her not to let them back on site because they have no insurance and no plan for fixing the structural problems.

James says he's now given up building work. X-Ray has passed details of the investigation onto Trading Standards in Gwynedd who are investigating.

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When you're flying off on holiday, or heading home, a long delay is the last thing you want. But at least tired travellers can take comfort that the law is on their side.

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Back in October, the European Court of Justice reminded airlines of their obligations under EU Regulation 261. If there's a delay of more than 3 hours and it's the airline's fault, they must pay compensation of between 250 and 600 Euros per passenger, depending on the length of the delay and the flight distance.

However, travel lawyer Mark Harvey says airlines are keen not to pay out. He told X-Ray 鈥淎ll of the travel companies, including of course the budget airlines have really hated this legislation since it came in, because it's put a big burden on them, quite rightly I think to compensate people when they don't get what they pay for or when the delay is unreasonable.鈥�

Two weeks ago, we featured the case of Malcolm and Cheryl Waters who鈥檇 had trouble getting the compensation they were due from Thomas Cook after a 12 hour flight delay. And it seems they weren鈥檛 the only ones who鈥檇 found the company鈥檚 pay-out policy to be less than consistent.

Nerys Sheehan from Cardiff, her husband Ben and their two young children spent ten days in Tunisia last September. At the end of their holiday, they arrived at the airport just after dawn, but they were in for a VERY long wait. Nerys explained, 鈥淲e were due to leave at 10 o鈥檆lock, but we were delayed and delayed and got on plane at 8.10 that night.鈥� But Thomas Cook鈥檚 explanation for the delay was far less clear. 鈥淲e were told a number of things, one of them being they didn't have a passenger list, then they said there was no flight number for us, then they said the captain was sick and then the crew were sick.鈥�

When Nerys returned home she tried to claim compensation for her 10 hour delay under EU legislation. However, Thomas Cook insisted they didn鈥檛 have to pay her anything as her delay was due to 'extraordinary circumstances鈥� - a technical issue on the plane and illness of a crew member. Travel lawyer Mark Harvey says sickness can be a defence. 鈥淐rew sickness is a very difficult one to get round, you wouldn't generally expect there to be standby crew at all times鈥�, he explained. But problems with the plane are a different matter. 鈥淭echnical problems and maintenance problems, that's been looked at by EU courts and it鈥檚 hard for the airline to avoid responsibility in that situation.鈥�

Nerys stayed in touch with other passengers from the same delayed flight, and was angry to discover that a party of 6 successfully claimed almost 拢2000 pounds from Thomas Cook under the same EU legislation she鈥檇 quoted to the company.听 We asked Thomas Cook why they鈥檇 treated people on the same flight so differently, but they鈥檙e sticking to their guns on Nerys鈥� case and say the other passengers were paid 鈥榠n error鈥�.

And Nerys isn鈥檛 the only confused traveller. Back in September 2010, Paul and Sue Chedzoy from St Fagans had booked a week's holiday to Turkey to celebrate Sue's 50th birthday. When they boarded the plane the engine made a loud noise - so it was back into the terminal building, where the couple spent all day waiting for information from Thomas Cook. Eventually, after 15 hours, at 11.30pm, the departure lounge closed. 鈥淲e had to go back to arrivals and were told to wait until 5 o'clock in the morning when the gate would reopen鈥�, Paul explained. The next day was Sue鈥檚 birthday 鈥� and most of it was spent in the airport, before the plane finally took off that afternoon. The couple felt sure they'd be compensated for their 26 hour delay- but Thomas Cook sent them packing

鈥淭hey told us we needed to contact our holiday insurance company鈥�, said Sue. 鈥淲e contacted them, but they sent no, we needed to claim from Thomas Cook鈥�. After seeing X-Ray鈥檚 last report, Paul and Sue decided to try again. This time they were offered 拢50 each in vouchers as a gesture of goodwill, but they weren鈥檛 impressed. When we contacted Thomas Cook, the company changed their mind again! They told us they鈥檇 looked again at the reasons for the delay and admitted they should have paid compensation after all.

Even when compensation IS due, Thomas Cook likes to save money by offering vouchers instead of cash. Lawyer Mark Harvey told X-Ray, 鈥淭hey are quite permitted to provide vouchers but only with written agreement of passengers. You鈥檙e not forced to accept vouchers, you are perfectly entitled to stand your ground and say no, I want money.鈥� That's what Sue and Paul did and Thomas Cook has now agreed to pay the compensation set out by law - 拢718 in cash. But Nerys has been given nothing. Yet Thomas Cook denies their policy is inconsistent and says it all depends whether delays are due to 'extraordinary circumstances'.

For many of us, the home PC is a bit outdated. After all, it's much easier to reach for our smart phones to pay bills or check emails these days. But for Daniel Duckfield from Narberth, a home computer is essential.

Daniel became blind in 1999 after doctors found bleeding behind his eyes.鈥淚 had the operation and that was the last time I'd seen,鈥� he told X-Ray reporter, Rachel Treadaway-Williams. 鈥�(I鈥檇) totally lost my eyesight.鈥�

It was a devastating blow that Daniel spent years coming to terms with. But his life finally got back on track when he discovered a clever new computer package. It's called the JAWS system and it helps the blind and partially sighted by reading aloud text as it's typed into a computer. You can even scan bills and it will read them back to you.

鈥淚t totally gave me my life back,鈥� added Daniel, who uses JAWS to shop online, pay bills and even write poetry. But just before Christmas, Daniel's life was put on hold when his computer started to run very slowly. He decided to take it to PC World, who told him they could speed his machine up by installing a new operating system.And the best bit was, he would only be without his computer for a few days.

But two weeks later he still hadn鈥檛 heard from PC World 鈥� then when he called his local branch, they had some bad news for him. 鈥淭hey told me they'd tried to configure everything with JAWS,鈥� said Daniel. 鈥淭hey'd had a lot of problems, and that my computer had now broken down and switched itself off and it wouldn't come back on.鈥�

PC World said they would have to send the computer away to be fixed, and that the repair would take around 5 weeks. But when that deadline passed, there was yet more bad news for Daniel.

PC World told him his computer hadn't been repaired at all, and to add insult to injury it would have to be sent away yet again. PC World eventually agreed to lend Daniel a laptop, but that doesn't work properly for him either.

鈥淢y independence has totally gone out the window,鈥� he said. 鈥淚've got no life without that computer.鈥�

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X-Ray got in touch with PC World, who apologised and admitted they should have been quicker to resolve the issues. And the good news for Daniel is they鈥檝e now given him a brand new computer!

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Sometimes we get bored of the same old presents and it鈥檚 nice to give friends and relatives something different. And so the Gift Experience was invented.

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Now you can pay for someone to experience a hot air balloon ride, a pamper day at a spa or a race around in a Ferrari.

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But X-Ray鈥檚 Rachel Treadaway-Williams has met a viewer who was less than pleased with her Gift Experience. Diane Protheroe from Caerphilly was given two theatre tickets to the West End from the Marks & Spencer Gift Experiences website as a Christmas present from her daughter. It cost 拢99 plus a booking fee. But when Diane and her husband picked up their tickets on the night they were quite surprised, as they had a price of just 拢22.50 each on them.

Diane told Rachel, 鈥淭hat is when alarms bells started ringing really and thinking I'm sure they should have been worth more than this鈥�. She complained to M&S but the company told her it was down to the overall price being inclusive of a booking service, public liability cover, cancellation cover, product packaging and the flexibility to choose different shows.

We telephoned the theatre to find out more. They told us Diane hadn鈥檛 lost out as the seats are worth 拢48.50 each.听 But because companies can bulk buy the tickets they get them at a discount. And by law, this price has to be printed on the tickets - but may not be passed on to the customer.

M&S has told us the price printed on the tickets isn't necessarily the price paid for them, and tickets for equivalent performances can cost 拢50.听 But they did apologise for the inconvenience caused.

So we decided to check out some of the other gift experiences offered by M&S to see whether you could get a better deal by buying them direct. We found, for example that if you buy a hot air balloon flight experience direct with Virgin it will cost you 拢149. But, if you buy this as a Gift Experience through the M&S website it鈥檒l cost you 拢189.

If you buy a Supercar Experience that gives you the chance to drive three dream cars including a Ferrari 鈥� it鈥檒l cost you 拢139, but as a Gift Experience from M&S it鈥檒l be 拢199. And if you buy someone a luxury pamper day for two with M&S that鈥檒l cost you 拢199. But if you call the only spa in Wales direct 鈥� you鈥檒l get slightly shorter treatments but it鈥檒l only cost you 拢75.

M&S has told us its Gift Experiences offer great value, more flexibility and additional extras like longer spa treatments than buying direct. And they're covered by the company's famous returns policy, so you can exchange them for gift vouchers if you don't fancy the gift experience you're given.