大象传媒

Two T-Mobile customers had to clear their computers and cancel their credit cards after a technical help company the mobile phone business put them in touch with said their computers had been hacked.听

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Valerie Provence, from Dinas Powys, and Mark Baylis from Merthyr Tydfil both contacted T-Mobile after their phones developed problems.听

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Valerie couldn鈥檛 upload photos to her computer and Mark鈥檚 iPhone had a problem with a code that limits access to applications.听

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They were told they needed to speak to their phone鈥檚 manufacturer and thought they were talking to advisors from听Alcatel and Apple.听

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But just minutes into the calls, both were told their problems were because hackers were targeting their computers.听

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Desperate to get the problem fixed, they each agreed to pay more than 拢350 each to resolve the issue.听

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It was only after the call that Mark and Valerie realised they hadn鈥檛 been speaking to their phone鈥檚 manufacturer.听

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T-mobile had put both of them in contact with a completely unconnected company who had taken their cash - and their bank details.听

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鈥淭he number I had written down as far as I was concerned was 100% Apple, I had no reason to disbelieve it,鈥� said Mark.听

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Valerie and Mark had shared their personal information - losing hundreds of pounds and exposing themselves to possible identity fraud.听

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Valerie eventually got her money back from the company after telling them she鈥檇 contacted the police, while Mark was left out of pocket.听

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EE - who are T-Mobile's parent company - say they have taken steps to make sure it doesn't happen again and are talking to Valerie and Mark to see how they can resolve their issues.

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When Kayleigh Bennett from Merthyr Tydfil underwent laser eye surgery, she thought she was set for life.

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Kayleigh chose one of the biggest companies in the market -听 Ultralase 鈥� for her surgery because they offered a lifetime guarantee.

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鈥淭hey were the only company offering the lifetime care guarantee. Every other company was saying if you want to be retreated you would have to pay 鈥榵鈥� amount. So I said I would prefer to pay a little more and go to a company where I am sorted for ever for the rest of my life鈥�, she said.听

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But when her eyes started to naturally regress, she quickly found out it wouldn鈥檛 be that easy. When she called them to book a re-treatment she discovered that Ultralase had been bought by its rival Optimax, owned by Russell Ambrose. The company said on Twitter that Ultralase lifetime guarantees were safe.听

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Yet Kayleigh was told that was not the case and she would have to pay again after all.
鈥淭he person on the phone told me 鈥�. that Optimax had bought out Ultralase and the new owner of Ultralase wasn't honouring any lifetime care guarantees鈥�.听

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Since X-Ray got involved the company has apologised to Kayleigh and decided to completely change its policy. Russell Ambrose says he will now withdraw retreatment charges for all former Ultralase patients.

Do ticket booking fees drive you mad?听

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It鈥檚 become the norm nowadays. We buy a ticket to the theatre, a concert or a sporting event and you鈥檙e expected to pay extra 鈥� either for using a card, booking through the internet or getting your tickets through the post.听

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Recent research by Which? magazine, showed that eight of out of ten of us think booking fees are a rip off.听

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So the obvious way for us to avoid them is to turn up to the venue and pay in cash. Just as two X-Ray viewers, Gwenfron and Joan from Denbigh did when they went to book tickets at Venue Cymru in Llandudno.听

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Gwenfron told Lucy she was in for a shock, 鈥淚 handed over my 拢50 in cash and the lady looked at me and she said 拢53. So I said no it's 拢50 - I said the seats are 拢25 each - oh no she says there's a booking fee. So I said not for cash there isn't. I said you don't charge for cash. I said cheques and cards and online yes I agree but not for cash, and she said oh no we're not allowed to discriminate between payments anymore.听

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鈥淪he said everybody is complaining about it. I thought it was terrible. 拢3 on my own money when I was standing there facing her, you know I didn't want them posted or anything I was just standing there."

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We decided to ring round 15 of the biggest theatres in Wales to see whether this was the norm. They all charged differing amounts for paying by card but none of them charged for paying in person and in cash.听

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There is no law governing how much you can be charged for a booking fee 鈥� but advertising regulations do say that the fees have to be well advertised.听

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Venue Cymru told us its fees are widely advertised and they charge an administration fee so that they can keep their locally staffed box office open instead of outsourcing this service.