Episode 2
A three-part X-Ray series looking into holidays. Here, Lucy Owen checks out prices at airport shops to see if they are better than the high street.
The X-Ray team go undercover to expose a bogus nurse offering cut-price Botox treatments in her kitchen. Omar Hamdi is in Wrexham to meet customers of a travel giant who have struggled to get the compensation they are due after their flights were delayed. Lucy Owen checks out the prices at airport shops. Do they really have better prices than the high street? Rachel Treadaway-Williams goes mountain biking in Snowdonia. Could it be a cheap way to keep the family occupied over the long summer months? And - how clean is your ice cream - we subject Welsh seaside ice creams to bacteriological tests.
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Airport shopping
Duration: 02:40
Backstreet botox
You鈥檝e been telling us about a backstreet practice called 鈥淏otox Beauty鈥 or 鈥淰izzy Bizzy鈥 run by a woman called Vivienne Baker from her kitchen in Porthcawl. Vizzy Bizzy offers Botox at the bargain price of 拢70 for one area or three areas for 拢150. But beware 鈥 it鈥檚 definitely too good to be true.
Richard Kerr, a hairdresser from Caerphilly, went to Vizzy Bizzy for treatment. He says that everything seemed legitimate at first.
鈥淥n Facebook her name is recommended. There were pictures and a certificate. You wouldn鈥檛 think about looking into it so I thought I鈥檇 give her a go.鈥
Richard paid 拢300 for Botox and fillers. But when he went back a second time, cracks began to show. He says the Botox lasted only two weeks and he saw no effect from the fillers at all.聽 Vivienne told Richard she would re-do the procedures but he would have to pay another 拢70 for the privilege.
This time he was asked to come to HER house to have the injections.
鈥淚t was a total nightmare. I sat in her kitchen with children running around the area. It wasn鈥檛 very clean. There was no anaesthetic on my lips so I could feel every pain. It was excruciating.鈥
The next day, Richard says his mouth was full of blisters.
When our researchers paid Mrs Baker a visit posing as customers, she told them she was a midwife with a prescription license making her qualified to prescribe and administer Botox. She also told our researchers she had 10,000 Botox customers. 聽
We couldn鈥檛 find any record of her on the Nursing and Midwifery Council register. As for that certificate Richard mentioned 鈥 the 鈥淗arley Street Accreditation鈥濃 that doesn鈥檛 even exist.
We showed our footage to Ashton Collins whose organisation Save Face monitors the safety of Botox clinics.
She 聽told us that but her failure to carry out a proper consultation or ask any medical questions before injecting Botox 聽could be putting customers鈥 lives in danger.
鈥淣one of these procedures are without risk. Even in the most skilled and experienced hands they can carry complications. If someone had an allergic reaction they could go into anaphylactic shock. And if the practitioner wasn鈥檛 able and equipped to deal with that the person could lose their lives.鈥
Ms Collins also says the cheap prices Mrs Baker offers are also a concern.
鈥淩eputable practitioners would find it difficult to source the product for that price. It would raise serious alarm bells about what product she鈥檚 using, where she鈥檚 sourcing it from and how safe and effective it is.鈥
We tried contacting Vivienne Baker to ask her about her practices but we didn鈥檛 received a response.
If you鈥檙e thinking about getting Botox, visit the for more information.
Mountain biking in Wales
X-ray鈥檚 been investigating ways of entertaining the family without breaking the bank. If you have a bike 鈥 even a basic one 鈥 you can try out mountain biking trails across Wales for free.
The X-ray team visited聽聽near Dolgellau 鈥 but there are similar centres around the country.
There are lots of mountain biking centres and bases to choose from in Wales. Here are a few that we鈥檝e found to get you started:
You can find a full list of them on the official website聽. Use their search tool to find trails to suit your ability.
You can also go on the聽聽for information to help you plan your mountain biking adventure.
Flight delays - your right to compensation
X-Ray has been investigating travel giant Thomson after two viewers found it hard to get the compensation for delayed flights. Under European regulations they had a right to the money.
Andrea Evans from Tongwynlais thought she was due a pay out after her flight was delayed by 27 hours on her way to a holiday in Mexico. 鈥淲e lost nearly a day and a half and by the time we got there,鈥 says Andrea.聽 That was back in 2010 鈥 and it wasn鈥檛 until five years later that Andrea first heard about the EU regulations. As she鈥檇 been flying long haul and had been delayed for more than four hours she was in line for a payment of 600 euros per person.
So, in March last year Andrea contacted Thomson to start the claim process but despite being a loyal customer they demanded a lot of information about her. 聽It took Andrea eight months to get the information from Thomson she needed to be able to start the claim process and when she was able to submit her claim to Thomson 鈥 they weren鈥檛 quick in replying. 聽Andrea kept on emailing them to find out what was going on but when Thomson did finally reply she was told that her claim had now fallen outside the six year time limit and so could no longer claim.
鈥淣ow to me they鈥檙e not playing the game,鈥 says Andrea. 鈥淚鈥檝e done everything by the book. I鈥檝e sent everything they鈥檝e asked for and literally it hasn鈥檛 got me anywhere.鈥
And one customer who claimed straight after experiencing a flight delay also struggled to get his money from Thomson. 聽Gareth Baines from Chirk, near Wrexham, was flying home from a two week break in Jamaica with his partner last October when one of the plane鈥檚 engines failed. They were diverted to Canada and ended up being delayed by around 20 hours. When they arrived home Gareth wrote a letter of complaint to Thomson asking for the compensation they were owed but the firm claimed that their delay was caused by an extraordinary circumstance and so they weren鈥檛 eligible for any cash.
But in September last year the European Supreme Court ruled that technical errors could NOT be regarded as extraordinary circumstances, even if they happen unexpectedly. That means airlines are now have to pay the compensation set out in EC regulation 261.
So Gareth decided to take a big step to get what he was owed from Thomson 鈥 by taking them to county court and in May 2016, seven months after the flight delay, Gareth FINALLY got the news he鈥檇 been hoping for. The court ruled in his favour, ordering Thomson to pay 拢1134.80 including court fees of 拢185. Thomson didn鈥檛 even show up to court. 聽
X-Ray took up both these cases with Thomson. They refused to say anything about why Gareth had to drag them through the courts to get his money. But in Andrea's case they DID apologise. And - good news - they've paid her 拢914.20 compensation. Which is a great result. Britain has, of course, voted to leave the European Union - but for the time being you CAN still make these claims.
Credits
Role | Contributor |
---|---|
Presenter | Lucy Owen |
Presenter | Rachel Treadaway-Williams |
Presenter | Omar Hamdi |
Series Producer | Nick Skinner |
Broadcast
- Mon 25 Jul 2016 19:30大象传媒 One Wales & Wales HD only