Consumer Fight Back

Sun, sea and scams! Holly Hamilton, Sandra Corkin from the Association of British Travel Agents and consumer expert Jane Hawkes list the essentials you need to know before booking a holiday, from DIY bookings to package holidays, avoiding scams and consumer protection.

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If you want to get away but time and budget aren't on your side, why not consider a one-day getaway? Travel blogger Monica Stott takes Holly through the key ingredients for the perfect one-day getaway, from booking flights, packing bags, parking and picking the ideal location.

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Following Consumer Fight Back’s less-than-successful shopping spree, Holly hears from one listener who says seeds they’ve bought online haven’t flowered as they expected them to. Producers Daniel & Daniela take a trip to Gardeners’ Corner where David Maxwell shares some tips on knowing your apples from your plums.

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Is AI making online shopping even more difficult for you? The team goes on an online shopping spree, Holly unboxes the items and gets a bit of a shock when the products aren’t exactly what were expected. Bellingcat journalist Kolina Koltai explains how to identify and avoid products where AI has been used to enhance or create the images.

Holly speaks to Daisy, who was told boarding a flight that she would have pay an extra luggage fee for her breast milk and breast pump. Daisy knew that she should be allowed to travel with these, but said she was humiliated having to wear extra items of clothing to make space in her backpack for her pump. We ask the airline to clarify their policy and explain why Daisy was treated as she was.

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Can a social media DM constitute a contract? What does the law say when small businesses collab with influencers for social media marketing?

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After a controversial gig in Belfast, Holly and producer Daniel are joined by music industry expert, Chris Cooke, to find out at what point, if ever, audiences are entitled to a refund.

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Holly and the team speak to a colleague who leads them into the world of pet microchip databases, where they find not all databases are equal. She had been contacted by an unauthorised database which she says she has never interacted with, but it somehow had all of her information. Phil McKinnon of the Association of Microchip Database Operators explains that this is something the industry is actively tackling and advises on how to make sure your pet is registered with an authorised database.

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Listener Emma shares her experience of fraudsters spending thousands of pounds after they hijacked her identity and her efforts to clear her name. She’d been targeted by a sim-swapping fraud, cases of which Action Fraud says have doubled in each of the last two years.

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The team gets an update from a customer sold a dodgy second-hand car who has been trying to get his money back, and asks politicians where they stand on the issue of a mandatory regulator for second-hand car sales.