91Èȱ¬

Authentication expert Garry King has some top tips for fans who want to ensure they buy genuine signatures.

If you are considering buying anything signed from an internet auction site or similar (Facebook for example) Gary recommends:

• Never consider buying a signed item based only on a COA (Certificate of Authenticity) or a story that suggests the seller obtained the item in person. A COA does not guarantee an item’s authenticity and the certificate itself could be fake.
• Check that the seller is a member of the Universal Autograph Collectors Club- UACC - or Autograph Fair Trade Association. You can check membership on the associations’ websites. Some dubious dealers do lie about this!
• Don’t buy just because you think it’s a bargain, or because it’s the exact image you want with a nice signature, if in doubt get it checked by a recognised expert first, be sure of what you are buying. It may well be cheap, but is it authentic?
• People selling on social media and auction sites can very easily disappear overnight once they have taken your money. Your safest method of payment online is always PayPal - never send cash or a direct bank transfer!

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If you are buying from a retail seller via their own website, also check the following…..

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• Contact details on the website and the Certificate of Authentication. If the website has no direct geographical contact details (i.e. more than just a mobile phone number!), then they are breaking UK law so stay away.Ìý
• Most good online dealers who have their own site will be either UACC or AFTAL registered dealers. The UACC and AFTAL have many rules in place to ensure that their members do things correctly, so if anything should go wrong they can help resolve any issues; without that membership you are on your own

Finally don’t panic buy. There are very few signatures that are so rare you will never see another. It’s much better to buy anÌýauthentically signed item at leisure than a fake signed item in haste!

National Express coach passengers who complained they were paying double the fares of people getting on at an earlier stop have been promised prices will change.

Travellers getting on at both Newtown and Welshpool in Powys had to pay £80 for a return trip to London.

However, passengers boarding the coach 60 miles earlier at Aberystwyth paid just £35 for the journey.

National Express said prices were based on demand but agreed to lower some fares.

The company's 409 service leaves Aberystwyth every day at 7.55am on its way to London.

It stops off at places like Newtown and Welshpool before arriving in the city at 3pm.

Aberystwyth is 250 miles away from London Victoria Bus Station. Newtown is 200 miles away and Welshpool - 190 miles.

So passenger Carole Thomas, from Trehafren, was surprised to discover she was paying more for a shorter journey if she got on at Newtown.

She told 91Èȱ¬ Wales' X-Ray programme: "I have to go down [to London] to see my mum because she's had a stroke, she's in a home, and to see my dad's grave.

"When they said it was going to be £80 I nearly fell on the floor."

She was even more annoyed when her husband Graham discovered that people getting on the same bus at Aberystwyth paid a lot less.

Mr Thomas added: "It's not fair."

Margaret Thomas, who gets on the coach in Welshpool, was also confused by the price difference and asked National Express to explain.

"They said it's the volume of people going on in Welshpool and Newtown... Maybe just one person," she told X-Ray.

"But the bus is already coming from Aberystwyth. I just don't understand."

National Express's Conditions of Carriage also forbids passengers from buying the cheaper Aberystwyth to London ticket and getting on at a later stop.

Prof Stuart Cole, a transport expert at the University of South Wales, said while passengers might think the pricing policy was unfair, the company needed to make a profit.

He told the programme: "Aberystwyth is quite a different market to Newtown.

"Aberystwyth is a student market in the main, so they are time rich, cash poor, they're very price sensitive, it's a very big market, a very important market and the company wouldn't want to lose it to the competition which is there from other coach companies and also from the railways."

X-Ray discovered that the pricing discrepancy is not a one-off.

It found a return ticket from Newport to Liverpool for £42 - but getting on the same bus 13 miles earlier at Cardiff would cost £6 less.

National Express said it sets ticket prices according to demand - not mileage or the time of day.

It said this helps it make best use of the capacity on its coaches and keep its prices competitive.

But after looking again at the routes highlighted by passengers, National Express has now reduced their 'lowest available fare' from Newtown to London to match the price from Aberystwyth.

However, it is not cutting fares from Welshpool.

The company has also lowered the price of tickets from Newport to Liverpool.

A couple have labelled an energy company "cruel" after it demanded £4,300 and sent bailiffs to their home for unpaid bills that were not theirs.

Les and Jane Gornall of Aberystwyth were sent numerous demands for payment by Scottish Power, even though they were British Gas customers.

They said it caused them severe stress at a time when Mrs Gornall was diagnosed with cancer and their grandson with leukaemia.

Scottish Power has apologised for the mix-up and said it will compensate the couple.

The ordeal began in 2014 when Mr and Mrs Gornall decided to shop around for a better energy deal after being with British Gas for 10 years.

The couple told 91Èȱ¬ Wales' X-Ray programme they decided to get their electricity and gas from Scottish Power instead - but the switch did not go smoothly.

They have ‘pay as you go’ prepayment meters in the property, operated by top up cards for both gas and electricity. After waiting for the necessary gas card from Scottish Power for several weeks, they decided to cancel their new account and remain with British Gas.

The couple were confused when they received a gas bill from Scottish Power. They contacted the company and told staff they were British Gas prepayment customers. However, Scottish Power kept sending bills - and Mr and Mrs Gornall kept contacting the company.

In 2015, the family was hit with the news that Mrs Gornall had cancer – at the same time, their grandson was diagnosed with leukaemia. At a time when they were under enormous personal strain, the bills from Scottish Power continued to arrive.

Mr Gornall, caretaker of Llwyn Yr Eos Primary School in Penparcau, told X-Ray: "When I phoned a few times I even said, you understand I'm going through enough stress as it is. I haven't got time to mess about with you I need to sort this out."

Mrs Gornall added: "I just didn't know how they could be so cruel to be honest.

"You know you explain to people this is what's happening. You know it's not your fault why these bills are coming in but again you still feel that maybe I've done something wrong."

Then in 2016 came a new low with bailiffs visiting the Gornall's home.

"That's when you think oh my god this is serious, and that's when you think have I made a mistake, have I done something wrong... this really affected us," Mrs Gornall said.

"It just makes you feel so low."

After X-Ray contacted Scottish Power, it admitted there had been a mix-up. The serial number of the meter had been recorded incorrectly and the £4300 worth of bills were meant for another property. The company "sincerely apologised" and said it would compensate the couple for the stress and inconvenience caused.