 Poster: A snowHead
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lets be honest, its not exactly rocket science to organise a trip with the internet these days, schools could easily organise trips at nearly half the prices they quote their pupils without much bother at all!! 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| iskar wrote: |
| lets be honest, its not exactly rocket science to organise a trip with the internet these days, schools could easily organise trips at nearly half the prices they quote their pupils without much bother at all!! |
Even 20 years ago it was possible to cut out the middleman so to speak and organise a complete holiday package. There was a slight problem though with a school teacher doing this and holding monies from parents/pupils which could put them at risk of fraud. The use of ABTA bonded TO's was the better option.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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lots of schools now hold monies for all sorts from meals to clubs etc, parents pay by so/dd or cheque cash, so it doesnt have to be held by one teacher. 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Agreed Iskar, but 25 years ago the legislation was only just being firmed up, there was no internet as we now know it, and teachers had better things to do...... like teach.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| Tiger2 wrote: |
As far as I can tell from a brief scan of the site it appears that the new company is merely an advisor to groups willing to pay for the company's years of expertise and to plug in to the extensive knowledge and links to service providers of the company. To access this information you pay Ski Link a £500 registration fee plus £25 a head for anyone you take on your trip if you book with their recommended hotel, another £25 pp if you book with their recommended transfer company and another £25 per head if you use their preferred ski instructor/school. In effect you pay Ski Link £500 + £75 per head merely for their advice on how to book a ski holiday. Ski Link don't actually book anything they merely add £75 pp to the cost of your holiday (plus the £500 registration fee). And you still have to do all the work.
No thanks. |
Reynard has changed the cottage to Manor not Lodge
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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[quote="stan the man"][quote="Tiger2"]As far as I can tell from a brief scan of the site it appears that the new company is merely an advisor to groups willing to pay for the company's years of expertise and to plug in to the extensive knowledge and links to service providers of the company. To access this information you pay Ski Link a £500 registration fee plus £25 a head for anyone you take on your trip if you book with their recommended hotel, another £25 pp if you book with their recommended transfer company and another £25 per head if you use their preferred ski instructor/school. In effect you pay Ski Link £500 + £75 per head merely for their advice on how to book a ski holiday. Ski Link don't actually book anything they merely add £75 pp to the cost of your holiday (plus the £500 registration fee). And you still have to do all the work.
No thanks.[/quote
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| noskitrip wrote: |
This forum has a number of European snowheads who may be able to help point to the resources you think are elsewhere.
Dont lose all heart yet. |
Yes
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| Tiger2 wrote: |
As far as I can tell from a brief scan of the site it appears that the new company is merely an advisor to groups willing to pay for the company's years of expertise and to plug in to the extensive knowledge and links to service providers of the company. To access this information you pay Ski Link a £500 registration fee plus £25 a head for anyone you take on your trip if you book with their recommended hotel, another £25 pp if you book with their recommended transfer company and another £25 per head if you use their preferred ski instructor/school. In effect you pay Ski Link £500 + £75 per head merely for their advice on how to book a ski holiday. Ski Link don't actually book anything they merely add £75 pp to the cost of your holiday (plus the £500 registration fee). And you still have to do all the work.
No thanks. |
At the end of the day this is still Reynard starting up again and he must be stopped.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Yes
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Well done. The CCJ will show up on searches but this is very sad he is starting again. I am almost entertained about "sabotage" listing fact after fact of wrong doing and poor judgement is merely fact, nothing more.
Clever as ever...is it or not a Limited Co? The site link suggests it is ski-link-ltd.co.uk more smoke and mirrors.
Should this be a new forum on Snowheads to warn others and so it si no buried in this massive forum posting?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Of course he was going to start again, he has got away scott free.
Almost everyone has done nothing to pursue him for their losses because the parents' contracts are with the schools and unless the parents sue the schools, the schools won't bother trying to recover the parents' money. In fact, if the parents don't sue the school, the schools have lost nothing so why would they bother chasing Reynard.
I now wonder if they chap who came on here bleating about how parents shouldn't sue the hard done by schools was in fact Reynard.
It is easy to say that there was no chance of substantial recovery but many schools dealt with him as an individual and some recovery may have been possible. I also think that a fist full of CCJ's or even a bankruptcy, would have the DTI and Insolvency Service looking at him much more closely. Banning him from being a director would have been a distinct possibility.
The easiest way to make life difficult now would be to let his current bankers know of his previous trading history. They may not be too keen to offer credit facilities if they knew how he did business. Stick to the facts if you do this. You cannot be prosecuted for libel or slander if you only state fact. A line to the DoE, so they could alert all schools would be good too.
In the age of the internet and fast flow of information, these people stand little chance of continuing to spread their misery... if people do something about it.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Reynard took loads of money out over the years, banks will only care about his assets.
The parents should have sued the schools.
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So, to sum up:
The police and CPS do not consider there is a case to pursue. It follows that under the presumption of innocence CR has committed no crime as far as the Law is concerned.
It would appear that a few civil cases prosecuted against him have been successful. As we have not heard to the contrary, it is reasonable to assume that CR has paid up in accordance with the courts' judgements.
He is in business lawfully.
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You know it makes sense.
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Innocent then.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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achilles,
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He is in business lawfully
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and we all know the law is an ass
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Poster: A snowHead
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Shimmy Alcott, maybe. Some don't like the laws on libel and slander. But they are there.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Hi All,
I used to deal with Skiing Europe in another company and all I can say Chris has a really bad rep and I cannot believe he was ever allowed to set up another company. He has profiteered from the miss fortunes of others.
From what I am aware he has a lovely mansion in the the countryside ......
What an .......
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| Filthyphil30k wrote: |
Reynard took loads of money out over the years, banks will only care about his assets.
The parents should have sued the schools. |
Our school runs seperate accounts for trips on a nil balance basis. Cash all went to Reynard - he didnt pay the suppliers and never booked the hotel {I asked the hotelier} so no need to pay them either. Can't sue a nil bank balance nor anyone else! I just hope that no one else is caught out in the future.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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noskitrip, actually, no matter how a school (or any other organization) runs its accounts, I see no reason why you cannot sue it to recover a loss for a service not provided. Whether you would wish to is another matter. If the school had no funds in the skiing account, it could transfer money from contingency funds, reduce the budget in other areas and transfer funds from the relevant account(s), or, in extremis, raise a loan. If I were an affected parent I would not wish to sue - but it should be possible to do it.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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noskitrip, achilles, potential for claiming under a conditional fee arrangement? Would depend entirely on the merits of the case. As has been pointed out before, however, winning at court is no guarantee of getting anything back if the person you're suing can't/won't pay.
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slushy, I reckon a school would pay out against a court judgement. A bailiff's visit would be interesting, otherwise.
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Trouble is that Reynard was quite clever about how he did things, if you or I had as individuals paid him less then £5K we could take him to small claims court for failure to provide a service, the costs would be relatively inexpensive to do so and he'd get a judgement against him.
It gets far more complicated with the schools acting as middlemen, the schools will argue that they were not responsible and only collected the money, however I suspect that Reynards contract was with the schools rather than individuals, the parents could take the schools to small claims court for failure to provide a service (I think) but the school will claim that they have done everything in their power to do so and it is their supplier who is at fault, if the schools are unwilling to take Reynard through the courts (which is expensive given the sums involved) then Reynard gets away with it.
Legally he can do this, hopefully morally all schools will never involve themselves with him again
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I was told by the party leader of a nearby secondary school that a man had contacted him trying to sell them a school ski trip and claiming that I would recommended them! My friend couldn't remember the name but thought it might have been Chris someone or other. Can you believe the audacity of the man, if it was indeed our friend CR, especially since he had already cost our school many thousands of pounds?!
Did I read that some schools had been successful in their claims? I know our LEA put in a claim for about three or four schools but since most of us are now Academies, we don't have the contact with the LAs that we used to.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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There needs to be an anti Ski Link web site set up which comes up ahead of his site in all searches to stop any school using this man again. Any IT folks who can manage that? All it needs is one page saying don't use Ski Link. Nothing wrong with that is there? I am still owed over £900 after the failed Reading School trip last year.
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This cannot continue. Perhaps we could link and share a simple web page with a factual history of this written by some of kids and their parents. Teachers will be FB friends with other teachers at other schools,the page would be read by many, in the end possibly all schools will hear of him and his trading names or at least be more careful in the future. Anyone have the skills ? Even the press may even do a better job of covering this story.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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article is TES magazine or similar?
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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This the website? http://www.ski-link-ltd.co.uk
Is anyone seriously going to organise a group or school holiday through a website which has no names, no meaningful details about who they are and even on the contact page just lists a house name, not a business or personal name?
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| Frosty wrote: |
| This cannot continue. Perhaps we could link and share a simple web page with a factual history of this written by some of kids and their parents. Teachers will be FB friends with other teachers at other schools,the page would be read by many, in the end possibly all schools will hear of him and his trading names or at least be more careful in the future. Anyone have the skills ? Even the press may even do a better job of covering this story. |
Who is this 'we' that is going to produce a web site that actually says what (bearing in mind that no criminal charges have been brought)?
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You know it makes sense.
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| Winterhighland wrote: |
This the website? http://www.ski-link-ltd.co.uk
Is anyone seriously going to organise a group or school holiday through a website which has no names, no meaningful details about who they are and even on the contact page just lists a house name, not a business or personal name? |
Interesting business model  Can't see it selling really. Seems to be trying to charge £75 per child on a trip just to give the schools some contact details of hotels, coaches and instructors, that they can DIY with!?
Oh, and you can pay an extra £250 to go on a seminar telling you how to book your own trip!
(Party leader and family freebie trips still seem to feature...)
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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wigan, with you on that.
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Poster: A snowHead
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achilles, it would appear that most of the unhappy customers of CR have been unsuccessful in obtaining a refund for a variety of legal reasons, it would be really good if more people did not fall prey to this con man. In the same way that their various problems and disappointments at the hands of CR are being discussed here on Snowheads it would be great to have some of this published on a web page that could be "liked" and shared amongst the web by victims, teachers their friends and family and it would be even better if this page could be found easily by search engines looking for this type of trip. I've only. I've only been a spectator in all this and I'm disgusted by this man, if I'd been a victim and was out of pocket I'd be seeking retribution in any legal way possible including this way. Just saying.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| gavinstephenson wrote: |
| There needs to be an anti Ski Link web site set up which comes up ahead of his site in all searches to stop any school using this man again. Any IT folks who can manage that? All it needs is one page saying don't use Ski Link. Nothing wrong with that is there? I am still owed over £900 after the failed Reading School trip last year. |
Technically, you already have by writing about it on SH. Google search on ski-link-ltd will return first 2 hits to their website, 3rd hit to an ad for their website, and the 4th to this thread...
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Yes snowheads does very well on google, so if we just throw up a few posts with lots of mentions of Ski Link Limited, Skilink Ltd, Ski-Link Limited, Ski Link Ltd etc etc then that might help get people's attention to read up on the background on here 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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A suggestion: create a Facebook page (like "Les Menuires 7") with "fans", comments, links to articles / press coverage etc, videos of "my experience with ...", etc. It's probably easier than creating a website and easier to contribute to for all those who have a story to tell.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I still don't understand how he can get away with this, unless he is not a director of Ski Link, As I understand things an undischarged bankrupt is prohibited from holding a directorship of a limited company for a number of years, assuming that everyone took him to court for the money he owed them, which I suspect not everyone has, then he would have to pay them that money before he could become a director, it's all very very wrong so far as I can see. 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| marksavoie wrote: |
| A suggestion: create a Facebook page (like "Les Menuires 7") with "fans", comments, links to articles / press coverage etc, videos of "my experience with ...", etc. It's probably easier than creating a website and easier to contribute to for all those who have a story to tell. |
Or a blog, and share the access codes on here.
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| D G Orf wrote: |
| I still don't understand how he can get away with this, unless he is not a director of Ski Link, As I understand things an undischarged bankrupt is prohibited from holding a directorship of a limited company for a number of years, assuming that everyone took him to court for the money he owed them, which I suspect not everyone has, then he would have to pay them that money before he could become a director, it's all very very wrong so far as I can see. |
This type of thing goes on all the time. Too many people are under the impression that there must be suitable UK laws in place that will enable victims to recover what they have been swindled out of and to also punish the 'bad boys'. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is almost as if The Establishment encourages sharp business practices and non-payment of debts by not implementing suitable safeguards against this sort of thing. I suppose it may be because The Establishment itself is riddled with crooks! One of the biggest rogues is The Court Service who charge victims steep fees to deal with their complaints but can offer them very little help in recovering their losses.
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Mr Marmot, I know all about the court fees, I'm currently taking a company through that process right now, fortunately for me the claim is covered by the cheaper small claims court
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Interestingly he's not bankrupt, so I guess he's managed to convince people it's not worth the expense of taking him to court
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| D G Orf wrote: |
| Mr Marmot, I know all about the court fees, I'm currently taking a company through that process right now, fortunately for me the claim is covered by the cheaper small claims court |
Good Luck D G Orf . Bit of free advice, if you are interested. When you win your claim through the 'cheaper' small claims court. You will find that you will 'have to' use the County Court own bailiffs for the execution warrant. This will now cost you a minimum £100 (was only £30 until recently) and they are likely to be spectacularly unsuccessful. However, I have recently found out that you can also transfer the CCJ to the High Court and use enforcement officer bailiffs approved by the court (at about £60) - since these bailiffs are not employed by the Court Service, they tend to be more successful. They add their costs to the debt, so if they aren't successful they earn no more than the £60 you have paid.
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FAQ
