 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi sorry if I've posted in the wrong section.
Having had our booking with VIP Ski cancelled, we have been reimbursed by the credit card company and hopefully looking to travel in March next year.
Has anyone travelled with Meriski before? Im looking at their chalet Kashmir and have been quoted 2600€ per room plus flights and transfers. My main concern is they have requested the final payment after 25% deposit is to be paid via bank transfer. This seems a little off to me.
Have others been in a similar situation?
TIA 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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IRC, Meriski have changed hands at least once (and I think more) since I first used them in the mid 1990s, so bear in mind that people’s experiences need to be recent rather than like my own historical views (which are - great initially and then getting less good year on year for a number of years, at which point we switched to other and larger operators)
I would be careful about paying anything holiday related by bank transfer- ever - but especially at present
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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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If you do book, make sure you have a good insurance policy -- I would be looking at one the covered 'Supplier failure'
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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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i would be weary of any kind of bank transfer
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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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| Mr.Egg wrote: |
| i would be weary of any kind of bank transfer |
and wary too! 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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+1 on never paying by bank transfer.
Although, I think the UK consumer credit law say that if you pay a deposit of even just say £50 or more with a credit card, then even if you pay the balance by bank transfer, you are covered for the whole amount if the supplier goes bust or is a scam etc:
https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/section-75-of-the-consumer-credit-act
It could be that the supplier does not want to pay the credit card merchant fee of say x% or whatever it is. But you could then offer to pay the small deposit with a CC, and even pay their fee!
On another note, I would be bargaining HARD given the current situation, and certainly I would be looking at a BIG discount for paying the whole amount up front.
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@green...The likelihood is so high that there won't be any skiing in France in March, I'm surprised that you're prepared to make what amounts to a substantial gamble unless the discount re-balanced the risk equation substantially in your favour. Wouldn't it be better to just wait until the situation is clearer?
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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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Thank you everyone for your replies. The booking terms were 25% deposit and remaining payment 4 weeks before departure. The bank transfer only has raised red flags. Its such a worrying time for all at the moment the lack of security in the payment method is worrying if in the quite possible outcome things don't run to plan.
For those of you who are looking at skiing this season what's the safest bet? There is so many companies online and so many brokers reselling the same holidays it feels like a minefield.
I had been a loyal customer of VIP Ski for over 15 years so feel very much out of touch with making a booking else where.
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@greenblueredblack!, the Meriski T&Cs on their website say the 25% deposit can be paid by bank transfer, debit or credit card. It is only the balance that has to be by bank transfer. Pay the deposit by credit card and you should be covered.
(And if they now seem to be demanding the deposit by bank transfer, are you 100% sure that you are dealing with Meriski, and not a scammer who may have cloned their website?)
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@greenblueredblack!, Don't do 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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| ecureuil wrote: |
@greenblueredblack!, the Meriski T&Cs on their website say the 25% deposit can be paid by bank transfer, debit or credit card. It is only the balance that has to be by bank transfer. Pay the deposit by credit card and you should be covered.
(And if they now seem to be demanding the deposit by bank transfer, are you 100% sure that you are dealing with Meriski, and not a scammer who may have cloned their website?) |
Sorry yes I know the deposit is by credit/debit card but would I be covered if I paid the deposit by credit card and the rest by bank transfer? Seems a little odd to me
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| greenblueredblack! wrote: |
| ecureuil wrote: |
@greenblueredblack!, the Meriski T&Cs on their website say the 25% deposit can be paid by bank transfer, debit or credit card. It is only the balance that has to be by bank transfer. Pay the deposit by credit card and you should be covered.
(And if they now seem to be demanding the deposit by bank transfer,
are you 100% sure that you are dealing with Meriski, and not a scammer who may have cloned their website?) |
Sorry yes I know the deposit is by credit/debit card but would I be covered if I paid the deposit by credit card and the rest by bank transfer? Seems a little odd to me |
Google is your friend !
Think of the pleasure of doing your own “research” and finding out the facts for yourself definitively as the help provided on this thread has not allayed your concerns
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You know it makes sense.
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If you pay the whole amount by credit card and something happens, then your card provider (the issuer in industry terms) can use chargeback to get your money back. This is relatively fast and easy, the process is almost entirely electronic, and it costs your bank nothing, since the money is taken straight from the acquirer (the bank that processes credit card payments for the travel company). Lots of people on here, including me, successfully used this to get refunds during "Corona-1" in March.
The problem with the "deposit on card, balance by bank transfer" is that whilst legally you are protected (via section 75 of the consumer credit act) this is a _much_ more complicated process to claim through, not least because it's _your_ card issuer who wears the cost. Your issuer has no problem refunding you at somebody else's expense (chargeback) but you will find it is much less interested in refunding you at its own expense. It's heavily manual and slow.
I made the point a few times in the original refunds thread on here that you want to ensure that whoever you are claiming from a) is highly solvent (that rules out most of the travel industry!), and b) has your interests at heart. Legality (at least in March) had very little to do with it; parts of the travel industry either ignored legal obligations, or were unable to fulfil them.
My total speculation is that your provider is asking for bank transfer for the balance because it can't find an acquirer prepared to underwrite the financial risk, so it is unable to take full payment by card. That in itself would be a huge red flag to me.
I wouldn't even remotely contemplate doing business with a tour operator in the way suggested here. E2600 per room plus flights etc also sounds expensive in the current climate.
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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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What @snowdave, says sums up how I understand the situation AIUI.
Given the current situation and the number of chalet holiday providers that have already stopped trading, I'd be cautious of booking with anyone until last minute.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@snowdave, +1
A very succinct explanation of chargeback, and Section 75 rights and what that means in practice.
It is almost certainly a lot cheaper for the travel company to receive your payment by bank transfer than by card, but in so doing you are giving up a great deal of protection. In the current climate, I just would not give up chargeback and S.75.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I've just (in an idle moment..>!) had a quick look at Meriski's policies. It is taking its credit card payments in Euros despite being a UK company.
This may suggest that it's been unable to find a UK acquirer to process its card payments, which would suggest it has failed the risk assessments involved. There are other reasons you might choose to acquirer in foreign currency (e.g. you are trying to load currency conversion costs onto your customers) but it's also what happened with Ski Amis, which switched from UK payment to Euros in the summer before going out of business last month.
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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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If you are keen to go to the three valleys I would recommend Ski Collection or their parent company Peak retreats. We have used them for 12 years and always had excellent customer service. They are ABTA bonded and take credit card payment. We have two self drive packages booked with them this season but they do also offer accommodation only if you want to book your own flights. Their booking conditions are very flexible for this season.
NB. their accommodation is apartments or hotels rather than chalets.
I have no experience of Meriski but they do not appear to be ABTA or Atol bonded so you would have less protection if the holiday couldn't go ahead.
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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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| snowdave wrote: |
I've just (in an idle moment..>!) had a quick look at Meriski's policies. It is taking its credit card payments in Euros despite being a UK company.
This may suggest that it's been unable to find a UK acquirer to process its card payments, which would suggest it has failed the risk assessments involved. There are other reasons you might choose to acquirer in foreign currency (e.g. you are trying to load currency conversion costs onto your customers) but it's also what happened with Ski Amis, which switched from UK payment to Euros in the summer before going out of business last month. |
OR
potentially you are overthinking this, maybe they are invoicing in euros (trading in euros)simply
to manage its exposure to the exchange rate risk between its local EU costs in euros and its clients, a sensible thing to do, altho its clients then have the exchange risk for their own trip to deal with and CC exchange rate fees are not always cheap. BY trading in euros, its exposure to exchange rate risk is much reduced to whatever its outgoings in sterling happen to be.
There are in fact only a few Card processors, ( eg Mastercard) and all are not soley UK based.
I also stated earlier in the thread that S75 repayments are quite quick to obtain as far as CC are concerned, not so quick under debit card chargeback system
Either way, OP is covered
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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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@Al Zymers,
Mastercard isn't an acquirer (or for that matter, and issuer), it's a network. Totally different beast. I didn't make any suggestion that acquirers only exist in the UK, every country has them - in fact historically, almost everyone was acquired by a bank in their home geo.
Most companies are acquired in their home geography, because it's easier to risk assess in your home geo; cross border acquiring is relatively high risk (I used to work in acquiring and cross border acquiring in particular) partly because it's much harder for e.g. a UK bank to assess the risk of a merchant in France, and typically the enforcement process is more complex and expensive.
Chargeback isn't purely a debit card system, it originates from credit cards. It's much more widely used that S75 on credit cards. People using google seem to get confused and often write "S75 is for credit cards, chargeback is for debit cards" but this is wrong.
Potential tradeoffs for the OP are a) the hassle involved (CC chargeback relatively easy - many issuers now have it as an automatic "tick the transaction disputed box online, fill in the form, get your money back" process), b) the likelihod of repayment (e.g. multiple parties involved in transactions, primary vs secondary carddholer, transaction beneficiary) and c) the time for repayment (chargeback tends to release funds immediately on dispute; S75 can leave you hanging for months; when S75 appears quick it's often because the default path for most banks is to process them as a chargeback instead as that's cheaper and easier).
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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I wouldn't recommend anyone committing to a financial transaction with the attitude that they are likely to exercise reclaiming its value through such mechanisms. In other words, if you are unhappy with handing over the money, then don't.
If it helps, perhaps look at it this way. What's the worst that can happen? If you pay out and then the company goes bust or is difficult, you may lose the money and not get a holiday too. If you don't do anything then you may not be able to find a holiday at a later date - but you will still have the money.
I know, the logical end-point of the latter approach is that you'll never have a holiday, ever again. But I'm thinking that the underlying circumstances will change enough in the future to make this unlikely.
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| snowymum wrote: |
I have no experience of Meriski but they do not appear to be ABTA or Atol bonded so you would have less protection if the holiday couldn't go ahead. |
Valid point, but just remember that when the pandemic hit ABTA lobbied the government to try and dilute consumer protection.
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@greenblueredblack!, I would not be booking anything right now. There is unlikely* to be any shortage of accommodation come March. You may have to compromise a bit on detail (or location) but really? Planning ahead now?
Crazy talk.
* no guarantees.
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