 Poster: A snowHead
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Genuine chalets and apartments have been listed on booking/directory sites by scammers without the owner/operator's knowledge. They then field enquiries and take bookings before disappearing with the cash ...
The scammers are giving their own e-mail address and phone number as the contact for booking enquiries. They are then dealing with any enquiries and, if someone books, taking the money! They then disappear without trace. The booker is left without a holiday (and a big chunk of money) and the chalet operator has lost business.
If you are a chalet owner / operator it may be worth a web search to ensure your property or properties are only listed on sites you have an agreement with.
If you are booking a chalet holiday ensure you are dealing with the owner / operator or a legit agent they have appointed.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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ctskifam, Not sure if this is what you are refering to.
This post appeared in the Solutions Room of Chalets Direct yesterday 29th. Bit worrying.
URGENT
My daughter and her 9 friends booked a chalet in Morzine using self-catering-breaks.com. When they arrived in Geneva this morning there was no car to meet them at the airport. They then learned from the tourist office that this is a scam - the chalet they thought they had booked does not exist.
They are now still in the airport still trying to find somewhere to stay where they can ski.
Can anyone help? They will not mind splitting up the group if needed. Obviously they may need to find a hotel for tonight but hopefully something will turn up so that their holiday can be rescued
I am not sure in the longer term if there is any way to stop this kind of scam. This one is a very clever one - website with photos etc
Jill
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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 not the same thing then certainly along the same lines. Very scary.
I know a guy in Les Gets who found one of his chalets on a site he hadn't listed it on and sent an e-mail enquiry. Got a very detailed reply with room layouts, chalet location, info about the catering etc. These are not brainless bandits - which makes it even more worrying.
The police have been alerted to the issues that I have been made aware of by the chalet owners involved. However - I believe everyone needs to be on their guard; this scam is easily repeated or replicated.
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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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ctskifam, Thanks - I saw the message that DallyPaul, shows too and looked at the site in question. There are a few chalets I know on there and I contacted the owners to ask if they were aware/happy with it. One came back to say he didn't know them!
For the people marooned in GVA, it's a nightmare of course, but if a chalet booked in such a way but DID exist, it could also be a nightmare for that owner, having to prove they had no knowledge of the booking, hadn't been paid for it, weren't involved etc.
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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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Yup, bit of a horror all round. Hopefully the authorities and directory type sites can work together to knock this on the head.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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ctskifam, I saw that post on Chalets Direct as well and had a look at the website. I noticed that there is no direct way of contacting the company ie no phone number or direct email - only a 'contact us' form which gives nothing away. I think that in itself would make me weary about booking through them - hopefully there are not too many people who have been caught out in this way!
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I know of people who have fallen from this scam from this year. One is called "Chalet Crystal" in Verbier and the other person sent me this:
Hi Gavin,I have already pressed charges against the people. The company name was vacation service limited UK, and the so called owner was called Christian Bulley. The chalet name was "schnefalle" and they had a Homepage which was only able to access through google called www.skichaletsaustria.com. Let me now if your client have been scammed by the same guys. I have only found out because there is a blog warning from these guys.
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Do those who own chalets have any direct links to third-party sites on their own pages? This might help reduce the risk, should potential clients google to find the chalet's own site before booking.
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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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At a time when the exchange rate will be effecting booking this is so hard on those who are just trying to run a legit business and giving us all a decent holiday. I say keep spreading the word and somehow find a system so this thing can be picked up quickly!
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Fitzwilliams................it's hard enough as it is without these gits trying to con our clients.
My thoughts are that it might help if;
> legit owners take Visa - as it will give the clients protection - if it's a French Visa (Credit Agricole) it's not that expensive either
> if owners have a link on their site to any agents who are also advertising their property then this might give some reassurance.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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This has happened to someone I know recently. The scammer even contacted her through Holiday rentals to ask for the location of her chalet.As a result another couple of people also fond their properties on other sites they were unaware of. hyweljenkins, I do have such links on my sites .
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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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| Quote: |
legit owners take Visa - as it will give the clients protection -
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That's a very good point. I've never bought anything from anywhere that doesn't take credit cards. I don't always pay the entire balance by credit card. At the request of the merchant, or to avoid the fees associated with PayPal, I do pay by wire or cash. But I don't dealt with any remote transaction that REQUIRES wire transfer ONLY. It just smells something rotten to me.
At least take the deposit by credit card and the rest either by wire or cash. It takes a lot more trouble for the scammer to setup a credit card account. Hence my avoidance of dealing with any operation not taking credit card, even when I don't actually pay by credit card. It's just one extra level of security if someone is "verified" by the credit card company.
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marcellus, " legit owners take Visa". Err, we don't. And our Credit Agricole are not keen to give us that facility as our turnover isn't so big plus it (I am led to understand) would cost us 3%. Which I don't want to pay.
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You know it makes sense.
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under a new name, sorry perhaps I explained it wrongly........... I meant "if legit owners take visa" and not "legit owners take visa"...
As for Credit Agricole...................... I'm not sure what your turnover is but if you're running a catered chalet it can't be too significantly different from us and we just told them we wanted it, filled out some forms and hey presto they said yes.
As for costs I think there are 2 options;
Option 1 - 4 year contract on the machine and 2.4% surcharge per contract.
Option 2 - annual contract, monthly fee of €20 and €0.80 per transaction using an internet based system.
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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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marcellus, thanks for that - very interesting. I will investigate as I really would like that option available.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| parlor wrote: |
I know of people who have fallen from this scam from this year. One is called "Chalet Crystal" in Verbier and the other person sent me this:
Hi Gavin,I have already pressed charges against the people. The company name was vacation service limited UK, and the so called owner was called Christian Bulley. The chalet name was "schnefalle" and they had a Homepage which was only able to access through google called www.skichaletsaustria.com. Let me now if your client have been scammed by the same guys. I have only found out because there is a blog warning from these guys. |
Hi I am the one who fell for this guy and paid 1800 euro as deposit. Thank go I used a differnet email as a second person interested in the same sates and the scam was revealed in time to save the holiday!! I have already contacted the british autorities but they are unable to do anything since it is a bank transfer and looks legit!! I hope he spend all the money he stole in medication...
If anybody wishes to contact me he may do so at memoukos@gmail.com.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Ok, after reading this I'm slightly concerned! I have a booking for an apartment in Courcehval, and got it through the following website http://www.ownersdirect.co.uk/ are there any kind of guarantees or what can I do to ensure its for real? I'm sending my payment via a cheque to an English address, so surely if its AC payee, then only that legitimate person can cash the cheque? In saying that, I've asked several questions on the resort, and have been given pretty good answers, and when asking about renting skis etc, was recommended to ask for a certain person in the local ski shop, making them aware that we're staying at the apartment we are in order to receive 10% discount. So have been goiven lots of detail, so hopefully its for real, but is there any way of knowing for sure?
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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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to be registered on owners direct they do check you out too.......so you're probably ok..
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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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ah ok, didn't know that, thanks for letting me know... these days you can never be too sure, theres always someone looking to get their hands on your cash.
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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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| under a new name wrote: |
| marcellus, " legit owners take Visa". Err, we don't. And our Credit Agricole are not keen to give us that facility as our turnover isn't so big plus it (I am led to understand) would cost us 3%. Which I don't want to pay. |
Ask Credit Agricole if they can set up a facility for you using Paybox, might be possible to negotiate a cheaper rate. I use Paypal, and factored the charges into my original rental costs, as my own bank (Barclays France) won't use Paybox, and want to charge me more.
http://www1.paybox.com/solutions.aspx
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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jason_uk, do a bit of googling, see if the apartment is advertised elsewhere, most owners need to advertise on more than one site, but it is not an indication that the apartment is fake if they don't . If you are really worried, ask them for proof that they own the property, references from previous guests or a copy of a utility bill should give you reassurance. Fake adverts are fortunately still rare, but there has been a spate of them this winter.
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This does nothing for my nerves, does anyone know anything about www.holiday-rentals.co.uk, booked a chalet through there...now starting to get worried. Uh oh
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holiday rentals are a legit agency....... as an owner you can have your chalet listed on them.... the clients book with holiday-rentals and pay holiday-rentals who I think (a big think as I've not got my files) are atol registered or some such assurance thing......
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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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Cool, thanks, don't want to think about the nightmare of turning up and nowhere to stay...think that might ruin some of the fun!
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Dublinfella, as it costs over £200 to advertise with Holiday Rentals, and a similar amount for most of the 'big' advertising sites (Owners Direct, Holiday Lettings, French Connections), properties listed on any of these sites, are more likely to be legit. Most of the scammers have been using low cost or free sites or directories. You can also look at how long the advert has been active on the site too, and see if they have good guest reviews. marcellus, HOliday Rentals does not deal direct with clients, you are simply put in touch with the property owner, sorry. They do offer a guarantee to customers though, as do Owners Direct, that http://guaranteeuk.homeaway.com/ but you need to register the trip before you send any payment to the owner.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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CatherineS, nice first post. Welcome to snowHeads :sh:
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CatherineS, welcome to 
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You know it makes sense.
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ctskifam, ctskifamctskifam, I know this is an old post, but the Good Ski Guide is looking for everyone to avoid these scammers when they book their ski holiday this year. If anyone has any stories or any tips or any information on these con artists, please email us at: edit3@goodholidayideas.com
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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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David79, email on the way.
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FAQ
)who advertises on listing sites such as OwnersDirect. We property owners also have our own discussion forums (that's how I found out you were having this discussion!) and we are concerned about issues such as this because it makes us all look bad when such a (thankfully rare) thing happens.
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