Lapland New Forest Scam. How to get money back...

whitewing

I'll post more details at some point tomorrow, but as an estimate, I reckon that:

• users who have posted on this thread report that they have purchased over £9,500 of tickets sold at Lapland NF

• users who have advised us that they have received refunds currently equates to nearly 18% of the value of tickets above. Of these, more Visa debit cardholders have reported refunds than Visa credit cardholders.

• I think only two users have reported that their claims have currently been declined and I believe they are resubmitting them.

I stress that there may be other users who have claimed but have not advised yet on this thread that they have had refunds. And there will be plenty of other people who have not posted at all. (Feel free to pm me)

Please can everyone keep us updated.

Also note, that I have done my best with collating these figures from the posts so they are subject to unintentional human error!

If we have inspired you to claim now, see here for the latest Lapland New Forest Refund Guide:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/...1#post17633351

EdnaCloud

whitewing wrote: »

alison, I echo your comment above.

Likewise.

I wonder if Grant Thornton, the liquidators, are actually obliged to advise ticketholders of the Visa Chargeback scheme,

I am not sure but my understanding is that that is an issue between customer and supplier and nothing to do with the liquidation process, in fact trying to think it through with my limited brainpower , if they did that they could be construed as preferring a creditor (or group of creditors), as their responsibility is to divide up any assets remaining after all secured creditors have been paid to *all* the unsecured creditors pro-rata in respect of the amount of their claims.

or whether they may just send out claim forms to become an unsecured creditor (ie unlikely to get any refund)

most likely.

The best hope is that they see fit (and are legally able) to ringfence funds held currently by RBS/Streamline to refund to customers.

However thinking about it, the situation may not be quite as bad as it may seem. I do not wish to to 'get people's hopes up' unecessarily, but I can't imagine their are many, if any, secured creditors as defined by the various web sites listed previously, hopefully the bank will not have lent anything and will have taken their fees for the transactions now anyway. that means the big grey areas are, how much was abstracted by the director(s) and is no longer available for liquidation, and how much the insolency agent acting as liquidator will charge.

or if it would be possible to do a Visa chargeback via the liquidators, which would at least be tracked centrally? NB for those thinking of chargebacks, get on and do it now, following Gomer's guide as this last option is me thinking out loud and highly unlikely to happen.

Nothing wrong with thinking out loud and nothing wrong with your thinking! I think the closest we could get to what you suggest is if the liquidator can and will 'ringfence' funds for refunds, but their legal ability to do this seems to be shrouded in mystery......

See here for the latest Lapland New Forest Refund Guide:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/...1#post17633351

dazzercx

I bought £200 worth of tickets and was due to go on the 14th December.

Called Lloyds TSB (Mastercard) and was told they could do nothing as each individual item was under the £100.01 threshold. Then wrote another letter requesting charge back but that was also denied.

Seeing as people have had better luck with Barclays and Natwest e.t.c is making me seriously consider moving my accounts elsewhere.

Is there anything else I can try?

whitewing

dazzercx

Yes, don't give up. Interesting that on my list of users on this thread, 3 Lloyds debit card holders have been refunded.

Take it to the Ombudsman. But before you do that, please can you post the text of the letter (excluding personal details) that advises you that the chargeback has been denied. It may be simply that a follow up letter will do the trick.

Also, some of the users who have reported successful refunds have had to chase and reapply and chase, so don't be put off by the fact that you have been turned down twice already. It should make you more determined to get your money back for a venture that closed down before you could even go.

Is Gomer around? Is he okay?

Here is the latest Lapland New Forest Refund Guide:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/...1#post17633351

EdnaCloud

Dazzercx,

dazzercx wrote: »

I bought £200 worth of tickets and was due to go on the 14th December.

Called Lloyds TSB (Mastercard) and was told they could do nothing as each individual item was under the £100.01 threshold. Then wrote another letter requesting charge back but that was also denied.

Sorry you have this situation and as Whitewing says, don't give up!
Do try and look back through this thread and importantly look at:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/...1#post17633351
Also, as Whitewing has said, any information you can provide to establish the reason for your denial will assist others here to advise. Obviously one should make information anonymous but the text of form letters from banks etc could be useful.

Seeing as people have had better luck with Barclays and Natwest e.t.c is making me seriously consider moving my accounts elsewhere.

That is, of course a matter for you and you alone, but if that is the outcome than it may be reasonable to state, in no uncertain terms, why you are pursuing that course of action.

But I would also think it is prudent to stay your hand for the time being, consider the comments made on this thread, and follow up your claim.

If you are unsure how to take the next step after reviewing the new thread linked above, post back here. There is no guarantee you will get a definitive answer but there's a lot of people here who want to help in any way they can.

Is there anything else I can try?

There are bound to be various options as this disgraceful scam unfolds through the insolvency agencies, so the best thing to do is probably to throw the FOS issue at the bank and keep in touch here.

dazzercx

Thanks for the replies it is most appreciated. I'll post up the details of the letters I have received from them when I am back at home.

You have given me determination to carry on and pursue the matter.

I'll keep you all updated.

Darren

whitewing

dazzercx wrote: »

You have given me determination to carry on and pursue the matter.

I'll keep you all updated.

Darren

Good, £200 would be a lot of money to me and well worth a little tussle over.

Just as a reminder to any lurkers, the latest Lapland New Forest Refund Guide is here:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/...1#post17633351

EdnaCloud

dazzercx wrote: »

Thanks for the replies it is most appreciated. I'll post up the details of the letters I have received from them when I am back at home.

That would be great - please remember to take out any personal details, card nos etc though. You could leave in the name of the bank operative(s) only joking - best take those out too.

You have given me determination to carry on and pursue the matter.

That's good - as whitewing has said £200 is a lot to write off, that's more or less my food budget for a month for a family of four (well, eight if you count the cats).

I'll keep you all updated.

Please do.

27col

Those of you who wasted money at Lapland New Forest might be interested in the following which was printed in the Sunday Times Holiday section today Jan19th.

It says: "We have recently returned from a Christmas trip to Rovaniemi in Lapland. The hotel was fine, the food adequate and the supply of warm clothing excellent, but the trip to the forest to find Santa was a joke. We were greeted by an elf on what I would call a hobby horse- a broom pole with a scrappy reindeer head on it. The elf showed us a length of blue washing line and said it was a lasso Laplanders used to catch reindeer.
There was one children's snowmobile. In our group alone there were 78 children. There was a tour of a lake, in sledges pulled by dogs- not gorgeous huskies, but a team that looked as if they had been rejected by the local dog track as unfit. I was told that huskies didn't have the stamina of these dogs. There were two adults and a child in ours, and we had to stop halfway round the lake for the animals to rest. The elves workshop had two elves in it and showed a video of elves working. Santa was convincing, but, overall, it was a disappointing and expensive few days".
Signed Laurie Mathieson.
It would appear that all these Lapland things are a rip off.

CazandCo_2

Just a little update for you.
Recap: Bought 2 x family of four tickets for Lapland Newforest visit 12th Dec using Halifax Credit Card. Claiming under Section 75.

My mum has had a letter back from Halifax.
Mum wirtes:
I had a letter form Halifax and they have credited my card with the £200, they have contacted the merchant's processing bank to look into the matter and have temporarily credited £200 to my account. It will appear as "Resolved Amount" on my statement and providing the merchant's bank don't disagree with their actions then it will go ahead.

I hope this is all over now for her as she has had a considerable amount of bad luck this winter.