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

hollydays

neiljaxx wrote: »

I'm under the impression people living nearby and people in farm house had nothing to do with it. It's a car boot sale field. The locals didn't want the event either. The landline number was a concrete seller in Wolverhampton.
Besides, Sky News would have been up at the farm house front door looking for comments if they were involved.

So presumably we are talking about someone living in a caravan at the farm and receiving mail there,or that no mail was received at all and it was purely an internet scam?The address given appeared to be that farmhouse-note i say "appeared"!

codger

Scene at Lapland West Midlands one hour ago:

1) some rain-soaked marquees

2) a burger van

3) three brightly coloured Volvo police cars

4) no snow

How good it was of Staffordshire Constabulary to provide some welcome colour to the event with their shiny motor cars.

codger

FOR SALE

LAPLAND FRANCHISE

A unique business opportunity from which YOU can make a FORTUNE!

All you need is access to a field in the middle of nowhere and a computer with access to Google Images.

We have two packages on offer: Bronze and Gold.

BRONZE: two portaloos, five garden sheds from B&Q

GOLD: two portaloos, 10 garden marquees from B&Q and a burger van.

Priced from just £150,000 including VAT at 15%, these franchise opportunities are being snapped up fast -- so buy yours now!

Further details:

Jarvis Bognopper
Bognopper Inc
[EMAIL="jarvis@bognopping.co.uk"]jarvis@bognopping.co.uk[/EMAIL]

drahct

Well, I must say I've thoroughly enjoyed following the Lapland debacles on this thread. I think it's brilliant that these two shady operations have been shutdown. It just goes to show what can be achieved with enough publicity and that the British public does have a bit of fight left. Hopefully, it might make future scammers think twice (although I doubt it).

<preaching to the choir>
I also hope it highlights that if something sounds too good to be true then it is, especially when there is profit to be made. It also shows how detached marketing is from reality.
</preaching to the choir>

There are too many companies in this country trying to make a quick profit by providing shoddy, second rate service at a premium price whilst completly ignoring any complaints. Whilst, Trading Standards and the District and County councils have acted quickly in the Lapland West Midlands affair I do wonder if they would have been so swift if there hadn't been all the publicity from the New Forest saga but again it highlights what can be achieved if enough people protest.

Merry Christmas to one and all (and I hope Sanity Clause delivers refunds to all those who were ripped off).

D.

<disclaimer>I reserve the right to change my mind at any point without notice. By reading this post you agree that I am right and you are wrong. Elvis lives. The truth is not out there. The words in this post are merely illustrative and may not be what I meant.;) </disclaimer>

GomerPyle

Some contributers have referred to Lapland UK (which is not associated with Lapland New Forest Ltd or Lapland West Midlands in any way) as being pricey, Maybe it is, maybe it isn.t, but you get what you pay for, and at least this contractor has a track record and appears to have made substantial efforts to provide what is advertised. This isn't a recommendation from me, as I haven't been there and am not likely to go.

Yesterday I went to Melton Mowbray and purchased two Subway sandwiches and drinks for £8 something and then went shopping in the town buying the local pork pie and stilton cheese. I then finished it off by visiting the local church of St Mary's completely by accident and was amazed. For an admission price of £2, the inside of the cathedral like church were filled with hundreds of lit Christmas trees with classical music in the background and I found the effect inside the dimly lit 13th century surroundings breathtaking. No exciting rides for kids, or Santa but far more wholesome than Santa's fairground/car boot sale in a muddy field. Not everyone's cup of tea but don't tell anyone else because I'm going back before it closes, and I'm not a resident of that town either.

That said, I'm not any arbiter of how anyone should spend their time and money, but when events are set up (like Lapland New Forest Ltd or Lapland West Midlands) to prepay for what turns out to be complete shambles, poorly planned and executed, with reckless disregard for their customers, it makes me angry.

I am only too content to see that both events have been closed, by whatever means, and cannot have yielded the rewards that the people behind them were expecting. I hope this will give anyone else pause for thought who may be considering any similar 'rip off' events.

It still leaves the matter of those who paid in advance or paid and were disappointed, but hopefully, the publicity and action taken will enable those people to recoup their money.

codger

Well said, Gomer.

Re your concluding sentence: it's surely also to be hoped that those behind the New Forest and West Midlands scams are prosecuted.

This particular kind of cynical exploitation of children's dreams by people contemptuous of anyone and anything isn't going to be stopped by a polite slap on the wrist.

Nor is closing something down before it opens any kind of defence: the organisers were caught red-handed and would have taken the scam to its conclusion had they not had to shut down.

Having a few of these scammers placed in the dock and pelted with mouldy mince pies comes to mind as appropriate fun for all the family at this enchanted winter wonderland season.

whitewing

From the Yahoo website:

Winter wonderland fails to open

29 mins ago

• Print Story

A winter wonderland for children failed to open after a council said it had "serious concerns" about the event


I can't do links - can someone please link it in.

______________________________________________________________

ATTENTION PLEASE! Added mid-Jan 2009: Just as a reminder, the latest Lapland New Forest Refund Guide is here:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=17633351#post17633351

whitewing

And from the Lapland West Midlands website:
URGENT NOTICE
Lapland West Midlands
Due to bad publicity and lack of ticket sales, we regret that Lapland West Midlands will not be opening as planned on 6th December 2008 and the event has been cancelled.
All tickets purchased will be REFUNDED IN FULL. If you wish to contact us on this matter, please send your email to [EMAIL="sales&#64;laplandwestmidlands.co.uk"]sales@laplandwestmidlands.co.uk[/EMAIL]

______________________________________________________________

ATTENTION PLEASE! Added mid-Jan 2009: Just as a reminder, the latest Lapland New Forest Refund Guide is here:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=17633351#post17633351

bilpit

codger wrote: »

FOR SALE

LAPLAND FRANCHISE

A unique business opportunity from which YOU can make a FORTUNE!

All you need is access to a field in the middle of nowhere and a computer with access to Google Images.

We have two packages on offer: Bronze and Gold.

BRONZE: two portaloos, five garden sheds from B&Q

GOLD: two portaloos, 10 garden marquees from B&Q and a burger van.

Priced from just £150,000 including VAT at 15%, these franchise opportunities are being snapped up fast -- so buy yours now!

Further details:

Jarvis Bognopper
Bognopper Inc
[EMAIL="jarvis&#64;bognopping.co.uk"][EMAIL="jarvis&#64;bognopping.co.uk"]jarvis@bognopping.co.uk[/EMAIL][/EMAIL]

Are you accepting Paypal on these transactions...

I'm looking at opening Lapland Norfolk, ready for next weekend.

Tickets will be priced at £50 (owing to the shortage of these events currently running)

We are replacing the reindeer with tractors, and though we can't source any huskies, the neighbour has promised full access to her 2 Yorkshire Terriers.

We have a disused car-park, 2 gazebos, 2 cats with antlers, and courtesy of Bernard Matthews, plenty of turkeys (some of which may still be alive)

Unconfirmed as yet, buy we have approached Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross to play the part(s) of Santa Claus. £10 for a photo and gift, or £50 if you want to punch either of them.

If anyone wishes to invest money, ideas, or to buy tickets, please contact me at :

[EMAIL="blunderland3&#64;shady-deals.co.uk"]blunderland3@shady-deals.co.uk[/EMAIL]

PLEASE NOTE WE ARE NOT ASSOCIATED WITH EITHER OF MY 2 BROTHERS EVENTS AT WEST MIDLANDS OR THE NEW FOREST

trisontana

Somebody over on the Digital Spy forum has just posted this gem:-

I'm waiting for "Midland Themepark, Lapland", where the children of northern Finland can experience a true Wolverhampton Christmas; where the actors play the role of Black-country drunks and shout "Oi, that's moi burd, tharis!" and such like. The park will be covered in artificial grime and vomit, and 70s concrete buildings will contain poundshops where you can experience the crush of the January sales.