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

whitewing

codger wrote: »

Just for a minute there I thought you'd come dangerously close to bognopping yourself but that's obviously not the case.

:beer:

Lol, I'm cross about the situation as I was keeping tabs on the reviews for the New Forest one as I was considering taking my new husband there to make our first Xmas special. But it turned out to not be our kind of special.

BTW from the Dorset Echo:

Weymouth's Sea Life Park in ‘Lapland’ New Forest offer

7:50am Thursday 4th December 2008
Comments (0) Have your say »
By Dan Goater »

WEYMOUTH’S Sea Life Park is offering free admission to those left disappointed by the Lapland New Forest attraction.
A spokesman for the park said anyone producing a receipt for the Lapland park will be allowed free entry.

This may be some small compensation for those who can't quite get to Alton Towers. I like the Sea Life park there, although I haven't been for a few years. The rays are the best (if they've still got them).

______________________________________________________________

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

GomerPyle

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Concern-Over-Lapland-Park-In-Staffordshire-Follows-Christmas-Farce-In-New-Forest/Article/200812115173796?lpos=UK_News_Top_Stories_Header_3&lid=ARTICLE_15173796_Concern_Over_Lapland_Park_In_Staffordshire_Follows_Christmas_Farce_In_New_Forest

Relating to Laplands West Midlands

QUOTE
Also at the site is trading standards officer Carol Dean who said: "All we have here is an empty field with a few tents.

"The experience that people will be coming to look at - a winter wonderland - is simply not here."
The council is now working to ensure that those people who have already forked out the entrance fee over the internet are reimbursed.
UNQUOTE

I believe that some people have been caught out by this one too, though not as many as with Lapland New Forest Ltd I imagine.

East Dorset Trading Standards please note.

The bottom line to this thread is to ensure that those who have been misled into paying money for these events get that money back.

EdnaCloud

To the tune of Motorbikin'
With apologies to Chris Spedding

Bog nappin'

Bog nappin' - Bog nappin' -
Bog nappin' - Bog nappin'
Leaving on the Queens highway
Robbin' like a streak of lightening
If you gotta go go gotta go bog nappin'
Listen to me and I'll tell you a lie
Too fast to catch, too rich to die
I bought a new site today say
It takes your cash away.

neiljaxx

EdnaCloud wrote: »

To the tune of Motorbikin'
With apologies to Chris Spedding

Bog nappin'

Bog nappin' - Bog nappin' -
Bog nappin' - Bog nappin'
Leaving on the Queens highway
Robbin' like a streak of lightening
If you gotta go go gotta go bog nappin'
Listen to me and I'll tell you a lie
Too fast to catch, too rich to die
I bought a new site today say
It takes your cash away.

Christmas number 1 I reckon. In shops Monday.... priced £25.

Brooker_Dave

neiljaxx wrote: »

are we placing bets on where number 3 will be?

Fear not Santa fans, I plan to open Lapland Dunstable in the pub car park down the road, it'll be great.

Sadly no huskies, but the neighbours lent me his Staff/Rottie cross, which looks like a huskie from a distance.

Only £30 a ticket (under 16s £50 a ticket but free pound shop gift from whatever drunk I can get to dress up as santa).

Payment direct to Lapland Dunstable (Lagos Ltd) Caymen Islands.

santaclaus

Well done to all those who helped fight these people on the various forums. I would also like to say well done to the council for acting admirably in the Midlands.

Also to everyone who bought tickets for either event, I truly hope that you get a refund and most of all that you have a very Happy Christmas.

EdnaCloud

Dear Mr Bilpit,

bilpit wrote: »

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 :

I've previously copywrighted the use of my cats with clip on antlers to be sole performers in the roll of 'mini raindears' and any use of this idea or any images on any website will be persecuted to the fullist extent of the lor. Please also take note
that my fat white cat has sole rights to the role of role of polar bear cub.

If you do not stop stealing my ideas I will refer to my solicitors Sue, Fleeceham, and Scarper.(Regd by the Law Society of Tuvalu and Kirks Islands).

Alternatively if you want to join forces and dubble our money we could develop this [STRIKE]scam [/STRIKE] event as you do seem to have some gud ideas.

I have some mates who have experience in this work let's get together and have apint and see what we can do. I am in Norfolk and I know the snow covered mountain scenes are going to be a problem by my mate the farmer has only just lifted his sugar beet and its in a big heep in a muddy field. Im sure with a bit of decoration it could look just like a mountain seen.

Yoors,
Roger Bognap (no relation) on behalf of
Bodgit, Conem and Run
proffessonal events to order.

bilpit

...and to all a goodnight !!

I think our job here is done, so just to wish you all the very best for the upcoming festivities.

Apologies to anyone who has taken umbrage to some of our light-hearted banter, but I think you will find most of the posters here have been upset and angered at the thought of kids being ripped-off. Humour is a natural human emotion that manifests to combat such feelings, and I'm sure nobody meant any harm.

Our hearts go out to any members of the public (or innocent contractors) who have lost money in either of these scams. If you cannot get a refund, maybe you will have the pleaure of seeing the organisers selling the Big Issue before long, or maybe even behind bars.

So, festive greetings to each and every one of you out there...

And to all the British public, who have proved they are not willing to stand by and see families being ripped off, may I quote the words of Tiny Tim...

"GOD BLESS US, EVERY ONE"

codger

GomerPyle wrote: »

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Concern-Over-Lapland-Park-In-Staffordshire-Follows-Christmas-Farce-In-New-Forest/Article/200812115173796?lpos=UK_News_Top_Stories_Header_3&lid=ARTICLE_15173796_Concern_Over_Lapland_Park_In_Staffordshire_Follows_Christmas_Farce_In_New_Forest

Relating to Laplands West Midlands

QUOTE
Also at the site is trading standards officer Carol Dean who said: "All we have here is an empty field with a few tents.

"The experience that people will be coming to look at - a winter wonderland - is simply not here."
The council is now working to ensure that those people who have already forked out the entrance fee over the internet are reimbursed.
UNQUOTE

I believe that some people have been caught out by this one too, though not as many as with Lapland New Forest Ltd I imagine.

East Dorset Trading Standards please note.

The bottom line to this thread is to ensure that those who have been misled into paying money for these events get that money back.

Hi Gomer:

The good news (if such there be) is that Staffordshire County Council's Trading Standards department has already been in touch with PayPal (Europe) Inc so as to (a) freeze the Lapland West Midlands account and (b) to prevent -- at the time the website was still live -- PayPal processing of further ticket purchases.

As such, Staffordshire TS deserves no little praise: would that all TS departments, in all UK Local Authorities, be as diligent, and as robust, as they have been.

It seems highly unlikely that the attempted scam raked in more than a few hundred quid before it was stopped. The 'Lapland' Midlands organisers say they're out of pocket to the tune of £40k but hopefully they won't be allowed to just walk away, nursing just this loss: the lies and deceptions were cynical, wilful and sustained.

Where Lapland New Forest is concerned, the situation's more complicated because at least that bunch were canny enough not to resort to a PayPal merchant account, albeit they then claimed that the credit card processor involved had "removed all our money".

That being the case, I'm optimistic that the banks (debit cards) and credit card companies will be able to work with Lapland New Forest's payments processor to organise refunds.

Even so. That both money-grubbing schemes appear to have been hatched by people one Santa Claus short of a full theme park, and that ticket holders should get their money back, doesn't alter the fact that the lying morons behind both "experiences" shouldn't be prosecuted to the fullest extent.

The delicious irony, of course, is that they really do seem to have believed that they could harness the power of the Internet to exploit the unwary.

Now they've belatedly awoken to the fact that the Internet can bite back.

More power to MSE and other consumer forums then, and thanks to the posters on this thread like santaclaus, edna, yourself and so many others for their not inconsiderable efforts.

GomerPyle

I would like to nominate a certain Mr Vic Mears as a person who is going to be sad, lonely, unloved and feeling the pinch this Christmas.

Send him a Christmas card - nothing rude or unsavoury - just cheap and tacky will do.

If you forget to post it - never mind. The thought was there.

That is fantastic news codger. What a way to start Christmas.

I'm going to love watching some of those soppy old black and white films on TV and know that sometimes, just sometimes, things can work out the way they should and that it's not all just a sugar coated fantasy.

Merry Christmas' to one all - even Vic who has learned something about Christmas spirit - I hope.