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

GomerPyle

'old on 'old on - I know a lad with blonde curly 'air and is a spittin' image of that chef geeza' off the TV and posh toffs like their venison gamey - know what I mean eh ?

Stick a white 'at on 'im and get 'im fryin' venison burgers and Bob's yer carbuncle, you can charge a whopper.If it stinks like my socks after a night on the razzle dazzle, that's gamey 'ennit ? They pay extra for it bein' a bit off.

GomerPyle

It's all horriby complicated alison6692

Did you receive tickets ?

Did the site fold before your date to go there ?

Did you go and visit the place - (possibly putting yourself at risk of assault)

I would claim - and it might even be advantageous to leave the grounds open, due to the ongoing investigations that are in the public realm.

However, if you can clarify your situation it might help. If it is established that the whole thing was just a complete sham (and what are the chances of that ) you may not even have to mentions the grounds, or, after investigation, you may be able to put something more blunt.

EdnaCloud

Gor blimey gomer, yor well ahed of the game if you know wot i mean. tell essexlander not to junk the deer yet and keep it in the back of the tranny. The smell'll soon go. wot can we [strike]rip off[/strike] charge as a fair price for this [strike]delicasy delickas, dellics[/strike] gormay delite? an Ayrton a go (wiff free onions)? Or wud that de dear deer? either way we'll make a killing with the killing and as ole Brucey used to say - good game, good game!

Jack Bognopper IV (no relation)

PS if bad things are said about the organiser of LNF would it be a mere mear smear?

GomerPyle

So it appears

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/christmas/3660224/Refunds-promised-for-lapland-customers-in-West-Midlands-as-officials-investigate-New-Forest-connection.html

QUOTE
His brother Henry, 58, claims the pair are now trying to find the funds to reimburse some of the 50,000 customers who paid up to 30 pounds a ticket.
He said: “We have worked unbelievably hard and taken very little out of it. We have lost our own money because this event hasn't been allowed to go forward.
"I have done the lottery - I scraped enough together for that - and should I win that I personally, out of my own pocket, will pay everybody back whether they enjoyed it or not.
“The trading standards people visited us after all these poxy complaints and they said it was absolutely clear we never set out to deceive or con anybody."
UNQUOTE

As recommended by Trading Standards now is it. :rotfl:

..... and paying people back, and by that I mean money, is something that HM Customs and Revenue could comment on judging by previous prosecution(s).

If they have any brains, investigations are ongoing, they'll seek some Christmas cheer in Lapland themselves, or perhaps somewhere farther north where they may not have heard about this.

EdnaCloud

GomerPyle wrote: »

So it appears

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/christmas/3660224/Refunds-promised-for-lapland-customers-in-West-Midlands-as-officials-investigate-New-Forest-connection.html

QUOTE
His brother Henry, 58, claims the pair are now trying to find the funds to reimburse some of the 50,000 customers who paid up to 30 pounds a ticket.
He said: “We have worked unbelievably hard and taken very little out of it. We have lost our own money because this event hasn't been allowed to go forward.

Wow! (to use a mear-term). So he's blown 1.5 million in less than a week?
Or is that what he spent on the event? If so he was scammed big time. I would be so sorry for him if that were the case. Let's keep on the trail.......

"I have done the lottery - I scraped enough together for that - and should I win that I personally, out of my own pocket, will pay everybody back whether they enjoyed it or not.

So, the chances of getting your money back are approximately 14 million to one. What planet is this apparently remorseless fool on? An interesting comment for further evidence though!

“The trading standards people visited us after all these poxy complaints and they said it was absolutely clear we never set out to deceive or con anybody."
UNQUOTE

I do so hope that Dorset Trading Standards have seen this absurd comment. Oops they already have! Must be those naughty reindeer again!

**snip**

If they have any brains, investigations are ongoing, they'll seek some Christmas cheer in Lapland themselves, or perhaps somewhere farther north where they may not have heard about this.

Brains?? Going North seemed to ba a plan and as was posted previously extrapolation by geography should put them in Lapland by Xmas so will we see Lapland Lapland? (Doh - it's already been done!)

bilpit

Exclusive - to readers of this group only

Unique souvenirs of an unforgettable day out !!

Limited edition "Lapland, New Forest" T-shirts

100% cheap imported material - not suitable for wearing or washing !!

Priced at just £79.50 for adults

or £89.50 for children

Profits will go toward building Lapland, Norfolk
(website coming soon)

Please note, photo is for illustration purposes only, and may not represent the actual T-shirt

All payments to my usual Pay-Pal address

No refunds in the event of this turning out not to be a real product !!

Newly_scammed

New to this today - have followed the thread since visiting Lapland New Forest on the first Saturday
Has anyone managed to get their money back yet? Would ofer encouragement to many bystanders I am sure...

Barclaycard were contacted last Monday, promised forms, but on ringing today, have no record - and had the cheek to offer identity fraud protection for £69.99 when I asked if there were any suspicious transactions!!!
I'm starting to think Mr Mears is in cahoots with the banks to re-build their balance sheets!!

Finally - I am delighted to see such passion and commitment to the cause - I am mentioning this to all and sundry, so hope this is successful - I'm now a committed member...

codger

Gosh, gang. :j

I thought this thread had faded away behind a mountain of sugar beet somewhere in Norfolk.

Before catching up on the most recent comments -- I spend a lot of the year in Norfolk, and have done much to sustain the Waitrose at Swarr-Fam ever since it opened behind those bloody windmills -- might I hesitantly pen a few thoughts?

1) The company set up by those behind the New Forest "enterprise" seems most likely to have received the income. So refunds of monies paid should legally be by the company. I cannot see how the individuals themselves could have acquired the services of a credit / debit card processor.

2) Putting a company into administration because of a corporate inability to meet debts, claims, and sundry other obligations is quite usual. It could happen here.

3) In an ideal world, the company's bank account could be frozen (as happened to the Lapland West Midlands' PayPal merchant's account.)

But how such can be effected here in short order -- a PayPal account is one thing, a bank account, quite another -- is unclear, as there is also the question of just where all that ticket income actually is:

Lapland New Forest was at pains to claim on its website -- before everything finally collapsed -- that its payment processor had taken all the ticket revenue so it no longer had access to those funds anyway.

4) Whether or not that was the truth, who can tell? It would certainly be convenient for someone caught red-handed in a scam to say 'Well guv, complain all you want, I don't have yer money, somebody else nicked it from me'. And then vanish over the horizon with the loot.

5) The company was, on the evidence available, a front for a scam based entirely on the sustained and systematic mispresentation of a product -- in this case, a family visitor "experience" -- which the promoters thought they could get away with by dint of incorporating, within the website vehicle they constructed solely for that promotion, a pile of barrack-room lawyer legalese absolving them of any obligation to be truthful, honest, or accurate. (The term 'decent' doesn't come into this, though if it did, that would be another breach anyway.)

6) The disclaimers were so obviously moronic that one would have to be a cat-with-antlers short of a full theme park to even consider penning them. That this bunch did so tends to indicate that the demands made of a collective when it only has one brain cell to share are onerous indeed.

7) Purchasers of tickets should follow whatever advice is given them by Dorset TS, the lead authority here.

8) Purchasers of tickets for the even more amazing, and, er, um, wholly unconnected, Lapland West Midlands family visitor 'experience' are probably better placed.

Apart from the fact that numerically the claimants' total is likely to be considerably smaller -- despite the lies deliberately told on the LWM website about days being almost full / almost sold out so as to urge prospective customers to part with their money immediately -- the reality is that PayPal was the payments processor, because the West Midlands lot didn't even go to the trouble of setting up a company so as to be able to acquire the services of a payments processor.

PayPal and Staffordshire County Council's TS are working together on this so there is no reason why PayPal cannot refund if the account is frozen and intact. Again though, Lapland WM customers need to take advice from Staffordshire TS about refund claim procedures.

Finally. . . The more that those behind these attempted scams open their mouths, the more dumb they look. But looking dumb is of no concern to people like that: their self-awareness goes no further than the conviction that everyone else is even dumber, anyway.

What hurts such people is not public ridicule but legal sanction.

The outcome of the judicial process where both Lapland New Forest and Lapland West Midlands are concerned will be eagerly awaited by many.

(Though what might be an appropriate punishment for being a complete and utter Bognopper, I've no idea. . .)

trisontana

There's a Waitrose in Swaffham? That's a bit posh for Norfolk .

Joking apart, you have made some good points codger. It does seem a peculiar that the organizers of the New Forest enterprise now cannot lay their hands on any money.

cynical-lady

Well I've now sent my form off to Barclaycard and I will let the forum know when I hear something.

I was pleased and surprised to see that while it's in dispute the money does not count towards my balance, nor incur interest.A small silver lining

It also said that I was entitled to claim any extra costs I had incurred because of this, so I thought I'd try to claim the £4.60 I had to pay for a 'special delivery' letter requesting a refund, working on the basis if you don't ask you don't get.

Something that struck me as amusing was the amount of available information/copies/brochures they asked for,(which was fine,I had plenty !) compared to the size of the return envelope they provided.

I know I'm fast becoming a disillusioned 'grumpy old woman' but wouldn't it be nice ,just for once,if common sense prevailed somewhere, and someone had actually realised a large envelope might be required? Oh well c'est la vie!