Showcase Holidays - is this a scam

mangoqueeny

Hi everyone, I'm new.

I was on holiday in Paphos last year (Nov) and stupidly did one of those scratchcard things in the street and had to sit through an hour and a half of timeshare presentations. It was our last day and we were waiting to go to the airport so no big deal. We were given a voucher for a "free" holiday (accom only) with a £149 admin fee to pay. Tried to do it on the website when I got home but there was nowhere to put in the login details and no phone number so emailed them but no answer. Guessed it was just a scam and forgot all about it.

Couple of weeks ago got a call from Showcase Holidays apologising that no-one had contacted me before and they wondered why I hadn't taken my "free" holiday yet. They said the voucher runs for 20 months, I could look at their website (which had a strange URL she said, as it was being re-done) choose the accomodation for 4 adults or 6 people if there were children, then she would ring me in a couple of days to see what I'd chosen. I had to do a questionnaire over the phone about income etc.

Spoke to her today and asked when the admin fee is due. She said that you pay the £149 first before you book your accom which made me wonder. Do they just take the money and disappear before you get any booking confirmation etc?

There's no company registration details on the website, no address, no details of who they are. There are no Ts & Cs or booking forms, it's all on the phone.

Any advice would be gratefully received! Don't want to lose free accom but don't want to lose £149 either!

Thanks.

SaveTheEuro

I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole. Your hesitancy has saved you £149. Well done.

gnus

mangoqueeny wrote: »

There's no company registration details on the website, no address, no details of who they are. There are no Ts & Cs or booking forms, it's all on the phone.

Any advice would be gratefully received!

Yes, send the money to me instead. western union is good, and I'll fix you up with a holiday, honestly....:rotfl:

cajsa

mangoqueeny wrote: »

Hi everyone, I'm new.

I was on holiday in Paphos last year (Nov) and stupidly did one of those scratchcard things in the street and had to sit through an hour and a half of timeshare presentations. It was our last day and we were waiting to go to the airport so no big deal. We were given a voucher for a "free" holiday (accom only) with a £149 admin fee to pay. Tried to do it on the website when I got home but there was nowhere to put in the login details and no phone number so emailed them but no answer. Guessed it was just a scam and forgot all about it.

Couple of weeks ago got a call from Showcase Holidays apologising that no-one had contacted me before and they wondered why I hadn't taken my "free" holiday yet. They said the voucher runs for 20 months, I could look at their website (which had a strange URL she said, as it was being re-done) choose the accomodation for 4 adults or 6 people if there were children, then she would ring me in a couple of days to see what I'd chosen. I had to do a questionnaire over the phone about income etc.

Spoke to her today and asked when the admin fee is due. She said that you pay the £149 first before you book your accom which made me wonder. Do they just take the money and disappear before you get any booking confirmation etc?

There's no company registration details on the website, no address, no details of who they are. There are no Ts & Cs or booking forms, it's all on the phone.

Any advice would be gratefully received! Don't want to lose free accom but don't want to lose £149 either!

Thanks.

I think you have answered this yourself ( highlighted red) no such thing as a free lunch as they say but i certainly would not be parting with £149 based on this info or lack of it

SaveTheEuro

The "about us" section on the website gives absolutely zero information about who they are. Maybe there's more information at !!!!!!!!.com

mangoqueeny

I thought I was probably right about this company but just needed someone else to confirm it! I'm pretty savvy about these things generally but it's worth checking. The website seems to have disappeared now and I get a message in Spanish! I'll see if the young lady rings me in a couple of weeks and ask her a few searching questions