meet up deposit paid what to do as money taken

vji

hi hope you can help me. i joined a club on meetup and after a while they organised a holiday. i paid a deposit to the club. a few weeks later i was banned from the club. i had no way to appeal. i sent a email to meetup but they say as the money was paid direct they cannot be involved.
i wonder how i can get my money back. i only have his email address and i paid by bank transfer. could you advise me what is the best course of action.
i have asked for my money back of course.
thanks in advance

PasturesNew

Have you considered that you've just been victim to a new style of scam?

Are the group, the man, the holiday all legit and they stopped liking you, or was it a scam and others got burnt too?

Have you checked this line of enquiry to see?

Have you had a friend try to join the group to see if the holiday's still being touted?

wealdroam

vji wrote: »

hi hope you can help me. i joined a club on meetup and after a while they organised a holiday. i paid a deposit to the club. a few weeks later i was banned from the club. i had no way to appeal. i sent a email to meetup but they say as the money was paid direct they cannot be involved.
i wonder how i can get my money back. i only have his email address and i paid by bank transfer. could you advise me what is the best course of action.
i have asked for my money back of course.
thanks in advance

Why were you banned?

vji

my friend has also been banned from the club with no explanation. i was hoping that i could sort the issue out with a mediator but i have no way to appeal. i tried with the other leaders but think it is hopeless as i have tried. i wonder if i can go the way of taking them to court. i am upset that they have banned me on one hand then not given my money back.

wealdroam

vji wrote: »

my friend has also been banned from the club with no explanation. i was hoping that i could sort the issue out with a mediator but i have no way to appeal. i tried with the other leaders but think it is hopeless as i have tried. i wonder if i can go the way of taking them to court. i am upset that they have banned me on one hand then not given my money back.

Who are you considering taking to court?

If it's Meetup Inc, then you need to know that they are based in New York.

If it's 'the club', then any court case is doomed to failure with only an email address.

Sorry, I cannot think of any way you might get your money back.

You should report your misfortune to Action Fraud.

unholyangel

So you don't know why you were banned and have no idea of any possibilities of why they might have banned you?

How much did you pay and what did you pay for? Was it for the holiday? How far away is the holiday? Would perhaps splitting the booking and changing your dates/destination be an option? They (travel agent) may refuse to speak to you if you're not the lead passenger though.

vji

i paid £30 to a person who was taking deposits for the holiday. They say I can go now but because i was banned i do not feel easy to go back to them. so i would like my money back. they have said no as they have to sell the places. it was a deposit but no details were given...
I feel much better now to book all the details myself. if i book through a travel agent i have a way of protection. if i continue through the club and some thing happens again i am .....lost.
i hope this explains

unholyangel

vji wrote: »

i paid £30 to a person who was taking deposits for the holiday. They say I can go now but because i was banned i do not feel easy to go back to them. so i would like my money back. they have said no as they have to sell the places. it was a deposit but no details were given...
I feel much better now to book all the details myself. if i book through a travel agent i have a way of protection. if i continue through the club and some thing happens again i am .....lost.
i hope this explains

For £30, court action would not be worth it (even if done online, for filing & hearing fee, you're looking at a minimum of £55 outlay with no guaranteed success) - even if it was a guaranteed win. The time you would spend writing to them, filing paperwork, complying with pre-action protocol and then going to the hearing itself would be more costly than £30.

Possibly best to cut your losses now rather than later down the line.

wealdroam

vji wrote: »

i paid £30 to a person who was taking deposits for the holiday. They say I can go now but because i was banned i do not feel easy to go back to them. so i would like my money back. they have said no as they have to sell the places. it was a deposit but no details were given...
I feel much better now to book all the details myself. if i book through a travel agent i have a way of protection. if i continue through the club and some thing happens again i am .....lost.
i hope this explains

Ok, so it's £30 you appear to have lost.

I would write that off and remember in future to never ever send money by bank transfer, Western Union, etc. to any one you do not know and have at least a verified address.

Again, do report this to Action Fraud.
It won't get your money back but may help avoid others losing theirs.

agrinnall

wealdroam wrote: »

Again, do report this to Action Fraud.
It won't get your money back but may help avoid others losing theirs.

I'm not sure that AF will be that interested given that the OP has been told s/he can go on the holiday but has chosen not to.

Stevie_Palimo

agrinnall wrote: »

I'm not sure that AF will be that interested given that the OP has been told s/he can go on the holiday but has chosen not to.

And I am totally sure AF will do sweet fa about this or any other fraud that happens being as useless as they are. Better off speaking to a tree about it as they would probably offer better advice and look into it further than the clowns that are AF.