ESTA be careful to use the correct website!

brigittejohn

Just wanted to warm people to use check that they are using the proper official website.
It is https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/esta.html

It should only charge you $14

I got scammed by using this one:
USA ESTA Processing Team
info@usaesta.org
https://www.usaesta.org

I got charged $88 each for me and for my husband!

Normally I am quite savvy so I feel really stupid, particularly as it indicated the charge only after making the payment!
It does provide you with the document, but what a price to pay!

George_Michael

brigittejohn wrote: »

I got charged $88 each for me and for my husband!

Normally I am quite savvy so I feel really stupid, particularly as it indicated the charge only after making the payment!
It does provide you with the document, but what a price to pay!

When you go to the first page to apply, (the page where you enter your country of citizenship), this is shown:

All approved applicants will receive their travel authorization by email in PDF-format within 72 hours. Travelers can apply for ESTA long before their date of travel and no itinerary is needed to complete the application. Itinerary details can be added to your travel authorization at any time before departure. Travelers can use our website to submit their application for review and processing, and each application is charged USD $88.00. The charge includes the U.S. government fee of USD $14.00.

https://www.usaesta.com/en/vwp/new-esta-application.html

and the charge is also shown on the payment page before you enter your payment details:

By using this ESTA processing service I consent to the Privacy Policy, Terms and Conditions of this website. I acknowledge that a private company will review and submit the ESTA Travel Authorization on my behalf, which includes the mandatory US Government submission fee. I am of legal age, or have parental/guardian consent to submit this application. The charge for our service will be displayed on the credit/bank statement as: ESTASYSTEM.COM $88.00.
If you have any questions about your order or upcoming trip to the United States, please contact us at anytime: info@usaesta.org

and again in their Terms and conditions which you tick a box to say that you agree with them:

6) Payment for our Products and Services

There is no charge to access our website, view our products/services or ask questions. However, we do charge for verifying, processing and reviewing applications. Before you start an ESTA application, we will clearly inform of the service fee and total price. All individual travel authorization (ESTA) applications processed are charged at USD $ 88.00 each, which includes the US government mandatory fee of USD $ 14.00.

I honestly don't think that they could have made the charge of $88 much clearer.

koalakoala

You didn't get scammed, you got what you paid for!

Pollycat

brigittejohn wrote: »

Just wanted to warm people to use check that they are using the proper official website.
It is https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/esta.html

It should only charge you $14

I got scammed by using this one:
USA ESTA Processing Team
[EMAIL="info@usaesta.org"]info@usaesta.org[/EMAIL]
https://www.usaesta.org

I got charged $88 each for me and for my husband!

Normally I am quite savvy so I feel really stupid, particularly as it indicated the charge only after making the payment!
It does provide you with the document, but what a price to pay!

You really need to be savvy when using Google.
I always check if a search result has 'Ad' in a little box at the left hand side of the link.

Be aware that there are all sorts of things that you can obtain or book online that are available free (e.g. EHIC) or cheaper from the genuine website where these types of company set up to part you from your money.

EssexExile

We can all criticize the OP for being a silly, but the warning will be useful for someone & should be repeated regularly.

Pollycat

EssexExile wrote: »

We can all criticize the OP for being a silly, but the warning will be useful for someone & should be repeated regularly.

Absolutely agree.
That's why I usually mention the other stuff that these companies are involved in.
Not sure if GOV.UK have closed the loopholes about passports, driving licences, driving tests (theory & practical) etc.

Someone posted this on another thread:

gfplux wrote: »

Many many people are caught by these sites.
Beware when searching for Passport Office, EHIC, USA-ESTA.

There will be a new one in the future when it becomes mandatory to sign up for a Schengen area ETIAS in 2021, watch out!

George_Michael

EssexExile wrote: »

We can all criticize the OP for being a silly, but the warning will be useful for someone & should be repeated regularly.

I agree that there is certainly no harm in advising people of the correct website to use but I posted earlier simply because I don't think if fair of the OP to accuse a company of scamming people when they wrongly stated that no price was shown until after they paid when in fact the price for the service is clearly shown in 3 different places before any payment details are entered.

It's not only a case of having to be "Google savvy" but also a case of having to take a bit of responsibility and actually read what you are agreeing to before paying money to someone.