Much worried: scam alert

[giuly09]

Morning all,
so after i had made up my mind yesterday night I booked the Dream Castle Hotel through a web site called Outlet-hotels.com booking site, it looked ok and the customer care service had several numbers all around Europe.
Their price were slightly cheaper than other sites but no *so much cheaper* if you know what i mean..

Everything seemed to be legit and ok. Thus I accepted the payment.
But after i had booked I saw the redirect to turkey for the payment and got suspicious, checked credit card and payment had been made to RoomsRecord.com based in Istambul.

I had not got any confirmation email and so started worried big time. Send an email asking to get a confirmation and got a link where i can print down a voucher but where there is written that *the Hotel won't know your name prior to 72 hours before your arrive*.
Panic.
Had a search through the net and found a post on Tripadvisor London Forum where a few people were talking about this Booking Site and none of them were happy about it. More it seems they *really* book half of the rooms and so it's up to the chance if you're lucky or not..

Phone the Dream Castle. They do not have a booking for my name but - the reception lady said - the booking office was closed.

Made a reply to the post on Tripadvisor and sent an email to the booking site asking for my booking to be cancelled. In a few minutes got a reply for a *General Manager* telling me off because i was suspicious when they are legit and work well etc etc but saying if i wanted my booking to be cancelled he would had done it for me. Five minutes later i got this email:

you just booked 2 hours before. it is normal. our phone support open between 9am to 19 pm.

any way we cancelled your reservation has been cancelled and we refund your money back

Kindest Regards
Kaan Sensoy
G.M

Since then i have kept a close eye on my CC because i am worried they have my number, i had thought about blocking my CC but if i do how could they give me back my money??

I feel so stupid

 

[HappyPanda]

Oh no! That does sound suspicious. I think you definitely did the right thing by cancelling your reservation.

If I was you, I'd ring up your card provider and let them know the situation. At least then they will be able to look out for any additional transactions from that 'company'.

I hope you get your money back ok and that you can rebook with a legit company.

 

[SleepingX3Beauty]

Indeed, call the creditcard company and tell them that the ONLY transaction that can be accepted by that company is your refund and that you won't accept any other transactions. Maybe even ask to automatically block it once the refund is done.

 

[DLPDreams]

What a shame!

I would be inclined to cancel your card. I'm sure if you ring up the card provider and tell them they will say to do that anyway. It is a huge hassle and stress for you though ....

 

[angel_nix]

I agree, I would ring up your cc company and get them to put a watch on the card. We had problems with a company taking £500+ from my hubbys cc and they worked so quickly to rectify the problem. The money was recalled, the cc was temporarily blocked and subsequent transactions had to be authorised.

I hope you get it sorted quickly xx

 

[MazdaUK]

That is a worry! I'd agree to ring your cc company so you can be easy.

 

[torsie24]

I'd call your CC company, tell them you've cancelled the holiday and that you can provide proof of that, and ask them to cancel the payment and then shut the card.

If it was only last night you 'paid' then in theory the money probably hasn't transferred from your card yet.

 

[giuly09]

I've called the CC company but the answer is...the payment was made and approved by me and they see no reason to block or cancel it

So now i can only hope they REALLY refund me....

 

[Isila]

and your request to cancel it is not a reason?

 

[giuly09]

In their opinion it isn't

 

[jennytablina]

Hopefully they refund you, if not there are other means to get your money back, but there honestly isn't much you can do when you have given your money to them. If they don't - then it's time to go to small claims court

Though the moral here is: NEVER buy from a site unless you are confident first that they are legit and not going to mess you about. Always, always check before you give them money - it will save you a lot of hassle : ) Check they are a member of ABTA (The UK Travellers Association) and have proper accreditations. Always be iffy or avoid if a site doesn't have these or good reviews. They may have cheaper prices, but that doesn't matter a jot if you don't actually get your hotel or holiday!

I'm always a bit iffy about unknown companies in the first place, because they are more likely to go bust - and if they do, it's a huge mess sorting out money, or getting home if you happened to be on holiday as it happened.

 

[Ware Bears]

Oh Giulia, what a worry.

but where there is written that *the Hotel won't know your name prior to 72 hours before your arrive*.

As far as I know this is standard procedure with all hotel booking agencies BUT I think you've done the right thing by cancelling as you don't want to be spending the time between now and July worrying.

Try not to panic if they have charged your CC and a refund doesn't show straight away as refunds can take longer to process.

Have you checked out the rates for the Dream Castle on Benotel? We often used them to book the Explorers as their rates were so good and they only ask for CC details in case of a no show - you pay at the hotel when you check in.

 

[giuly09]

Thanks Elaine,
i keep checking CC but so far no refund, well they say 5-7 days so we're still in the range.
In the meantime i have booked using a well known Italian booking site that incidentally is just 50 euros more expensive than Outlet Hotels, got the confirmation email with details etc etc, hopefully no probs this time but may check with the Dream Castle as well, i am getting careful now...

 

[DLPDreams]

I really hope you get the refund within the timeframe. What a worry for you. It is so easy to get sucked into the net and ordering these days x

 

[Isila]

I think I got my refund after around 9 days later. But that was DLP and staff was very helpful.
I do hope you get your money back as soon as possible.

 

[giuly09]

Peace of mind, refund arrived.

On wednesday i had sent an email to the Dream Castle and got their reply yesterday

* Dear Mrs Giulia,

Thank you for your kind interest in our Vienna Dream Castle Hotel at Disneyland Paris.
Regarding this request, please just note that we have not a contract with this agency, but maybe
the agency you mentiuoned "outlet hotels.com" works with our supplier.
So for me actually i don't have a reservation confirmed under this name on our system.*

To be honest i still don't know if it was a scam or not, maybe i just got worried for no reason but anyway it's over now and i can look forward to my 50th birthday DLRP break

 

[Isila]

Great news Nice to hear you got your money back.

 

[Ware Bears]

What a relief!

To be honest i still don't know if it was a scam or not,

Who knows if it really is I doubt you'd have seen your money again BUT the important thing is that you've had it refunded and now instead of spending the time in the run up to your birthday worrying, you can spend it getting excited!!

 

[giuly09]

What a relief!

Who knows if it really is I doubt you'd have seen your money again :

You're right Elaine. Now the man that claims he's the General Manager of the booking site says the one that had started the thread on Tripadvisor is asking him money to stop the speculation going on....as you say it's difficult to guess the truth but i am not much bothered now

BTW: now i need tickets for the Parks. I have found this site that is slightly cheaper than the DLRP website, have anyone ever used it or do you know it anyway?

http://www.isango.com/SearchActivity.aspx?Keywords=disneyland paris

In 2010 i got day tickets for a cheap price via a special offer i found on tripadvisor but i don't think anything is going on these days..

 

[Carrie_Cat]

BTW: now i need tickets for the Parks. I have found this site that is slightly cheaper than the DLRP website, have anyone ever used it or do you know it anyway?

http://www.isango.com/SearchActivity.aspx?Keywords=disneyland paris

In 2010 i got day tickets for a cheap price via a special offer i found on tripadvisor but i don't think anything is going on these days..

I don't know when you are going but here are the gate prices as of the 29th of March and you have the cheaper Francilien tickets on here too.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2891295

Depending on your dates there could be flash sales through the Fnac, Carrefour or Ticketnet which would be interesting for tickets