I searched online for some cheap tickets to Ghana, Accra for my son and nephew in early June to visit their grandparents and came across airlineticketsagentuk.com. I spoke to someone called George on telephone number: 020 3384 0571 who was offering a pretty good price of £650 per person (adult fare) for an 8 week stay. They claimed they could get such a good deal because they bought bulk tickets earlier in the year when the price was low which seemed quite plausible. They asked for payment and said they couldn't take a card payment due to a problem with their card machine. I should have twigged then that something was wrong. Anyway I made a payment through internet banking to their account and they promised I'd receive the e-ticket 24 hours later. They even directed me to Virgin Atlantic's website to confirm the reservation had been made which I saw.
24 hours came and went and still no e-tickets. Followed up with telephone calls to them at least half a dozen times, was asked first if I'd paid the full balance and each time they told me there was a problem with the issuer of the e-tickets (Virgin) and the e-tickets would arrive in a week's time. Waited and still no e-tickets.
On one occasion when I called they promised the e-tickets would be there on 15th July. The flights were booked for 22nd July so I was worried.
I had a very heated discussion with someone called Sinc (doubt this was his real name) and he refused to put me through to his manager because he didn't want to. I had spoken to Virgin Atlantic previously with the booking ref: I was given initially and found out the booking had been cancelled mysteriously by "Southall Travel". I believe there is a genuine Southall Travel out there so this scammer must have stolen their name to make the booking. I told Sinc that I was going to speak to Virgin Atlantic (he said they wouldn't speak to me because they only speak to travil agents I was just a customer, to which I said I'd already spoken to them) and find out their policy on issuing e-tickets. Sinc said they (Virgin Atlantic) issue e-tickets a week or so prior to the flight date which I knew was rubbish.
Spoke to Virgin Atlantic and gave the booking ref: and they confirmed it had been cancelled and to report them to ABTA and CAA if I wasn't happy with the online travel agent. They did say they would have no problem issuing the e-tickets if airlineticketsagentuk made the payment. They also said they issue e-tickets as soon as payments are made which I already knew. This was no fault of Virgin Atlantic so their hands were tied as payment was never received.
Took multiple attempts to speak to George who I made the booking with and he kept spouting on that I should wait until the 15th July and that I would definitely receive the e-tickets. I told him that I had spoken to Virgin Atlantic and he was annoyed that I had done this. He said I should speak to him only since he took the booking. I told him I had every right to speak to Virgin Atlantic to get the facts. Anyway I asked for the return of my money to which he said it would take up to 3 weeks (company policy). He was due to return the funds to a bank account which I never use. I had a feeling this was stalling tactics but then again I never had an address for them so there was little I could do. They told me they were based in Portsmouth but this was highly unlikely.
Called finally a week or so after speaking to George and found that their number was disconnected and their website was no longer there.
I have reported this to ABTA and CAA who said they need to receive more complaints before they'll do anything and I've also reported this to the police.
BEWARE: These scammers are likely to resurface under another name but will use the same practice. Never pay bank to bank over the internet, it's as good as handing over the cash. Your bank will not be able to recover the money. Always pay by credit card as you're covered by insurance if anything goes wrong.
I am determined to catch these evil scammers and will be contacting Watchdog to see if there's anything they can do to help.
Hope no one else falls for this.
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