Think I may have been scammed

[shoot and be safe]

I have paid a deposit for a few days shooting and haven't received any paperwork back from the shoot as promised.

A month or two has now since passed and still nothing.

 

Following a quick look back to the shoot's website, there is a message on there saying the shoot website is no longer in existence and if you want to buy a puppy, call this number (the shoot also ran a very successful kennels).

 

Now curiosity got the better of me and I phoned said number to "enquire" about the pups and to ask what happened to the shoot.

 

I was told that her parents are no longer running the shoot and are in fact in the middle of moving to pastures new.

 

Now I am left with a bit of a sick feeling in my stomach that I may have lost a fair bit of cash.

 

What advice would the PW collective leagal eagles like to offer me?

 

Also are there any of you larger chaps who fancy standing behind me if I go knocking doors down?

 

I await your responses as to what I can do legally.

 

Many thanks in advance

Mark

[shoot and be safe]

I should point out that this shoot has nothing to do with any PW advertising.

 

It was booked via guns on pegs.

[billytheghillie]

I would have told her I had shooting booked, and asked the whereabouts of her parents.

[islandgun]

pay a visit

[ElvisThePelvis]

What mechanism did you pay by? Is the 'payee' still in existence? Did you pay an indivual or a company? Was the money solely yours? What value was the transaction? Answers to these questions will assist in pointing you in the right direction.

Edited May 18, 2016 by ElvisThePelvis

[Cranfield]

Contact Guns on Pegs first thing tomorrow.

[ben0850]

Might be worth speaking with guns on pegs?

[ElvisThePelvis]

Ooops, forgot to add, did you pay the recipient directly or pay via an agent ( Ie guns on pegs)? Bizarrely you have more protection if you paid directly, even if via bank transfer.

Edited May 18, 2016 by ElvisThePelvis

[fenboy]

I have paid a deposit for a few days shooting and haven't received any paperwork back from the shoot as promised.

A month or two has now since passed and still nothing.

 

Following a quick look back to the shoot's website, there is a message on there saying the shoot website is no longer in existence and if you want to buy a puppy, call this number (the shoot also ran a very successful kennels).

 

Now curiosity got the better of me and I phoned said number to "enquire" about the pups and to ask what happened to the shoot.

 

I was told that her parents are no longer running the shoot and are in fact in the middle of moving to pastures new.

 

Now I am left with a bit of a sick feeling in my stomach that I may have lost a fair bit of cash.

 

What advice would the PW collective leagal eagles like to offer me?

 

Also are there any of you larger chaps who fancy standing behind me if I go knocking doors down?

 

I await your responses as to what I can do legally.

 

Many thanks in advance

Mark

Take Burnley Dave with you , could be handy for gaining entry .

[shoot and be safe]

I would have told her I had shooting booked, and asked the whereabouts of her parents.

parents still at the address

What mechanism did you pay by? Is the 'payee' still in existence? Did you pay an indivual or a company? Was the money solely yours? What value was the transaction? Answers to these questions will assist in pointing you in the right direction.

paid by bank transfer from my account to keepers account

Contact Guns on Pegs first thing tomorrow.

have just sent them a email and will be on the phone first thing.

 

Thanks for the advice so far

[oowee]

Fingers crossed.

[ElvisThePelvis]

parents still at the address paid by bank transfer from my account to keepers account have just sent them a email and will be on the phone first thing.

Thanks for the advice so far

You will probably find that GOP have a condition where they are not responsible etc etc, although this is frustrating it is good news in terms of recovery, you have right of recovery through your bank similar to if you paid by credit card, don't let the bank fob you off, strangely if GOP handled the fund you would be in a worse position as it would be deemed a third party payment which is a disaster. It's very strange, the opposite to what you would expect, same applies for holidays through owners direct etc. Get your bank involved and don't be fobbed off, they have more clout than GOP.

[Old farrier]

What mechanism did you pay by? Is the 'payee' still in existence? Did you pay an indivual or a company? Was the money solely yours? What value was the transaction? Answers to these questions will assist in pointing you in the right direction.

Could you tell us the best way to pay to safeguard against this

Many thanks

Of

[ElvisThePelvis]

Could you tell us the best way to pay to safeguard against this

Many thanks

Of

. That's a real hot potato to be honest, credit card payments have some protection via distance marketing directive BUT if you pay an agent who is not the direct beneficiary and need to recover you are subject to the terms and conditions (if any) of the agent as that's who collected the money but the 'seller' is a third party, the difficulty is not many direct sellers take card payments. You still have right of recovery even if you pay by bank transfer but you may need to kick the bank to acknowledge this. As always prevention is better than cure, I would suggest negotiating as small deposit as possible and settling on the day. As it stands however there are no bombproof solutions, it affects all sorts of bookings, holidays are maybe the biggest market and the regulators are making things worse (not by design ) than better. It seems the key is to pay the seller directly by a track able mechanism.

[leeds chimp]

Thats only for card payments.... not a bank transfer....,.

[rjimmer]

Could you tell us the best way to pay to safeguard against this

Many thanks

Of

Credit card?

[shoot and be safe]

Thanks for the advice "ETP". I contacted tbe bank straight away when i came off tbe phone with the daughter, the chap said he would have a chat with the "scam" department and give me a call back. I expect that will be in the morning now.

Is there anything in particular that I should say to the bank to get them to take this seriously?

 

Thanks again.

Mark

 

I have a little hope as we both bank with the same bank (unless he's closed his account)

[Old farrier]

. That's a real hot potato to be honest, credit card payments have some protection via distance marketing directive BUT if you pay an agent who is not the direct beneficiary and need to recover you are subject to the terms and conditions (if any) of the agent as that's who collected the money but the 'seller' is a third party, the difficulty is not many direct sellers take card payments. You still have right of recovery even if you pay by bank transfer but you may need to kick the bank to acknowledge this. As always prevention is better than cure, I would suggest negotiating as small deposit as possible and settling on the day. As it stands however there are no bombproof solutions, it affects all sorts of bookings, holidays are maybe the biggest market and the regulators are making things worse (not by design ) than better. It seems the key is to pay the seller directly by a track able mechanism.

Thanks for the info 😊

What is a acceptable time to wait for a conformation reciept and as one hasn't been given has any contract actually been set up

Just a thought

All the best

[Paul223]

If local ish pay them a visit, find out the crack in person.

Take someone with you for moral support and as a witness (should you need).

[ElvisThePelvis]

Thats only for card payments.... not a bank transfer....,.

That's not true, you have right to recovery through cheque, transfer and credit card, banks won't tell you this though unless you push them. They have a regulated duty to investigate 'non genuine' transactions and a duty of car to you, their client.

[ElvisThePelvis]

Thanks for the advice "ETP". I contacted tbe bank straight away when i came off tbe phone with the daughter, the chap said he would have a chat with the "scam" department and give me a call back. I expect that will be in the morning now.

Is there anything in particular that I should say to the bank to get them to take this seriously?

Thanks again.

Mark

I have a little hope as we both bank with the same bank (unless he's closed his account)

Hi Mark

 

Just explain the situation, gave the payment details, provide any written evidence that you can, try to ascertain if you can where the person is now (essentially make life easy for the bank). It is important to stress that these recoveries don't always work, but then that applies for credit card payments too.

 

Let me know if I can be anymore help.

[ElvisThePelvis]

Thanks for the info

What is a acceptable time to wait for a conformation reciept and as one hasn't been given has any contract actually been set up

Just a thought

All the best

Teetering towards contract law which isn't my bag, but I would imagine that there was correspondence about what was being offered for how much money, ideally some kind of quote, at the outset? Otherwise you are into verbal contracts which can be difficult to prove.

 

Just a thought, it may be worth trying small claims court as a back up plan, although they vary in effectiveness in my experience.

 

I would go via the bank first, that won't create a further bill!

[leeds chimp]

That's not true, you have right to recovery through cheque, transfer and credit card, banks won't tell you this though unless you push them. They have a regulated duty to investigate 'non genuine' transactions and a duty of car to you, their client.

What legislation is that under? As know you are covered for MOST card payments but not for bank transfer

[ElvisThePelvis]

What legislation is that under? As know you are covered for MOST card payments but not for bank transfer

FCA/PRA but you will have to push them, the same as with card transactions. They have to investigate and you do have a right to recovery, you are however at the mercy of how hard they try, same with credit cards.

Edited May 19, 2016 by ElvisThePelvis

[JDog]

One of the next things you must do is to call James Horne of Guns on Pegs. He will be shocked at your experience and embarrassed that a shoot he is advertising is acting this way. Guns on Pegs will also have their own insurance to cover this sort of thing.