Reptoparty cancelled on the day and no refund - anyone else?

[Reptilefanmum]

I have namechanged as I'm a regular user and Reptoparty have my details. We booked Reptoparty six weeks before my son's birthday party using their 50% off parties offer on Facebook. He was recommended by a colleague and there are a number of reviews, photos etc on Facebook so I had no reason to be concerned. I paid the total requested by bank transfer, communication was very quick and it was all sorted.

Two days before the party I again messaged Reptoparty to confirm the booking was all in order and received a reply to say they were coming.

At 8am on the day of the party, I got a text message to say three of the reptiles had come down with a respiratory illness so he would have to cancel the party as he couldn't risk the others getting ill. As we had already arranged a party with all his school friends we asked if he could at least bring a few of the reptiles who were well enough as my son was extremely disappointed. He said he would see after going to the vet.

In the meantime I began calling other reptile party organisers, and was surprised to find this was an extremely common problem for Reptoparty and they had all received a number of similar phone calls from people who had been let down on the day. Several of them sent messages saying (direct quotes) 'He is giving us all a bad name' 'Let's just say that name does not surprise me' 'Had quite a few people contact me lately in the same boat and by same company'.

He later messaged to cancel and promised a refund which has not materialised after a week. He has also now blocked me on Facebook which I realised after trying to send a message today.

Anyone else had a similar experience or know how I can get a refund? Fortunately I was able to find another entertainer who saved the day but it was very expensive and stressful. I am shocked that someone would callously cancel a child's party on the day leaving parents high and dry. If it was an exceptional emergency of course that would be different but it seems to be commonplace and i have found several other reviews online with the same complaint.

Someone should contact Dom Littlewood, bet he'd be interested.

Anyone who has been let down by Dan Barnes' ReptoParty scam and wants to increase chances of having him investigated and prosecuted, pm me for details. Have contacted police and action fraud but need as many complaints lodged as possible.

I left a message and a link to this thread on a few of his posts on his page, he obviously is on the ball as literally under a minute later they went poof 😡

We also need to trend #ReptoPartyScam

Pity Watchdog isn't in just now, this sounds like an ideal case for them!

Looks like he took the page down 😒😒

I have lodged a complaint and urged other victims to report him refering to my CAD reference number when lodging their complaint. It is quick and easy and totally hasslefree. As of now 3 cases have been linked this way and the more we have the more likely someone will actually look into his shady business. Single incidents are likely to be just filed away.

He keeps doing that for short periods of time. Will be back in a few hours. He wont stop until someone stops him.

I think he may of deleted his FB page

I have saved screenshots.

He's definitely still on Facebook. He was posting on various pages under his personal account to promote this sham.

Am really glad I saw this - was considering this type of party for DS, at least I know which company to avoid.

When he cancelled my party yesterday morning I phoned Jane from Reptile Events and she managed to shuffle a few things around and made it to our party a couple of hours later. They were fantastic and all the kids had the best time. Highly recommend them, especially as they specialise in animal rescue too.

I am glad you managed to get somebody to step in Arm. Must have been such a relief.

I've had money defrauded in a similar way. It is called taken money by misrepresentation and is fraud. I would ring action fraud. The person who did this to me has now gone to prison. Jess take note....

I think this is the guy that was supposed to do a talk at our WI last week. He didn't show up, but luckily we hadn't paid him.

@Weller87: He used the exact same excuse (dead reptiles and vet appointment at 9am) on us yesterday morning too! Luckily Reptile Events helped us out and averted the crisis.

I have reported him to the police today just like you did. Lets exchange our CAD references and get them added to our cases, so they will be linked in the police database. The officer who took my statement today said making them see numerous accounts is the only way of getting an investigation started. Singular complaints wont do much.

I'd report to Trading Standards and recommend everyone effected here, FB, Twitter all do the same. Also HMRC would be interested in asking you to pay him personally as opposed to through his business as that's tax evasion.

Nope, page is back up this morning as reptopartyuk i think, also with @reptopartyuk. (please someone who knows check, in case im doomed an innocent person with a similar company name!)

I really hope thats a proper twitter handle as you cant delete negative tweets about you...

What an idiot! How long did he think he could get away with it for? Especially in this day and age with social media.

We are Tom's Talking Reptiles and have rescued many parties and dreams being shattered when Reptopartys have cancelled the morning of a child's birthday.
We do not want people to be discouraged and everyone to know of Tom's Talking Reptiles. Check out our Facebook, website and many reviews to see that we are a genuine, small business you can trust when wanting reptiles for a special occasion.
It's very frustrating for us when we have crying, distraught and desperate parents on the phone and at such short notice we can't always rescue their party.
We have no association with reptoparties but want to defend our own business and the other small businesses like ourselves out there, that could get damaged by the on going chaos. There are still good people and business out there.
Our website
www.tomstalkingreptiles.co.uk
Our Facebook page for our reviews and posts
Tom's Talking Reptiles /parties/birthdays/school talks/events
A big thank you to everyone that has recommended us 😊

Support group for ReptoParty scam victims: m.facebook.com/groups/306130006424003. After requesting to join pls check ur message folders as admin will get in touch to verify it is a genuine case. Quite a few fake accounts and 'Dan fans' have been trying to gain access to this support group.

This was posted on his page. It's a bloody joke 😡

www.facebook.com/Reptopartyuk/posts/1143001712428535

Has anyone received their deposit back yet?

I'm involved in guiding and guiding groups regularly book companies like this. I will warn all the leaders out there to avoid this arse hat of a chancer!

Omg a reptile party is a fucking thing? That's disgusting! They're animals - not bloody playthings! rspca here I come.