possible scam and repercussions

[Sallycinammonbangsthedruminthe]

Hi Wise Mumsnet I need your help...I recently found a company online and booked with them an event.They were found on the marketplace on social media,all looked proffessional and I was happy to confirm and go ahead.I transffered an amount of money to them to which they would send me an invoice and confirmation via email.After doing this they proceeded to ignore my messages or reply to any communication.I suspected I may have been scammed and rang the bank,they the bank swung into action and the fraud team were dealing with it as a suspected scam.I was feeling stupid and down and felt even worse when by accident stumbled on hundreds of bad reviews about this company.I wrote one final message to company stating I was cancelling the event still no commnication.Since then and an outburst by me n social media I have had numerous messages from said company saying their assets have been frozen they can't refund me they are ill..their mother is ill their dog is ill major guilt trip.Am I right to advise them to not contact me anymore and just let the banks deal with it? They are threatening me with all kinds of legal jargon but I feel I did the right thing.If they were run properly non of this would have happened,can someone hold my hand and offer me a bit of reassurance please?

You doing the right thing. Let the authorities deal with it be it the bank, police. Consider trading standards too.

thank you london ..I had a genuine feeling I was being scammed ..its only when they tried to access their account they found my bank and theirs had sort of frozen it..They are making me feel like its my fault but they had my money and were ignoring me not sending due documents or anything .I panicked as I cant afford to loose that kind of sum x Thank you for your reply

You have 100% done the right thing

The fact they have frozen the account would hopefully imply there is still assets in there, which would aid the chance of recovery.

They will try every sob story in the book. Ignore them. Let the bank do it’s work

Thank you so much ...it seems funny to me they only got in touch after it affected them personally.I was sat here worried sick and they were happy having my cash.I am hopefully wrong and it gets sorted out.If there was an innocent explanation I would happily have accepted that but there was nothing.I genuinely felt I had been scammed.

Let the banks deal with it. Ignore the attempts at emotional blackmail, not your fault or your problem if they have mismanaged their business so badly their account has been frozen. They can't sue you either since it sounds like they were the ones who failed to hold up their end of whatever contract you had with them.

oh ladies I cannot thank you enough for your support.You are all making me feel better.I genuinely am very grateful to you all

Banks don't freeze accounts on the basis of one complaint. Not your fault; not your problem.

Did you Google them beforehand? This sounds very like one"party"provider who has been doing this for several years. To my knowledge, his father has died on the eve of the party four times.

Whatever..I checked them out as carefully as I could I think,but obviously not as carefully as I should...it wasnt til I felt real unease about their lack of response on a business footing i.e invoices etc that things began to unravel on me.I then rechecked and found so many bad reviews.I messaged some of the reviewers and all their stories seemed to match mine except I caught mine way before the event..some of these people have had a lot of upset children on their actual special day.Luckily for me it wasnt the case.Just no contact no reciepts for monies paid no nothing.Until today when they find access to their bank blocked.A plague of abuse and emotional blackmail then was reigned down on me and they even had me believing at one point it was all my fault....thats why I came here really for a hand hold.No contact and their lack of action made me believe I could have been scammed so I rung and reported it ti my bank who contacted theirs for a resolution,Then I see action from them but in the form of abuse to me.

Reptile party?

no not reptiles well apart from the muppets who I presume run the company..rjay they seem complete snakes!

Good on you OP. They had their chance to resolve it. I’m sure if they’d replied sooner and said sorry if I’m a bit out of contact I have family issues you would have given them time. As it is they’ve dicked around so they lose the money.

There used to be a company that sold tickets for events. I used them to buy tickets for a gig in Paris. Booked hotel and ferry to Paris... as it closer the tickets didn't materialise... turned out they were a scam company. Luckily I paid on credit card who got my money back.

I set up a Facebook group to warn others and shame them... they then phoned my house and started shouting abuse and threats... unfortunately for them they got my dad who went into protective gorilla mode and gave them an earful... they never phoned back and the company was taken down.

It's sad that there are still people out there that scam. My advice is to only use legitimate site for ticket sales and if using a site through Facebook search for them on Google, their website and if Need be look them up on companies house.

Also always pay with credit card as you are better protected.

I am amazed and very thankful that you have all taken time out of your day to respond ..I have had some excellent advice and back up from you all and I am very grateful...I am not usually so pathetic to need a hand hold and although the money is a consideration of course it wasnt the main bug bear with me...it was the its all your fault I am in this position turning it all back on me for their appalling behaviour,The main thing that upset me was the fact that there are people out there who have the morals and standards of a slug yet still feel victimized when they are taken to account.This world is a funny old place and I dont think I will ever get my head around it! Thank the heavens above for good decent honest kind people....and the banks who for once were well on my side!!!!