Website booking scam costs £100,000s

A WEBSITE scam that has cost consumers £100,000s has hit festival ticket bookers the hardest.

A WEBSITE scam that has cost consumers £100,000s has hit festival ticket bookers the hardest.

Over the past few days there have been a huge number of complaints about SOS Master Tickets, a company registered at 145-157, St John Street, London EC1V 4PY, which is an accommodation address.

The company has no actual base in Islington, says David Thomas of Consumer Direct South West.

Islington Trading Standards are investigating more than 300 complaints.

If you have purchased tickets from SOS Master Tickets for events which have already taken place or those which are coming up then you need to take the following action if you have not received the tickets:

1) Contact your local police station to notify them you have been victim of a fraud.

2) If you paid by credit card then contact your card issuer immediately in writing. Under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act the card issuer is jointly liable for the failure to provide goods or services and you should receive a refund in due course.

3) If you paid by debit card then you should contact your bank as soon as possible. Many banks offer a "chargeback" facility when goods or services bought on the card are not received. They may refund your money if you claim within 90 days of the payment on your card; however this is at the bank's discretion.

4) If you paid by cash or cheque then it is very likely that you may have lost your money. SOS Master Tickets is a limited company and is still on the Companies House as a "live" company. If the business is liquidated then a receiver will be appointed to assess the state of the company; at that stage you can register as an unsecured creditor but there may be no assets available for a payout.

If you have lost money to SOS Master Tickets please call Consumer Direct on (08454) 040506.