Keep Your Proof Of Payment - Is it a Scam?

[anorak]

I just had an email allegedly from a Ms Loizou of a car hire company called Worldwide Cars of Broxbourne asking me for payment of unpaid car rental charges - from last September.
Apparently they forgot to collect payment.
Now I can hardly remember yesterday let alone nearly a year ago but I was able to find a debit card statement for it.
Although I have emailed the brief details Ms Loizou wants me to fax my bank statement to her - which will tell her nothing more about the car hire payment than I have already told her - on an expensive 0870 number.
Of course she will also see all my other details on my bank statement which I am reluctant to part with.
Is this a scam? I don't know.
Has anyone heard of Worldwide Cars?

[steph_goodrum]

I've heard of Worldwide Cars, if we have rented cars through a travel agent in the past they use them, however Iwould question the legality of claiming the money back after nearly a year.

If you have a debit card statement from the transaction, surely that is proof the payment was made at the time? Your bank should be able to confirm the transaction from the details you give and would I imagine be able to give you proof, Under no circumstances would I fax a full statement to them, if the statement you have clearly shows the payment then take a photocopy of the statement, Tippex out all other transactions, totals, bank account details etc and then fax them that.

You can try looking up on www.sayno20870.com if they have an alternative number or send a copy by mail to the address on the letter, they've taken a year to get this far so a few days wont make much difference. I think the onus should be on them though to prove they didn't receive payment rather than you to prove you did but not sure of the law.

[dawn]

Worlwide Cars of Broxbourne is the company that shows on the statement when cars booked through this site

[mizzy]

personally i would say a BIG HELL NO to a bank statement being faxed

i would ask what information they need from it? then tell them you'll will speak to your bank first for their advice and go from there

if the company are still insistent that they need the statement i would check with your bank before going ahead and do nothing without their approval (which i doubt you'll get)

if you do agree to send it then do everything you can to protect your identity, blank out EVERYTHING on the statement other than the car rental details showing date and payment, the last 4 digits of the card and your name at the top

Mizzy

[floridadreamvilla.co.uk]

Worldwide Cars are one of our car suppliers and Helen Loizou is one of their staff so there is nothing to worry about. If you'd rather deal with us (assuming you booked through us) then we're more than happy to try and help.

If you do fax your statement it will just be so they can see proof of payment (not sure why they cannot just see it from their system). I'd suggest taking a copy of your statement and blanking out all but the transaction concerned. That way there can be no worries about personal information.

[mizzy]

very reassuring to know John but can you think of any reason why on earth she would need a bank statement?

Mizzy

[floridadreamvilla.co.uk]

See above - they would be looking for proof of payment and have no interest in any other details on the statement, which can happily be blanked out. I don't know why they cannot trace the payment with their own systems but I do know they would not ask for the statement for no reason.


<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by mizzy
very reassuring to know John but can you think of any reason why on earth she would need a bank statement?

Mizzy
[/quote]

[mizzy]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by floridadreamvilla.co.uk
See above - <span style="color:red">they would be looking for proof of payment </span id="red"> and have no interest in any other details on the statement, which can happily be blanked out. I don't know why they cannot trace the payment with their own systems but I do know they would not ask for the statement for no reason.


<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by mizzy
very reassuring to know John but can you think of any reason why on earth she would need a bank statement?

Mizzy
[/quote]
[/quote]


missed that bit sorry John[msnembarrased]

[roger]

As John says this is our supplier, and a legitimate company. I can only see 1 booking you have made with us and that was this year, and there was no problem with payment. Did you book your September one through us or via another agent? If through us then I can find out more for you if you email me your order details to info@uscarhire.co.uk (date of travel and name booked under).

What I suspect has happened here, as it sometimes does, is that you palced an order fairly last minute and then your payment declined. Often a voucher is still released so you are not stuck without a car, then the supplier will still require payment even after you travel. Usually an email is sent on a regular basis until payment has cleared. So in this case either the emails have been going astray, or no-one had followed it up, then it has come to light during some sort of audit.

What ever the reason I can assure you that this company are 100% legitimate. They will only want to see your statement if you are sure the payment did go through, and they have no record of the payment, as this means they will not keep asking you to pay.

Even if you booked via another agent I may be able to help you on this if you email the details to me.

[Frosty]

I was under the impression that credit/debit payments are only valid for a certain time (1 year) as i'm sure personal checks are.

Maybe i'm wrong and someone can correct me, but if the time has expired they have no claim over your money.

If its a mistake, then its a costly one for the company and i would tell them so.