Legal advice -- scammed

[brewcity77]

I'm just wondering if any of the lawyers on this site could help point me in the right direction on this.

My fiancee attempted to buy airline tickets through PayPal from a company called cheapoair.com. After agreeing to the fee, they tried to upcharge us by more than $200. We attempted to cancel and were refunded $50 but not the rest of the bill. That was May 1. We attempted to dispute it through PayPal, but their protection service doesn't cover airline tickets, so they didn't really help us at all.

We contacted a PayPal subsidiary, Bill Me Later, that was handling this transaction. They told us we couldn't dispute the fee until after 7-10 business days, when the ticket broker had told us our money would be refunded. It has now been 15 business days with no progress. We have contacted the company numerous times and been told we'll get our money back anywhere from 24 hours to 12 weeks. The entire operation is a circle jerk, as they leave us on hold, transfer us between departments, and and constantly misconstrue the information we give them.

Right now I'm filing a dispute with Bill Me Later and my fiancee spent over an hour on the phone with them tonight, being guaranteed we would have the money in 7 days (including a voicemail assuring us we would have the money in 5-7 days), told by a supervisor that we weren't getting our refund because we filed a dispute with PayPal, and that there was a completely different department we had never heard of handling our case but that we couldn't talk to them and they would have to call us.

So far, only our PayPal account has been billed, and we made sure that none of our accounts are tied into that at the moment. We don't have any goods received and don't have any credit of funds to our account (beyond the $50). I planned to send a letter to Bill Me Later including everything we experienced, but was wondering if there was anything further I should do right now. Do I need to contact a lawyer at this point, should I wait, or is there another avenue I should pursue?

Any help would be much appreciated.

[Sir Lawrence]

What is the amount in controversy?

[brewcity77]

The original purchase was around $750, they tried to upcharge us to $970. Definitely small claims type stuff, but enough that I certainly don't want to be out $750 and not have tickets...though after doing more research, it seems this company provides fake tickets as well.

[Benny B]

Why was the purchase made through cheapoair?  Were the airfares deeply discounted?

[Sir Lawrence]

The original purchase was around $750, they tried to upcharge us to $970. Definitely small claims type stuff, but enough that I certainly don't want to be out $750 and not have tickets...though after doing more research, it seems this company provides fake tickets as well.

Well, unless you have a lawyer friend, the amount in controversy doesn't warrant hiring counsel.  As a lesson, use a credit card for airline purchases.  But, as they say, that's water over the dam.

If this occurred in Wisconsin, try the Consumer Affairs division of the State Attorney General's office.   I'll try getting you contact information.

[Sir Lawrence]

Try this:

http://www.doj.state.wi.us/dls/consprot/newcp.asp

[brewcity77]

Why was the purchase made through cheapoair?  Were the airfares deeply discounted?

Yeah, it was purchased with PayPal on a website. I'll say this, after dealing extensively with PayPal's dispute process through this, I have a lot less faith in them. While I know they claim to be good at keeping my financial information secure, they don't seem to have very stringent controls on whom they let use their service. Cheapoair has a laundry list of complaints longer than my arm. 688 claims to the Better Business Bureau in the past 3 years. You'd think a company so focused on financial protection would make sure that the companies they do business with aren't screwing all their clients.

Also...thanks, Lawrence, I'll give that a good look tomorrow

[Hards Alumni]

Yeah, it was purchased with PayPal on a website. I'll say this, after dealing extensively with PayPal's dispute process through this, I have a lot less faith in them. While I know they claim to be good at keeping my financial information secure, they don't seem to have very stringent controls on whom they let use their service. This company has a laundry list of complaints longer than my arm. 688 claims to the Better Business Bureau in the past 3 years. You'd think a company so focused on financial protection would make sure that the companies they do business with aren't screwing all their clients.

Also...thanks, Lawrence, I'll give that a good look tomorrow

to be fair, 688 out of the millions of transactions they do isn't so bad.  That said, I'd hate to be one of those 688 people who reported.

[dwaderoy2004]

Yeah, it was purchased with PayPal on a website. I'll say this, after dealing extensively with PayPal's dispute process through this, I have a lot less faith in them. While I know they claim to be good at keeping my financial information secure, they don't seem to have very stringent controls on whom they let use their service. This company has a laundry list of complaints longer than my arm. 688 claims to the Better Business Bureau in the past 3 years. You'd think a company so focused on financial protection would make sure that the companies they do business with aren't screwing all their clients.

Also...thanks, Lawrence, I'll give that a good look tomorrow

I'm sorry you were scammed, but I think your problem was doing business with cheapoair and not making sure they were legit in the first place.  They can only scam those who allow themselves to be scammed.

[brewcity77]

I'm sorry you were scammed, but I think your problem was doing business with cheapoair and not making sure they were legit in the first place.  They can only scam those who allow themselves to be scammed.

Oh, trust me, she learned a lesson out of it. Just trying my best now to clean up the mess. When she told me about the tickets, I thought they were from a trusted site like Expedia or Travelocity that actually has a reputation to protect. A couple hours later, we were in all this mess.

[Hards Alumni]

What I find interesting is that I recall them being one of the 'other' websites you can compare to when you use kayak.com

So you would think there would be a decent degree of reputability.

Well, at least now I know to never use them after hearing your story.

[mu_hilltopper]

I wouldn't condemn her .. I've searched cheapoair.com a bunch of times, although I've never pulled the trigger on a purchase.  It never would have dawned on me to look up their BBB rating.

Probably wouldn't have used PayPal though.

[Lighthouse 84]

I've actually used cheapoair.com with a credit card and didn't have an issue. 

But I'm with Sir Lawrence.  Unless you want to file the small claims action pro se, it's not worth the cost to hire a lawyer.  If you find out where the registered agent is and have them served you may get them to settle with you though, given the fact that they will have to hire an attorney to defend the small claims suit.

[SaintPaulWarrior]

to be fair, 688 out of the millions of transactions they do isn't so bad.  That said, I'd hate to be one of those 688 people who reported.

I may be wrong but I think he was referring to 688 complaints in the last 3 years vs. Cheapoair not Paypal.

[Hards Alumni]

I may be wrong but I think he was referring to 688 complaints in the last 3 years vs. Cheapoair not Paypal.

disagree.

[Jay Bee]

disagree.

Disagree.  I don't know how you can read it that way (well, I do, but won't say it).  688 for Cheapoair.

[Benny B]

I may be wrong, but as long as the source of funds is your credit card (i.e., not debit or "instant" transfer) anything paid via PayPal still has credit card protections.

In any event, here's what I would do (not necessarily in order):

1) Document everything - emails, transcribed phone calls, refund policies published online, confirmation numbers/emails, payment receipts, etc. - that you can get your hands on.
2) Send a certified letter to CheapOAir demanding a full refund (and cc: PayPal's disputes department).  Send them a copy of refund policy with the applicable parts underlined/highlighted and tell them that if they don't comply, you will alert the authorities.
3) File a dispute with your bank or credit card company who provided the funds to PayPal for the transaction.
4) Alert the BBB & file a complaint.
5) File a complaint with the Atty General fraud/consumer affairs office in your state.
6) File a complaint with the entity that regulates banks/credit in your state.
7) Notify the airline that issued (or would have issued) the tickets.
8) If all else fails, file a small claims case.

You might be in for quite a ride, but eventually, if you make enough noise, you should get all (or most) of your money back.  Granted, it may take months of letters, phone calls, follow-up, etc., and hours upon hours of your time, so you have to consider your time and effort and whether it's worth whatever you may recover.

[brewcity77]

I may be wrong but I think he was referring to 688 complaints in the last 3 years vs. Cheapoair not Paypal.

Correct. Cheapoair's complaints, not PayPal. Just googling them shows their business practice. Could be worse, though. They also sell false tickets, as one person learned during a layover. She booked a flight to Belarus and was stranded at her layover in Stockholm when it turned out the connecting flight tickets were fake.

[mu_hilltopper]

Brew, so I'm curious about the events here.  You said: "After agreeing to the fee, they tried to upcharge us by more than $200. We attempted to cancel and were refunded $50 but not the rest of the bill."

So .. you bought airline tickets, I assume, online .. paid $750, clicked pay (via PayPal) .. then they tried to "upcharge us by more than $200"?    How, exactly?    Did they email or call you and say "pay $200 more"?  What reason did they give for the extra charge or what service did they say $200 would get you?

When you declined, what did they say that made you think the tickets you paid for were now worthless?

Just curious how the scam works.

[SaintPaulWarrior]

Brew, so I'm curious about the events here.  You said: "After agreeing to the fee, they tried to upcharge us by more than $200. We attempted to cancel and were refunded $50 but not the rest of the bill."

So .. you bought airline tickets, I assume, online .. paid $750, clicked pay (via PayPal) .. then they tried to "upcharge us by more than $200"?    How, exactly?    Did they email or call you and say "pay $200 more"?  What reason did they give for the extra charge or what service did they say $200 would get you?

When you declined, what did they say that made you think the tickets you paid for were now worthless?

Just curious how the scam works.

This is from somebody on Tripadvisor.com

Here's how it works: You book a fight through cheapoair at a great price. An hour or two later, you get an email saying they can't honor that price, but offer a much higher one. You decline, and they cancel your reservation.


Then you check your credit card statement and realize they charged your card. You call them to dispute the charge and you sit on hold forever and get hung up on a few times. When you finally reach someone, they tell you that the refund is processing, and will take up to 4 months. Then they just sit on your money for that time period.




This is my ongoing experience. I know I should have researched them first, but I figured that since I discovered this company through an email sent to me by TRIP ADVISOR, they would be reputable. Their affiliation with this company makes me really question the integrity of Trip Advisor.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g1-i10702-k3794547-Warning_Cheapoair_com_is_a_scam-Air_Travel.html

[Spotcheck Billy]

makes me really question the integrity of Trip Advisor.

words to take to heart

[brewcity77]

Brew, so I'm curious about the events here.  You said: "After agreeing to the fee, they tried to upcharge us by more than $200. We attempted to cancel and were refunded $50 but not the rest of the bill."

So .. you bought airline tickets, I assume, online .. paid $750, clicked pay (via PayPal) .. then they tried to "upcharge us by more than $200"?    How, exactly?    Did they email or call you and say "pay $200 more"?  What reason did they give for the extra charge or what service did they say $200 would get you?

When you declined, what did they say that made you think the tickets you paid for were now worthless?

Just curious how the scam works.

She purchased the tickets for $750. We got a confirmation email and invoice for that. Then about an hour later, they sent us another email saying they couldn't give us the tickets for that price and if we still wanted them, we had to pay $980. It also said if we wanted to cancel, we could with no service charges.

We attempted to cancel and they gave us $50 back but said they couldn't give us the rest of the money because it already went to the airline. That started our long dispute, in which PayPal investigated and said they couldn't do anything because we had received a refund (yet somehow wasn't swayed that the refund was less than 7% the charge) and because their protection doesn't include airline tickets. Cheapoair told us we'd have the money in 7-10 days, PayPal told us they couldn't take further action until after that time was up. Well, the time came up, Cheapoair told us we'd have the refund in 24-48 hours, then the next day (a Saturday) told us we wouldn't have the money until Monday because it hadn't come back from the bank (I thought it went to the airline...). Before Monday came, they sent us another email saying it'd be 12 weeks.

We called PayPal back, they told us they didn't cover airline tickets and connected us to their subsidiary, BillMeLater. So now BML is handling things, but that will take up to 90 days for them to conduct their investigation.

Yesterday, we called Cheapoair again and after being told we would "definitely" have our money in 5-7 days, a supervisor told us that they couldn't give our money back because we filed a dispute with PayPal, which lengthened the process, and that all the people we talked to previously didn't know that because they couldn't see what she could see on our account. She then said that our account was being handled by another department and they would have to call us. That call is supposed to come today at 4:30, I'm not holding my breath. They did call back yesterday because one employee thought we were disconnected while being transferred to a supervisor and he again guaranteed we'd have our money in "no more than 7 days".

I'm submitting all the emails from Cheapoair to BillMeLater, and will include a transcript of the phone call guaranteeing our money in a week. Either way, I have to admit my faith in PayPal is dented. This company obviously scams people and yet they continue to let them do business. It reflects poorly on PayPal that a company like this can scam me using their system to make us victims. I'm sure they are aware of PayPal's lack of coverage on airline tickets, as well as that the $50 refund will clear us in their dispute process. Definitely don't plan on using PayPal any more than absolutely necessary in the future.

[T-Bone]

What do you have funding your PayPal account?  If it's a credit card, bring it there.  If it's a bank account, bring it there.  Claim that you have been fraudulently charged - which you have - and get in touch with their fraud department.  They will send a request to PayPal, and perhaps cheapoair, to explain the situation.  In my experience, the offender does not respond to the request and your bank/cc gets your money back for you.

[Hards Alumni]

Disagree.  I don't know how you can read it that way (well, I do, but won't say it).  688 for Cheapoair.

"This company" would refer to Pay Pal the way it is written.  Since there was no mention of Cheapoair after Pay Pal, "This company" refers to Pay Pay, not Cheapoair.

sorry for being the grammar polizei.  Or I'm just a buffoon masquerading as the grammar polizei.

Either way, Brew clarified what he meant.

[Jay Bee]

"This company" would refer to Pay Pal the way it is written.  Since there was no mention of Cheapoair after Pay Pal, "This company" refers to Pay Pay, not Cheapoair.

sorry for being the grammar polizei.  Or I'm just a buffoon masquerading as the grammar polizei.

Either way, Brew clarified what he meant.

It was clear as day.  No need for Brew to clarify (except for you).  I am outraged.

I'd break up with this girl for being so silly with time and money.  Where is she flying?  One ticket or two?