SKIDDOO has stolen my money SCAM/CAUTION

[businessanalytics]

FLIGHT reference [redacted for privacy]



My flight was cancelled over a year ago



I payed skyscanner for a flight, my bank statement:



05/09/2019 VISA DEBIT PURCHASE SKIDDOO WWW AU $740.35



I made no payment to Thai airways. I was told I would receive a full refund. - Refund processing time is between 8 - 15 business weeks. Its been over a year, when am i going to receive refund?

Skiddo sent me at least two emails stating I was entitled to a full refund, thats a year ago, not within 'their' 8-15 business weeks

 

[AIRwin]

There was another thread about Skiddoo:

UNable to contact travel agent - Skiddoo

My son is at college in the USA, and he was due to fly home in May for the SUmmer and return to the US in August for his 2nd year. He contacted me thismorning saying that the college has been reverted to virtual classes only, so he wants to come home - further the Australian Government has...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[Spongbob]

So Skiddoo did skidaddle?

 

[Kerrodt]

Why don't you (didn't you) just do a chargeback on your Visa Card via your bank? Pretty straightforward.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I think this might be complicated by Thai Airways being in bankruptcy. They are issuing no refunds at the moment. So the agent wouldn't have been refunded, and nothing for them to pass on.

Appreciate at the time of the cancellation Thai might still have been solvent, but I think that might have now been overtaken.

I would contact skidoo again, see what they say. If nothing helpful, or they can't refund, check your travel insurance or go to your credit card for a chargeback.

Don't know the success of either of those last two avenues... for the Virgin bankruptcy many credit cards didn't allow chargebacks (one or two did, but others did not).

 

[Vic]

Why don't you (didn't you) just do a chargeback on your Visa Card via your bank? Pretty straightforward.

It was a debit card, as I understand that complicates chargebacks...

Not to mention chargebacks generally have a time limit at around 3 months

 

[TomYagher]

I did a charge back with Skiddoo about eight months after the purchase and got all my money refunded, however that was with American Airlines. I also booked Thai airways through Skiddoo and have been told credit voucher is the only option due to the bankruptcy situation. I've already written off the amount in my calculations as I lost hope I'll ever see that money or be able to use their voucher.

 

[Kerrodt]

In any circumstances, debit card or credit card, there is no harm, and no loss to the cardholder if they lodge a dispute with their bank. The worst that can happen is the bank says "no" which would be the least likely outcome based on the rules that the scheme operators Visa, MasterCard and Amex impose on the banks regarding chargebacks. And even when they say "no" you can sometimes press harder and get a reversal of their decision.

Sometimes even the threat to the business/merchant that you will lodge a chargeback with your bank can move them into action to resolve their problem as a business that has too many chargebacks can have their merchant facilities revoked by their bank or the scheme operator.

In "general terms" if a chargeback is made against a business that has entered administration/insolvency/bankruptcy then the chargeback can become a bad debt of the bank that is the acquirer of the transaction (ie the bank who provides the credit card facility to the business entity). Banks take on credit risk for credit card acquiring for this very reason.

AFCA (Australian Financial Complaints Authority) has a very good factsheet at the following link (Factsheet – Chargebacks | Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA)) that sets things out quite well I think. Its well worth a read. Even though it has a COVID reference to it, the principles and fundamentals are the same in all circumstances.

 

[SOPOOR]

Why don't you (didn't you) just do a chargeback on your Visa Card via your bank? Pretty straightforward.

since im fairly inexperienced with charge backs, ive done like 3 in 10 years, all relatively lower values and straight fwd,
I asked the banks as to the process of chargebacks for things like future hotel/airline bookings (helping out a relative) and I got different replies ranging from its 6 months, its 30-90 days from when the service is scheduled to occur to it depends

id be fairly worried about the chances of a chargeback
my last one was from ali express, for about for a $80 item that was fine but didnt fit my car, when the description said it would, I opened a dispute and they accepted , but the chargeback was declined for whatever reason

 

[chodo]

most online banking portals allow you to dispute or query a transaction. do this purely to get a reference number and screenshot it. the bank will most likely close the case because its older than 90 days or whatever their period allows. then lodge a complaint with AFCA (ombudsman). the bank will have somebody more competent work the case and you'll possibly get the charge reversed. be thorough and include all the info. it's a process and banks rely on many people not going through the process. you can and will win.

 

[Vic]

I've had mixed experiences, a chargeback can be a lot of work. But if you keep at it, eventually.
The worst I had was with ticketek, who have almost zero means of contacting a real person. In that case 2 tickets purchased via the ticketek second hand portal. Ticketek insisted that I purchased the tickets - true, The problem was the venue did not honour the tickets. Amex declined the chargeback 3 times. I had to reach out to the venue, once I had an email from them to say the tickets were not honoured at the door and they'd already informed ticketek, AMEX came to the party and Ticketek also decided to talk to me.
Word of warning - second hand tickets from ticketek marketplace get a new reference number, but ticketek email the old, expired reference number. Make sure you get the new reference.

id be fairly worried about the chances of a chargeback
my last one was from ali express, for about for a $80 item that was fine but didnt fit my car, when the description said it would, I opened a dispute and they accepted , but the chargeback was declined for whatever reason

This sounds strange. Did you ask for a refund from the seller first? Keep pushing is the best approach

 

[SOPOOR]

I've had mixed experiences, a chargeback can be a lot of work. But if you keep at it, eventually.
The worst I had was with ticketek, who have almost zero means of contacting a real person. In that case 2 tickets purchased via the ticketek second hand portal. Ticketek insisted that I purchased the tickets - true, The problem was the venue did not honour the tickets. Amex declined the chargeback 3 times. I had to reach out to the venue, once I had an email from them to say the tickets were not honoured at the door and they'd already informed ticketek, AMEX came to the party and Ticketek also decided to talk to me.
Word of warning - second hand tickets from ticketek marketplace get a new reference number, but ticketek email the old, expired reference number. Make sure you get the new reference.



This sounds strange. Did you ask for a refund from the seller first? Keep pushing is the best approach

yes, it was from aliexpress, they have some convoluted free returns process, the seller agreed to a return, and then became unhelpful, I guess you cant expect anythign more from a Chinese platform,

that reminded me about about a chargeback I did years ago, $2000 worth of floating floorboards off some local online store with a factory, they arrived fine, couldnt find an invoice,
emailed a few times requesting invoice, no reply
called the number, it was diverted to mobile, some asian lady answered, said she would resend/email invoice, never came,
called a few times more, same lady each time, most of the time she said she was at the doctors/shopping and too busy
the final nail in the coffin was "I am not issuing you another invoice because it was attached to the delivery and if I give you another one, I will be paying tax on it twice"

after my WTF expression, I did a chargeback and put down 50% refund to see the banks reaction with the explanation as to not getting an invoice meant a less deduction,
the bank granted the 50% refund and I sincerely hope the seller got charged it

 

[DragonBABY]

I too was waiting for over 6 months for a refund from Skiddoo. I bought a ticket from Skiddoo to travel on China Airlines, using Paypal, charging the amount to my American Express Platinum Charge card. I bought the ticket in Feb 2020, for travel in Oct 2020.

By Sep 2020 I was informed by the airline that the flight had been cancelled and as such I was entitled to a full refund. I also got an email from Skiddoo confirming that I would get full refund and that it would take minimum of 4 months to "process" the refund and that I please be understanding of the necessary long wait.

By Feb 2021 I still hadn't received the refund and there was no number to call for Skiddoo and a couple of emails went answered. I commenced the following procedures:
- American Express chargeback - unhelpful, they said the purchase was over a year ago and therefore little that they could do. Chargeback was denied
- Paypal buyer's protection - said that the purchase was >180 days ago (note that I purchased the ticket in Feb 2020, for travel in Oct 2020, so by the time the flight was cancelled I was already out of the 180 day limit) and therefore absolutely nothing that they could do except that they felt sorry for me
- China Airlines - who informed that they refunded the money to Skiddoo back in Nov 2020
I read some online forum with people suggesting that I email Helloworld, as Skiddoo had been taken over by helloworld and some had success after emailing Helloworld. So I emailed
[email protected].

While the above was happening about 5 days later I received an email from Skiddoo informing me that my refund was being "expedited". It took another 2 weeks for the money to land in my credit card, but about $100 short of what I paid for. I don't know why that's the case. There was no explanation and I had no choice but to let it go. It may be due to currency fluctuation but I wouldn't have thought that it would be nearly $100 in difference.

I don't know which of the above worked, but hopefully it may help someone.