The Blog

In the news – Bogus Holiday Scams

Posted on 06. Oct, 2010 by Martin Jarvis in General

We have all read, with concern, how an increasing number of holidaymakers are booking holidays online only to find out that they have been the victims of a cruel scam which has cost them not only their money but in many cases has not been realised until they arrive at their destinations, leaving them with even larger bills.

These scams are deplorable. They aren’t a recent phenomenon, but there is evidence to suggest that they are on the increase and that it’s not just unwitting holidaymakers that are being duped. Clearly, there are ways for consumers to reduce the risk – in the case of holidays, by making sure the business is affiliated to ATOL or ABTA – but mostly it is down to common sense and dealing through larger, more reputable organisations. The problem with that is that consumers the World over are looking for the best deals, and this often means that they wander away from the better known companies to look for a cheaper equivalent deal elsewhere.

I think that websites will need to much more in future to convince their visitors (and potential customers) that they are genuine and that they can be used with confidence.

How each industry sector deals with this is down to them, but you might think Testimonials would be a good first step. Ok, any website owner can add their own testimonials, but only with Vouchforthis can they get those testimonials verified by the people that provided them. In addition, testimonial givers can choose to offer a reference to further reassure visitors that the testimonial (and hence the business) can be trusted.

Vouchforthis is free. If you display testimonials on your website and are not yet a member, Register Today.

For more about the Holiday Rental Scam take a look at the recent Lovemoney.com article.

Tags: bogus, holiday, scam, website