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Company Aviemore Campervans and general campervan hire

Company Aviemore Campervans and general campervan hire


Postby SebK » Tue Aug 14, 2018 8:54 am

Hi all,

I've been a passive reader in this really useful forum for a while, and now for the first time find myself having a question that is (I think) not already answered. I unfortunately cannot post links since I am a new user, I apologise for that.

It is regarding the company mentioned above, "Aviemore Campervans" - (aviemorecampervans . com) I was wondering whether anybody has experience with them? I am just checking because they are not listed on the page on walkhighlands here which lists a large number of companies. They have their own Facebook page, but it doesn't have any user interaction, and they have a page on Visit Scotland, but that is all I find.

I am about to make a booking, but since I would have to transfer a large amount of money to their bank account following only a correspondence via email, and while it fully looks like they are genuine, I just want to be sure.

Also, is this way of booking and especially making payments usual when it comes to camper van bookings? I just worry that I would have no safety net if something goes sieways.

Many thanks!
Sebastian
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Re: Company Aviemore Campervans and general campervan hire

Postby davekeiller » Fri Aug 17, 2018 5:57 pm

I've never booked a campervan, but paying by bank transfer feels a bit dodgy to me.
I had a look on their website and the company's registered address is a mailbox in London, which again feels a bit not quite right.

I'm not saying it's definitely dodgy, but I think that if you pay by bank transfer then there's not much protection if everything goes wrong.

In short, if you're suspicious then go somewhere else.
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Re: Company Aviemore Campervans and general campervan hire

Postby RocksRock » Fri Aug 17, 2018 7:53 pm

My personlal take is "if I can't pay by credit card I avoid." The credit card would gives you protection if anything goes wrong. A bank transfer gives you no recourse at all, which is why it is a favourite of scammers. Not saying they are, mind, but I'd still avoid.
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Re: Company Aviemore Campervans and general campervan hire

Postby Holly » Fri Aug 17, 2018 9:09 pm

I had a look at the site and it says you can pay by debit or credit card?
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Re: Company Aviemore Campervans and general campervan hire

Postby Walking Scotland 1 » Fri Aug 17, 2018 11:39 pm

I would Zoopla the address to start with.

I'd want a few very objective reviews to look at.

I'd be phoning and asking how long they've been in business and how long they've been in Aviemore.

If I couldn't pay with credit card I'd pass
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Re: Company Aviemore Campervans and general campervan hire

Postby Skyelines » Sat Aug 18, 2018 12:57 am

If you want to check out a limited company go to Companies House website and enter the company name or number in the search box.

You will then be able to look up some basic info about the company, when it was formed, its registered office, the names and addresses of directors. You can also see some documentation relating to the company.

The registered office address for companies may be that of the company that acted as agent for the person(s) setting up the company and who manage their reporting to Companies House. This is why it can be a long way from where the company operates.
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Re: Company Aviemore Campervans and general campervan hire

Postby crfishwick » Sat Aug 18, 2018 4:20 pm

Holly wrote:I had a look at the site and it says you can pay by debit or credit card?


Correct.
Quote: From their Website.

By most major debit or credit cards – there will be a small fee for paying by Credit Card. Unfortunately we don’t accept American Express, non-UK Maestro or non-UK Electron. You can also pay by bank transfer into our business account. Cheques are fine, as long as we receive the cheque 10 days prior to the start of your holiday. If paying by cash, we do need at least some of the payment by card.
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Re: Company Aviemore Campervans and general campervan hire

Postby davekeiller » Sat Aug 18, 2018 5:16 pm

On the page headed prices and availability it says under payment information

"We can take payment either by bank transfer, or if you’d prefer PayPal."

I'm not sure where the most major cards line is found, but it's now illegal to charge extra for paying by credit card.
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Re: Company Aviemore Campervans and general campervan hire

Postby crfishwick » Sat Aug 18, 2018 5:31 pm

davekeiller wrote:On the page headed prices and availability it says under payment information

"We can take payment either by bank transfer, or if you’d prefer PayPal."

I'm not sure where the most major cards line is found, but it's now illegal to charge extra for paying by credit card.


Thoroughly look at their site it is there. :wink: As I copied and pasted it. :lol: Also probably the companies website has NOT been updated about the newish EU law.

I have checked with company house and everything seems legitimate.

Also if you pay by pay pal as a guest a credit or debit card can be used. Therefore you do have redress if all goes wrong
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Re: Company Aviemore Campervans and general campervan hire

Postby Robinho08 » Sat Aug 18, 2018 6:45 pm

I've had a look and something is a bit fishy about them. I'd avoid, or at least pay by credit card so you have protection.
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Re: Company Aviemore Campervans and general campervan hire

Postby davekeiller » Sat Aug 18, 2018 7:40 pm

Actually, the law is unclear as to how much protection you have if you pay via paypal. It's mostly due to the law having been written before paypal etc. existed.

The line about having to pay by bank transfer or paypal is in a prominent location on the website, so I assume it's correct.
If the information on the website is contradictory like that, then that suggests that there's something not quite right.

There could be a perfectly innocent explanation, but if it was me I think I'd play it safe and go somewhere else.
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Re: Company Aviemore Campervans and general campervan hire

Postby mmill » Sun Aug 19, 2018 9:12 am

The fact that no one on here seems to have heard of them would make me more nervous. We used big tree campervans a few years back and had great service and loved using the van we had.
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Re: Company Aviemore Campervans and general campervan hire

Postby Sgurr » Sun Aug 19, 2018 9:28 am

You could try contacting VisitScotland with whom they advertise. It would be humiliating if someone was scammed through an advert on out national visitor website. Having said that, I am prejudiced against VS...but that is largely because they seem to want ever greater sums from the B & Bs who advertise with it, and I once asked them for a list of toilets that are open before 8 a.m. on the main routes to the hills and they said it would be impossible/difficult to find out, and finding out would be way down their list of priorities.
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Re: Company Aviemore Campervans and general campervan hire

Postby Walking Scotland 1 » Sun Aug 19, 2018 9:53 am

Can we Streetview the address
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Re: Company Aviemore Campervans and general campervan hire

Postby crfishwick » Sun Aug 19, 2018 10:24 am

Robinho08 wrote:I've had a look and something is a bit fishy about them. I'd avoid, or at least pay by credit card so you have protection.


I suggest it is NOT an iffy site. The reason is that it is a small family run firm not a National firm. all checks at company house are correct and a credit card can be used as I went through the process of booking a camper van through them and ended it when i needed to give my card details in. So therefore if I had gone through with the transaction my payment would have been covered by section 75 of credit card act.

BTW the original poster has come to the wrong forum IMHO. Probably nobody on this forum would actually use a camper van hiring service. :wink:
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