After numerous phone calls and a chat with a supervisor at the CC company, The CC company charged back to Dilos's bank the entire amount they originally snagged from me for the reservation they could not deliver on. If I knew then what I know now, I would not have wasted much time trying to get a refund from DIlos. Just prove to the CC company that you were charged for "services not delivered" and they will take care of dealing with Dilos Holiday World.

Glad that you good a good result in the end, dfranzetta.

With regards to the other complaints on this thread by people concerning amounts charged to their credit card without their permission, then my suggestion would be to take the approach with their credit card issuer that these were unauthorised transactions. You are in the position where a company has debited money against your card without your authorisation, which they have no entitlement to do.

With regards to the rest of the complaints, the situation is a bit more complex. However, a dns search revealed that Dilos's web site is hosted in the UK. In view of this, my understanding is that that you should be covered by the Consumer Credit act if you paid online. Your credit card issuer should therefore be jointly liable for their failure to deliver the service you paid for, and you should be able to recover the money back from them - plus any difference in the cost of booking alternative accommodation if you turned up to find Dilos had either not paid for or reserved the accomodation you had booked.

If after a couple of letters the credit company still refuses to budge, then the next step is to complain to trading standards. Contacting BBC Watchdog about your experiences probably wouldn't hurt, either.

hello,

I have been just been hired by a friend of mine in order to recover a credit card refund from dilos in excess of € 1000,-. Then I did a quick online research about the company and discovered this discussion forum.

It seem as if they do not reimburse defrauded consumers at all. Also there homepage only mentions a business address in Greece. It does not include any indication in respect to the way dilos is incorporated or mentions anybody personally in charge as a president or likewise.

If you have any open claims for a credit card reimbursment or further information about the business structure of this company please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind Regards A.

As pointed out in my previous post Dilos's web site is hosted in the UK, and purchases made in the UK are covered by the Consumer Credit Act.

In view of this, anybody based in the UK seeking a refund of an unauthorised credit card transaction from Dilos should be entitled to pursue their credit card issuer for the money back, under the Consumer Credit Act.

A letter to your credit card issuer explaining the situation and asking them to recover the money on your behalf from Dilos's merchant bankers will normally achieve the desired result in cases like this.

Hi,

how can it be proven that the web-page is hosted in the U.K. and even if, this by itself does not protect Non-UK-Customers. Juding from my experience I have a reasonable suspicion that there is something really rotten here.

What one needs to know is, what type of legal entitiy is DILOS ? Who is their president or CEO ? They do not tell one their homepage. This by itself violates EU-E-Commerce-Legislation and would give their law-obeying competitors a good cause of action under unfair competition laws. Where are their headquarters and possible assets ? Do the office addresses in Greece and Brussels even exist or are all their facilities in the UK ? Any idea or hint ?

Thanks a Lot A.

you wrote:

how can it be proven that the web-page is hosted in the U.K.

Use an internet provider look-up program such as Sam Spade - available from http://www.samspade.org

A search using Sam Spade produced the following results:

http://www.dilos.com 212.100.247.147

inetnum: 212.100.247.128 - 212.100.247.191
netname: RSPC-UK-RACKSPACE-INTERNAL
remarks: INFRA-AW
descr: Rackspace Managed Hosting
country: GB
admin-c: IA247-RIPE
tech-c: IA247-RIPE
rev-srv: ns.rackspace.com
status: ASSIGNED PA
mnt-by: RSPC-MNT
source: RIPE # Filtered

Unless you are pretty IT savvy, the above information will probably not mean a lot to you. What it does illustrate though, is that their site is hosted in GB (i.e. Great Britain) and that the company which hosts Dilos's web page would appear to be Rackspace Managed Hosting.

their UK web site address is http://www.rackspace.co.uk

Their contact address is 8 The Square, Stockley Park, Uxbridge, Middlesex UB11 1BA.

That is far as I can help you on this, I'm afraid.

Hi,

Thank you ! I have taken the "appropriate measures" in the meantime. Should anything come out of it, within the next 3-5 months I will keep you informed via a posting on this page.

Kind Regards A.

Hello,

just in the case that somebody still follows this discussion. DILOS finally paid but it took immense pressure.

Regards Andre'

Does anyone have any idea what kind of 'immense pressure' is needed to persuade Dilos to refund money. They charged me nearly 800 Euros for a hotel booking made with them, then two weeks later took the same amount again from my account. I have been in touch with them via phone and email and they keep informing me that the money is in the process of being refunded but as yet it had not been returned to my account, a month later. The Bank of Scotland have begun an investigation into Dilos but this could take weeks, so I would like to 'encourage' Dilos to give me my money back asap, if this can be done.

dnmacleod...
I would suggest that you go into your local branch of bank of Scotland .. with bank statements & report it as a fraudalent action on your account.

I had something similiar on my account (Nationwide) ... they refunded the amount on my account until it was sorted out.

Do you have emails etc, showing exactly what you were paying for ???

Don't No for an answer !!!!!
mARK

As some of you have said - I wish I'd done more research before booking with Dilos Holiday World.

I booked a hotel in Sicily, paid from my credit card; I got an acknowledgement but no confirmation; three times (by phone) I was told that the confirmation would arrive the following day. 4 days before departure I was told that the hotel had no availability. I was offered an alternative - more expensive and in the wrong location - which I refused. A refund was promised. Twice, by email, I was assured that the refund was in progress. But after 8 weeks with no refund I sent the details to my credit card company, who credited my account 5 days later.

Good luck to those of you still struggling. And thank you for posting your experiences - they helped me.

Cha

I have exactly this problem. I booked some rooms for a hotel in cardiff that were never available,they took the full price of the rooms,nearly 1,000gbp after they'd said only a deposit was needed.
at present I have sent 30 e mails! and phoned on 10 occassions.they're always polite but I never get a result. the CC company say they need a copy of the refund voucher before they can do anything.
help anyone?

Hi Grahamd ....

I'm slightly confused by this .... have you actually had the nights in Cardiff ... ie did you get what you paid for?

If not, then I suggest that you contact your credit card company & tell them you are in dispute with the Dilos company ... under the Credit Act of (date??) they are liable .... they should freeze the payment & investigate ... don't let them fob you off. Some credit card companies will attempt to say it is nothing to do with them ....

I'm sure experts on here will have better knowledge than me ...

Mark

CREDIT CARD PROTECTION

Under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 a consumer has protection for any domestic transaction providing it is more than £100 and under £30,000. However due to a High Court ruling this does not apply to overseas transactions, therefore if you purchase goods or services whilst abroad using your credit card you will not be covered if something goes wrong.

Here is a copy of the above act :-

Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974

There is some information here also showing examples:-

Financial Ombudsman

Glynis,

Having read through this thread for the first time today (Monday 12th Dec) I was waiting to see who would mention section 75 of the credit act.

My understanding differs slightly from yours - although I cannot lay my hands of any 'proof' just now.

I thought I'd read some months back that a credit card issuer was ATTEMPTING to avoid responsibility on the basis that their merchant was not based in the UK. This attempt failed and they were still deemed to be severaly liable for the actions of their merchant.

I think it should be appreciated that credit card companies are STILL permitting Dilos to accept c.c. payments. They could easily cancel their right to do so - but they haven't.

Get your c.c. issuer to freeze the amount concerned, and let them fight Dilos for the money back. the aspect of the web site being based in the U.K. is, in my opinion, a red-herring - the c.c. company are still liable.

Mike

The quote regarding the use of credit cards abroad is taken from Ros's Safe and Sound booklet. Unfortunately Ros's office is closed today for staff training but I will get in touch with her asap to clarify the legal position on this ruling.

just to clarify...no I did not receive what I paid for.
my CC company is definetly trying to fob me off.I did contact again yesterday based on some of the info on this forum.the CC company(abbey) originally said they couldn't do anything without a credit card refund voucher?
oh and dilos,well they've now stopped answering e mails or phone calls to me. mind you I am sending 1 a day!
thanks for the info to those who have posted on here

well I have at last got my money back! it looks like its from the CC company rather than dilos,but anyway. now how do I stand pursuing dilos for interest and phone calls etc?

Grahamd,
glad you got your money back from the C.C. company.
As regards pursuing Dilos for 'phone calls etc. ......... try emailing them, or writing to them.

Seriously, you've no chance. The only way you'd get anything for 'inconvenience and distress' is in a court of law - as an award granted by the judge or registrar. It isn't going to happen is it.

Be thankful you've got redress via the credit card company and always remember in future to pay holidays by credit card even if the travel company hits you for a 1% or 2% surcharge. Use a Morgan Stanley Dean Witter credit card (Mastercard) as you can get a penny back for every pound spend - or AMEX Blue (also a penny per pound) as this offsets the surcharge.

Reading through the Credit act encompassing section 75 I note that it's not yet been tested in a court as consequently a spouse's card (rather than the main card) may not offer the full protection. Also, credit card accounts opened before 1972 (I think it's 1972) may also not qualify. I know we all get new cards every 5-7 years but if you've had your account prior to 1972 it might be worth closing it and opening a new one with the same supplier - you'll then be protected for definate.

Mike