13-May-2008

Overseas dental care scam

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Be very careful if you are considering having dental work carried out overseas, particlularly if the destination is Thailand and you happen to live in Australia! I have lost a lot of money in this way and I'm still waiting on some form of settlement.

I had a quote to have extensive dental work done and it came close to $20,000 AUD (approx. £8847 GBP). This was in Cairns, Queensland (North East Australia). So I searched the Internet for an alternative overseas dentist and found the web site of a company operating out of the Sunshine Coast. They would send people to Thailand to have dental work carried out in Bangkok and Phuket. There were a few different packages on offer, but basically they book the accommodation and flights etc.

On the 13th April this year I received an email which said that they had flights available and could I pay a deposit, which of course I did immediately. I received shortly after advising me I would have to settle the balance within a couple of days. So I paid the balance promptly and was then told that I would soon receive details of the booking and a travel pack. All good so far...

By the 30th April, two weeks after I had paid, I still had no details and no travel pack. In fact I hadn't heard a single thing up until this date at which point I received an email. The person I had been dealing with said that they could not confirm flights and that they would try to re-book on them on Monday. He also said could have a think about it over the weekend as he was on his way to Thailand himself.

I emailed back straight away saying "URGENT, do not re-book and to please refund my money." He then emailed back saying I would have to wait a month for a full refund. When I asked why, all he would say was he had made bookings and to stop harassing him!

Of course, one month went by and then two etc. and still nothing.

He did put in a proposal back in July which I promptly refused. He wanted to pay me $700 now and then further $1970 in October leaving a sum of $700 plus, which he reckons were cancellation fees. Every time I have asked him to show me WHAT bookings, he can't provide any proof so I don't see why I should receive anything other than the full amount back. After all, I am the one who has been out of pocket and had to do all the chasing for the past six months.

The Office of Fair Trading seem to have done very little here to help me. To make matters worse, this person has been back and forth to Thailand several times since April and because the legal system and the fact that he has my money , I have been unable to go myself! I am absolutely furious and would like to know how someone can get away with a scam like this!

If anyone has been in the same boat or has any advice or suggestions, please let me know. Thanks.

By: Redmodel

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To all those who were jumping in on this serious compliant with their "smart" remarks at the beginning, there has been a turn of events. The conman in question has appeared in court another 2 times since returning from Manila and has been ordered to pay victim "x" amount of dollars each month.
In the meantime, his last hearing has gone into the Registry and will proceed again as usual should this conman miss even one payment.
So it does pay to persist.

redmodel 05-Mar-2008 06:21

Well for all those who were not serious with their comments, please note that this scam/con artist has already moved offshore and has a brand new website including plastic surgery.
He even had the cheek to have a profile page of a particular well renowned Thai plastic surgeon on his new website and when it was discovered was promptly asked to remove.
Now it seems he is just sticking to the dental tours and smiling all the way as more innocent people pay him for trips that they are never going to go on.

This very day, this man is supposed to be appearing in a court in Australia but fled to Manila last month.

Please everyone do your homework thoroughly before you book any trips to Thailand.
Secondly if you do book please use your credit card only.
Good luck.

Redmodel 13-Dec-2007 00:40

Extract from earlier airline gripe as posted by Nikki:

"I'de ban you from ALL airlines, you seem to be nothing but a trouble maker. I'll bet you complain even when everything is perfect, just to get compensation."

List your spelling and grammer mistakes here....

Nikki 12-Nov-2007 11:18

Sorry for being toooooo cryptic.

Think Prince......

Ohh noooo, I've spolled everythink rong and now the weekly gripe is saying I'm using excessive use of capitalization, what do I dooooo....

Nikki (TAFKAN) 12-Nov-2007 11:13

They're some very strange people on this forum - is it me being thick, but I don't understand the posting by Nags - this thread is about dentists, not horses, and it is certainly not about Camptown Laddies, whoever or whatever they are !

Nikki 12-Nov-2007 10:47

Must be Nikki with vittals in a nosebag for her nag. Yep, that one, Nikki with de Camptown laddies.

De Camptown ladies sing dis song -- Doo-dah! doo-dah!
De Camptown racetrack five miles long -- Oh! doo-dah day!
I come down dah wid my hat caved in -- Doo-dah! doo-dah!
I go back home wid a pocket full of tin -- Oh! doo-dah day!

Gwine to run all night! Gwine to run all day!
I'll bet my money on de bob-tail nag -- Somebody bet on de bay!

Ne'er look a gifte horse in de moudth.

And certainly never ever take them to the dentist. They want a heck of a lot of tin.

Nags 10-Nov-2007 18:12

Josh: your post really made me laugh - thanks for cheering me up! Yes indeed I AM the real Nikki, the one and only Nikki who gets very annoyed when someone pretends to be her! However, because my standard of english and grammar is so superior to most other people's, it is obvious to anyone with half a brain which postings belong to myself - that and the fact that I am so damned clever and knowledgeable and I'm always right !!

So Nikki TAFKAN - whatever that means - who said :

the words ... givin' a ......

is NOT me because I would never say or type "givin' ". The word is giving, spelt with a g on the end and pronounced with the g silent.

I may be all the things I'm accused of, but NEVER will I use or speak bad grammar.

Nikki 10-Nov-2007 13:15

Hey, whos doing this, I'm Nikki, the one that parks in toddlers parking spaces in supermarkets with out givin' a ......

So whoever the Nikki pretending to be Nikki is and the Nikki who is Nikki pretending to be Nikki, leave me alone. I'm the only Nikki in the whole world........

Nikki (TAFKAN) 09-Nov-2007 14:15

Good grief, Josh doesn't like Nikki very much, does he?!

Pearly Gnashers 09-Nov-2007 11:24

Okay I think we are all over the "Nikki" thing now.
Just for the record, it has just come to my attention that there are another six victims
of this con artist.
I just hope that there will be no more.

Redmodel 09-Nov-2007 06:33

commonsense

I agree, the Nikki moaning about spelling, is the SAME Nikki, who knows everything, or THINKS she does.

Her post now proves it, she THINKS she's the ONLY Nikki in the world.

She must sit at her computer 24/7 just to complain about people's spelling, just have a read of some posts, it seems she's a "Jack of all Trades", horses, spelling, history of road building "Tarmacadam", you name it, she's been there.

Josh ( not the ONLY one in the world ) 09-Nov-2007 04:26

Could it be by some remote chance that there is more than one Nikki or Sid in the world that reads the Weekly Gripe and responds to posts??! Good grief! Whatever is the world coming to!?

commonsense 08-Nov-2007 12:07

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Overseas dental care scam

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