Sundrive hire scam beware

[Kitty]

Unfortunately I have only just read the reviews regarding SUNDRIVE HIRE over the past few days and we have already paid them in full for a motor home that does not exist. We received a letter the other day similar to whats written below blaming accusations of fraud, abuse etc, hence why they are pulling out. Its a bit strange that they bothered to send us out a letter when they are a SCAM but maybe thats all part of their carefully orchestrated plan. Do not be fooled by the apparent efficiency, or the flashy website, or the letter headed paper and phoney booking confirmations. They have taken are money and made a good effort at ruining Glastonbury for us this year. Also, beware they have some of their people posing as 'happy customers' on the forums to try and fool people into thinking that these rumours are lies!! I am sorry to inform you but they are not!!!
I don't use forums but I feel I have to warn people, as they have my card details and I presume many others, you MUST cancel these as they are 100% con artists and I am already on the phone to trading standards to try and stop them. They appear at the top of every search bar and I wouldn't be surprised if they have managed to scam 100's of others. It is very well orchestrated to the point where you doubt yourself and think and hope that you will get the money back because they bothered to send you a letter apologising for inconvenience. Refund receipt is dated 30th May and after speaking with bank as its a VISA if it was a legit company and a legitimate transaction receipt it WOULD have been in my account today, and its not. Chances are they have sent out the letters to bide their time as people started to find out and I am sure within the next few days all traces of them will be gone whilst trustful people wait for these 'refunds'. People have reported they have driven to the offices and they are not there and they don't answer the phone.
I hope that not too many others have been conned, I am annoyed at myself for being fooled but I don't see how you could know. I just sincerely hope that not to many others have found themselves in our unfortunate situation and that these people get their comeuppance!!!

[Nelly]

There is someone else on here that has had the same problem.

Sucks you have been scammed, I hope you find alternative accommodation (whatever that may be).

[acidliam]

Does anyone else smell a rat, seems to be a lot of new posters popping up all just to talk about this company

[YCFC]

"PLEASE NOTE: We are unable to accomodate any further bookings for Glastonbury 2011."

May well be a scam, but the first I've known who don't want to take more money off people. All very odd.

[Gutted]

Never posted on a forum before but needed to say that myself and my fiancee also booked and paid for a motor home from sundrivehire only to recieve a letter cancelling our rental due to bad press and a smear campaign, to date we have not recieved our money back even though we have a reciept saying it was paid back on the 30/05/11, all attempts to get to speak to someone regarding this have failed, we are continually fobbed off with the promise of a call back when they have looked into the matter, their customer service line is basically a virtual company who only take messages from you which in turn go nowhere, BEWARE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[acidliam]

This is deffos bullshit.

[Roo]

See earlier discussions about this company here - http://forum.glastowatch.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1886
There are also links to discussions on other forums about them. Sux that these scammers seem to get away with it for very little risk.

Hope all effected manage to make alternative arrangements this late in the day, hope it won't totally destroy glastonbury for you and you can still come and enjoy the fun!

[David]

"PLEASE NOTE: We are unable to accomodate any further bookings for Glastonbury 2011."

May well be a scam, but the first I've known who don't want to take more money off people. All very odd.

It's a long summer - virtually all the discussion on line is in Glastonbury festival forums, I presume they were hoping for damage limitation, ride out the storm over Glastonbury and hit people for further festivals.

[YCFC]

It's a long summer - virtually all the discussion on line is in Glastonbury festival forums, I presume they were hoping for damage limitation, ride out the storm over Glastonbury and hit people for further festivals.

You're most probably correct. It's certainly more profitable to add another apparent air of legitimacy, and then continue to screw people.

The internet really can suck sometimes.

[Kitty]

Hey guys,
See below, article in The Times today: Like i said cancel credit cards as they will take more money they may not have done it to everyone but they did it to this poor person in the article, what an arse i truly hope the police catch his scummy arse drag him out of his lovely house in Chelsea and throw him into jail, and I will most definitely testify against him to put him there! Please warn other people in whatever way u can, they should not be allowed to carry on with this.

Hundreds of people heading to the Glastonbury Festival next week have had their plans ruined and are owed thousands of pounds by an online campervan hire company.
The BBC Radio 1 DJ Sara Cox was nearly one of them when friends booked a van for her and her family with Sundrive Hire, a company claiming to offer vans at rates 40-50 per cent cheaper than the industry standard. However, before money was paid, her partner Ben Cyzer became suspicious.
The Times has been contacted by people who paid in full but have received letters to say that their vans have been cancelled. Reasons given include an alleged internet hate campaign, including alleged threats to damage Sundrive’s vans at festivals.
The Times has been unable to identify a single customer who has received one of Sundrive Hire’s vans. The company is now the subject of an investigation by the Metropolitan Police.
Cox said: “The deal sounded too good to be true, plus their instructions were so vague — ‘turn up, you can’t miss us’.”
Several people have changed their credit card details after Sundrive passed the information to other companies without permission. Others have been charged multiple times for the same booking.
Natalie Watkins, 27, a New Zealander working in London as a live-in carer, booked a campervan in April. The van cost £1,496, but in May the money was taken twice.
“They said they would give us a refund for the overpayment. But no money was ever returned,” she said.
On June 6 the van that was supposed to be delivered failed to materialise. After two days Sundrive agreed to arrange for a hire van with another rental company, before passing on her credit card details without her permission and asking the company to charge the full cost of the new vehicle. Ms Watkins is still owed nearly £3,000.
The company, which is not registered with Companies House, claims to operate a fleet of branded vehicles from a site in Shropshire, but has no premises and operates from a “virtual office”, the contract for which has now been terminated.
Sundrive’s internet site was set up in February, a few weeks before the Glastonbury ticket resale, yet it claims to have 15 years’ experience. The website was changed soon after it emerged that the pictures of vans had been lifted from the website of Abacus, another rental company.
Gary McFadden, the owner of Sundrive, who lives at an exclusive address in Chelsea, West London, says that fewer than 100 bookings were affected and that the cancellations were the result of sabotage on the eFestivals website forum, started by competitors jealous of his cheap rates.
Mr McFadden said he intended to use third-party suppliers who pulled out after seeing the negative publicity, and refunds were delayed after HSBC closed down his merchant bank account amid the deluge of negative comments. “We are not a scam, we are a real company with plenty of satisfied customers. I can tell competitors that Sundrive is here to stay,” he said.

[Rachel.]

Yep I'm another sap that fell for this scam. I've been on to Trading Standards (I'm away from home so haven't seen the letter yet) and firstly, at the moment try to contact the company for a refund.
It is difficult to get them on the phone if you say the word "Glastonbury" as they will take your number and never call you back. I managed to speak to a member of staff who told me of the terrible threats that had been made against them on the efestival forums. Also that my letter was posted yesterday & my refund will be issued within 7 working days. When I said the only reason I booked a motorhome was due to recent surgery (last week!) just that "some" (not all then) will be given further compensation for any extra expenses they have incurred.
Now, if you have booked by credit card the liability falls to them to refund your money as all credit cards are protected against fraud. They may well state there has currently been no breech of contract. You will have to wait until you are at Glastonbury & there is no motorhome/caravan there for you (a bit heartless).
However, Sundrivehire stated that they had a pitch at Glastonbury & that they would be on hand for customer services purposes throughout the festival. Trading Standards advised me to contact Glastonbury's site manager; I rang the Glastonbury Festival Office and they clearly stated that no booking had been made for Sundrivehire at all. They were unable to comment further, which is fair enough as it's not their fault and they shouldn't have to put up with the company causing problems for them.
Since there was never any booking made or any arrangements made for deliveries of their "vehicles" they have already breeched their contract.

Although I am still furious with myself for saying "It seems too good to be true" I told you so doesn't even cover it. I hope that this information will be useful for others. And I hope you all have a good time at Glastonbury in spite of this scam.
http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/e...lias=/contact/
PLEASE contact Trading Standards (Consumer Direct) ASAP as the more people who log complaints, the more likely action will be taken and quicker!!!!

[Gutted]

Just thought you would all like to know, listen again to radio 4 at midday, You and Yours, i think you will find it interesting, good luck to all !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[David]

Metro article: http://www.metro.co.uk/music/866537-...-scam-unveiled

[daisysammie]

Like you I have been scammed, but have managed to get my money back!!!!! I phoned and phoned every day, time after time and they paid me by bacs direct to my bank account. The total was £7 short. But Im not going have a hissy fit, considering I though I would never see a penny of it.

I agree that they are really dodgy and my sister has not received a letter and is so worried her camper is not going to turn up, but just keep on trying and hopefully you will get your money back. But don't phone customer service number on letter they sent you as they only pass on messages, go through the number on the main website. And just keep trying.

Good luck xx

[DMH]

ANYONE WHO HASNT' MANAGED TO SOURCE AN ALTERNATIVE MOTORHOME REPLACEMENT WE HAVE A 6 BERTH CHAUSSON WELCOME READY TO GO VISIT WWW.DERBYMOTORHOMES.CO.UK OR CALL 01332 754552 TO BOOK

[Ness101]

Well unfortunately I got done too, although little I can do about it other than lament the approach of a very soggy Glasto... I got a refund by cheque within 24 hours of calling Sundrive but regardless, I think we should also be talking about the number of operators out there (using a similar booking / third party supplier model) charging more than double their usual rates for the Glasto weekend... and maybe even using the same suppliers...

All that aside... the Glasto office (despite knowing about the saga) has now sunk the boot in by insisting that I can't use my motorhome parking spot for my car (depsite the spot allowing for a van and car) and must shell out another £25 for a car parking ticket... so basically I'm paying Glasto £100 just to park a single car! Seems they could make a bit of extra cash given the number of people who have had vans cancelled and are now expected to pay for an additional car parking fee!

[Rachel.]

I got a refund by cheque within 24 hours of calling Sundrive

Did the cheque clear ok?
We received a cheque from them, they forgot to date it but we're worried it'll bounce or that they'll use our account details as we originally paid by credit card.

[akicif]

We received a cheque from them, they forgot to date it but we're worried it'll bounce or that they'll use our account details as we originally paid by credit card.

Last time I tried paying in an undated cheque, it was bounced immediately: I just got the pay-in slip handed back to me. What you should do is talk (as in phone, don't email or write) to your credit card company, they'll give you your cash back, and the company will find it a LOT harder to bamboozle THEM.

Probably also worth telling the card company that you're worried about your details being used and could you please have your card replaced

[Emmafs]

i too was very worried about using sundrive hire, esp as they cancelled my camper van ONE day before glastonbury! but they were so upset because of everything that has been said about them that has caused them to back out of the festival, that they gave me back my money and paid the extra i needed to book another campervan - and the money went into my account two days later! luckily i already had enough money to book the other camper otherwise it wouldve been a disaster, but i did get my money back immediately without me having to chase them.
idont think they will be hiring out to glastonbury again though!!!

[Roo]

wonder if someone can run Emmafs ip through a comparison with previous posts in favour of Sundrive - I too doubt they will be hiring out to Glastonbury again, or indeed any other events as I suspect no hire company will be willing to hire them vehicles ever again!!

[Emmafs]

run my ip. you will see i have never gone onto these forums before and i was happy with getting all my money plus the extra from sundrive and im not actually an employee!!! i feel sorry for them getting so much bad press, and my sister also got all her money back from them too as she was going to glasto with me in one of their camper vans. i think its a genuine site, and it has just received bad press from people like you.

[akicif]

Interesting.... there's a website at sundrivehiregroup.co.uk that offers to rent people's motorhomes or campervans when they're not using them - this would certainly (once insurance, delivery and valeting and such like are all sorted out) be cheaper than having invested in a fleet of campervans - it also means that the company wouldn't be needing premises the size of a small field....

[David]

Interesting.... there's a website at sundrivehiregroup.co.uk that offers to rent people's motorhomes or campervans when they're not using them - this would certainly (once insurance, delivery and valeting and such like are all sorted out) be cheaper than having invested in a fleet of campervans - it also means that the company wouldn't be needing premises the size of a small field....

Very interesting, good find akicif!

Presumably then in that case the fleet at their disposal bears little or no resemblance to what they advertise on their main website?

The main website has a clear line of motorhome models and states "your motorhome will always be less than 3 years old".

The one begging for vehicles says "any make, any model, any age".

Which is it?

[Venture]

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!!
Hi guys had to warn as many people as possible i had a nightmare of a time with them and still to this day im still trying to reclaim the money they stole off me. They are happy to take your money but when you want it back different story. My van never arrived and they didnt even call me to tell me they cancelled my booking without my knowledge and if i had not called on the day my van was due to be delivered as i was wondering where it was i would never of known. They refused to take my calls wouldnt answer my e mails and the customer service of some members was SHOCKING quoting one of them if you complain it wont matter the manager will be believe me anyway!!!! and preceeded to put the phone down and wouldnt take another call. thanks to a fantastic company called viscount motorhomes they saved the day and managed to find me one. But BEWARE they are all nice when they take your booking but god help you if you have a problem. Sundrive is poorly run company!!!!!!!

[Gene]

Hi guys, been looking through your posts I had booked a £670.00 van hire for the Limetree festival at the end of August from the arse-holes at Sundrivehire for myself and my two small boys, looks like that anit going to happen, seems I fell for the scam also, I intent to
put a few pages/small web site up high lighting this muppet with a view to compiling as much information as is out there on Mr **** ********** * Evelyn ******* LONDON *** ***, not so much as to get a refund but to meet up with him and 'have a few words' if you follow my drift...
anyone with any relevant info please contact me at happenings@jbjazzblues.com
cheers
Gene

[Gene]

Hi again guys, I've just registered the domain **** ********* is a thief.com should be up and running in around a week, If you could pass this info on to all effected by this complete shit head I shall take revenge via the site, any relevant information on ********** would be excellent, photos/location etc, with a view to having a word in his ear, if you follow my drift,
Gene

[Gene]

update please email me at happenings@jbjazzblues.com
cheers
Gene

[Gene]

The new site should be live in around 36 hours, please email me with any information on Mr Gary Macfadden, we are on your case shit-head
http://www.sundrivegroupscam.co.uk
cheers
Gene

[DaisySurfs]

Hi there
I am the owner of www.HireDaisy.com, a small little company renting out VW T2's. This situation regarding Sundrive Hire has really rocked our industry as we are all passionate about making your adventures perfect whatever and wherever it might be. We were able to help out a Glasto goer (in fact he was actually one of the DJ's) at short notice when Sundrive Hire let him down.

I still haven't got to the bottom of the Sundrive Hire situation, but wanted to re-assure you that their are good companies out there - just like their are good and bad people in the world.

We offer a free delivery and collection service, so please don't think that is a scam - I offer a service that I would like if I was hiring a campervan. Daisy Junior is dropped off to your door all clean and shiny with sweets and champagne on-board. Additionally we don't take credit cards, and that is not a scam either - we are too small and simply ask for internet transfer or a cheque. There is no guarantee other than one of faith and honesty - and to be fair it has to work both ways too - I have to hand the keys over to a complete stranger of a piece of kit worth nearly £30,000. Faith works both ways and just heartbreaking the very rare scumbag comes along and shafts our lovely customers. Thanks for listening :-) Feel better now.

[subtitlesonly]

I wish your company well Daisy

[jampot]

There are remarkable similarities in the Sundrive scam to a company we've currently come across. This one uses two different names, Arrow Motorhomes and Motorhomesrus. I will confirm if refunds are not cleared as promised but the cancelation routine a few days before delivery is identical thus far.

[yourmotorhome.com]

Guys, it would seem that lots of people have been ripped off renting a motorhome or camper van from a few companies, particularly Sundrivehire.

We have created a page of reminders before you make a motorhome or camper van hire booking. Please please look at it before parting with you money, it may save that ruined holiday or festival.

Facts you need to know before renting a motorhome.

Copy and paste this link, print it copy it post it to friends, do whatever you have to, to save anyyone else being ripped off by these scammers.

http://www.yourmotorhome.com/facts-you-should-know

Please dont get let down, there are some really good people in this industry!

Thanks

Nick Edwards

[akicif]

I don't drive, so I'm afraid I'm not in your target market, but that looks like a good list to me - the only things I'd add would be to check the domain name with WHOIS and perhaps the SSL certificate (if they're selling online).