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Multiple Lawsuits Against Marriott For Huge Data Breach

Marriott Hotels and Resorts has been hit with a huge class-action lawsuit over the data breach which saw 500 million customers affected, and that’s just the start. Under GDPR, the hospitality giant could face the world’s first significant fine under the new data protection act.

Despite Marriott being headquartered in the US, the breach falls under European wide GDPR rules, meaning the group now faces financial penalties of up to 4% of its annual global revenue. And in 2017 Marriott generated approximately 22.9 Billion US dollars in revenue last year. The news doesn’t get any better over in the US … Read more

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Timeshare still popular in the United States

Timeshare giant Wyndham Destinations has commissioned a survey, in an attempt to gauge the future prosperity of the timeshare industry in the US. According to the survey of 1,250 Americans, almost half believe they will spend more than $80,000 on holidays during their lifetime. More than half of the people surveyed said they had stayed in a timeshare and a massive 80% said they had enjoyed the experience. Amongst millennials, 55% said they had stayed in a timeshare and 73% of these had enjoyed their experience. remarkably, one in four liked it so much, they would consider purchasing a timeshare … Read more

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Top Vacation Destinations 2019

2019 is right around the corner, which means it is time for a very important list, and Airbnb has released it’s list for 2019 top vacation destinations. By analysing Airbnb searches, bookings, and wish list growth data, the house-sharing website was able to forecast which regions, cities, and town users are eager to explore in 2019. The destinations are located across six continents. Some are spots that you may have heard of, while others may be new discoveries. Though you likely won’t be able to make it all 19 destinations travellers are wanting to visit in 2019, Airbnb does have … Read more

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Couple who made fake sickness holiday claim convicted

A couple who made a fake sickness claim to Jet2holidays have been convicted of fraud and ordered to pay back almost £30,000. Martin and Linsey Brown, from Lancashire, submitted a false claim against Jet2holidays for gastric illness, after staying at a resort in Marmaris, Turkey. The couple claimed they suffered with stomach cramps, diarrhoea, vomiting and nausea, arising from food poisoning. They claimed the whole family, including their children, were bed-bound, because of food served on their all-inclusive holiday. However, after being tipped off by another guest, hotel owners used CCTV to collect evidence, including the couple dancing at the … Read more

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Who’s side is your bank on?

The BBC programme, Watchdog, has investigated the story of a young victim who was beaten and left insensible in a park and then had his entire inheritance raided from his bank account. To make matters worse his bank, NatWest, refused to help him.

Attackers made 39 transactions in one day, raiding the victims entire account, all whilst he was lying unconscious in hospital. NatWest refused to accept that the £20,000 spending spree was nothing to do with him, despite being provided evidence he was in hospital at the time the transactions were made. The young victim, named in the … Read more

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Major Data Breach at Amazon

Just two days before Black Friday launched, Amazon has suffered a major data breach, which caused customer names and email addresses to be unveiled on its website. Amazon has emailed the customers affected, but has refused to say how many customers were affected. Amazon say this is not a breach of the website’s security or any of its systems, but a technical issue, that led to customers names and email addresses being posted.

Amazon said: “We have fixed the issue and informed customers who may have been impacted.”

Customers who received an email were told: “Our website inadvertently disclosed … Read more

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Hundreds of customers locked out of accounts on Black Friday !

HSBC customers looking to grab a bargain on Black Friday had a nasty shock when they learned that they were locked out of their bank accounts. The HSBC mobile banking system went down last Friday, at the height of the Black Friday sales. It was unfortunate timing for shoppers, who needed to use their online banking apps to take advantage of the Black Friday deals. It is also bad timing, as MP’s announce they are investigating banks and the numerous IT failures reported this year.

Last month, HSBC online banking went down, leaving customers locked out of their bank accounts. … Read more

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Letting agency demanding money for simply viewing a property

The BBC programme Victoria Derbyshire has found that a letting agency has been demanding hundreds of pounds from prospective tenants to view properties for rent. The agency in question is Flintons in London and, so far, they have denied all these allegations, but these practices breach guidelines and could be illicit.

Despite denying the allegations, several of Flintons clients told the BBC programme they were told by estate agents that they would receive a refund if they did not want to take a tenancy agreement on the property they were viewing, but, when they did request refunds, were told the … Read more

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New rules and laws for 2019 !

2019 has a lot of changes in store for many UK citizens. Everything from how much tax you pay, to transitioning your mobile provider is changing in 2019. Wages and pensions are set to rise, but so is council tax and rail fares, so what is changing and when? And how will it affect you? With the uncertainty of Brexit, and the possibility of a second referendum or even another general election is is important to get on top of our financial planning, so we can handle whatever 2019 has in store.

Here are some of the key changes planned … Read more

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Timeshare Company Could Face Prosecution

A timeshare travel company based in Cape Town, could face prosecution for multiple charges, including duping customers into signing up for a membership.

Vacation Hub International, a membership based travel and lifestyle company, is being investigated by South Africa’s National Consumer Commission. The NCC is the primary regulator of consumer business in South Africa, and helps regulate business practices. After investigating the company, NCC referred the case to its prosecutors. They allege that the vacation company falsified themselves in order to trick people into signing up to their services. They used unfair tactics to prevent customers from cancelling their memberships … Read more

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