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-   -   Received an email for a Thalys Ticketless ticket that I did not book! (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/received-an-email-for-a-thalys-ticketless-ticket-that-i-did-not-book-863895/)

WillTravel Oct 21st, 2010 08:03 PM

Received an email for a Thalys Ticketless ticket that I did not book!
 
I've sent an email to Thalys, but I am puzzled.
So far, none of my credit cards show this charge.
The ticket is for 149 Euros, between Paris and Amsterdam, on a date in late November, in Comfort1.
I am not traveling to Europe in November. I haven't used Thalys since March 2008.

It's a confirmation email, with a little bar code thingie, a reservation number, a Thalys Ticketless number, and so forth.

WillTravel Oct 21st, 2010 08:04 PM

Any other ideas for what I should do here, other than to keep monitoring my cards? I don't think I still have any credit card that I would have used for this in 2008.

alanRow Oct 21st, 2010 10:16 PM

I'd have been straight on to the CC company to contest the charge, cancel the CC and get a new one issued.

kerouac Oct 21st, 2010 11:26 PM

Just wait to see what Thalys says for a start, especially if you don't know which card might have been used.

Reading54 Oct 22nd, 2010 03:45 AM

May be some one else purchased it and has already been charged for it and is anxiously waiting for this confirmation email?

Perhaps his/her email address is very close to yours and Thalys mistakenly sent the confirmation to you instead?

Nikki Oct 22nd, 2010 04:00 AM

It's a sign. You'll just have to go to Paris now.

MademoiselleFifi Oct 22nd, 2010 04:07 AM

I was about to type exactly the same thing Nikki did.

Lifeman Oct 22nd, 2010 05:22 AM

It's a scam. Somehow your original booking has been hacked and at some point someone will try and get you to divulge CC details. Delete the thing.

apersuader65 Oct 22nd, 2010 07:27 AM

Don't delete it. Don't respond to further e-mail inquiries. If it was hacked, there's nothing saying they can't be hacked again. Call Thalys directly to resolve the issue.

StCirq Oct 22nd, 2010 07:40 AM

I would pick up the phone immediately and call Thalys. Then monitor your credit card charges and call immediately if a Thalys charge shows up.

I check my bank accounts online every day. Last week there was a charge from some Jewish dating service. I'm not Jewish and I don't need a date. Went online to the dating site and found absolutely no way to contact them directly by phone or fax or email of anything. Then went to my bank immediately and disputed the charge. They said someone had hacked my ATM card info and canceled the card on the spot and issued me a new one. Unfortunately, these things happen a lot these days.

Mimar Oct 22nd, 2010 07:44 AM

Yup, someone's got your credit/debit card number. Same thing happened to us, except it was an airline ticket to Chicago. The bank wasn't interested in the name of the ticket holder. Guess they just mark it up to the usual overhead.

ParisAmsterdam Oct 22nd, 2010 08:12 AM

But if there's no charge on the card it isn't a case of being hacked or a card number being stolen.

It could be as simple as some poor schnook giving the wrong email address to Thalys... HIS card has now been charged and he's now wondering where his ticket is!

Christina Oct 22nd, 2010 09:24 AM

seems odd to me as a scam, I also suspect someone gave Thalys the wrong email address by a typo. They don't send those out without it being paid for already.

WillTravel Oct 22nd, 2010 10:19 AM

Well, none of my credit cards are showing this charge, thus far, so it's hard for me to dispute it.

My email is FirstNameMiddleInitialLastName so it would be quite a coincidence for this to be a typo, I suspect.

I haven't gotten an email from Thalys yet, so I will phone them when I get a chance.

hetismij Oct 22nd, 2010 10:20 AM

Does it have your name on it?
I know the tickets I print at home for other international train have my name on it and I have to show ID to rove it's me. Even for Dutch trains I have to do this.
Doesn't that apply to Thalys ticketless?

Any response yet from Thalys? Of course the strikes in France could slow down a response.

WillTravel Oct 22nd, 2010 10:28 AM

Yes, the ticket has my name on it. So it would be really weird if someone booked a ticket in my name with some other credit card. (I don't know anyone who would do this.)

The part that is sort of funny is that it's 149 Euros for a Comfort 1 seat. I would never pay more than 35-40 Euros for such a trip, because I would get it on special, and I'd never get Comfort 1 unless it was cheaper by some quirk.

Christina Oct 22nd, 2010 10:29 AM

well, good point about the email not being something easily mistaken, I wondered about that. I get mistaken emails on one of my accounts as it is not my last name but something else people can make typos in. Maybe Thalys botched up their accounts somehow.

nytraveler Oct 22nd, 2010 11:05 AM

I wold contact each o fyour credit cards now and warn them about this - and let them put a note on your account that is this charge cmes through it is NOT yours.

hetismij Oct 22nd, 2010 11:11 AM

Notify your credit cards and hope Thalys get back to you on it.

I love a good mystery :).

It would be an odd thing to hack though since you get the ticket which warns you something is wrong. If it was a hack you'd think they'd at least change the e-mail address.

hetismij Oct 22nd, 2010 11:14 AM

One thought - do you have a fairly common name? Could they have botched it and sent you the ticket instead of another WillTravel since you are already in their records?

I received a parcel ordered and paid for by my son, because the company didn't bother to check the address only the name. Luckily our surname is unusual in the Netherlands.


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