Criminal activity (theft) of Maltese company

22POSTS

8 years ago

Last month I relocated from Malta after 3.5 years living on the island to another European country. I had a Contract mobile and home internet with *** during my time in Malta, in my rush to leave I quickly visited a *** shop:

LINK
[link moderated]

(they shut the shop down a week after I left)

I asked to close my account and paid off my remaining bill which was around one hundred and sixty euros in cash in the shop.

After moving to the new country I logged into my *** online account to see my accounts still active and my bill of one hundred and sixty euros still outstanding.

The shop had not added my cash payment to my account!

I contacted *** customer support and they see no record of payment and will not do anything as I cannot find the receipt (I just moved countries, life is all in boxes and god knows where that is)
After many messages (mostly me completely losing my shit as they have robbed me) they have offered to settle if I just pay half of my bill?

I visited the shop I went to as I know the guy will remember me, (I put 30 or so Euro into the collection box after he told me about his sick baby niece) but when I got there, the shop was closed down.

So the solution offered is for me to pay 80 euro鈥檚 to the criminal thieving company that stole my money?

**** that.

So in short, if you are moving to Malta I strongly suggest you avoid the [link moderated] company ***

Moderated by Bhavna 8 years ago
Reason : Possible defamatory content on a public forum. Name has been moderated. You may share the name through the private messaging system if necessary
We invite you to read the forum code of conduct

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GozoMo Malta Expert

2213POSTS

8 years ago

If you do not have the receipt you can not blame ***, saying that the person you dealt with sounds a bit dodgy makes you wonder if the collection box was genuine.聽 You will probably聽 have to pay half as suggested and write it off as experience, good luck.

1 member reacted to this post

tonotwant Member

22POSTS

8 years ago

I paid, its on CCTV, happy to fly back to go to court, no problem, it is principle.

SimCityAT Expert

13796POSTS

8 years ago

tonotwant wrote:
I paid, its on CCTV, happy to fly back to go to court, no problem, it is principle.

If the shop has closed down, there is no CCTV. I try and use my card when I pay for things, then at least you can get a copy from your bank.

tonotwant Member

22POSTS

8 years ago

Surely there are data retention laws / freedom of information act?

I really do not care how much it costs they will not get a penny from me, I would rather fly back and do time than pay these thieves.

volcane ViP

1098POSTS

8 years ago

You should probably do some reading about how far foreigners get with the law here

tonotwant Member

22POSTS

8 years ago

When I left the island my Landlord stole my complete deposit (1600 euro) and now when I have left this company is screwing me.

The only thing I can do is make sure any company owner I know drops the usage of the business plans / phones and internet with them. My company will certainly never do business with them.

Just shocking how business is done in Malta, shameful people.

bernie_iris_fabian_david Serial expat

337POSTS

8 years ago

I'm sorry to hear about your experience, but I guess it might be down to the shop not being a company-owned branch but just an independent sales partner? We had no problems when we left Malta last October and terminated our contract with the same company. But we went directly to the head office in Mrhiel, and the guys there were really helpful. Just to be sure, though, I ALWAYS keep proof of such payments and other documents in a folder that sits on my desk, so if there are issues I can find them. (Had my share of bad experiences, too, especially with rental car companies...)
In your case I guess it'll be best to settle the 80 euro bill and leave it there...

F0xgl0ve Malta Expert

1976POSTS

8 years ago

tonotwant wrote:
Surely there are data retention laws / freedom of information act?

I really do not care how much it costs they will not get a penny from me, I would rather fly back and do time than pay these thieves.

If it was a shop that acted as the Service Provider's agent rather than the SP's own shop then I think you are lucky to get an offer of 50% without a receipt!
I would not even consider court, also be aware of the creditor applying to freeze you bank account here if you still have one.

Ray

2 members reacted to this post

tonotwant Member

22POSTS

8 years ago

#10

I left the island, closed all accounts including the local (useless) bank account I have nothing there apart from a LTD company which can not be touched.

They can forget the 80 euro I will make sure these incompetent idiots lose a lot more than that.

Thanks for the advice, I will avoid any future dealings with any Maltese company.

NewPoster2017 Active member

49POSTS

8 years ago

#11

tonotwant wrote:
I left the island, closed all accounts including the local (useless) bank account I have nothing there apart from a LTD company which can not be touched.

They can forget the 80 euro I will make sure these incompetent idiots lose a lot more than that.

Thanks for the advice, I will avoid any future dealings with any Maltese company.

PM me the company please.

tonotwant Member

22POSTS

8 years ago

#12

Done

F0xgl0ve Malta Expert

1976POSTS

8 years ago

#13

Just out of interest, I assume you have a major international business to be able to cause so many problems for the Maltese companies!

Must have been pretty big to have a 鈧�160 bill for telecoms, internet and mobile!

Perhaps you would like to enlighten us all and also tell us why you didn't like the UK either!

What other country are you going to inflict yourself on next?

Ray

1 member reacted to this post

tonotwant Member

22POSTS

8 years ago

#14

Hi Ray, the value of the theft is irrelevant, it really is principle. I am nothing big or special, I have a small company and consult a lot of the large igaming companies in Malta, the damage I can do is only teeny tiny, I just advise any company using the corporate services of melita to ditch the services, no big impact at best less than 100k a year.

I left the UK for Malta as Malta offered the best options for tax avoidance for igaming companies so most have hq there, as do I, I just moved away for family reasons but will continue working remotely with igaming companies in Malta, hope that covers your questions. As for where next, not sure maybe Caribbean.

1 member reacted to this post

F0xgl0ve Malta Expert

1976POSTS

8 years ago

#15

Hope you have better luck there.

Ray

1 member reacted to this post

Michelle Attard Active member

41POSTS

8 years ago

#16

I have heard similar stories to this recently on the island, also technicians taking cash from customers on visit with no proof or receipt. better to be careful and get invoices receipts and employee details if possible

1 member reacted to this post

Nange Serial expat

222POSTS

8 years ago

#17

Don't pay it. You'll be fine. I agree- it's the principle.

1 member reacted to this post

GozoMo Malta Expert

2213POSTS

8 years ago

#18

Michelle Attard wrote:
I have heard similar stories to this recently on the island, also technicians taking cash from customers on visit with no proof or receipt. better to be careful and get invoices receipts and employee details if possible

Surely this is common sense.

1 member reacted to this post

Michelle Attard Active member

41POSTS

8 years ago

#19

yes - but not every society and country have people looking to do this. My point was be careful if suspect anything strange

1 member reacted to this post

SimCityAT Expert

13796POSTS

8 years ago

#20

Michelle Attard wrote:
yes - but not every society and country have people looking to do this. My point was be careful if suspect anything strange

In every country you will find some scam going on, the larger the place the bigger the problem.

1 member reacted to this post

Nange Serial expat

222POSTS

8 years ago

#21

SimCityAt
That's not true. Michelle's point was valid. You can get away with a lot more here than in Canada (big country) for example. If I have a rental dispute in a Cdn province I聽 go to a gov't office to have it settled fairly. As far as I know such a thing does not exist here. And don't bother to mention court- something like a rental dispute shouldn't have to go to聽 court. No wonder cases take years with every little thing turning into a court case.

1 member reacted to this post

NewPoster2017 Active member

49POSTS

8 years ago

#22

In Scotland if you have any issue we just kick f**k out the guilty party and thats it sorted.

2 members reacted to this post

tonotwant Member

22POSTS

4 years ago

#23

Not sure why all my replies are being deleted here without me being told why, I wanted to drop an update that I managed to settle the dispute by sending a constant stream of emails to the CEO and calling the customer support line multiple times a week to scream at them for stealing my money for about 2 years.

At which point the CEO's secretary emailed me they would write off the money they stole from me and had spent 2 years ruining my name and credit rating my lieing that I had not paid it.

In Malta, its best to assume everyone is trying to steal from you, so just use lawyers where you can and get proof of everything else they will steal.