Two seasons ago i was treating a bulky Russian guy for severe back pain caused by a bad fall on the slopes of Courchevel when I felt the buzzer of my iwach, a British patient of mine was desperate to get hold of me. I sent discretely a text message saying that i ll phone him back straight after the physio osteopath session . As i called him back at the end of the treatment, all i could hear on the phone was screaming kids and my patient shouting at me in panic. Told him to cool down and tried to make him explain to me what was going on. " hi mathieu you are the osteopath who treated me last winter, and my brother had a series of sports massage from you" "Yes i remember,
how are you ?" "Really bad, i rented on line a chalet, arrived at the chalet in Plantrey Courchevel and the hosts told me that the chalet was already booked, my wife wants to kill me and my kids are crying !! Help me !". I managed to found a place to stay the same day.
It was a scam, the website was fake, he paid to unknown people a weekly rental. Courchevel is indeed attracting money from all over the world and some bad fellows are taking advantage of the ignorance of visitors.
i ll give you some tips on how to avoid the fraudulent chalet rental websites. You just found on the web, the rental chalet in Courchevel of your dream. Just check this facts.
Photos of the chalet on the scam website : try to right click with your mouse on the pictures displayed, if you can’t then it starts to be suspicious. That means the website doesn’t want you to use google search image engine. Even if you can use the google image search engine, be cautious. If you see the same photos with different properties names. Run away!!
Always prefer and use website that have organic ranking on google. It means they are here for years and they work constantly on articles, news, and deals. Paid Adwords web site are not all fraudulent but the scams ones are more likely to use Adwords to get a straight up position on google.
when you contact a website assess the quality of response and a too fast yes !! to all your requests. A proper chalet rental will take a bit of time to make sure they can satisfy your needs, and will answer properly.
The Deal on the website is irealistic. A few thousands euros a week for a mega staffed chalet doesn’t exist.
Phone the tourist office of Courchevel , they are there to help you. Ask if the chalet you are looking for exists and if the website or agency you are making the deal with, got a good reputation and got trusted record history. Don’t trust testimonial on the website !!
Try to find reliable articles on trusted press about the company you want to use.
Watch out for spelling mistakes! ( I know I m not a good example, but I try my best), try to right click text, especially the paragraph “about us” and “terms and conditions” if you can’t that means that the scammers don’t want you to do a google search.
check out the name of the chalet and location. Some chalet’s name are sometimes not in Courchevel or vice versa.
take a look at chalets listed on the website of Courchevel office du tourisme.
never trust a website that says “we can put you in contact directly with the owners”. Owners are making the decision to deal with an agency for a reason !!!
Check the company détails you are dealing with.
And at least call them, if the person on the phone is evasive about simple questions or details it’s a no go.
Well at least you won’t get scam from me as I m offering a physio osteopath sports massage mobile service in the chalets and hotels of Courchevel. And payment is to be due after the session !
Enjoy your holliday and book now for this exceptional winter season.