HELP! Scam or no...?

[worldwidemike]

Hi everyone,

I mentioned this in the Where ya Going? thread as well, but thought I'd better put it here to get some attention, too.

Jenny and I may have had a slight hitch in our Egypt plans. We researched various tour companies and chose one called Delta Tours. I sent them a query and they responded and said they had a tour available on the day we wanted to arrive. We booked it, and asked what kind of down payment or confirmation was needed. They said $300, which is about 25% down. The choices on how to pay them did NOT include credit card. It was bank transfer, Western Union and one other way I can't remember now. We chose Western Union since it was the cheapest. So, they gave us the name to send it to, which was not Delta Tours, but the name of the agent we'd been talking to.

Apparently, the Western Union mistyped the Arabic name and the tour company was unable to pick up the money. We gave them the tracking number, and they figured out it was due to the misspelling. So, I called Western Union to change it. They connected me with their fraud department, who had suspicions about the entire transaction. They insisted that a legitimate tour company would accept credit card payment. They also said they would want the money wired to a company name, not a person's name. So, they refunded our money (unasked) and said that we should do some more research before wiring money to overseas individuals.

So, is Delta Tours Egypt a scam? Here's their website:
http://www.deltatoursegypt.com/

Any help in checking this out is greatly appreciated...
worldwidemike

[The Monsignor]

I have to agree with western union - it's definitely fraud sounding, and the methods of money transfer are all cash-equivalents, meaning that once the money's gone, there's no getting it back.

Since credit cards are definitely universal, and I've used mine all over the middle east, I'd say it's definitely fraud.

I couldn't tell you whether or not it was the agent or the company, but the only review I can find about the company doesn't encourage me, either...

http://www.frommers.com/cgi-bin/WebX?13@@.eea7388

[space virgin]

I don't know if I can honestly say that it sounds like a FOR SURE fraud transaction, after going to India and seeing all manners of how business is conducted there. I wouldn't be surprised if you had actually gotten a tour when all was said and done, but it sounds like it was better for you guys to not deal with them anyway. Does that make sense?

And oh yeah-- HAVE A GREAT TRIP!! Try to see either Lucy, Dina or Fifi Abdo dance while you're in Cairo. Or the stunningly gorgeous and talented Leila (she's a personal friend).

[Esterina]

They mention that the address is in the Nile Hilton Hotel, maybe you could try contact them to verify if the agency do exist or not.