I think the Midlands one looks even worse than the New Forest effort. What do they have, a muddy field and some white tents, judging by their web site.

I hope the law comes down hard on these fraudsters.

If anyone would like to see Huskies for free go to Windsor next Thursday from 4pm to 7pm. We are giving FREE husky cart rides.
Terry

For anyone wondering, it seems like Laplands West Midlands and Laplands New Forest are the company. I didn't find this, it was from someone on another site, but if you to the Laplands WM site, and click on 'view source' to look at the code that makes up the page, you see the following..



There's a reference to New Forest in the West Midlands web page code. Seems a little odd, to say the least.

Wow reading through this thread is taking ages. I only saw a bit about it in the papaer but didn't reall take much notice. But from what i've heard on his hard working people are spening good money on what they believe to be a good day out but turns out to be horrible. Hugs to all those children and parents that were dissapointed by lapland forest
xx

OOhh kay look what u started -shame ur not on commission!

Hello all, I was going to take my lads to Lapland West midlands... till I saw what it was like...

Now, I can't post links, just google 'Express and Star' 'Lapland West Midlands' and you will see what I mean. It looks like another con.
'nough said!

http://www.expressandstar.com/2008/1...-like-lapland/

TRADING standards are taking advice from a specialist barrister and the Office of Fair Trading on how to take legal action against Lapland New Forest for “misleading” customers.

Dorset County Council is looking into a range of legal options, said head of regulatory services Bill Jaggs.

He added: “We cannot give further details, as this might prejudice the action we decide to take.”

Staffordshire County Council trading standards are checking if an event opening today with a similar website is connected, said a spokesman.

Laplands West Midlands is being held at Essington north east of Wolverhampton.

Several of the same companies who did contract work at Lapland New Forest are either involved at Laplands West Midlands or were approached.

A council source said: “We are asking PayPal to freeze money coming out of people’s accounts.”

The Echo was told the man running the event would call back but did not hear anything. The website carries a statement saying: “We are nothing to do with Lapland New Forest. We are a separate company.”

A woman who answered the phone said: “We just hired someone to do the website. It’s going to be brilliant – everyone will see we are not linked with them.”

The Laplands New Forest website domain name was sold off at 11.55pm on Thursday, the day the site shut, and now carries information on a website hosting company.

Promoter Henry Mears said he had no comment when phoned yesterday and hung up.

At Matcham’s itself yesterday morning there was a lone guard on duty and the odd exiting HGV.

Matchams director Frederick Nash had previously said there was “not a snowball’s chance in hell” Lapland would be back next year but could not be contacted yesterday.

Lapland New Forest director Victor Mears blamed the closure on sabotage, inaccurate media reporting, and the cutting of funds by merchant company Streamline.

Streamline is part of RBS and a spokesman yesterday said: “As events materialised, we took the appropriate action and in accordance with the terms and conditions agreed with the customer.

“Any suggestion this action was illegal is completely unfounded.”

Rumours circulated online that customers’ credit cards had been cloned, though Dorset Police and Consumer Direct said they had not received any complaints.

A demonstration to be led tomorrow morning by former “Elf” Adrian Wood from Christchurch has been cancelled.

Do you know, if there wasn't such a bad taste left in some people's pockets over these outlets, this would be ever so funny.... you could not write something this good... but on top of all the high spirits and tempers I have a few wise words for everyone, only because I have seen things like this before, followed them and learnt.

The first thing you should do is take screen prints of whatever you plan to buy/see, all the pages, including the T&C's, then print out your receipt and keep the lot somewhere safe. In most cases you will have the site's name and time/date stamp on the top/bottom of the page and then if there is ever a dispute about what you saw/what you got, then you have something to bargain with or take to court.

Just like the Midlands site taking down the Disney images, if you took a screen print and then bought your tickets you could prove that before you bought your tickets you were going to see these guys but they have changed the T&C's now and you will not see what you thought you would therefore, they are in breach of conditions, but without your copy you can't prove Jack Snip. That seems as clear as.... mud but I hope you got the idea.

And it works with most things like that, say you saw a cheap or mispriced pram for sale, bought it and then they denied they ever advertised it, you have proof or that of one of those flyers that come with the local weekly rag. It comes under the trade description act and if used correctly, the company doesn't have a leg to stand on but only if you have the proof.

From todays Guardian newspaper;

No reindeer and lookalikes for the huskies:
welcome to new Lapland. .Owners deny link to New Forest site as council officers voice concerns.

Paul Lewis The Guardian, Saturday December 6 2008

When thousands of children hurry through the gates of the latest Lapland for a grand opening today, they could be forgiven a tingle of nerves.

The latest in a flurry of parks recreating the home of Father Christmas, Lapland West Midlands is promising "a magical encounter" with the bearded man himself, amid a winter wonderland of elves, reindeer, huskies, real snow and a dancing spectacular on ice.

What their parents may not know is the reindeer aren't coming, the huskies are in fact a "similar looking" breed of dog and, in a last minute change of plan, the ice rink has been replaced with "a rollerskating platform". Trading standards officers who will attend the opening, said yesterday they had "serious concerns".

The Lapland based just outside Wolverhampton, which the organisers say will attract 3,000 paying customers a day, is composed of several marquees in a muddy field normally used for car boot sales, which overlooks the M54.

Lapland West Midlands comes in the week that another "mini Lapland" theme park, near the New Forest, closed after parents complained they had been duped into taking their children to a derelict building site that looked nothing like an arctic retreat. Parents took out their anger on staff, reportedly attacking two elves and a Father Christmas.

The promoters of Lapland West Midlands have rejected any comparisons with their now defunct counterpart. "We've got nothing to do with the New Forest Lapland," said the organiser, Matthew James. "We're being tarred with the same brush."

Staffordshire county council, however, is "extremely" concerned about the unlicensed event. It has warned parents about the parallels between the two Laplands - which both cost £25 a ticket - advising them to "think carefully" before purchasing online tickets for "themed Lapland events".

"I think people will be very disappointed," said David Clifft, the Essington parish council chairman, as he stood beside the field in the rain. "Does it look like Lapland to you? It doesn't to me."

The closure of Lapland New Forest was announced on Thursday when a female member of staff shrieked "Santa's dead", followed by a convoy of muddy reindeer and donkeys leaving the site. It was a far cry from the promise that: "Christmas dreams come true for children of all ages."

In fact parents were made to explain to their tearful children why Lapland's huskies were tethered to the mud and "going berserk", while the Father Christmas was allegedly having a cigarette round the back of his threadbare grotto.

The "tunnel of light" turned out to be a few fairy lights attached to some trees, the ice rink didn't work and Santa was charging an extra £10 for a photograph.

Facebook groups were created. "The nativity looked like it was plonked in the middle of a war zone," wrote one member. "The 'log cabins' were large sheds from a garden centre. The mud was everywhere. Even the animals looked bored." Another wrote: "Our children had become the victims of evil."

The avalanche of negative publicity surrounding Lapland New Forest, in Dorset, has had an impact for the West Midlands version. Chris Daley, the site organiser, said many of his entertainers had been "spooked" by tales of distraught children at the Dorset park, and cancelled their participation.

"They've seen what's happened to the other guys and said: 'We're having nothing to do with it'," he said. "The reindeer aren't ready for the opening day. A fellow was going to bring some of those white snow dogs. They're not huskies, but to look at them you'd think they were. Now he's saying he doesn't want to get sued for calling it a husky. So now we're after more dogs."

Other Lapland West Midlands attractions - including gingerbread making, face painting, a choir, nativity scene, and teacup ride - have not been put off. "In all fairness, we've done all we can," he said. "If this doesn't work out, it's because of the bad publicity and the opposition from the council."

He said Lapland West Midlands had already sold thousands of tickets on its website, which features photographs of Father Christmas on a reindeer in an alpine wood, beside snow-capped log cabins and huskies. Trading standards have been monitoring the site all week.