Thread
Warning: do NOT use travala.com any more, if you did.
They directly stole my money.
Here is my response to the customer service agent:
(Customer service agent),
> Sorry for the delay, im ahmed from compliance department, for refund or either processing the booking, the verification is a mandatory step, we require the minimum and basic info for that, and you can pass it easily through the following link : <snipped>
Let's establish the facts: I have been a regular customer of Travala for years, have done probably a hundred or more bookings through your site - mentioning this *not* to claim some status as a customer (which I do not want, and do not have), but to point out that ZERO times on the website or through any of those transactions was it mentioned that you could simply keep my money and provide no service - i.e. STEAL my money - if I did not pass a verification process -handing over extensive and intrusive personal documents - that you never documented anywhere. And indeed for this booking, again, no such advance warning was given.
So you (that is to say Travala, not you personally!) act exactly as a kidnapper: to give me back the money which is mine, you insist that I hand over security sensitive information. Which I will not do. There are an endless stream of documented violent theft events of cryptocurrency holders, so spreading one's personal information is stupid, and any claim you make to "keep my data safe" is ridiculous, given the equally endless stream of reported hacking events. I do not trust your company with my personal information because I don't trust *any* company with it.
I have been doing Bitcoin development work for over a decade, I will make sure that a lot of people in the community know that Travala steals its customers money, directly, with no apology.
Feel free to pass this message to any management, I would appreciate that.
(me)
Replies (23)
Hadn't heard of them. But generally not in the habit of patronizing companies that do anything with crypto.
Do they usually require IDs? Never used them before, so a newbie here.
No, at least, they never did. Just email.
What a shame.. I used their service many many times.
See Peter's reply. Very plausibly new EU regs are involved, though I'm just guessing.
What? That’s ridiculous, using them for most of my bookings… 🥺
Bummer. Cheapair fell. Now Travala. The walls are closing in. The biggest corporations get deputized first.
This should have been the red flag 🚩
I was a happy customer there too, will use direct bookings instead now.
We need btc airlines. Where the pilots at? Airbtc.online is good for places to stay
I was just about to book PlanB El Salvador trip there, and pay with btc 👀🫠
Thanjs for this timely warning!
Thanks for the heads-up. I just got to about this recently and was thinking of giving it a try.
No trust, no service, no excuses.
In crypto we move fast, keep our keys, and never let anyone steal our sats.
Travala just learned the hard way.
Appreciate the warning. Will steer clear.
If this is news to you, you are a noob.
They are a front for Binance.
This is war time. Use any centralised third party as if they are your enemy.
Tainted (risk scored) transactions are a real thing on transparent chains.
That's why cypherpunks preach the use of Monero.
In the case of Travala, the removal of Monero (after advertising it big times on Reddit and elsewhere) has been a gigantic red flag.
Huge business opportunity for those who know how to set this up correctly.
npub1vadc...nuu7
Warning: do NOT use travala.com any more, if you did.
They directly stole my money.
Here is my response to the customer service agent:
(Customer service agent),
> Sorry for the delay, im ahmed from compliance department, for refund or either processing the booking, the verification is a mandatory step, we require the minimum and basic info for that, and you can pass it easily through the following link : <snipped>
Let's establish the facts: I have been a regular customer of Travala for years, have done probably a hundred or more bookings through your site - mentioning this *not* to claim some status as a customer (which I do not want, and do not have), but to point out that ZERO times on the website or through any of those transactions was it mentioned that you could simply keep my money and provide no service - i.e. STEAL my money - if I did not pass a verification process -handing over extensive and intrusive personal documents - that you never documented anywhere. And indeed for this booking, again, no such advance warning was given.
So you (that is to say Travala, not you personally!) act exactly as a kidnapper: to give me back the money which is mine, you insist that I hand over security sensitive information. Which I will not do. There are an endless stream of documented violent theft events of cryptocurrency holders, so spreading one's personal information is stupid, and any claim you make to "keep my data safe" is ridiculous, given the equally endless stream of reported hacking events. I do not trust your company with my personal information because I don't trust *any* company with it.
I have been doing Bitcoin development work for over a decade, I will make sure that a lot of people in the community know that Travala steals its customers money, directly, with no apology.
Feel free to pass this message to any management, I would appreciate that.
(me)
View quoted note →
I’m sorry for that. Been there with another one StealthEX (should be stealEX).
I have to say that it was my fault, at the time I already had lots of experience on the P2P and still decided to risk with a potential scammer.
It was a good lesson for me, since that I only P2P and encourage the ghetto swaps, build community.
Centralized deserve nothing but fiat
Post about this elsewhere other than Nostr too, by the way. It'd be good to get more word out (and would fuck with Travala more).
I believe this is not about travala. Its about the KYC/AML procedures that the ruling mafias force them to adopt. Otherwise they are money launderers and terrorists. And it comes from FATF.
View quoted note →
