Conned By Our So-called Mate
Gemma trusted her friend to do her a special favour...
The sound of my little girl squealing with joy could have shattered glass. I’d just told Lola, then 4, we were going to Florida.
‘There’s ages to go,’ my hubby Michael, 37, groaned. ‘Why did you tell her now?’
True, we now faced daily queries of how many more sleeps till she could meet Mickey – but excited, too, I couldn’t keep it to myself!
We all needed a break, having just lost my beloved grandmother Doreen, who’d passed away from old age.
So my parents Philip, 66, and Julie, 57, were joining us on our dream Disney hol.
We’d never have been able to afford it but, thanks to one of my best friends, we’d got a great deal.
Rebecca Waterfall, 27, used to live next door and worked for a travel company – she offered to use her staff discount.
‘I really owe you one, love,’ I told her.
She’d been a good friend to me, looking after Lola if I popped out. Id’ return the favour by watching her pets when she went away.
Even when she’d moved away to work in Manchester, we kept in touch.
We paid the deposit on our holiday and the excitement began to build. Then…
‘Would you be able to pay the rest of the money now?’ Rebecca asked out of the blue.
Because she was doing a family-and-friends rate, she needed all the money at once.
Luckily, Dad had had a pension payout and was able to pay the remaining £5,000.
We didn’t think anything of Rebecca’s request – she was doing us a massive favour.
No response
As the months ticked by, we still had no confirmation letter or e-mail for our trip.
Rebecca had always been forgetful, so we assumed it’d just slipped her mind.
But, every time I brought it up, she changed the subject. Was she trying to fob me off?
‘We really need confirmation,’ I told her, after weeks of asking.
‘Sorry, I’ll get it over to you,’ she promised.
Finally, a booking e-mail came. I pinged it to Mum but, a few days later, Dad called.
‘The booking reference isn’t working,’ he said.
He’d been trying to view our holiday details on the website, but nothing had come up.
I panicked, picturing Lola’s face if I said the holiday was off.
Frantic, I sent texts, e-mails and voicemails to Rebecca.
No response. Unable to ask
We paid our deposit and the excitement began to buildé
Rebecca, we felt we had no choice but to contact the company directly.
‘It says that the reference isn’t legitimate!’ Mum said.
Fuming, I e-mailed and texted Rebecca.
Sort it out, or we’re going to the police.
I didn’t hear back but, within days, the holiday was showing up as booked and paid for online.
I still felt let down by Rebecca, but at least I knew we were going on the holiday – and, finally, last June, it was time.
‘I’m so excited!’ Lola said as we made our way to Manchester airport in personalised Disney T-shirts.
At check-in, I felt giddy myself. We’re off to Florida!
‘Passports, please!’ smiled the lady at the desk.
But, when we handed them over, she frowned. She came back with two police officers.
‘Come away from your family, please,’ one said to me and Dad. ‘What’s wrong?’ I asked. ‘I’m arresting you on suspicion of fraud,’ the officer said.
‘The holiday has been booked on a stolen credit card,’ the other officer said.
‘I’m innocent!’ I pleaded. ‘We had nothing to do with the booking process! It was booked by...’
The penny finally dropped... Rebecca!
My dad showed them the card he’d paid her with. Thankfully, it was enough to convince the officers.
‘You have two options now, sir,’ the officer said to Dad. ‘You can either go home or pay again for flights.’
We rebooked flights for an extra £1,000…
But, after the nine-hour flight, we found we’d not been booked on the transfer coach, had no hotel rooms, no Disney passes.
We had to pay again and our holiday was ruined – though we did our best to make sure Lola had a good time.
I just couldn’t understand why Rebecca had done it.
Two days
No transfer coach, hotel rooms, or Disney passes
before we were due to fly home, she texted Hope you’re enjoying your holiday!
I was furious – but we’d been told not to alert her that we were onto her, so we had to stay calm.
The next day, Rebecca was arrested and we flew home.
Fraud
At Manchester Crown Court this January, Rebecca Waterfall, 27, admitted nine counts of fraud by abuse of position.
As well as the £5,250 she’d stolen from us, she’d pilfered £22,168 from the travel and events management company.
Her lawyer said Rebecca had still wanted to be popular after her work benefits changed and she was no longer able to offer discounts on holidays.
So she made commitments she couldn’t keep.
It emerged she’d used the cash she stole from us to fund a holiday to Australia with her boyfriend. I’d seen the pictures on Facebook.
Rebecca was given a 13-month suspended sentence, with 240 hours unpaid work.
Her mum paid us back the £5,250. It’s something, I guess.
But it doesn’t cover the money we paid to rebook everything – or help me forgive my lying friend.