None of us like it when a scooterist-run business goes bust, especially if that business is left owing people money, or in this case, money and prizes.
Sadly, it looks like online raffle company, Raffle Hub (as it was known originally), has been promising things it can’t deliver and in some cases, delivering prizes they haven’t paid for.
Raffle Hub history
Owned and operated by Welsh scooter lad, Tom David, Raffle Hub appeared at the start of 2024 and quickly gained traction with scooterists, thanks to plenty of social media promotion and affiliate advertising (including adverts and promo here on ScooterLab).
With two or three scooters being raffled off each week, as well as parts, clothing, and engines, it appeared to be very popular, and I’m sure many of us know fellow scooterists who won and received prizes.
We all know people who sold scooters to Raffle Hub as well. I sold them two of my scooters. They were collected and paid for with no problems.
Not adding up
People were winning, prizes were being delivered in a timely fashion, and all looked good. Although if you looked at the maths, it didn’t seem like it could be a sustainable business. We all know how much a decent scooter is worth, and Tom paid the asking price for them. Divide the asking price by the number of tickets showing as sold, and it often left a deficit.
The Raffle Hub company accounts are showing as overdue on Companies House and the company was given a First Gazette notice* for compulsory strike off on July 1st 2025. That strike-off notice is currently suspended on appeal from the Registrar. Hopefully, that’s because Tom is trying to sort things out.
*A public ‘Strike Off’ notice is printed in The Gazette to notify any creditors/business partners that a company is facing insolvency. It’s the first legal stage by Companies House before a company can be struck off. The Gazette is an official public record.
Track record
This isn’t 37-year-old Tom’s first rodeo; the likeable lad has run other businesses in the past. Here’s a quick rundown of his Limited Companies…
Twisted Rods
The Welsh scooter business, Twisted Rods, was owned by Tom and was dissolved on January 19, 2016.
Terrace Threads
Rotherham-based Terrace Threads was a designer clothes shop owned by Tom and dissolved on 18th October 2022.
Designer Raffles
Next up was Designer Raffles, again run from Rotherham and dissolved on June 13, 2023.
Raffle Hub
Raffle Hub changed its name to Kickstart Scooter Raffles earlier this year after a “Problem with the Raffle Hub payment system and website.” Emails began coming from ‘Scooter Raffles’ in June, although there is no record of ‘Scooter Raffles’ on Companies House.
Kickstart Scooters
The latest business we’ve found Tom associated with is Kickstart Scooters, although he resigned as a director on July 31st 2025 (just as the shit began to hit the fan). His fellow director, Dave Stone (Rebellion Scooters), has been identified to us as part of this ongoing investigation.
A recent social media post about the situation…
Lone wolf?
Although others, such as Dan Ashman, were high-profile Raffle Hub promoters (Dan has a very busy social media presence), he wasn’t part of the business or employed by Raffle Hub. Ben Payne did most of the prize deliveries for them, but neither he nor Dan should be tarnished with the same brush. They’re both victims in this sorry affair and have each lost money through this scam.
Tom David ran the company, although a silent partner was said to be a big part of things in the background. That man is Dave Stone, who runs Rebellion Scooters in Newport, South Wales.
Rumour mill
Back in July, I emailed Tom because a couple of people had been in touch with their concerns about Raffle Hub. Rumours were starting to circulate.
He replied with the following…
A few months ago, the card payments provider started asking to keep a rolling reserve of funds, so we had to swap everything over to a new one, including changing the server to allow for the new card provider’s gateway plugin, which is where the affiliate issue arose.
I am trying to work on it but obviously most of my time at the moment is taken up with trying to get things sorted, we have been having quite bad cashflow issues recently with the change of card provider but still showing up everyday and trying to get the issues sorted.
The sledgehammer engines have only been ready for 10 days and we’ve arranged to pay Marco for them in the next few days, I’ve also spoken to the winners this morning.
Everything else is in hand, just taking a bit longer than is expected, unfortunately, but we are getting there, mate. Everyone, including yourself, will get paid.
Cheers, Tom
Social media
On July 28th, one of the disgruntled prize winners took to social media to see if anybody else was having issues with the company. He’s been contacted by others who are in the same boat as him and is currently building a case for court.
Who didn’t join the Winner’s Club?
Owed £28,000
I’d heard of one person who had sold him three scooters (after building up some trust with other sales), and he’d not been paid for them. He’s still owed £28,000 and the scooters have been ‘won’ and delivered. The person who the scooters still legally belong to has been in touch with the prize winners and told them the situation, but they’ve pretty much said ‘It’s not my problem’ when told they’d won stolen/unpaid-for scooters. That case is in the hands of South Wales police.
**UPDATE**
One winner of these scooters has come forward and asked to return it to the rightful owner, a truly fantastic gesture. He’s a gentleman of the highest order.
Casa SST 265
One Raffle Hub customer won a nice Lambretta SST 265. As it happens, he’s friends with the previous owner, and his friend wasn’t paid for the scooter. He hasn’t received his prize.
Lambretta SX
A nice Lambretta SX was won in a competition, but Raffle Hub didn’t own it! Instead, Tom bought a cheaper one to deliver to the customer in the hope that he wouldn’t notice. He did…
Sledgehammer
Another ‘won’ a Sledgehammer engine in January and has been waiting for it ever since. I asked Rimini Lambretta Centre about that prize; the engine had been ordered and was partially built, but hadn’t been paid for. The order has since been cancelled.
Judging by Tom’s reply to my email, it appears that there was more than one Sledgehammer engine to be sent to a prize winner.
The latest news
An ‘Important announcement’ was posted on the Scooter Raffles website on 28th July (the day things started to circulate on social media). You can read that announcement above. As far as we know, tickets haven’t yet been refunded and none of the missing prizes have been delivered, nor has money been paid to his creditors.
Earlier this week, I contacted Tom David to inquire about the latest situation and request a comment for ScooterLab. We’ve had no response as yet.
Get in touch
If you’ve been refunded (or paid out) if you’re owed, let us know. Or if your case hasn’t been mentioned here and you’re owed money or a prize, get in touch at editorial@scooterlab.uk
Iggy
**UPDATE 9th August**
Since this story was published less than 24 hours ago, we’ve had emails from at least a dozen people who were due to receive, or have been waiting for, prizes. We’ve also had emails from people who had opted to take a cash payment as an alternative to a scooter (or engine) and haven’t received it.
We’ve also had quite a few people getting in touch to name the second man in what appears to be quite a major fraud. South Wales police and various other forces around the country are looking into things, as are Action Fraud. If you’re a victim, we urge you to get in touch with both of those services.
We’ve also been made aware of an eBay account that belongs to Tom, although the feedback score is very good (99.6%) buyer beware is a motto worth remembering in this case.
**UPDATE** 11th August
Raffle Hub Ltd posted this notice on 8th of August as part of the legal proceedings for liquidating the company. They also posted an announcement (pictured below) to say that Scooter Raffles had ceased trading on 8th August, which was the same day we published this story.
Since we broke this story we’ve had well over 20 people get in touch to say they’d not received prizes and we’re still getting emails. This fraud seems to be much bigger and more premeditated than we initially thought.
Who to contact
If you’ve not received a prize, you should contact both the police and Action Fraud. A case is being built against the people responsible.
What about ticket refunds?
If you bought tickets for a raffle within the last 180 days and paid by PayPal, raise a case with them, and you’ll be refunded in full. If you paid by credit card, it’s worth contacting your card issuer; they may be able to do a chargeback for you.
Hi Iggy
I am still waiting for delivery of a scooter from Tom at Raffle hub/ Scooter raffle.
Cheers
Peter
Still waiting for refund of tickets purchased for competitions that never happened.
A real shame about this, a good mate of mine won one of the final draws before the shutters went up and we’re assuming he will see bugger all. I won a T5 from them in April and with the buggering about myself and the previous owner got it was fairly clear then not all was well. I just hope no one ends up losing out too much, especially those who are owed money in good faith.
I’m still waiting for the scooter won on the 3rd July 2025,
If any one can help get in touch. Thank you
To whom it may concern ,Tom David owes me for 7 scooters close to 40k
Thanks for the Paypal tip just got back £150 id spent 👍
Excellent news!