tags: Scams
Ameri-who?
March 7th, 2005, by Rich.
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I just got a wonderful telemarketing call …
| Me: | Hello. |
| Me: | Hello?. |
| Me: | Helllllo? |
| Me: | [pauses] |
| Me: | Hello?. |
| Me: | Sorry I’m not receiving any audio from your end, so if you can hear me, hang up, or if you’re an automated dialler I’m just going to keep on so you pay for the call. |
| After just enough time for a generic answer phone message to have completed, a recording began to playback at me: | |
| Recording: | Congratulations! You have just won the jackpot! Hi my name is Michael Smith from the Corporate Reward Centre in Las Vegas. You have just won the jackpot! Please call ring free 0800 091 0084 to claim your prize and matching your claim code: Jackpot. Again that number is ring free 0800 091 0084. Congratulations, and we look forward to speaking to you. |
So, noting that my star sign is Inquisitive (with Curious rising) and knowing that 0800 numbers are freephone; I called them:
| Kitty: | Amerisuites Vacations this is Kitty, how may I help? |
| Me: | Who? |
| Kitty: | Amerisuites Vacations this is Kitty. |
| Me: | Sorry, What Vacations? |
| Kitty: | Amerisuites, like America but without the ca and add Suites. |
| Me: | Oh, OK, I’d like to collect my jackp… |
| Kitty: | *click* *beeeeeeeeep* [Kitty ends the call] |
My telephone number is registered with the Telephone Preference Service a UK body that regulates commercial phone spam, so legally they’re not allowed to call me, but they’re trying to force a loophole where commercial calls are banned but, they theorize, by calling it a competition, they can avoid prosecution.
So, not only has this company cold-called my TPS registered number, but they’ve also hung up on me, that’s just plain rude, I wanted to know who and what they are:
So, I called them, again:
| Carla: | Welcome to Amerivacations this is Carla. |
Carla proceeded to take my first name and asked for the number from which I’d called to check what prize I’d won. I gave her a false number. Surprisingly this had no ill effect because Carla came back and told me that I’d won £1301 towards a holiday in Florida, and that it was part of a prize fund allocated to 100 people and there were only 10 claims left on the fund - [irony alert] what luck!
Being a happy soul about this I mentioned that I’m in the UK, and that Carla didn’t sound local; she told me she was in Orlando Florida, and reiterated that this was a free call for me (just to make me really feel like I was special).
She then went on to explain that to claim my prize I’d need to pay the balance on a holiday in Florida at a Ramada resort near near Disneyworld - the package balance £598 for 16 days holiday for 4 - effectively an 80% discount.
The is is not a competition or a lottery, this company is selling holidays; there is no way to claim a “prize” without actually purchasing something, at which point they’ll discount the value of that prize from the purchase cost.
From the TPS website: “Under Government legislation introduced on 1st May 1999 and replaced on 11th December 2003 by the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, it is unlawful to make unsolicited direct marketing calls to individuals who have indicated that they do not want to receive such calls.”
Carla also explained that they are trying to rekindle interest in America as a vacation venue. She also explained that they are able to make these amazing offers because they keep their costs low, which they do in two ways:
- Direct Dialing.
- Word of Mouth.
Well, by direct-dialling me, unlawfully, they’ve certainly got a little word-of-mouth advertising.
The comments below add a lot of detail and you might also be interested in this followup article.
May 28th, 2005 at 7:18 am
Rich wrote:
> Why on earth would a legitimate, accountable, honest and upstanding company
>want to anonymise their domains? If anyone can answer that categorically RSVP.
Spam. I get loads from the WHOIS records from mine.. :-(
May 28th, 2005 at 8:06 am
Folks might find the Florida DACS Dept of Consumer Services Telemarketing page an interesting read (though it doesn’t mention these folks, and I can see no way to search for past investigations).
May 28th, 2005 at 10:44 am
>> Why on earth would a legitimate, accountable, honest and upstanding company
>>want to anonymise their domains? If anyone can answer that categorically RSVP.
>
> Spam. I get loads from the WHOIS records from mine.. :-(
That’s not exactly what I meant by “legitimate, accountable honest and upstanding” :-), and I tend to find that spammers just use fake details because they don’t need to havea real business behind the scam.
May 28th, 2005 at 1:28 pm
For those who still think that Amerivacation alias Yourvipholiday….is no scam and are thinking of taking the holiday carefully the following information that I found on the Bad Business Bureau website:
May 28th, 2005 at 7:57 pm
May 28th, 2005 at 8:10 pm
another useful site: http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/Fc3/NewFC3Site/fraud.html
May 28th, 2005 at 8:57 pm
You should all file complaints with the International Fraud Complaint Center
It really seems to be better than the other complaint centers. You have to work through 7 or 8 pages but is really worth the effort. They also ask about other people who have been scammed.
May 29th, 2005 at 9:58 am
Well, further to my comment on 25 April, it does appear that I have been successful in getting off their calling list, as I haven’t received any more calls.
It probably depends who you get to speak to, but the following technique will help. You’ll need to talk to customer services (0800 094 4761). When you call them, make sure you set the agenda, not them. Ignore any opening spiel they might give and state clearly that you do not want to receive any more calls from their company. Politely but firmly ask them to put your number onto a ‘do not call’ list. Don’t be rude or get angry, but don’t take no for an answer. Ask them how long it will be before this takes effect.
By the way, I’m certain that they are not going out of their way to call TPS-registered numbers. What would be the point of that? They’ll want to call people who are most likely to respond positively to their offer, not those who are most likely to be antagonised by it!
May 29th, 2005 at 12:19 pm
Make sure you do check your balance Carl. I was also of the opinion that nothing would be taken from my account until I had signed the form in my package that was due in 7 to 10 days. But they had frozen $1,100 AU and then it was withdrawn a week before the package arrived. Ican’t see how they can do this without physically signing anything. I’m in Australia and suddenly feel very vulnerable. I can not find any customer service numbers with the International dialling code, or no email address that I can vent my concerns. Can anyone else, particularly from Australia, suggest anything? I’m sure I’ve been ripped off, not once, but twice. I spoke with the automated recording, and then they rang me back a a fortnight later stating that it hadn’t recorded and that they had to go over all the details again. The day after the first call, $1,100 was frozen in my account. I had $8 to live on until my next pay. When they rang the second time, a fortnight later, the day after, the $1,100 was taken from my account but the first $1,100 remained frozen. I was able to ring my bank and they “Unfroze” the first $1,100 (thank God) but said that if this company sent another authorisation for this, they would have to give it to them as they are required by Law. For my family to even fly over to the States will cost about $8,000AU plus Hotel Taxes, plus Port Taxes. Is this really a good deal? HELP!!!!!
May 29th, 2005 at 7:35 pm
It would make sense not to antagonise people by using the TPS list, but then again it could just be a cheap way of getting a list of valid phone numbers. I don’t think they are using it though, it’s just a coincidence that a large amount of people are now TPS registered as they are frustrated with things like this.