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.
June 16th, 2005 at 5:47 pm
Eileen, see this page: http://boakes.org/amerivacation-cancel
June 16th, 2005 at 8:53 pm
I notice that there’s a new new phone number for Amerivacations - 0800 091 0227 - sometimes written as 0-800-091-0227.
June 18th, 2005 at 12:26 am
Hello
it’s seems that another sucker has been pulled into this scam. I was contacted on the 5may 2005 and conned into giving my credit card details and like a numpty i gave them it. However when i tried to cancel within 20 minutes of the call the money had already been taken out of my account and surprise suprise i could not get through to the company. I am still in debate with the company in regards to receiving a refund surprise suprise again they are unhappy to confirm anything in writting and only wish to record what they want to record. I would like for this company to become known and warn other people of the dangers. A lesson i have learned is don’t give your credit card details out if it is not in your hands don’t pay for it.
June 21st, 2005 at 2:30 pm
Interesting this; I just saw a search come in for “you have won a holiday to florida” with a new name attached, it seems the original Michael Smith may have been retired in favour of “Simon Brown”
June 22nd, 2005 at 4:29 pm
Having just read my stars and the initial J being lucky for me, I answered the phone only to discover that I had won a holiday in a top resort! This is the second time I have won in the space of 6 weeks. How lucky can a girl get! Anyway this time I was selected because someone I knew had put my name forward after using their M&S or John Lewis Chargecard. I listened to the recorded message and when it said press 0 I hung up. Having already suffered at the hands of this company I was not going to repeat it. I did, however ring M&S chargecard and surprise, surprise this is nothing to do with them but they do know about it. How long before these people are stopped?
June 22nd, 2005 at 7:03 pm
Im just off the phone with Mr.Smith (how original!). He gave me the whole chat then asked for my credit card details. I said I wanted to think about it and he said he needed this information for ‘verification’ perposes. I hung up the phone and cursed!
June 22nd, 2005 at 7:56 pm
Hi. I tracked down the 0800 number to a company called Syntec Telecom. After speaking to them they informed me that they only run the inbound 0800 line for the company in America and route the calls there. I explained to the gentleman that I, and many others, are TPS registered and not happy about the way in which this company does business. He, in turn, called the company and agreed that the ‘lottery’ was not in fact so and that he was satisfied that the company should be looked into further. I am expecting a call back from him after raising the issue with his superiors. I suggest you get in touch with the company too as mine was only the 2nd complaint. Syntec’s details are: Tel 0800 376 7370 (Intl +44 20 8991 9549) and you will need to quote 0800 091 0084 for them to find Amerivacation’s account details and log the complaint. Good luck guys.. hope this helps. If nothing it will mean that the company will lose their routing service.
June 23rd, 2005 at 1:42 pm
Thanks for the info in your article. I “won” a competition yesterday, via one of those pop up things that just appear, telling me I’m the winner this hour and must call the number within the next minute to claim my prize - this was Expert Holidays, I assume this is probably how they operate.
I thought it was too good to be true, the woman on the other end of the phone said she would send information of my win via email, I was not prepared to give my credit card details until she had done so. Oh well, such is life - but thanks very much for confirming what I suspected!
June 25th, 2005 at 6:53 am
Seems the cruise operator of Amerivacaction is also part of the scam. At least their sales practices resemble too much those of Amerivaction. Just read the following report:
http://badbusinessbureau.com/reports/ripoff53598.htm
July 1st, 2005 at 5:56 pm
Have just been conned and we are following all of the advice, have rang them and been hung up on have been given the wrong address etc. Have emailed them and am using the template letter to them and Agriculture dept. But we are wondering why Peter states you should refuse the package when it comes? We have been told that details to cancel are inside the package and have heard of people paying £15 to return it. What have other people done in this case. Please advise