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 17th, 2005 at 3:06 pm
i too have just been phoned on my x-directory number (which has marketing calls blocked by TPS), by an international caller, claiming to be from a company called AMERISUITES, the speil they gave me was telling me how they were trying to promote Florida, as the 911 disaster has caused a slump in tourism, she went on to give me her name and broker number, then she told me that i had won a cruise holiday in america and all i had to do was verify my phone number and my surname, i gave these out and she confirmed that i was a winner, i was then told about the holiday, 7 days in orlando, 3 days in daytona beach (sounds familiar), 3 days in fort lauderdale and 3 days on a cruise to Bahamas, she told me about the fantastic places i could go to and i would also be given £500 towards my spending money, i said frequently that this sounded too good to be true and how did they get my number and what did i have to pay, she continued with the speil, eventually i was told that i would get the complete package for £698 for 4 people, a saving of £1,301 on the usual price. Then she wanted to put me through to their legal dept. to have the details explained, but first she wanted my address, again i was still taken in so i gave it, it was only when she read my details back to me for confirmation and i told her she had got my surname wrong did things change, i asked how could the wrong surname be verified throught their computer and again asked how she had obtained my number, the phone went dead………………… then i ended having a crossed line with them trying to sell to someone else, this time i ended the call. Thank god i did. I’ve looked on the web for amerisuites and it’s a time share company. NO THANKS!!!
May 17th, 2005 at 7:11 pm
Peter, how did you manage to get that refund? I’ve called them a second ago but they hang up on me!
May 17th, 2005 at 7:15 pm
I would like to know if you guys know if they have a recorded registration because if they don’t my Visa company would be happy to cancel the deal.
May 17th, 2005 at 7:29 pm
Rusell, it’s hopefull that they apparently are unwilling to replay the registered conversation. Since they did not want to replay it, it’s doubtful that they have one. This would mean that we both could reclaim our money since they need some kind of evidence of the transaction! Anyway, I don’t recall it exactly but I doubt that they mentioned in my recording that the whole deal would cost me 770 euro!
May 17th, 2005 at 7:43 pm
I will keep on bothering them until I get my money back!!!!!!!!!!
May 18th, 2005 at 12:20 pm
Tom, they do have a recording, I got mine played back to me, but it is an american man talking very fast and quitely and you cant really make out what he says, and myself going ye at the end. I got a full refund through my visa company even though they had this. For a contract to be legal you have to understand everything you are agreeing to, and this is not the case on this recording. My husband heard this recording as well and can’t make out a word the man says.
Good luck in getting your money back.
May 18th, 2005 at 3:36 pm
Brring Brring! - a call from amerivacation (unsolicited, on an ex-directory, TPS-rgistered number) inviting me to press option 9 on my phone. Immediately, I’m suspicious, especially when I’m told to hold - is this a phone scam? No, I get put through to a young lady (Kathy????? I can’t make it out) who asks me if I have a major credit card (Oooops!).
I say yes, but don’t hand out any details. Am I able to take a holiday this year? Yes - so I get put through to someone called Anthony Charles, the supposed Director of Promortions, who, after delivering a heap of “BS”, asks me for the credit card number. I don’t oblige him, so he gets rude and says that I’m not giving the number because I don’t have a card. He says he won’t even send brochures and that I’m “wasting his time” (of course I am, if he’s trying to scam me!) Then, HE HANGS UP ON ME!
I go on-line and check out the website, which looks very amateurish, and the links don’t work. I leave derogatory comments on their “contact us” facility - no response so far, even though I’ve offered to notify our local Trading Standards Department. Now that I think about it, I’ve seen better efforts from Nigeria-based “Phishing” merchants. If something sounds too good to be true, then, usually, it is. Netiquette prevents me from saying what I really think! If you get a call from this shower, just hang up.
May 18th, 2005 at 3:50 pm
Addendum/PS
After Mr Charles hangs up on me, I dial 1471 on my handset, to ascertain the caller number ID. Surprise, surprise, the calling number has been withheld and there’s no call-back number held for me to call back and berate Mr Charles for his lack of manners. I’ve decided that he is a Dalek and incapable of any response other thaN “EX-TER-MIN-ATE!” I am a disabled person, living on benefits and cannot afford such a holiday (much as I’d like one) so the hook is quite attractive, but the additional payment “required” (£698) is a bit too much, and certainly won’tbe going on my Mastercard! I detest cold-calling at the best of times (hence the TPS registration) Can I reprt this to anyone?
May 18th, 2005 at 3:58 pm
Hello Vicky, what credit card company have you got? Did you get a confirmation number from Amerivacations?
I have had the same problem as everybody else on this web site, any help would be most appreciated. I am getting married this year and l can’t afford to lose £698.
Help please,
May 18th, 2005 at 4:13 pm
This little article is receiving a lot of hits, and it seems that there’s someone new every day who’s getting hit by these people, usually for several hundred pounds. When I wrote about receiving a call from a curious telemarking company two months ago I had no idea there would be so many others getting the same call, or falling for the high pressure sales tactics.
Everyone who feels aggrieved at the treatment they have received from Amerivacation should contact BBC Watchdog and alert them to what’s going on. If there are enough people who are getting conned, then the BBC will be able to allocate resources to the story; so by contacting them directly it will make the scale of the problem more measurable.
In order to cancel the order, I suggest you make use of this template, from the BBC Watchdog website.