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 18th, 2005 at 11:10 pm
Hi Del I’m with egg, but any visa company should have a fraud department, the bit that made them act so quickly is when amerivacations said I could have a refund but it would cost me £250. Egg said this was completly wrong, and under no circumstaces should I do this.
I did get a confirmation number from ameri, but I never had to give this to my visa company. I think it helped that I cancelled my visa the day after the phone call, so they couldn’t take anymore money from me.
Good luck in getting your money back, and contact trading standards and watchdog, I did.
May 19th, 2005 at 6:58 am
Instead of keep on calling them I decided to mail them stating that I would like to cancel the trip. I also informed them that I had been in touch with the Florida Department of Agriculture &Consumer services and that I would file a complaint against them if they would not comply with my request. By the way, thx you very much for that link Jerry. Very useful, indeed. Thx you too for the useful links, Rich and you for your hopefull story, Vicky. Have a nice day all of you.
May 19th, 2005 at 8:00 am
I received a scam call from Amerisuites yesterday leaving their 0800 number (0800 091 4766) so I called back to ask the company name and address, they gave the name, but couldn’t give me a street address, and said there was no UK office, I expained that I was tps registered and they shouldn’t be calling me, at which point man became abusive, and told me to ‘get off the phone you idiot’ - Nice !!
I have completed the ICO complaint form and sent this off so hopefully they can shut down this scam company from using their UK 0800 phone number, and breaching regulations.
I will also try to report them to BT for abusive call handling - I do get annoyed at scum companies like this !
May 19th, 2005 at 2:18 pm
There seems to be also a European Anti-Fraud office. If they do charge me I will call them as well.
May 19th, 2005 at 2:37 pm
I found this information on the EU website:
The only problem that I see is ‘consumer distance contract made under the law of an EU-Member State as well as the European Economic Area (EEA).’ Nevertheless, I think we should be able to verify quickly if the sames rules are applicable in the USA. If they are, we CAN and we SHOULD file complaints if they charge our credit cards.
May 19th, 2005 at 6:25 pm
My father received a call this evening and was nearly reaching for his card before he was stopped by my mum. I came in on it when he had already been on for an hour and said no dont do it i dont like sound of it. Soon after hanging up i found this site as i guessed it was a scam. However he was told about paying extra for the flights not about port taxes though. He finally said no thanks and the guy Vincent would not let up. He then asked to speak to my mum and she was not interested but he persisted in asking to speak to her. In end my dad managed to get rid of him. Surely our UK credit card companies by now should know about this company and automatically decline the transactions and ring the customer to tell them why. We are ex-directory and dont know how they got our number apart from they booked a holiday to Caribbean recently and entered a free prize draw in a hotel in the Caribbean.
May 19th, 2005 at 7:57 pm
Thanks Vicky for your comments my credit card is also with Egg. I did make contact with them straight after getting off the phone from Ameri, but only after 15 minutes the money had been taken form my account. This was even before they gave me a confirmation number, they phoned me back later that evening, when l told them l would like my money back, and they told me l could only have it back if l had a confirmation number, which is the only recorded message they have!! No message of them telling me that no money would be taken out of my account when they were telling me l had won a holiday, funny that!
I have also contacted the Florida department but as yet have not heard from them. I have called ameri again yesterday and l was also told the money was non-refundable and that l would have to pay a £480 cancellation fee but only if itis done in 7 days!! What a con, l can’t believe l fell for this one which is so not like me, caught me on a bad time wish l could turn back the clock!
Good luck everybody, hope we all get our money back.
P.S. Has anybody received they package and how long did it take?
May 19th, 2005 at 8:27 pm
In answer to Tom’s question about the law in the USA, the DOACS position is as follows:
Today I phoned my contact in the USA who told me that the case was being handled by a special division on internet fraud.
So I suggest you all use the http://www.800HelpFLA.com to complain about this so-called company, because we must tackle them in their own country. The more complaints they get, the stronger the case is.
One last advice if you get a package sent via DHL just refuse to accept it, and dont sign anything. Let DHL return it to the sender.
If there is any news I’ll keep you all informed on this site because this must be stopped. Have a nice day, and good luck with complaining.
May 20th, 2005 at 5:18 am
Del, I believe you should not pay the cancellation fee. On the website of the Florida department of consumer services I found that:
I seriously doubt that Amerivacation complies with this Telemarketing Act because the consumer department does not know the organisation! I also found that section 501.616(1) of the Florida Statutes states that:
I will be calling the Florida Department of Consumer Services today to verify if in Florida, as within the EU, a consumer has the full right to withdraw without further costs.
May 20th, 2005 at 9:59 am
I have a similar story. It was only when I was put through to Vincent and my wife promted me to ask some more searching questions did the “small” matter of the £680 come to light I contacted my credit card company and they had no prior info. re this company.I am also ex-directory and subscibe to TPS We feel very sorry for the people who were actually duped and wish them luck in getting their money back. The call which was on my answering machine, was taken @ 6.45 on Thursday the 20th May.