Advert scam - Trying to con unsuspecting people

[dig dug dan]

today i had an "unknown" number call, and asked for me by name.
they said they were from the fire and rescue and wanted to confirm my advert @£195.
now i got confused because i did take one out in a small magazine called "in attendance" the fire service magazine, but as that was paid for and published, this couldn't be it.
So i stopped him and explained this, but he insisted i had agreed to this, and it's a different publication.
I told him i was not interested,and would not be paying.
He sais i had made an error, and got confused, but he would speak to his supervisor.
After 3 minutes of waiting, he came back and said that i would have to pay the £99 cancellation fee as it was too late to do anything now.
I asked if he had got a written signed order from me, but he said it was done verbally over the phone.

I began to shout him down, and said he can take me to court.
The conversation then went as follows:

(numpty) "you got an amani suit then?
(me) "no. don't need one"
(numpty) "how about a barber, got a good haircut?"
(me) "no. i keep my hair short"
(numpty)"what about gel, or loreal?"
(me) "i prefer loreal thanks."
(numpty)"how about your teeth? nice and white?"
(me) "very thanks"
(numpty)" got some tissues?"
(Me)"what for?"
(numpty)"the tears"
(me)"i can bring some for you if you like"
(numpty)"well good luck you'll need it." click. brrrrrrrr

So all in all, a jolly good bit of banter.

The way i see it is:
No signed order. No evidence of an order. No paperwork. No cancellation within 14days paperwork. therefore no leg to stand on.

trouble is, if they take me to court and there up in bloody newcastle or somewhere, i have to go to their nearest county court. Although when i win i can claim all expenses back!

any thoughts Brew cabiners?



Edited By dig dug dan on 1250621929

[msh paving]

If they was stupid enough to take you to court,it would be done through money claim online,when or more to the point if this happens you contest it, it then get transferred to your local court,then the chance off them sending a breif are slim to zearo
no contract no claim chucked outa the door,
2 years a go there was a company calling around this are with the same scam saying you had signed up to give books to a school and they need the money, if they call again traiding standard would be the first port of call if you can get a name and address MSH

[lutonlagerlout]

TBH dan i thought you were more clued up than this m8

my auld fella falls for this crap all the time,he thinks if someone has his name and number ,then they must be legit
he has been stung by various "calender for sick kidz" scams and alll sorts of other crap
when i get any unsolicited call i just say i am busy, and press the red button, end of
citb (or someone claiming to be them ) and hsbc (similar) keep ringing me

i just say " sorry,too busy to talk"

i think this one is a variation of the £7 dry cleaning bill for a shirt, to a restaurant ,the guy sent the bill to thousands of restaurants and lots paid him £7
these *&%!s are obviously trawling for info

LLL

PS i doubt they will ring back,my old man paid a similar crowd for 3 years,when he had the audacity to ask for their registered charity number they hung up!!! never heard from again

PPS i always try and use www.justgiving.com for any charitable donations,they can claim the tax back if you are uk based and working,dont like giving to people who ask IYKWIM



Edited By lutonlagerlout on 1250629592

[dig dug dan]

they are supposed to be sending me my advert proof, and i asked them to send me the wrotten signed conformation.

See what the postman brings!

[Dave_L]

This is a well known scam, well I've seen warnings in the local paper saying there are bogus people calling businesses says they are from the Fire Service Advertising or someone connected with it.

[dig dug dan]

I thought so dave, especially after talking to LLL today.
It would seem that some poeple just bow down and agree thinking they must have ordered something, thats how the scam works.
they din't bargain on me though!

[Rich H]

I've had this one, when I was working in Dunstable. "Hello, I'm calling on behalf of Bedfordshire Police" etc., etc.

Knowing my contract law a bit, I just said that without any proof of order I'd look forward to receiving the details of their claim. He started on his spiel but I just put the phone down.

This was covered on Watchdog a few years back. Most of them pay about 1% of their profit to the named beneficiary, and are not actually doing anything illegal unless, a) they don't make the payment or b) they don't produce the publication. By paying the 1% and printing off a few copies of a publication they are within the law. Of course it's a scam and very unpleasant but done right it's not unlawful.

[DNgroundworks]

Hmmmm im afraid i got caught with a similar scam about six months ago, ive never paid the £100.00 or woteva it was, but there still hasseling me to this day, never received any proof, email, invoice, cant find a copy of the magazine anywere!

About 12 months ago i fell for it hook, line and sinker and paid, and like an idiot waited for a copy of the glossy magazine in the post like they said it would - it never came lol

[dig dug dan]

Ive now learnt a new trick
NEVER answer the phone to a withheld or unknown number.
If its a customer, they will leave a message

If its a cold call, or a scam, they wont. simple!

Can't think why i haven't adopted this sooner!

[irishpaving]

Now the dreaded auto phone message is on the scene. Whatever next

[Rich H]

Me too dan. Unless it's a number or area code I know, I don't answer. As you say if it's genuine they'll leave a message. Half the time something noisy is running anyway so don't hear the phone!

[ken]

I fell for the same scam when I first set up 7 years ago. I felt it was a good deal and agreed to there price over the phone, I wasn’t asked for my billing address at any point. I didn’t hear any thing more from them for over 2 months, until the calls started saying I owed money. I asked for proof this advert was published, and they claimed a copy of the magazine had been sent to my billing address. I asked them to confirm what my billing address was, and they hung up. Then for the next few weeks I was getting calls like “hi its yellow pages here, can you confirm your business address for your free listing?� “Hi can you provide your business address so we can send you information regarding health and safety regulations in your trade?� after I refused to tell them my address several times, the calls stopped. What I couldn’t understand was if they had got my phone number via the Thompson’s and Yellow pages my address would have been included in my advert. Maybe there is some legal loop hole where they can take you to court to claim there money if they have recorded there phone call of you giving them billing addresses. Now when I get a call inquiring if id like an advert I hang the phone up.

[williams]

I got done by the 'police force' one a few years back, much the same as above.

Bloody tossers

[Tony McC]

We had/have a strict policy of not accepting any invitations to advertise/sponsor anything or anyone that cold calls. I don't do any advertising at all nowadays, but when I first set up the driveway business in the 1980s we used to do a bit, and as soon as they saw a name in the Yeller Pages, the leeches swarmed to you.

We gave a percentage of profit to selected charities each year and decided on what advertising/sponsorship would be done in autumn for the following year. That was it: no further budget so no additional advertising, no matter what sob story they came up with. It allowed me or whoever answered the call to say, in all honesty, that our marketing budget for the year was spent and there was nothing we could do.

I get regular calls from rectal sphincters claiming they can get my website to No. 1 on Google or bring me loads of new business (they've obviously not bothered to read the 'About Us' info) and some of them get very shirty when I tell them I don't do *any* advertising. Do they really think I'd suddenly change my mind and give them a 500 quid order if they use a more aggressive tone? They get the stock two word answer, of which the second word is "off".

[dig dug dan]

I get regular calls from rectal sphincters claiming they can get my website to No. 1 on Google

I get the same calls. But when i tell them to type crusher hire into google, and my site comes up first, they ask me how i did it!!?

and then still persist in asking me to sign up with them!

My other business (the landscape side) does no advertising, and like you tony, i tell them i am not interested, and they can't understand why i don't want to advertise!

say, in all honesty, that our marketing budget for the year was spent and there was nothing we could do.

thats what i started saying, then they say things like, "can't you even spare £150 just this once???

bloody sharks!