Soooo...
A week (and a bit) in the world of comping.
It would be a scary place for the more naive. In addition to the usual bequeathed fortunes from dead Arabian princes and Spanish Eurolottery wins, I'm also getting slightly more persuasive and sinister attempts to part me with my cash. The phone call telling me I'd won a £500 day of makeover and photoshoot was an easy spot in that there's no way on this earth I'd have entered a competition for such. And lo and behold, when I googled the relevant company (Coverlook Studios for the curious) their particular brand of scam is to offer this makeover and photoshoot and make it very difficult to leave without purchasing photographs. Plus of course their request for a £30 deposit per person is a bit of a giveaway. 'Prize' means 'FREE' in my book.
Then there was CLC Travel who called to say 'you've won a holiday for 4 in Spain, the Canaries or Portugal. Can I check you're under 60 and not gay? Great! Just ring this number!' Errr... no, I don't think that sounds quite right either so back to google and yep - I'm spot on and its a timeshare company. If I'd called the number I was given I'd have been invited to a 'prize giving ceremony' which would actually have ben a hard-sell timeshare presentation. They have a reputation for buggering up the holiday dates (after you've paid a fee for your 'free' holiday) and if you do get out there, you get the hard sell over there too. The 'competition notifyer' guy was less than amused when he rang back and I politely declined to be involved in a timeshare scam. Apparently I'm a 'weirdo'. Very professional (and hey, I AM a weirdo. Not the best insult for me!).
Add to that that my spam (real company spam that is, not viagra and hot nekkid babes) has gone through the roof and you can see why people might get disheartened but I shall soldier boldly onward and continue to live in hope. This is my new favourite internet place, if only because it shows people DO win! http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.html?f=73
It would be a scary place for the more naive. In addition to the usual bequeathed fortunes from dead Arabian princes and Spanish Eurolottery wins, I'm also getting slightly more persuasive and sinister attempts to part me with my cash. The phone call telling me I'd won a £500 day of makeover and photoshoot was an easy spot in that there's no way on this earth I'd have entered a competition for such. And lo and behold, when I googled the relevant company (Coverlook Studios for the curious) their particular brand of scam is to offer this makeover and photoshoot and make it very difficult to leave without purchasing photographs. Plus of course their request for a £30 deposit per person is a bit of a giveaway. 'Prize' means 'FREE' in my book.
Then there was CLC Travel who called to say 'you've won a holiday for 4 in Spain, the Canaries or Portugal. Can I check you're under 60 and not gay? Great! Just ring this number!' Errr... no, I don't think that sounds quite right either so back to google and yep - I'm spot on and its a timeshare company. If I'd called the number I was given I'd have been invited to a 'prize giving ceremony' which would actually have ben a hard-sell timeshare presentation. They have a reputation for buggering up the holiday dates (after you've paid a fee for your 'free' holiday) and if you do get out there, you get the hard sell over there too. The 'competition notifyer' guy was less than amused when he rang back and I politely declined to be involved in a timeshare scam. Apparently I'm a 'weirdo'. Very professional (and hey, I AM a weirdo. Not the best insult for me!).
Add to that that my spam (real company spam that is, not viagra and hot nekkid babes) has gone through the roof and you can see why people might get disheartened but I shall soldier boldly onward and continue to live in hope. This is my new favourite internet place, if only because it shows people DO win! http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.html?f=73