Special T. Travel Spree - Fraud?

[linda bignell]

I am Linda's husband, Danny. A site telling us we won $1100 "Travel Shopping Spree" appeared on our screen and another promise of a free 4day/3 night vacation if we called in four minutes. Usually I would ignore this but WDW Good Neighbour Hotel crest was attached to the site. I called a long distance number (1-321-282-6985 Chile I think) to claim the prize. They took the validation number given us from the site, over the phone. They asked (a female operator) if I was over eighteen, had photo ID and a major credit card. I told them I had but was not prepared to give the card number over the phone. The lady said sorry, thankyou and that was that. We are aware of internet scams but I gave this one a shot for the cost of a long distance charge to find out if we finally got lucky.

The site address of the "winning" site (http://205.180.85.40/travelspree2/index.html) is associated with Fastclick.com, an internet marketing site. The company name on the site was Special T.Travel. The registered seller #ST23944. It had icons on the bottom of the page representing (by appearance) "Web Site Rankings Top 9.com"; "TravelZ.com"; & Walt Disney World Good Neighbor Hotel.

If this site is legit, I do not believe that they should expect to get a credit card number over the phone before honoring their promise. If it walks like a duck....!!! I send this for information purposes only. I will send this information to all companies represented on this site as well and will express our concerns with this "marketing???" ploy.

 

[SandraC]

Hi Linda, long time no hear!!!! How are you????

NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER give your cc # over the phone or internet unless you are making a legit purchase.

I get phone calls telling me I won a prize and come pick it up. I ask what the prize is, they say they don't know, come pick it up! I say "Send it to me." They finally figure out I am too much work and give up. I ask them to take me off their phone list. If they don't, I find a whistle in the phone works well. My nephew was a telephone solicitor for a while and he said that he wasn't allowed to be rude or hang up, the person he phones needs to hang up first. SO! Then I get calls during dinner, it's always during dinner, they figure you are home, I just say, "One moment please" Then I put the phone on the counter and finish my dinner. They usually aren't there when I'm done. I must say, the calls have diminished a bit. LOL! Sandra

 

[tmli]

Sounds a little like a timeshare company. It's usually their angle to get your info, make sure you have a valid cc and apparently they do some kind of credit check(how I don't know). If they feel you can afford it they will give you a free trip in exchange for locking you in a room and trying to sell you timeshare. You usually have to pay your transprtation costs.

 

[gucci]

Sandra

Your post about telemarketers really bothers me. I work for a very good telemarketing firm that has set up shop in the maritimes. It has provided alot of people with jobs here, Benefits, retirement packages etc. Yes there are many rules we must follow and we do diligently. Next time you put the phone down or blow a whistle in some poor individuals ear rember that person could very likely be a single mom who just got off welfare and is supporting herself and her children the only way she can and because you were so rude to her she may not be able to perform her job properly. We normally give up after a couple of not interested responses and must end the call if given a very firm no, It is your right to ask to be put on the do not call list and i suggest that you do this, It is much nicer and usually the person on the other end will appreciate it as well. I really don''t mean this as an attack just needed to express my opinion.

 

[robsawatsky]

There are telemarketing operations that tell you who they are and what they are offering with a minimal amount of shmoozing before getting to the point. Then there are the others that are manipulative, missleading, scams and outright frauds. The latter do not deserve my time and no one's defense. Remember telemarketers call private individuals who can choose to do with the call what they want. If it ain't squeaky-clean legit and to the point I would have no problem at all with someone leaving the phone lying on the counter or blowing a whistle into it. For anyone working for a legit operation, you deserve a polite response up until you keep talking after the first "no thanks". I'd suggest a thick-skin is a necessary job requirement and self-pity ain't.

Unfortunately, it seems like Florida is a hotbed for telemarketing and postcard "you've won a trip or a discount" scams. As they say, if you have to pay anything it isn't a "free gift".

 

[Aristocats2]

Like most people, I get my share of telemarketing calls ... and I'm not interested in many of the things they are trying to sell me. But like you said, the person on the other end of the line is someone who is working, trying to earn an honest dollar. (And even if the company itself is questionable, the person making the call is so far down the totem pole, they may not realise it -- to them, they are working to pay the rent. Maybe they know it's a questionable company/offer, but they can't find any other job right now. Better than being on welfare or stealing, in my mind!)

So in my opinion, they deserve to be treated just as respectfully as I would want to be treated. A very polite, "I'm not interested, thanks. Please remove my name from your list." has worked very well for me, and I can respect myself, knowing I've treated that other person with dignity.

I think we'd all do well to remember the Golden Rule in this type of situation.

I'll get off my soapbox now.

 

[gucci]

Legit telemarketing is what I was talking about, The real beef should be with the company that you are associated with that give you names to be telemarketed they and onlt they are the ones who determine how many no's you must give before we must stop .

My Point was having simple kindness to our fellow human beings.

 

[dtuleya]

Several weeks ago, I received a phone call about some offer or another. I politely said, "I am not interested and please take me off your list". The male telemarketer then yelled, "I'm not in the mood for this sh*t" and hung up on me. I stood there for a moment staring at the phone and immediately got really angry. I wasn't listening when he identified what product he was selling, so there was no way to contact the company he was representing. Now I can think back and laugh at the absurdity of that call, but at the time, I wasn't laughing.