How free is a free holiday?
My wife got a phone call today (from 01268 555095), saying that because she had answered a questionnaire in Bolton, she had won first prize in a draw – a seven night luxury 5-star holiday to a European resort (Costa del Sol, Canary Islands, Portugal or the Balearics) in a ‘luxury’ self-catering apartment, flights included, but insurance would be required and there was also a GBP 34.50 admin fee payable per person on booking. The vouchers would also be valid for 18 months. Hmmm… since when does a 5-star holiday involve self-catering?
Being skeptical, she asked what the catch was, but was told “no catch”. “Isn’t this timeshare?”, “No it’s not timeshare”, a point that while truthful is not actually good – see later. All she had to do was ring GVC Travel on 0871 222 8028 quoting a reference number.
On calling this number (which according to saynoto0870.com routes through to another 01268 number – are we getting the picture yet?), she was told that we would both have to collect the documents in person from their ‘Manchester Exhibition Centre’ and bring ID, because they could not send them out in the post. At this exhibition centre there would be a presentation on what is available. Hang on, doesn’t this sound like timeshare?
Now the last time I booked a holiday, the tickets were posted to me. It wasn’t a problem, yet this company are claiming it’s not safe to post a voucher! Methinks the ID is required for signing a contract. And why do we both have to go to collect the voucher? Is it really that heavy, or is it to get us both there to be sold something else?
Also, if we’ve won first prize, surely we’re the only one to win first prize, but a presentation suggests several people would be there. They can’t all have won first prize!
I decided to do some digging on the internet (these companies must hate the internet) and found that although it isn’t technically a timeshare, it is a holiday membership club sold through pressure-selling presentations. It also appears that if you do sit through the hard sell and get your vouchers, then the accommodation is far from 5-star, the dates are restricted unless you pay for the flights which are then more expensive than you could arrange yourself.
Take a look at holidaywatchdog.com, Crimeshare.net, this post on scoobynet and an interesting post from someone claiming to be an employee of GVC (username secretagent):
…we phone people who take part in family lifestyle surveys in town centres, some of which date back to 2000. They don’t take no for an answer either which means calling the same person over and over. I actually was told myself today by a “customer” that it was a con and that she had looked it up, so i did some searching myself and have found out that it is conning people into timeshare!!! I work there and they never even told me and when i asked them they said “no!” So be careful people as they don’t even tell there [sic] staff that it is just one big con.
You can also see that the 01268 555095 number belongs to GVC, meaning that the original call came from GVC themselves – clearly a bid to create the illusion that the original caller was separate to GVC.
We’re not into beach holidays anyway. I don’t think we’ll bother going to collect our ‘prize’.
There is an interesting article on the Citizens’ Advice Bureau site, calling on the DTI to get tough on Holiday Clubs. Some interesting extracts:
People are ending up with holidays that cost far more than they would on the high street, that’s if they can book anything at all.
Companies offer prizes to get people to attend presentations, where pressure-selling techniques are used to push them in to buying holiday club membership. People are assured that it is not timeshare – it isn’t and this leaves them with less legal protection.
A CAB in south London gave advice to a couple who joined a holiday club and wanted to cancel after 24 hours. They had received phone calls and letters from a company saying they had won a ‘free’ holiday and inviting them to a presentation at a hotel in Croydon. They eventually decided to go, after being assured by the company that it was not about timeshare. They were pushed in to joining for £750 and paying a £100 deposit on the spot. As soon as they got home they wanted to cancel, because of the death of a family member abroad. The holiday club said it was not possible, as they had no cooling off period or cancellation rights.
They also offer some good advice:
If you win a prize or holiday which you need to attend a presentation to collect, be wary. Don’t try to claim it unless you want to spend several hours at a high pressure sales pitch for holiday clubs
Don’t be reassured by sales reps promising that it is not timeshare. You have far less legal protection if you are buying holiday club membership
Find out about extra costs before claiming your ‘free’ holiday – they often cost more than a high-street holiday, but offer less choice over dates and destinations.
I have also found a leaflet on the Office of Fair Trading Website entitled: Congratulations, you have not won a free luxury holiday”
I think one of the most important points from both of these consumer sites is this: Because of the timeshare scams a few years ago, the law was tightened to give more protection, but punters have a long memory and for most people timeshare still equates to scam. GVC proudly state that this is not timeshare and although they appear to be telling the truth, what they fail to point out is that you are therefore not protected by these timeshare regulations.
I have also found an excellent article on The Guardian’s website by a couple of journalists who went along to one of these presentations. This is well worth a read.
Search Engine Hits
It is interesting to note the number of hits I get on this post where people have searched for the 01268 555095 and 0871 222 8028 numbers (see table below) People obviously get the initial call, are suspicious and turn to the internet to check.
|
Month
|
01268 555095
|
0871 222 8028
|
|---|---|---|
| June |
9
|
6
|
| July |
16
|
9
|
| August |
21
|
2
|
| September |
20
|
1
|
| October |
18
|
1
|
| November |
73
|
0
|
| December |
24
|
1
|
|
Month
|
01268 555095
|
0871 222 2566
|
| January 07 |
111
|
46
|
| February |
107
|
145
|
| March |
143
|
3
|
It would also appear from comments I am receiving that GVC have changed their name to Choose Travel (or are just using a different name) and are using a new number: 0871 222 2566. I’m also getting loads of hits for ‘choose travel, 0871, holiday scam’
UPDATE: 12th February 2007
It’s almost a year since I made this post, and I was simply recounting my experience with what we were told and my research at the time. Since then I have been surprised by the response I have received, both as comments and the continuing number of search engine hits for the telephone numbers, ‘timeshare’, ‘scam’, ‘questionnaire’ etc. – an obvious measure of the general public’s suspicions when receiving such a phone call.
UPDATE: 31st May 2007
Other numbers which now seem to be quoted include: 01268 498330 and 0800 4585625. The company name also seems to have changed again, this time to CLC (Club La Costa).
‘2minutedraw.com‘ is also being quoted by the initial ‘market researcher’.
You may also like to read this article on the Guardian website.
I had 3 ‘silent calls’ yesterday from the 01268 557600 number. My wife would have freaked out at this but she was out at the time. I couldn’t wait for them to ring me direct as there was no way I was paying for the call.
Anyway, this morning I jumped to the phone and spoke to a girl called Gemma who was very nice and told me I’d won a luxury holiday for four to Mexico or Florida. When I asked her if the call was being recorded she said ‘yes’ and I pointed out that I was doing the same for my own records. This obviously alarmed her and I was invited to speak to a supervisor. I won’t name him here. I said that I wanted my details removed from all and any databases they had. He assured me that this would be done and that the original paper form would be shredded. I hope that this is Mission Accomplished. I can’t be bothered with jumping through sales hoops to get at a holiday – of whatever quality. In case I’m ever contacted again this entry on your website will serve as evidence for the Information Commissioner.
My privacy is very valuable to me and I should have known better than to give my details to anyone but I can’t wait to see one of these 2minutedraw people out and about. For information : I was buttonholed in the car park of John Lewis in Cheadle.
hello all,had the dreaded phone call today,filled the survey in at fuerteventura airport,told to ring within the hour to receive my bonus,asking if i am over 25,cohabiting and working,surely if i had won a holiday none of that would have mattered,well done all for bringing this site up,never would of known otherwise.
Paula is definitely a stooge, you can tell by the style.
They called me from 01268 557600, mentioned the survey I filled in. gave me the spiel, a reference code of 22L, and a free phone number of 0800 9889904
Must admit I’m tempted. I said casually to my secretary ‘God I hate it when I can’t work out the scam, must be timeshare’ so she asked about the call, and then admitted she not only went to one, but actually bought the holiday club/timeshare thing, however very recently, so cannot give any feedback about the quality (no I am not going to say anything nice about these scammers and fall into being a ‘Paula’).
But now I know the scam, I’ve rung up, and it’s 2 hours (ok, 3.5 according to ‘John’) at Lakeside, flights paid, £29.50 per person. Sadly the kids will both be over 2 at date of holiday, so no freebies there.
It’s a toss up between telling them to ‘go hence’ (tempting) and taking the deal (also tempting). I’m being subsidised to the tune of a few hundred quid for 6 hours of my, and my wife’s time (including travel). I can’t decide whether that’s a good deal until I know how much cheaper this is than it would be for me to buy, and whether it is something I would buy anyway.
Also I love messing with sales peoples heads. The one to go with is;
‘Yes, I agree that is a truly outstanding offer. No, there is no-one in their right minds who would turn it down. No I am not going to buy it’. and when they ask if you are mad, simply say ‘I can see why you would think so’. they will be reduced to incoherence very quickly after that, it is truly a pleasure, and works in ANY pressure selling situation.
So there is an element of ‘it’s a fun day out’. Provided I can get the mother in law to babysit. your mileage may vary, and I’d definitely say don’t go unless you are a total git, and don’t mind people getting upset at your totally reasonable behaviour.
Oh what a great tool the internet is – and of course this website. I have just received a call regarding the ‘competition’ I entered when flying back from Bulgaria. Initially I thought WOW brilliant! However like may other people on here I thought whats the catch. I did ask the girl the same and was told there is no catch I would just need to pay the airport taxes £29.50. I just needed to ring a freephone number 0800 9880335 so the details could be sent to me – strange since they already have my contact details already. Anway thanks to this website and I wont be calling. I have better things to do with my time.
Hey all.
Can I just say in favour of the telesales staff at GVC (having worked there) that we were never told that this was a scam, and fully believed that what you were getting was a free holiday to sample the amenities etc and that you would need to attend a presentation.
Call me dense, but some people need to earn some money and thinking that we could be giving somebody something gave us a nice feeling.
I no longer work there, and am in no way protecting anyone but the people on the phones didn’t know anymore than what you do.
Yours Truly
Many thanks to all the previous entries on this site.
It’s stopped me in my tracks, before I wasted any more time with this selling scam.
I received a call this morning from a guy who asked me to call the processing office on a free phone number to claim a prize.
I had to call 08009880335 this morning with a code HP277R51 and was informed that I had just won a ‘Life Style’ competition draw, that I had apparently entered into whilst I was at the London Motor Show at the Excel London, a few weeks ago.
My prize is a 7 night fully paid (airfare + Accomodation) for up to 4 persons.
After I stupidly confirmed that I was married, with mortgage and the correct age group, I was informed that I would have to attend their London Exhibition Center and be put up in the Shaftsbury 4* Hotel in Park Lane to collect my tickets.
I would have to pay £29.50 per person to cover admin and the holiday could be taken any time in the next 18 months.
All I did was to Goggle the free phone number and I got this site.
Needless to say that I won’t be calling Kirsty back to arrange the collection of the tickets as this is obviously a selling scam.
I just had the call – all the same guff “free trip to Canaries, Portugal or Cornwall”.. I couldn’t believe it!
I asked the lady what the catch was, and she said that all they wanted was for us to attend an ‘expo’ and to tell others all about them. I thought ‘oh, and expo – that’s easy, just turn up and then leave, no pressure’.. but then the lady on the phone said that they had time slots for us to go in … thats when I knew it was def dodgy – getting pressurised into something.
I wish I hadn’t called the number – I called it from work. 0800 988 9904 – I hope it’s Free, they said it was and i think all 0800 numbers are free, aren’t they?
This site is great, I wanted to just see for myself how much of a hype this was.
Just got a call myself from 01268 557600 asking me to call 0800 9889904 with a reference. New it was some sort of scam when she was talking to me but was at work and not in the mood to argue.
Anyway, a quick search later and I found this thread.
Thanks all 🙂
I’ve had a very similar experience to Gary (15/08/08). Entered a draw, got the call, googled the number and found all this. I asked what the catch was but was told that there was no catch except the £29 admin fee per person. Thanks to this thread, I won’t be ringing.
I thought it was funny when I entered the draw and the girl said to me “We’ll call you when you’ve won”. Surely that should have been “..if you win”
Thanks All
Thank God for the Internet. Seems like I just became a member of your club, but as I have a very suspicious nature found my way here after my phone call today from Club Lacosta Hotels and Resorts from none other than Keith Robinson gave me his name and every thing but insisted I call within 30 minutes to recieve an extra prize of £50 worth of vouchers. My number to call was 0800 988 9900.
Hope everyone that recieves one of these calls finds this website before they get too involved.
Thanks.