Unclaimed prize register

Gedk · 23 March 2010 at 3:26PM

I know this is a very long post but I thought I would share it with you all. Got one of these lovely letters today and it just made be so angry. I know it won't make a difference but I decided to write them a letter. So here it is...

Dear Sirs,

Congratulations, you have successfully managed to dupe millions of people out of enough cash to turn over record profits for the year 2008-2009.

I note that your website proudly displays a selection of comments from satisfied customers, however, should you prefer the popular (and honest) account of your ‘winners’, a quick search of Google will take you to numerous internet forums where you will find, regrettably, 100s of negative responses per every positive comment in your ‘winners’ section.

Having previously entered one of your scratch card competitions, out of nothing more than curiosity, I was the lucky winner of a £10.00 cash prize. And, as promised, I duly received my prize: 8 months; 1 premium rate phone call; several stamps; and 2 stamped addressed envelopes later. Consequently, my marvellous prize of £10.00 cost me £10.50 to collect. As you can imagine, I was so thrilled to have made a net loss of 50p.

Following this, I have received multiple offers for yet more fantastic opportunities from the various guises of your organisation, the most recent of which advised me to call the premium rate number to listen for the prize associated with my personal allocation code of 603498. Another quick search of the internet took me to an article written by the Guardian in September of 2007, in which, acting on behalf of one of their readers, Mr Swaffer, the newspaper had called your premium rate number to find out what prize he had received. Here is an excerpt from this article.

“…Finally, just as the clock approached six minutes, Mr Swaffer's number, 603498, came up. What had he won? None other than the genuine full-sized digital camera - for which he would have to send a further £6.50 for post and insurance…“

Imagine my surprise, two separate letters, to Mr Swaffer and me, sent 2 and a half years apart and yet; as luck would have it, we both had the same personal allocation code. Unsurprisingly, the prize (of which there are unlimited numbers), is the digital camera which a number of other websites have confirmed is likely to cost less than the total amount paid to claim.

Everything about your letter is duplicitous, even the name ‘Unclaimed Prize Register’ which is remarkably similar to the genuine Experian service the ‘Unclaimed Assets Register’. In addition to this, you list the prizes available in order of value, excluding the digital camera, which is placed before the £250 and £100 cash prizes in a bid to make it appear worth more than £250. Similarly you call it a ‘personal allocation code’ and urge the reader to find out quickly what they have won. You provide very small text at the bottom of the letter explaining the cost of the call. In summary, you employ marketing techniques to fool the reader into believing they are special and have won a valuable prize when in reality they will most likely end up paying out more than the prize is worth.

Myself and others of the ‘internet generation’ may have just the right amount of technical savvy and cynicism to treat your promotions with the contempt and distrust they deserve, however there are very many vulnerable people in this country who are only too willing to believe the written word and your ruthless corporation is abusing the trust and innocence of these people.

Your slippery, albeit creative, techniques may be legal at the moment however you are merely taking advantage of loopholes in the law, and I sincerely hope that the OFT are successful in pursuing the matter to the High Courts. What you are doing is morally wrong, you can dress it up and call it what you like but at the end of the day no company ever made money solely by giving things away for nothing and yet you are managing to rake it in which only goes to show that you are conning more people than ever before.

If you have taken the time to read to the end of this letter, I thank you for your time as I know that it’s most likely that you, the reader, are not the decision maker in this company. I understand that this is unlikely to reach any of the Directors in McIntyre & Dodd Marketing Ltd. However, in this current climate people are struggling more than ever, they’re losing their jobs; they’ve been ripped off by the banks; let down by the politicians and as always it’s the worst off who are counting the cost of the personal and national debts.

With this in mind, I have been so outraged that companies such as you are watching their profits soar at the expense of others and I simply could not have slept at night without writing this letter.

I only hope that you can.

Yours faithfully,

mkoowe · 23 March 2010 at 6:18PM

In the day and age of worldwide chat you would think they could not be so stupid as to keep trying this trick. I have just received my confirmation today and guess what?? my number is?? yes you've got it 603498. Perhaps we could all try for a world record, how many people can win with same number.

Wake up and smell the coffee you have been rumbled

redNwelsh · 24 March 2010 at 12:28PM

mmckenzie wrote: »

Fancy that! Just today I received a letter from these scammers with my "personal allocation code" of 603498.

i recieved one this morning... couple years after u had yours and shock horror the same claim code... they must think were idiots

pippitypip_2 · 24 March 2010 at 12:58PM

My gosh - I received a letter of my very own from Unclaimed Prize Register yesterday.

My personal allocation code is, wait for it.... 603498 !!

I'm SO excited, must fill out SAE immediately, and, oh oops - letter has fallen in the bin, in pieces too. How did that happen? Oh dear.

Nevermind, guess I won't be able to pay an extortionate price for a crappy digitial camera now. Darn it!

pippitypip

Junior72 · 24 March 2010 at 1:20PM

I received one of these letters this morning. I am not best pleased to say the least as I'm registered with the Mailing Preference Service and never give out my address to companies, so I should very much like to know who has 'sold' them my details.

Here are their contact details:
DM plc
Green Heys
Walford Road
Ross-on-Wye
Herefordshire
HR9 5DB

Telephone:
01989 769292
Fax:
01989 769054
Email:
[EMAIL="info@dmplc.com"]info@dmplc.com[/EMAIL]

I telephone and registered my strongly worded complaint to the annoying lady who said she was one of the directors. They deny doing anything wrong. I suggest we all phone them/email them and write to them to complain. I also want to know how they are still able to continue trading.

Junior72 · 24 March 2010 at 1:28PM

Oh and GedK, I just copied and pasted your letter into an email which I've sent off. I won't bother writing to them as they are not worth the price of a stamp, the ink to print out the letter and the sheet of A4 paper I'd need to use, but their original letter to me is now in bits in an envelope, with 'postage paid upon receipt' written on it. I could just about stoop to recycling an old envelope to put it in.

tabs456 · 24 March 2010 at 2:08PM

i got a letter this morning from them same code,, the only survey i have filled in was a NHS one, i hope its not them that passed on my details

forestfan84_2 · 24 March 2010 at 2:24PM

woo hoo i have also received my letter from these scammers today :-) it nearly took me by suprise aswell as i have been entering competitions online so to receive a letter like this was a welcome suprise.... until thanks to you people i now know it is of course fake lol. just for the records my "personal allocation code" was 603498 lol.

chrissmiff · 24 March 2010 at 4:35PM

Same letter, same allocation code 603498, same tel. no.

Surely someone must be able to think up some nasty reply or trick. How about sending a house brick wrapped up as a parcel without any stamps?

Any other suggestions?

Does Martin Lewis read any of these messages?

leejen69 · 24 March 2010 at 4:38PM

RACYBOY, we have received the same letter today with the same allocation code,which is supposed to be "personal" haha what a joke!

Unclaimed prize register

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