I've won a holiday on a scratch card

pa1antir7

Massala,
Like all these things you have to be 'in it to win it'. All the people who have replied to your post probably haven't ever entered a competition and so have not won a thing in their lives. However, I bet they have all bought a lottery ticket at some point with an incredibly small chance (14.7m to 1 for the jackpot) of winning.
Everyone, is sceptical because many of these things appear to be 'too good to be true' but the Office of Fair Trading have spent the last few years cleaning up this industry sector so that the only companies remaining, including Purely Creative, are operating to all the applicable industry standards.
The holiday voucher you have received is operated by Whoopydoo and I have seen people paying up to £200 for these on Ebay and then spending another £39pp processing fee plus their taxes of £34pp. If you work it out, they are probably getting the holiday for a total of £500 for 4 people inc the Ebay seller's rip off fee. This would still be about half the high street price to most of the destinations on the voucher. As you got the same voucher for only a few quid, you have probably missed out as the vouchers are normally time specific and the valid date will have passed by now.
How do i know all this?
I've travelled with them on 3 occasions and saved myself and my family well over £1200 now.
I've no idea how they make it pay because I've got another 2 vouchers currently being processed with them, but I only want the cheap hols.
My advice to you on this forum would be to seek advice from people who have actually had direct experience of the company / product concerned because many 'experts' are often just providing an opinion rather than imparting any real knowledge.
If you want any help with claiming vouchers of this type then feel free to ask.

boyse7en

Or you could get the Guardians take on the 'free holidays'...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2005/aug/11/consumeraffairs.consumerpages

They are less likely to have a vested interest (either for or against the scam, sorry, I mean scheme)

ninabena

Hi this is the first time I has posted anything on the forum. I enter a lot of competitions and have for the first time won a holiday on a scratch card from Purely Creative (Whoopydoo). They are requesting a £39 processing fee for each person and have advised that air port taxes will be due of £34 each. You say you have been on holidays with them in the past. Can you advise how much they have cost ie any hidden extras (thinking of going for a week in Europe or weekend break which includes flights and accommodation) Have you done anything similar to this choice please. Must admit my husband and I are completely sceptical. How long do you have to wait for holiday details/date after sending £39. Would really value your experience. Wait to hear.

Thanks

withabix

ninabena wrote: »

Hi this is the first time I has posted anything on the forum. I enter a lot of competitions and have for the first time won a holiday on a scratch card from Purely Creative (Whoopydoo). They are requesting a £39 processing fee for each person and have advised that air port taxes will be due of £34 each. You say you have been on holidays with them in the past. Can you advise how much they have cost ie any hidden extras (thinking of going for a week in Europe or weekend break which includes flights and accommodation) Have you done anything similar to this choice please. Must admit my husband and I are completely sceptical. How long do you have to wait for holiday details/date after sending £39. Would really value your experience. Wait to hear.

Thanks

Don't do it.

It's all a big con.

blindman

ninabena wrote: »

Hi this is the first time I has posted anything on the forum. I enter a lot of competitions and have for the first time won a holiday on a scratch card from Purely Creative (Whoopydoo). They are requesting a £39 processing fee for each person and have advised that air port taxes will be due of £34 each. You say you have been on holidays with them in the past. Can you advise how much they have cost ie any hidden extras (thinking of going for a week in Europe or weekend break which includes flights and accommodation) Have you done anything similar to this choice please. Must admit my husband and I are completely sceptical. How long do you have to wait for holiday details/date after sending £39. Would really value your experience. Wait to hear.

Thanks

It's probably a Timeshare con.
The conditions of the holiday will be similar to Club La Costa.

You may get a bargain if you are extremely flexible with dates\locations and departure airports and can go on holiday at the drop of a hat.

Once at the holiday you will probably have to spend 3-4 hours at a "presentation".

The choice is yours.:eek:

moneysaver

pa1antir7 wrote: »

Massala,
Like all these things you have to be 'in it to win it'. All the people who have replied to your post probably haven't ever entered a competition and so have not won a thing in their lives. However, I bet they have all bought a lottery ticket at some point with an incredibly small chance (14.7m to 1 for the jackpot) of winning.
Everyone, is sceptical because many of these things appear to be 'too good to be true' but the Office of Fair Trading have spent the last few years cleaning up this industry sector so that the only companies remaining, including Purely Creative, are operating to all the applicable industry standards.
The holiday voucher you have received is operated by Whoopydoo and I have seen people paying up to £200 for these on Ebay and then spending another £39pp processing fee plus their taxes of £34pp. If you work it out, they are probably getting the holiday for a total of £500 for 4 people inc the Ebay seller's rip off fee. This would still be about half the high street price to most of the destinations on the voucher. As you got the same voucher for only a few quid, you have probably missed out as the vouchers are normally time specific and the valid date will have passed by now.
How do i know all this?
I've travelled with them on 3 occasions and saved myself and my family well over £1200 now.
I've no idea how they make it pay because I've got another 2 vouchers currently being processed with them, but I only want the cheap hols.
My advice to you on this forum would be to seek advice from people who have actually had direct experience of the company / product concerned because many 'experts' are often just providing an opinion rather than imparting any real knowledge.
If you want any help with claiming vouchers of this type then feel free to ask.

She did not enter a competition, it was a scatchcard. New poster sticking up for these company's. Highly suspicious.;)


Moneysaver

matt83uk

Timeshare companies probably have a vested interest in this type of clientele, it make good marketing. If you're gullable to believe that these promo companies are just simply giving away holidays at a loss or have secured amazing deals that go beyond anything we could secure ourselves then you're likely to be easy fish to sell a timeshare to, except the scratchcard next time will be 15k over a mere few years at bargain £X per month to secure your dream discount place in the sun, to be worth millions in years to come and investment of the lifetime... just think... awww bliss.. Can you afford to pass especially since your scratchcard has the gold price and other people are pay £20k for the same privilege?

If I owned a timeshare company I'd definitely pay these promo companies for your referral..

davidlizard

You can usually spot the "rubbish" prizes on the scratchcards by looking at the smallprint which will detail the number of each prize available - the less attractive prizes (that in most cases probably cost less than the phone calls, P&P and other fees they expect you to pay) usually have a largish number followed by a "+" sign.

They will typically say 1xAudi, 3xFitted kitchens, 10xPlasma TVs, 100x£50....., and then later on there will be 1000+ MP3 players/mobile phones/holidays. There will often be a list of extra "conditions" for these prizes, such as you have to pay postage (including insurance), and various other fees.

There is also usually something that says "maximum 25% of cards are winners", meaning they will put a strip of 4 inside the magazine (their usual haunt), with one "winning" on each strip. Of course, almost all of the "winners" will get the MP3 player/mobile/holiday. The top prizes are usually the same for several dozen similar cards - theres often a clause stating something like "the top prize may be available in multiple competitions".

As plenty of others have commented on the nature of the "prize" itself, then I have nothing to add there.

Melomax

Has anyone on this forum with a good reputation actually paid the £39 processing fee and got anything out of it? Got proof?

On the other hand has anyone got any proof that there is nothing to be had?

I'd like to choose the self catering holdiay to the Canaries for 7 days.
After reading the small print and all the T+C, I can see that I have to pay £73 and provide proof of my fully comp travel insurance.

If no-one has any proof that they are willing to post then either of these arguments are only opinion based.

photome

I "won" a holiday on a scratchcard about 15 years ago ( I have no vested interest and I have no idea about the companies involved) 6 of us went to lanazarote we had to pay a fee for the flight but the accom was free. It was very good value. That is my only experiance of scratchcards