High Street Survey

Darksun

The usual scam these 'all inclusive' free holidays is that they give you about 24 hours notice of the dates. Since most people can't drop everything and go, very few people end up claiming. Even if you do go, they'll probably subject you to a hard-sell timeshare presentation or something

Raymondo111

My wife was approached today and although she specifically asked if this was a Timeshare or Holiday club she was told no so it looks like the lying thieving mob are at it again. When I told her about the comments on this forum her next reaction was to say I am going back to the shops to tell him to stick it where the sun doesn't shine!! We actually own two timeshares but bought off eBay at very reasonable prices and are quite happy but the industry in general leaves a lot to be desired.

KM1976

Mmmm. This is interesting. I did the survey and got a call just now, reiterating my details and then saying i had won a 7 night stay in one of Spain, Turkey, Canary Islands or Austria including flights and acommodation. I was given an 0800 number to call.

They said there is an admin fee of £30 each and that is the only money we'll have to spend (apart from spending money). We are being sent some documents and have to go to Lakeside at a pre-arranged time slot next Wednesday where we will be given brochures to take home, then we can book the holiday at our leisure. We can apparently take it anytime within 18 months.

The lady i spoke to gave me her name and working hours.

What do you reckon? I was vey excited, but there is a tinge of cynicism about it.

No harm in going along i suppose....

hollydays

its a scam

mpython

Sorry KM1976, its a con. You'll most likely have to sit through a 2 to 4 hour presentation at lakeside and be offered a deal for "today only". If you're strong enough to resist & take the holiday, when you get to the resort they'll probably ask to take your passports for safe keeping & not let you have them back until you've sat through an even longer & harder sell.

Unless you enjoy wasting your time, don't even bother going along.

KM1976

Thanks mpython :-D

We talked about it last night and we decided not to bother. There is a thread on the channel 4 site forums about the company we were contacted by, and i just dont think i can hack being pressurised for 3 or so hours. Plus you apparently have to pay £30 each to fly from Gatwick, so it starts adding up.

Oh well. It has taught me never to answer any more street surveys.

C_Ronaldo

JasonLVC wrote:

Never, ever do the high street surveys - you end up giving them all personal information (address, phone numbers, etc) for a start which unless you tell them personally, means they can sell your inforamtion on to all sorts.

I don;t think this is a scam as such - but depends upon your deifition of being ripped off/scammed.

A friend has done one before and they got a call for a free holiday too - but they had a very tight window in terms of dates they could choose from and then they had to pay for insurance, flights taxes, some other taxes and pay for breakfast or lunch (can't remember) at the hotel which was somewhere in Spain - all in all, it didn;t actually work out for free and in the end she didn;t go.

In suspect if she had gone, she'd then get caught up in some sort of time share sales pitch, working on the basis of that you must be easily persuaded having come this far already - so a two hour presentation will have you signing away £20k no problem.

I repeat my warning. You'd never give your details to a complete stranger, why give it to someone who just wants to know what soap powder you use, etc...

ive filled in some of these surveys and i havent had any weird phone calls, i gave my address etc,

hss

I am a genuine market researcher, part of MRS, carry ID etc., and these scammers give us a bad name because they claim to be doing market research when they are in fact trying to sell you something. The main reason we take contact details is because the market research co. randomly do backchecks, that is checking up that I did interview that person, show my id. etc. not actually making up the interview (like so many people think it is possible!). It is a very interesting job but because of the holiday scams or worse still, those charity people wearing different overalls different days, they think we are the same but are not. If you are approached and you see the ID card, PLEASE HELP US . It really is a genuine job but now made more difficult by these scammers.
By the way, another tip to those because I have also been asked, say you are NOT a homeowner and that you rent, otherwise it means they will try and sell you something.

Hope this helps but PLEASE help us if we stop you or knock on your door....we usually have a quota and can't go home till its finished!

hss

I am a genuine market researcher, part of MRS, carry ID etc., and these scammers give us a bad name because they claim to be doing market research when they are in fact trying to sell you something. The main reason we take contact details is because the market research co. randomly do backchecks, that is checking up that I did interview that person, show my id. etc. not actually making up the interview (like so many people think it is possible!). It is a very interesting job but because of the holiday scams or worse still, those charity people wearing different overalls different days, they think we are the same but are not. If you are approached and you see the ID card, PLEASE HELP US . It really is a genuine job but now made more difficult by these scammers.
By the way, another tip to those because I have also been asked, say you are NOT a homeowner and that you rent, otherwise it means they will try and sell you something.

Hope this helps but PLEASE help us if we stop you or knock on your door....we usually have a quota and can't go home till its finished!