is this real? £500 gift certificate from UK World gift catalogue

droopsnout

My mother (she's 80 years old) has just rung me up, quivering with excitement, to say that she has won £1000 to spend with these people. I told her I thought it was a scam, but that I'd look into it.

It's a long while since this thread began, but she had recently picked out a scratch card from a TV magazine, got three matching symbols (surprise, surprise), and sent it off. Whereupon, she receives this £1000 voucher.

I'm sure this is a scam, but if so, how come it's been allowed to run on this long? Why are reputable magazines still enclosing these scratch cards? Why are people still trying to sell them on eBay (they are - I've checked: one sold recently for the huge sum of £9.99). And why have things been quiet between March/April and now?

Also, TonyH, what web site did you check out for them, as none is mentioned in the thread, and Google has thrown nothing up for me?

I'm now going to ring her back and try to let her down gently ...

droopsnout

The voucher scheme is run by UK Incentives and Promotions.

If anyone else is interested in this voucher offer, I have found information regarding OFT action against a different company but with the same address for their registered office: The World For Less Ltd., 1 Saxon Road, Faversham, Kent ME13 8QA (this address appears on the voucher offer materials). You can read the article I found at: http://www.oft.gov.uk/News/Press+releases/2005/201-05.htm

The ruling concerns inertia selling.

Credit Reports and Annual Accounts information is available at: http://www.ukdata.com/numbers/04855058.html

or here:

https://secure.creditgate.com/search/search.aspx?AP=Full%20Non-Limited&CompanyID=04855058&CompanyType=L&BS=1&BT=Full%20Data

I found these snippets by Googling for their postcode. The search reveals that the address is used by a number of companies, and, according to checkmyfile.com, "This area is classed as carrying a
high credit risk."

DaveS_3

I got a £1000 voucher from one of those magazines drop-outs, which require you to phone a 0900 number for 6 minutes @ £1.50 a minute (sent for a claim number by post).

Looking at the voucher now, I bet the delivery and processing fees are sky high.

Becles

droopsnout wrote:

The World For Less Ltd., 1 Saxon Road, Faversham, Kent ME13 8QA (this address appears on the voucher offer materials).

I have had dealings with this company.

I bought some purses from one of the mail order ad's in the Sunday papers. Then World for Less debited $150 out of my account.

According to World for Less, when I bought the purses they telephoned me and offered me a free trial of their shopping club for 3 months. As I didn't cancel before the trial ended I'd been charged the years fee.

I didn't get any telephone call and I didn't get anything through the post to confirm membership. They said I could not cancel, as cancellation was only possible in the trial period. But how was I supposed to know I was on a trial when I didn't know I had joined, and I hadn't had any literature about it

I ended up getting Tranding Standards involved who managed to get my money back for me.

Stay well clear.

Alexa2772

DaveS wrote:

I got a £1000 voucher from one of those magazines drop-outs, which require you to phone a 0900 number for 6 minutes @ £1.50 a minute (sent for a claim number by post).

Looking at the voucher now, I bet the delivery and processing fees are sky high.

Can I ask you what did you with this voucher?? Did you use it?? Thank you..

MINX_2

My elderly neighbour has just called to ask me to have a look at her 'free' £1,000
voucher to spend in UK World Catalogue. She was so disappointed with this scam. She had telephoned the premium rate number which cost her £7, then sent postage stamps for catalogue and now realises its a scam and that she has to pay p&p for every item she orders. Its unfortunate she didn't come to me when she first got them, I could have enlightened her earlier and saved her a little bit of money.
She wanted to write a letter of complaint but had no address or contact address at all.
I found this forum and think the least we can do is make others aware of this scam who prey on vulnerable people like her.

voith_driver

hi all,
first poster here, for your information, after reading this thread a couple of months ago, i was intrigued as we had been getting these, and promptly throwing them into the bin, so going into it with my eyes wide open, we/i went the route, cost about 8£ to find out i had the 1000£ gift voucher from the world gift catalogue, sent away for it, thinking that there must be at least one thing in it that would allow me to break even.hoping that as it was the world catalogue there maybe something from away of interest.

anyway, got the catalogue, it then turned out to be the uk world catalogue, from Faversham, first disappointment, then reading the prize voucher, you can only claim your 1000£ in one hit, second disappointment, then looking through it, the items in it, were less than you find in the throw away catalogues you get in magazines, third disappointment, then the nail in the coffin, everything has a handling charge, this handling charge is not common to all items, it varies in cost, so to be critical, i related the handling cost to be the true cost of the item.

so the end of the story is as far as i am concerned, is that if this catalogue came in the post, or in a magazine, and the items were for sale at this handling charge, then it might just be worth buying something, but as a "prize" its just a big con.

please appreciate i went into this with no real expectations, and have got no real shocks, other than there was no way to even recover my initial outlay, which was a disappointment.

so now you know
voith driver

pegeen

I have just received my award number and decided to find THE UK WORLD GIFT AWARD on the web.I came accross you guys.thank you for all your experiences and good advice.IN THE BIN IT GOES!!!together with the e-mail scam about Bill Gates sharing his millions with us:j I wish:T finding out the Award number only cost a first class stamp :rotfl: thank god

SazM030306

I just received the £1000 to spend in the UK World Gift Catalogue. Thank you all for telling me to throw it in the bin! You've saved me a lot af hassle I'm sure

Sarah
xxx

Marketeer_2

They are Back on the Prowl - I reveived a Prize win notification from UK Incentives & Promotions Ltd of 10 Tavistock Industrial Estate, Twyford, Reading, Berkshire RG10 9NQ Regd in England No 04855058. They said I had won a prize worth a minimum of £2500 ! Wow how lucky am I !? All I had to do was send off £20 admin fee . . . so I read the small print and found I could request the nature of the prize So I sent a SAE and asked - The reply came today and guess what the first part of the prize was - Yup £750 UK World Gift Catalogue - then there were various holiday scams (probably time share scams) a Mediteranean Cruise with Free accomodation (my brother went on one and the food cast more than a holiday in Barbados) some free vitamins (if you bought some others) then loads of store discount vouchers - I think thewhole thig is a scam and we should stop these evil opportunists from preying on the vulnerable and gullible - - Go on watchdog - go get em !