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How free is a free holiday?

March 7th, 2006

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.

Office of Fair Trading - You have not won a free luxury holidayI 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.

Categories: Misc Tags: ,
  1. Neil
    July 29th, 2009 at 18:32 | #1
    Using Internet Explorer Internet Explorer 6.0 on Windows Windows XP

    I remember 2 ladies walking round the Kent County Show asking for details and entering them on a form. They gave you the T&C tear off and went off to the next victim.
    Got the call today after 3 missed calls and went through all the blah blah blah from the operator. Apparently I have to phone 08009889904 to speak to someone else about a holiday, I DON’T THINK SO SONNY JIM!!!

  2. Emma
    September 2nd, 2009 at 18:39 | #2
    Using Internet Explorer Internet Explorer 8.0 on Windows Windows XP

    Mine (Giraffe Promotions) said I have won a holiday; the ticket says I can have £5000 cash instead. I haven’t called back yet, as I haven’t had time, but I will, just to see what they want me to do for the money!!

    Has no-one bothered to sit through the presentation for that kind of money? I think I would!!

  3. Jane
    September 4th, 2009 at 23:45 | #3
    Using Internet Explorer Internet Explorer 8.0 on Windows Windows XP

    thank you so much for the person that created this site -very useful to have my suspiscions confirmed.
    I never ever enter on the street surveys. The lady at Giraffe promotions cornered my when I was sitting chilling with my children.
    I got a call a few days back from CLC saying congrats I had won 7 week all inclusive holiday for 4, all I had to do was call an 0800 number quoting my reference number.
    I was 99% certain at the time of the call that it was a timeshare – a genuine straightforward win would not make you call a different number to claim your prize; but there has been that nagging doubt at the back of my mind wondering whether it was a genuine win.
    If you know how to play this game and you have the time I am sure that you could get some kind of prize but as a working Mum with 2 small children I just haven’t got the time to sit through a “presentation”
    I failed to note down the reference number but my giraffe promotions entry number is 55576, hopefully someone can claim a free holiday on my behalf.

  4. Andy
    September 15th, 2009 at 20:48 | #4
    Using Mozilla Firefox Mozilla Firefox 3.5.3 on Windows Windows Vista

    I have just reveived a cheque for £599 – Ok at the top is says “This is not a bankers cheque”. We have to allow “two hours” to be shown the options available to us.

    My wife trusts people like this – I can think of a million ways to spend two hours of my life – and not one will include being brow beaten into spending my time and money.

  5. Karen
    September 18th, 2009 at 08:56 | #5
    Using Mozilla Firefox Mozilla Firefox 3.5.3 on Windows Windows XP

    Thanks for this website. Got my call last night. Had been accosted by a pushy Giraffe promotions woman in Solihull a few weeks ago – I should have known better. CLC are using 0800 9889904 as their “claims line”. I won’t be ringing!!

  6. Nicola
    September 23rd, 2009 at 11:33 | #6
    Using Internet Explorer Internet Explorer 8.0 on Windows Windows XP

    With regards to CLC, I filled in a survey on line and duly got the phone call to say that we had won a one week holiday for 4 for the cost of booking fees and airport taxes. We were also told if we attended the 2 hour meeting we would receive £50 in High Street Vouchers. Always curious we attended the meeting and of course said no to buying into time share, the meeting was more like 3 hours long but we did get £50 of Argos vouchers. After talking to a work colleague we booked to go to Spain and duly paid the agreed amounts came to about £290 for our family. CLC arranged flights from our local airport and we went to Fuengirola this year in April and had a lovely time in a 2 bedroom apartment (almost as big as my house), close to the beach. The only drawback was the day wasted talking to the rep about timeshare, although he did take us out into the surrounding countryside for a 2 hour drive and was really knowledgeable about the area. The format is, CLC give you breakfast at about 10am (not good for small children who are awake at 6.30am) then take you out for a bit then take you to their office where the harder sell comes, to be honest it wasn’t too bad and we used the recession and the threat of redundancy as a reason not too buy. Their accommodation was fantastic and really well cared for. It was all over by 3pm, we thanked the rep and said goodbye and went back to our holiday. On talking to other people in the pool we found out that some people have been on 3 or 4 of these holidays, always saying no, but getting a cheap holiday out of CLC. I’d say if you get a call from CLC give it a go, lets face it just under £300 for a family of 4 is not bad for a weeks holiday in Spain.

  7. Carole
    September 28th, 2009 at 20:09 | #7
    Using Internet Explorer Internet Explorer 8.0 on Windows Windows Vista

    I’ve just been called & was asked to phone a number 01702 608924. Have arranged an appointment at Sale in Manchester which I was told was a 1:1 briefing but not a timeshare sales talk. Thanks to this website will not be going, just hope they’re not persistent with follow up calls.

  8. Fiona
    October 6th, 2009 at 17:19 | #8
    Using Internet Explorer Internet Explorer 7.0 on Windows Windows XP

    Hi – we got caught at Menorca airport, got the call today and told to ring 08009889904. I was also offered the bonus £50 shopping vouchers. I got roped into one of these presentations before, and would have had to pay an enormous fee to get any flights that would fit with school holidays. If you don’t mind sitting through the hard sell – i guess you’d get some sort of reward. Great site – thanks for creating it

  9. Steve
    October 8th, 2009 at 21:02 | #9
    Using Mozilla Firefox Mozilla Firefox 3.5.3 on Windows Windows XP

    I got this Lifestyle Rentals Certificate in the post today. Appointment set up for 15th October. Gonna go, and show these guys my Trading Standards Pass……

  10. Amanda
    October 14th, 2009 at 17:40 | #10
    Using Internet Explorer Internet Explorer 6.0 on Windows Windows XP

    I had a call from 01268 557600 claiming that I had won a 7 night break in Jamaica! I had to call 0800 9889904 quoting my refrence no. – I was told it would be a free call from a landline. I had been accosted by a rather pushy lady at the Home Improvement Show in Earls Court asking me to complete a simple questionaire! I shall not be phoning the number after reading the information on this site. Thank you.

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