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Won a Chevy Spark from World ConnectSo by now you have either received, or shortly will receive a phone call from someone saying they are from a company called “World Connect” I received my 3rd call for this year on Tuesday, and was informed that I was one of 15 finalists for a competition that I entered via sms on the 30th of June. 30th of June…that’s odd for a couple reasons. However on this particular Tuesday afternoon I was feeling upbeat and was happy to talk to the consultant on the phone for a while to see what he had to say. Apparently I had entered this competition to win a Chevy Spark, and I was one of 15 finalists. I was also informed that “no matter what” I would win one of the other prices which comprised of Quad Bikes, GPS, Ice Makers, Weekend Away packages etc. The catch of course, is that I had to attend the draw held in Midrand, and it was insisted that I brought my wife with me. After informing the person on the other side of the phone that my wife would not be able to attend, he insisted that I had to have her there to sign when I won (not a legal requirement just out of interest). Obviously since I had heard this pitch before during the year – but on previous occasions I had just told them I could not attend- I asked the consultant if this was a time share sales pitch. I was informed that it was most definitely not. So my next question was, “are you sure you are not going to try sell me something, cause I get a lot of calls which are total bull$!*^ ” I was interrupted at that point with “Mr ***** this call is recorded for your security and I know that there are people like that out there, but I promise this is real and you have won a price” Ok hang on a second… There are only 15 finalists, of which I am one of them by some miracle considering I have not entered this competition, but it doesn’t matter what time I choose to go I will be there for the draw. Dinner? What if I go at 2?, and what if I can ONLY go at 2 but the other 14 people agree to go at 6pm, then what??? Clearly this is a total scam, but I’m still playing along on the phone. “Great, I can’t wait, can you send me directions” I asked. 2 minutes after hanging up from the consultant of World Connect, I decided to do a search in Google for “World Connect” (possibly what you have just done to get here) and what a big surprise, there are tons of sites with literally HUNDERDS of complaints about this company. The exact same speech given to each person, and the same number that you can call back on, which just rings. Now granted I am not going to the draw tonight, but from everything I have read on the websites from people who DID attend, it is a sales pitch to buy some type of ‘time share’. When I received a call from the ‘event co-ordinator’ this morning to give me directions, I said to the person “listen, I really don’t wanna go to anything that is going to try sell me time share or try make me buy something” the reply was “ok bye” and the phone was quickly put down by the person on the other end. City: All Country: South Africa October 22nd, 2009 | Category: Fraud and Scams |
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15 comments to Won a Chevy Spark from World Connect |
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O goody….Just got the exact same speech.
Thank goodness for your review.
Isn’t it illegal to advertise a competition and then not actually give away the prize?
And who does get the prize at the end of the day?
The hosts themselves?
Typical South Africa.
Yes, you would think it would be illegal, however they are very clever with their wording, and clever with how they give away the car…
Admittedly, I have not gone to their ‘prize giving evening’ but from people I have spoken to, there is a draw that takes place, if you’re lucky numbers are drawn, then you win the car. You will probably find that your chances are as good as winning the lottery. (Let me just re-state, I have not been there, the above is just from what I have heard and my own assumptions).
They do however ALWAYS give away a prize, by “they” I am referring to every company like World Connect. They will give you a prize that costs them nothing, so if they happen to own a timeshare scheme, then they would give you a “free holiday” which would only be valid during the week (their nice and quiet time) and you usually have to pay a levy, or a booking charge, so they even make some money from you. The worst case scenario, they have to put you up for a night or two in one of their hotels/B&B’s etc whilst receiving minimal funds in return, but they might possibly give you exposure to a place that you really like and end up returning to as a full paying customer, or even end up paying for the original deal they were trying to get you to sign. This puts them in a win-win situation.
I think due to the fact that they give away SOMETHING every night, they get away from been sued.
Glad that you took the time to search for it and found this review, and hopefully it saved you time, money and frustration
Hello, just found your blog but I have to admit that it seems nice. I fully agree with you. Have a nice day, keep up the great work and I will definitely keep reading.
Hey, nice post. I stumbled upon this blog, but I will definitely visit regularly. Have a great day.
Thank GOODNESS! The review was word for word what has been happing to me this week: I’ve been bugged by these people for the best part of last week… The draw is tonight, and I realy do not have time to waist! I asked these people the following questions:
1) Is there a presentation of any sort? No.
2) Are you representing a other company? No.
3) Are you part of any timeshare, holiday package or telephone sales? No.
4) Am I going to waist my valuable time? No.
I thought this was too good to be true! If I had to ask time off from my already swamped desk, and left work early to attend to this scam – geee! They would’ve heard a lot from me tommorrow!
Thank you for the review!
Wow, very interesting! Got the call today, was busy @ work asked him to call later. He called 3 hrs later. I believed it because he referred to a raffle ticket for a Nissan Lavina I purchased in October last year @ Greenstone Mall, Edenvale. The draw was supposed to be held end of October. He said draw was post-poned, but had now just been done and my ticket was one of the winners. Price no longer a Nissan, but now a Chevy Spark.Price could not be divulged over the phone, but next Tuesday. Asked if I still had the slip (obviusly no!), said I may be disqualified, but gave me a ref. no, J***. Asked me to bring my ID, valid driver’s license, and witness who should also bring same documents, to come in smart casual for prize presentation, photos with the media. Prize presentation @ 28 Guildford Rd, Carlswald, Midrand, Tuesday 9 Feb, @ 14:00hrs. SMS followed after the call, with venue / time details, Call Centre no. Will go, feedback on Tuesday!!
Prizes are as follows :
1.Chevy Spark (guaranteed)
2.GAMIN GPS
3.Suzuki Quad Bike
4.Apple Nano Ipod
5.Ice Maker
6.Holiday Voucher (Botswana), with family
It will be great if someone does go so that we can get the true facts about what they are really up to. It’s clearly a scam of some sort as nothing they say adds up.
I am looking forward to reading your follow up.
Hi there
Also got the same call on Friday for the 3rd time already. They insist it is not time share/holiday points etc. Luckily I checked the web first. My husband also got the same call last year. Funny how they insist you entered the competition by sms if you know you never did. then they also have the audacity to say it is for charity.
I told them nicely today that we won’t be able to attend!! Who has time to waste on this nonsense?
Hi there…. they’ve been calling me for months now…i get a call from World Connect and another one in Design Quarter….offering the very same prizes. I told them to stop calling, but then a different person calls. WHERE ON EARTH DO THEY GET OUR NUMBERS FROM???
Hi Linda, I’ve had many calls from World Connect, but I have not heard anything from the place in Design Quarter. Do you know what they are called? Would be good to put a review up about them as well to warn people.
My guess is, they have populated a database with EVERY cell phone number in the country. They have some trendy software which allows them to call each number and mark it as a valid number or not. This database then could of course be sold on to someone else, and purhaps World Connect didnt make the database, but maybe they purchased it from another company that has done the above. The above of course is just a guess.
I just had the same call from a person name Bridgette from World Connect. The numbers that were used, 0878052350 and 0878052365. I must be in Midrand at 14h00 on Friday the 5th of March 2010 and I must bring a partner. I never entered a sms competition.
Jay, thank you so much for your report because I also received a call from World Connect, Tracey is the consultant that i must be in Midrand by 18h00 today with a partner and or a friend then i’ve decided to goggle the place before that’s how i read your story…astonished part i didnt remember entering the competition in August 2009 if ever why so long for final draw.
lol, im reading all the stories, same with me, 0878052350 phoned me and i won…lucky i see whats happening…my goal now is to tell them on 2010/03/05 is that i am jobless and that i am gonna bring my whole family to the event (22 persons) to witness my win…wonder who is gonna eat the food when we don’t pitch up… gonna try it.
I worked as a timeshare salesman for about 6 months, our catch was to offer a free meal for two at a good restaurant but when they arrive they have to sit and listen to my presentation first.
The presentation would end when they buy the timeshare or they couldnt wait to leave and would have long forgotten about that free meal…
my brother got caught by one of these okes recently and R25000 later and paying a monthly levy he uses it once a year when available…. TIMESHARE IS A SCAM…If you think otherwise the salesman was really good
I just got called by World connect, they said i had won either a chevy, quadbike, holiday, garmin or icemaker. Is this a timeshare scam? please somebody advise me.