They're at it in Crete too.
in [Europe]
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From: d4g4h4 on 22 May 2010 09:00 Andy Pandy <spam8times(a)wonderful.spam.invalid> wrote: > "aquachimp" <aquachimp(a)aquachimp.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message > news:ba3aa7bd-3e9c-4c1a-87aa-ec18110bfeb5(a)q13g2000vbm.googlegroups.com... > > Oddly enough, there's not much mention about this kind of thing > > here. > > Or does it go by another name. > > I suspect it's never mentioned here because most people who post here > are independant travellers who don't go on "beach" holidays or to > typical package holiday destinations where these scum operate. Never bumped into them myself, certainly. Maybe I just look as if I'm skint? :) -- (*) of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate www.davidhorne.net (email address on website) "[Do you think the world learned anything from the first world war?] No. They never learn." -Harry Patch (1898-2009)
From: aquachimp on 22 May 2010 09:22 On May 22, 3:00 pm, d4g...(a)yahoo.co.uk (David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*)) wrote: > Andy Pandy <spam8ti...(a)wonderful.spam.invalid> wrote: > > "aquachimp" <aquach...(a)aquachimp.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message > >news:ba3aa7bd-3e9c-4c1a-87aa-ec18110bfeb5(a)q13g2000vbm.googlegroups.com.... > > > Oddly enough, there's not much mention about this kind of thing > > > here. > > > Or does it go by another name. > > > I suspect it's never mentioned here because most people who post here > > are independant travellers who don't go on "beach" holidays or to > > typical package holiday destinations where these scum operate. > > Never bumped into them myself, certainly. Maybe I just look as if I'm > skint? :) > Nah, that aint it; I've been doing some research into the scams prime target selection and I since found one site claiming to reveal all. It's not that they're looking out for package holiday destination tourists, nor childless couples, or "newbie" tourists. No, what they pick out are people who look like they are having fun and clearly enjoying their holiday. Now, obviously from the sheer weight of number of people turning up at Scam Central (and that was just while we were there) clearly this say something about the Cretan Holiday Experience ... just that if I were the Cretan authorities, rather than relying on that hidden criteria as a measure of success through which to further promote Crete, I'd go for chucking these scamsters out of my country. Or at least try to ensure that all tourists are advised to go around looking as miserable as possible at all times. Incidentally, I have since also found a post relating to this issue on this group. http://groups.google.com/group/rec.travel.europe/browse_thread/thread/968b4d8e378b0f77/00db9f90b2228a1e?lnk=gst&q=holiday+club#00db9f90b2228a1e I found it searching for "holiday club" (without quotes); I didn't find anything with phrases such as; scratchcard scam, scratch card scam, or holiday scam.
From: Martin on 22 May 2010 10:13 On 22/05/10 12:12, Andy Pandy wrote: > "aquachimp" <aquachimp(a)aquachimp.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message > news:ba3aa7bd-3e9c-4c1a-87aa-ec18110bfeb5(a)q13g2000vbm.googlegroups.com... >> Oddly enough, there's not much mention about this kind of thing >> here. >> Or does it go by another name. > > I suspect it's never mentioned here because most people who post here > are independant travellers who don't go on "beach" holidays or to > typical package holiday destinations where these scum operate. And > those that do are probably so used to it that they don't bother > mentioning it any more than mentioning that sunburn in a danger. > > Worst place we went to for this was Gran Canaria in the early 90's - > they were *everywhere*, on the beach, in the shopping centres, down > quiet streets, and ignoring them didn't work, they'd follow you down > the street. Apparently they got paid �50 for every couple they got > along to the presentations, regardless of whether they signed up! It was the same in Lanzarote at the end of the 1980s. The winning answer was "We already own <X> time share dwellings". > > All this was supposed to have been stopped by the EU rules on having a > cooling off period for timeshare sales, but it seems they're now > offering basically the same thing but calling it a "holiday points > club". I wonder if they still try to charge a "maintenance fee" for > your points ;-). And they're still using the scratchcard technique I > see. > > Having a family puts them off as we found when we has kids - they > never stop people with kids. We had kids aged 5 and 7 at the time. That didn't deter them.
From: BP killed my turtle on 22 May 2010 10:38 On May 22, 3:22 pm, aquachimp <aquach...(a)aquachimp.freeserve.co.uk> wrote: > On May 22, 3:00 pm, d4g...(a)yahoo.co.uk (David Horne, _the_ chancellor > > (*)) wrote: > > Andy Pandy <spam8ti...(a)wonderful.spam.invalid> wrote: > > > "aquachimp" <aquach...(a)aquachimp.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message > > >news:ba3aa7bd-3e9c-4c1a-87aa-ec18110bfeb5(a)q13g2000vbm.googlegroups.com.... > > > > Oddly enough, there's not much mention about this kind of thing > > > > here. > > > > Or does it go by another name. > > > > I suspect it's never mentioned here because most people who post here > > > are independant travellers who don't go on "beach" holidays or to > > > typical package holiday destinations where these scum operate. > > > Never bumped into them myself, certainly. Maybe I just look as if I'm > > skint? :) > > Nah, that aint it; I've been doing some research into the scams prime > target selection and I since found one site claiming to reveal all. > It's not that they're looking out for package holiday destination > tourists, nor childless couples, or "newbie" tourists. > No, what they pick out are people who look like they are having fun > and clearly enjoying their holiday. > gullible ?!
From: James Silverton on 22 May 2010 10:44
aquachimp wrote on Sat, 22 May 2010 06:22:38 -0700 (PDT): > Now, obviously from the sheer weight of number of people > turning up at Scam Central (and that was just while we were > there) clearly this say something about the Cretan Holiday > Experience ... just that if I were the Cretan authorities, > rather than relying on that hidden criteria as a measure of > success through which to further promote Crete, I'd go for > chucking these scamsters out of my country. Or at least try to > ensure that all tourists are advised to go around looking as > miserable as possible at all times. As Douglas Hoffstadter put it : 'Epimenides was a Cretan who made one immortal statement: "All Cretans are liars." ' The quotation from Epimenides has actually been around since the third century BC. -- James Silverton Potomac, Maryland Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not |