They're at it in Crete too.
in [Europe]
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From: aquachimp on 21 May 2010 17:17 http://www.matesofmatina.co.uk/forums_new/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=441 We had some precious time wasted because of these scratch-card fuckers. And especially since we kinda just went with the flow or the guy on the street might not get his bonus. But at least it was just time. In our case we were approached by a rep from some company or other with the word "vacations" in the name and claiming to be there by invite to promote Greece and Greek tourism through all ash-cloud and strike crisis. Then as a sort of thank-you for taking the time out to listen to him he gave us 2 scratch cards. On scratching off, a single winning symbol would net, say, a T-shirt, but 3 winning symbols in a row was the big prize. Either the radio, video camera or the biggest biggy, a totally free holiday. Well whaddayaknow, but didn't we get the 3 symbols; He was so shocked. Couldn't believe it, he said. He was all excited telling us how happy he was, not just for us, but for what it would mean to him too. And all we had to do was pop back 10 minutes up the road, which we could have walked easily, but next thing we knew he had a taxi purring next to us and the doors open and no, don't walk, take the taxi, we've just won a great prize, this is part of it, enjoy, it's only a short trip, but hey, live it up a bit. Smile. However, it wasn't a 10 minute walk, but a very long 10 minute drive to the middle of nowhere. There someone else paid the cabbie (handed her a tenner) Then there was the bit to ensure we are a real "couple" and then if we'd just agree to a 75 minute presentation. No obligations; So we agreed, but it was about promoting their own holiday offers and nothing to do with promoting Greece. It was as tedious as it could be and we eventually kinda snapped at the guy and demanded he get on with it, along with pointing out how shitty a place it was and no way would we stay there no matter what. And all along what I kept thinking was, be patient, cos if we leave now they'll probably just open the doors, ask us to leave and there we would be in the middle of nowhere with no means to get back. So, we held our tongues long enough, but did have a bit of a go at his boss because he clearly didn't want to take, "we're not interested" &"this is of no practicable use to us whatsoever" as an answer. Oddly enough, there's not much mention about this kind of thing here. Or does it go by another name.
From: aquachimp on 21 May 2010 17:25 On May 21, 11:17 pm, aquachimp <aquach...(a)aquachimp.freeserve.co.uk> wrote: > http://www.matesofmatina.co.uk/forums_new/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=441 > > We had some precious time wasted because of these scratch-card > fuckers. And especially since we kinda just went with the flow or the > guy on the street might not get his bonus. > But at least it was just time. > > In our case we were approached by a rep from some company or other > with the word "vacations" in the name and claiming to be there by > invite to promote Greece and Greek tourism through all ash-cloud and > strike crisis. > Then as a sort of thank-you for taking the time out to listen to him > he gave us 2 scratch cards. On scratching off, a single winning symbol > would net, say, a T-shirt, but 3 winning symbols in a row was the big > prize. Either the radio, video camera or the biggest biggy, a totally > free holiday. > > Well whaddayaknow, but didn't we get the 3 symbols; He was so shocked. > Couldn't believe it, he said. He was all excited telling us how happy > he was, not just for us, but for what it would mean to him too. And > all we had to do was pop back 10 minutes up the road, which we could > have walked easily, but next thing we knew he had a taxi purring next > to us and the doors open and no, don't walk, take the taxi, we've just > won a great prize, this is part of it, enjoy, it's only a short trip, > but hey, live it up a bit. Smile. > > However, it wasn't a 10 minute walk, but a very long 10 minute drive > to the middle of nowhere. There someone else paid the cabbie (handed > her a tenner) > Then there was the bit to ensure we are a real "couple" and then if > we'd just agree to a 75 minute presentation. No obligations; So we > agreed, but it was about promoting their own holiday offers and > nothing to do with promoting Greece. > It was as tedious as it could be and we eventually kinda snapped at > the guy and demanded he get on with it, along with pointing out how > shitty a place it was and no way would we stay there no matter what. > And all along what I kept thinking was, be patient, cos if we leave > now they'll probably just open the doors, ask us to leave and there we > would be in the middle of nowhere with no means to get back. > So, we held our tongues long enough, but did have a bit of a go at his > boss because he clearly didn't want to take, "we're not interested" > &"this is of no practicable use to us whatsoever" as an answer. > > Oddly enough, there's not much mention about this kind of thing here. > Or does it go by another name. I forgot to mention that on our last day there was another National General Strike. I had heard about it some days before but when I asked around no local had heard anything about it and on the day, just one little museum was closed because of it; Possibly some schools too judging by the sudden influx of youth on the beach. But the buses all seemed to be operating and the airport was unaffected.
From: PeterL on 21 May 2010 18:09 On May 21, 2:17 pm, aquachimp <aquach...(a)aquachimp.freeserve.co.uk> wrote: > http://www.matesofmatina.co.uk/forums_new/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=441 > > We had some precious time wasted because of these scratch-card > fuckers. And especially since we kinda just went with the flow or the > guy on the street might not get his bonus. > But at least it was just time. > > In our case we were approached by a rep from some company or other > with the word "vacations" in the name and claiming to be there by > invite to promote Greece and Greek tourism through all ash-cloud and > strike crisis. > Then as a sort of thank-you for taking the time out to listen to him > he gave us 2 scratch cards. On scratching off, a single winning symbol > would net, say, a T-shirt, but 3 winning symbols in a row was the big > prize. Either the radio, video camera or the biggest biggy, a totally > free holiday. > > Well whaddayaknow, but didn't we get the 3 symbols; He was so shocked. > Couldn't believe it, he said. He was all excited telling us how happy > he was, not just for us, but for what it would mean to him too. And > all we had to do was pop back 10 minutes up the road, which we could > have walked easily, but next thing we knew he had a taxi purring next > to us and the doors open and no, don't walk, take the taxi, we've just > won a great prize, this is part of it, enjoy, it's only a short trip, > but hey, live it up a bit. Smile. > > However, it wasn't a 10 minute walk, but a very long 10 minute drive > to the middle of nowhere. There someone else paid the cabbie (handed > her a tenner) > Then there was the bit to ensure we are a real "couple" and then if > we'd just agree to a 75 minute presentation. No obligations; So we > agreed, but it was about promoting their own holiday offers and > nothing to do with promoting Greece. > It was as tedious as it could be and we eventually kinda snapped at > the guy and demanded he get on with it, along with pointing out how > shitty a place it was and no way would we stay there no matter what. > And all along what I kept thinking was, be patient, cos if we leave > now they'll probably just open the doors, ask us to leave and there we > would be in the middle of nowhere with no means to get back. > So, we held our tongues long enough, but did have a bit of a go at his > boss because he clearly didn't want to take, "we're not interested" > &"this is of no practicable use to us whatsoever" as an answer. > > Oddly enough, there's not much mention about this kind of thing here. > Or does it go by another name. You sound like some newbie tourists. No one with any experience would fall for this. Did you respond to the Nigerian emails too?
From: aquachimp on 22 May 2010 04:10 On May 22, 12:09 am, PeterL <po.n...(a)gmail.com> wrote: > On May 21, 2:17 pm, aquachimp <aquach...(a)aquachimp.freeserve.co.uk> > wrote: > > > > >http://www.matesofmatina.co.uk/forums_new/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=441 > > > We had some precious time wasted because of these scratch-card > > fuckers. And especially since we kinda just went with the flow or the > > guy on the street might not get his bonus. > > But at least it was just time. > > > In our case we were approached by a rep from some company or other > > with the word "vacations" in the name and claiming to be there by > > invite to promote Greece and Greek tourism through all ash-cloud and > > strike crisis. > > Then as a sort of thank-you for taking the time out to listen to him > > he gave us 2 scratch cards. On scratching off, a single winning symbol > > would net, say, a T-shirt, but 3 winning symbols in a row was the big > > prize. Either the radio, video camera or the biggest biggy, a totally > > free holiday. > > > Well whaddayaknow, but didn't we get the 3 symbols; He was so shocked. > > Couldn't believe it, he said. He was all excited telling us how happy > > he was, not just for us, but for what it would mean to him too. And > > all we had to do was pop back 10 minutes up the road, which we could > > have walked easily, but next thing we knew he had a taxi purring next > > to us and the doors open and no, don't walk, take the taxi, we've just > > won a great prize, this is part of it, enjoy, it's only a short trip, > > but hey, live it up a bit. Smile. > > > However, it wasn't a 10 minute walk, but a very long 10 minute drive > > to the middle of nowhere. There someone else paid the cabbie (handed > > her a tenner) > > Then there was the bit to ensure we are a real "couple" and then if > > we'd just agree to a 75 minute presentation. No obligations; So we > > agreed, but it was about promoting their own holiday offers and > > nothing to do with promoting Greece. > > It was as tedious as it could be and we eventually kinda snapped at > > the guy and demanded he get on with it, along with pointing out how > > shitty a place it was and no way would we stay there no matter what. > > And all along what I kept thinking was, be patient, cos if we leave > > now they'll probably just open the doors, ask us to leave and there we > > would be in the middle of nowhere with no means to get back. > > So, we held our tongues long enough, but did have a bit of a go at his > > boss because he clearly didn't want to take, "we're not interested" > > &"this is of no practicable use to us whatsoever" as an answer. > > > Oddly enough, there's not much mention about this kind of thing here. > > Or does it go by another name. > > You sound like some newbie tourists. No one with any experience would > fall for this. Did you respond to the Nigerian emails too? Well, there's, in your "No one with any experience would fall for this", is the crux of the matter. Somehow, despite not being "newbie tourists" we had never encountered this. But this was our first "holiday in the sun" at this time of the year that was properly accompanied by the sun. Curiously, of all the guys and girls that approached us, only one did so in English. She asked where were we from and when I asked why she wanted to know, she replied she was just looking for some Scandinavians. The French speaking ones picked up on the fact that we had obviously understood them but were replying in English saying we don't speak French. But when we were approached by a Dutch speaker we thought, seeing as he says he's there to try and promote the place, and does seem genuine, we thought we'd stop for a sec and listen. Had he explained that we would have to go along with a drive X miles out of town, we would've given him back the tickets and suggest he give them to some other lucky punter. As for the Nigerian emails reference, that's apples and oranges. We were going along with things, disrupting our holiday for what amounts too altruism, whereas Nigerian emails target the greedy. I would have thought that someone with your implied experienced wisdom and understanding of such scams would have been intelligent enough not to mistakenly draw on such a false comparison. Apart from which, had I ever read something here, (wot with this being a travel:tourism related group) about these holiday-club, er, enterprises, and their scratch card gimmick, + the please go along with this or I won't be able to feed my children (not that he actually put it that way) + the drive to no-where-land followed by torturous tedium whereby you get just one little something to drink throughout and set in such a noise-stressed environment that you have to use you hand to cup your ears to direct the sound so you can hear their seemingly retarded rep, and all designed to try and break you down so that you'll sign just about anything then I wouldn't have needed the experienced tourists "experience" would I? What I'd like to know is why you seem to have felt the need to reply to a matter never mentioned here previously... but should be... with such a tone of put-down. Got some scratch cards you wanna pass on?
From: Andy Pandy on 22 May 2010 06:12
"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! 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. -- Andy |