A Scam?

Posted by Unknown On Thursday, February 24, 2011 12 comments
This afternoon, my son had to buy a pair of shoes for his squash club activities. Happily, we went to a nearby shopping mall and after making our purchase, I was about to go to the nearby supermarket to get some groceries.

Along the way, a young girl tried to waylay me for the second time. She begged me to listen to her so that she could meet her quota of people she had approached. Feeling sympathetic for her, I sat down and listened to what she had to say. She then asked her senior to talk to me.

He said I just had to fill out my personal particulars and would be entitled to a free gift. I was most skeptical and reiterated that I was in a hurry. Fine. He tried to make me buy:

a) A safe cooker @ RM 3688 but at a discounted price of @ RM 3288..I declined politely.
b) A 23-piece stainless steel cookware set @ a discounted price of RM1798. Again I declined.
c) An alkaline water purification system @ a reduced price of RM2988. I said I had no need for that product.
d) An air purifier @ a discounted price of RM 2388. I said 'NO'.
e) A convection grill microwave oven RM2988 which I declined.

Then he proceeded to give me a card and asked me to scratch it :-). He explained the options if I got 'A', 'B' 'C' or 'D' and how each would entitle me to a different rate in the discount.

Ok. Scratch...scratch scratch and I saw a dollar sign. So I asked him if that meant I would get a cash prize hahaha!

And he pretended that it was the first time he had seen such a sign. Then he said he had to call his manager.

Fine. I wanted to see how the charade would progress.

Animatedly, he spoke to the Manager...( I suspect he just called his own number) because when he was on the phone, my husband called me...and he stopped talking on the phone to listen to what I was saying to my husband without terminating his call!!! Then he continued to talk to me after I ended my call with my husband. No sane person would waste $$$ that way. I asked him directly if it was a genuine number he was calling and I saw 016 4 *******.

Initially, he said I was ONE of the 20 lucky winners of any product I wanted.

I said, "Ya, and I have to pay more $$$ to get the product."

He said "NO" and his other colleagues congratulated me and he said:

a) I cannot sell the product
b) I have to participate in their company advertisements
c) The warranty will be null and void if I sold the product.

Fine.

So I said, where is the prize and what is it?

RM800 rebate for the product. Then he pretended to give my name to his manager to see if I had won this before *eyes rolling* and the manager said I am a 'first-timer' and was eligble for the prize. Ya right!

I said no thanks.

Then he proceeded to tell me that if I signed up using interest-free payments via my credit card, I would get a vacuum cleaner that costs RM800. Following that, he gave a demonstration of the vacuum cleaner. Ya right. Spend RM1500++ and get a RM 800 vacuum cleaner and a discounted product?

So I said, "Thanks but no thanks. I will discuss with my husband and get back to you if I want to buy your product."

To that, he said, "The offer will no longer be valid! You have to make the purchase NOW."

In response to that, I gave him a 5 minute lecture as to how he should realize that the economy is doing very badly and that he cannot pressure customers to make such rash decisions to purchase such goods which are non-necessities.

Then he said I am the ONLY customer who DID NOT respond to that offer.

GOTCHA!

Earlier, he had said that it was the first time he had seen the dollar sign!!! And he proceeded to call his 'manager' etc and his colleagues congratulated me and shook my hands etc.

After thanking him, I walked off. When I reached home, I looked at the brochure and noticed that he had called his own number! Clever! But I suspected it then!



I wonder how many consumers fell for that gimmick. It is the first and last time I will ever listen to any sales representatives.

Is this a scam? I think so....I wonder how many unsuspecting customers fell prey to this sales gimmick!

12 comments to A Scam?

  1. says:

    donplaypuks This scam, like the Nigerian Con, has been reported many, many times in the MSM. If you had followed him back to his office, end of story!

    He would have pressurised you into spending $10-15K!

    You should report it to the authorities!

    dpp
    we are all of 1 Race, the Human Race

  1. says:

    Anonymous These are sophisticate amateurs!!!! They should have seen professionals at their best.

  1. says:

    Anonymous Usually they aim at 'brainless'-looking old ladies ...hahahaha !!!

  1. says:

    PJN This happened in Penang? I frequent shopping Malls and supermarkets and have not been approached before. You must be rich or rich-looking for them to approach you. I am at a lucky age. Too old to be rich and too poor to be conned. That is why they avoided me. The next time when you see an old man trying to con you just avoid him. This man could be me.

  1. says:

    Anonymous They used to operate in a small group in USJ areas. Mostly young girls followed by senior male colleagues. Looking at those RM ..88
    that is very likely done by chinese syndicate with cheapy products from China that cost a ten of it.

    Heard of some older uncles given a good ride on useless items thinking that they got a real good deal. This scratch & win game is deem illegal and can be reported to the authority.

    Well, if we are not greedy and are compose at all times such trick won't befall us. I'd people calling my house phone once too many that I'd won 29" - 42" TV and asked that I come to their showroom to collect it.

    My response is sharp, quick and straight to the point. Just keep it and save me the trouble to drive there. If you ask them to send it over, they may send it and ask for transport of RM 150-200. Then after collecting the cash and getting you to sign the delivery order, a call may arrive saying that the wrong one was sent.

    They will take their exit and ask for another delivery time since they had sent the wrong product. There goes you RM if you are a willing partner to their con game. Gold is not found in the sky but only in the ground. So, for any wealth to come, we need to work for it in one way or the other.

    ~ahoo~

  1. says:

    Unknown Dear DPP

    Great to hear from you again. Thanks for your civic conscious response. There is no way I can be conned into parting with my moolah cos I have little haha and I count my pennies very carefully in my semi-retirement years. Yes, I will be taking this up at a higher level. Take care and please keep in touch! Have a great weekend.

    Cheers!

  1. says:

    Unknown Dear Anon # 2

    Yes, that is what I have heard! However, I surmise their success level depends on the gullibility of their potential victims. Take care and have a great weekend! Thanks for sharing your observation. Do keep in touch.

    Best wishes

  1. says:

    Unknown Dear Anon # 3

    Sadly, I believe you are right...We read a lot about such cases. Thank goodness I am old but still have brains LOL! Take care and pass the word around to other would-be victims. Have a great weekend!

    Cheers

  1. says:

    Unknown Dear PJN

    Haha! Thanks for a very entertaining response. Nah - I am not rich and do not look rich either :-) but may look clueless although I am not. Like what Anon # 3 said earlier, I do agree that they zero in on older ladies. It is tougher for guys to con guys...That is why we read many cases of old ladies been conned and how they parted ways with their $$$ for a few pieces of stones! The greed of some leads to the grief of others.

    It's great to hear from you again. Take care and have a lovely weekend!

    Cheers!

  1. says:

    Unknown Dear ahoo

    I always wondered what was the modus operandi of such con jobs and now I know thanks to this first hand experience. Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge about this. More should speak up and make others aware of the deception that underlies many of these set-ups. Indeed, it pays not to be greedy or materialistic lest one falls to the schemes of such unscrupulous groups. Take care and thanks for sharing so sincerely. God bless you and yours always!

    Shalom

  1. says:

    bayi Greed is the root of all the successful scams. If the people approached by these cheats were not greedy, they wold not have fallen victim to the scams.

    There is no free lunch!

  1. says:

    Unknown Dear bayi

    Very true, bayi. However, there are also some who are gullible and made the alleged purchases in an attempt to save money but ended up losing even more.

    Sighs...

    Take care and may wisdom and integrity be increased in our midst.

    Salam

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