Just to add my 2c to the herd.
There is a group of people who operate under various names and basically phone people, tell them they’ve won a car or something and then make them attend a prize giving where they discover they’ve won nothing but then subsequently get lured into some contract holiday garbage which invariably ends up costing them way more than they expected. This bait and switch operation is the very definition of a scam.
Long story short, if someone phones you and says you’ve won something, don’t believe them… alternatively you can tell them to drop off the car at your house when they have a moment :)
In the mean time, another South African blogger wrote some stuff about the scam on his blog and QVC are subsequently trying to sue him for over half a million rand, which is basically their way of saying “We’re bigger than you”… well, they might be, but they’re not bigger than all of us.
You can read more about this case here and here
ps QVC, aka Quality Vacation Club, aka Prestige Business Solutions, aka Unique Connections, aka World Connect/VIP/VIP World Connect, aka Prime Vision, aka Media Magic, aka Mega Communications, aka Ezweni Communications, aka Dynamic Communication, aka Real Communications/Real Communication, aka Ecoworld, aka Market Matrix.
Why would a legitimate business need so many aliases?
I encourage other bloggers to get this story out into the wild so that these con artists start to feel the google crunch.
#1 by puffy on July 24, 2010 - 6:15 pm
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Hel 2hel yeh they gave me a cal i went there without knwin its a scam. I was suprise wen i hav 2 complete a form about my details. da no. Al of a sudan here comes dis ugly guy by da name of lungelo givin me presentation about qvc damn dat guy. I wasnt there 4 presentation only da draw. I got dat voucher so wat must i do with it. Some people got da bals
#2 by arbitraryuser on July 26, 2010 - 12:09 pm
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puffy, dude, you made my day. Now go read some books.
#3 by desmond on August 11, 2010 - 3:47 pm
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its just a scam.I tried to get of it. its very difficult to get out of it. Please help.
#4 by pearl on August 12, 2010 - 12:10 pm
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i also just got a call from a certain Khanyi woman that told me i had entered a competition to win a Nissan Lavina and i must attend a presentation on Saturday the 15th in Midrand no 28 Guildford road, i was very suspicious as i do not recall entering any competion, thank goodness for google.
#5 by Sharon on September 3, 2010 - 11:08 am
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I have been there, completed the form and wanted to cancel but now they are hounding me. They threaten with legal action and I’m really in a fix.
#6 by Des on January 20, 2011 - 4:26 pm
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MAJOR SCAM!!!!!!!!
#7 by Ockert on March 10, 2011 - 4:48 pm
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My wife fell for the same trick 8 years ago, she lost her job before she could use this scam, she notified them that she is jobless and that she cancelled the membership (we never even used this scheme “Scam”). They first told her she must sell her membership and later on they accepted the cancellation. Now after 8 years they phone her and tells her she owes them R120k for something she never used or they will take legal action.
#8 by prad on April 1, 2011 - 11:20 pm
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We have started a group on Google Groups as points owners to collectively share ideas about what to do next about this issue.
Together we will have more options bandied around. In addition, we may be able to use our collective sense to approach influential bodies like industry ombudsman and Customer Protection.
Join us be registering http://groups.google.com/group/thc_action?hl=en_US
The group is a private group, meaning you must be registered to take part in discussion threads.
#9 by Gullible on June 23, 2011 - 4:15 pm
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i just got a call from the same people (QVC) informing me that i had won a holiday in one of their new resorts. The only condition is that i had to attend a prize giving in Midrand.
It’s actually very elaborate because the “call centre agent” actually gave me a reference number, direct and switchboard number, and an address. If i must be be honest, they nearly had me…
P.S. did u know if u say tomato backwards really slowly, that it almost sounds like gullible?
#10 by Rodney on June 29, 2011 - 5:13 pm
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Yip, also being hounded by these people…..I’m reserved for 2 o’clock lunch at the presentation in Midrand tomorrow…..Guess I’m not going to show now. Thanks folks.
#11 by alet on July 26, 2011 - 4:15 am
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Is there any way to get out of this QVC??
#12 by Cyril Adkins on August 19, 2011 - 4:38 pm
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Bad experiance,was also a runner up in a “chevvy spark competition”,had to travel up to Pretoria for the draw.After a good sales pitch i was guarinteed that over and above the 37.5k i paid that all points accumulated could be resold if not used within a 3 year period.Guess what i can only sell my points bought and the offer is only a tenth of what i paid. What a rip off.I intend to recover as much as possible,cancel the stop order and write the whole experiance off as a very bad dream.
#13 by Estie on September 8, 2011 - 3:43 pm
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I am also trying to get out of the QVC Club, but they refused me and said I must try and cell the points, that is the only way to get out. (So that the next person can get stuck with it) I also need help Please. I want to get out.!!!!
#14 by Sogs on October 4, 2011 - 9:25 am
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Thank u guys for this website,juss got a call that l have won a 5 day holiday and need to collect ma voucher on a luncheon 2morrow at Midrand,Guess l am not going coz this surely is a scam!
#15 by K le Roux on October 4, 2011 - 4:03 pm
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jip folks, we all were sucked in by this company. they did exactly the same with me about 11 years ago. the transaction offered was very different to the one I received. tried to get out of it, but once you sign, you can NEVER get out of it. the contract was signed by the owners nephew himself. he now has coverted to Christianity (the nephew), but has not yet given my money back. If you try to sell, there are a few companies (proppably assosiated with them ) that claim the will buy your shares, but at a hell of a loss. sad to see that these “good businessmen” continue to survive, regardless of the continius bad reporting,,, but like the owner say’s…”there is an asshole born every minute”