Auntie Lilly and the free gift from hell
My cousin called today to tell me about what happened to Auntie Lilly and Uncle Albert over the weekend.
It was a pretty slow Saturday morning, so Auntie Lilly was very happy to have received a phone call that told her she had been selected to receive some branded free gifts.
You know where this is heading, but Auntie Lilly didn't, and very delightedly told Uncle Albert that they had free gifts waiting for them at Wisma Atria.
Eh, free MP3 player, you know? Free digital Canberra you know? We got selected you know?
My cousins knew where this was heading, and warned them that this was likely to come with a very big catch.
But free digital Canberra! Free MP3 player! Branded one you know?
And off they went, Uncle Albert and Auntie Lilly, to Wisma Atria, where they were to call their children after they had picked up their gifts, so that they could be picked up and fetched home.
A while only lah! Just answer some questions, then we call you ok? Free digital Canberra you know?
An hour passed and they didn't call. So the cousins called them to ask what time they'd be done.
Finishing soon. You come and pick us up lah. Wait for us at Tangs. We waiting for the Canberra.
And the cousins went and waited outside Tangs for them. For half an hour, before they decided to buzz Auntie Lilly's mobile phone again.
Err. Not finished yet lah. Still talking. Talking something lah. Your father got questions to ask.
This went on for another good hour, before an ashen-faced Auntie Lilly appeared at the taxi stand with a equally worried-looking Uncle Albert.
My cousins decided to frisk them and found that they had signed and purchased four thousand bucks' worth of time-share lifetime holidays at luxury destinations across the world. Immediately, my cousin called the bastards to make sure they cancelled the deal, threatening bodily harm if necessary.
That got Auntie Lilly even more worried.
Eh, don't scold them lah. They give us the Canberra you know?
And the branded MP3 player.
Auntie Lilly, there's a price to pay for wanting to be so connected, you know?
Sometimes, my digital Canberra can take quite nice photos
Sometimes, my digital Canberra can take quite nice photos
Surf stop: Lifestory
iTunes' party shuffle is playing a copy of: Everybody Plays the Fool - Aaron Neville - Warm Your Heart, of which I have the original CD and therefore didn't steal music.
posted by Mr Miyagi at 3/08/2005 11:08:00 PM
7 Comments:
You'll be surprised who will fall for this kind of thing. My office a young man and savvy dude also kena. He just could not believe that the deal was bogus, and clung on to the hope that he really did win a trip to Bangkok for a contest he did not join.
And even after I told him it was scam, he insisted that the other party told him it is not Timeshare. (Yes, and LHL is not our Prime Minister)
People will believe whatever they want to believe when they want a prize bad enough.
Needless to say, I was also an easy prey of such marketing tactic. And this one, it was over the telephone. I was told by an AT&T rep that I would be given a Omega ladies watch, no string attached. I even checked with her if I had to sign or pay anything. It was a clear "No". But before the watch arrived, the phone bill came.
It turned out that I had to pay a monthly charge of $35 for long distance billing for a whole year. At first I thought not bad a deal, $35 for all the calls I made. But no, on top of $35, I had to pay $.90 per minute and a surcharge of $10 everytime I call back to Spore! And it wasn't Omega, it was Onega! I got out of it by claiming that I didn't take their call, but someone faking my identity!
Your Auntie Lilly is super cute. First she comes up with newfangled computing terms like Ingterneck and Emu, then she falls for travel agency scams just to get free branded stuff. LOL~
Oh dear... thankfully your cousins were there to make sure that things went right. Aren't there any regulations for this sort of business?
I wonder why they signed, when they know that they are signing away their money.
People would do anything for something free.
lol! i got a similar call! they offered me a DVD recorder. I was geniunely interested, coz got free gift, plus i know i would never fall for the watever thing they are selling.
coz i dun hv money in my bank acc. how to buy....
Once, I fell victim to it too, but was lucky to get myself legally extradicted and my money back. Unfortunately, I couldn't recover most of my legal fees (sucky legal system in SG), but I take it as a lesson learnt. Personally, I think they put some kind of gong tao (spell) on you to make you loose your sensibilites, coz I distinctively remember succumbing to their evil after they offered me a drink.
Whats really worrying is why the authoritites are allowing this kind of businesses to thrive in SG. Makes you question real hard.
Post a Comment
<< Home