GPGT - survey and winning $1000 gift certificate
Also posted at
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=2481627
I am so noob!!!
I'm just writing this out to create awareness if any of you might be contacted by them, and are prepared for such 'presentations'.
Whether the company is legit or not, whether their products are really good or not, I have no proof either way (since I haven't bought them), so it is all up to you to decide.
Situation - Survey, and selected for $1000 Gift Certificate
About a week ago, I got a call for a quick survey - asking about occupation, and number of credit cards I own. Very fast survey.
Yesterday (friday evening), I got a call (by "Karen", from "Asia Demand") saying that I amongst the 20 chosen out of the 500 surveys, and won a $1000 gift certificate, and a 1-1 cruise voucher, as well as hotel stays in Thailand. There was an emphasis that gift certificate is cash value for anything, services, electronic, clothing, etc... NOT discounts, but cash value.
To claim the prize, I have to go down to their office today (saturday) from 2pm to 3.30pm, and must attend a 90-minute presentation, no obligations.
Arrival day
Office is at 3rd storey Regency House (take the elevator next to the hair salon), between Dhoby Ghaut and Somerset MRT. At first when I exited the lift, I saw "i.Discover International", not "Asia Demand", I left, but when I called them, they said it is the place.
When I arrived, the lady who called me (Karen) wasn't around, so another girl (Stella) spoke to me for the first 90 minutes.
Recollection of stuff discussed during the 90 minutes
- If you are not comfortable, you can leave at any time. But, if no 90mins, no gift.
- They are NOT timeshare. Timeshare is Resorts, instead they do hotels.
- Timeshare takes 6 months to switch between resorts, instead they have a pool of readily available hotels that you can choose to stay in
- They offer the lowest non-budget airfares
- Where do you want to travel to?
- They have partnerships with a huge number of hotels, mainly 4 or 5 star hotels
- For these hotels, membership rates for the first 10 days are SGD $10-50 per night, and a bit more expensive after these 10 days. (Regional hotels are cheapest, and european hotels the most ex)
- The hotel rates are so cheap, because you're only paying for breakfast, make-up-room service, etc... And they are trying to earn from spa and room services, instead of letting the rooms stay vacant
- Membership rates for cruises are also highly discounted, about 60% to 70%.
- Yearly membership fees is $350, and one-time membership fee (that lasts 50 years) undisclosed
- If you didn't travel for one entire year, there will be a rebate of $600 per non-travelling year, so that you're not obliged to travel just because you paid for membership
- One time membership fees only disclosable upon attending for longer (than 90 minutes), upon letting the manager talk about about the 'full package'
- Do you like the offer? If you're interested, you can listen on. If not, you may leave. This is a one-day-only invitation. If you're already there once, you will not be allowed to come back another time to apply.
Things that sounded HIGHLY SUSPICIOUS
- One-day only invite, one-time only offer per person
- You will not be given opportunity to "go back home and consider"
- According to them, its only ONE-DAY-ONLY because they don't want to waste time having their consultants serve customers over and over again, compared to other well-known travel agencies
- They will not disclose the price of the complete membership (especially the hefty one-time payment) within the first 90 minutes, actual package takes another 60 minutes
- I thought, if it is so good, why didn't they set up a booth at NATAS fair instead?
Additionally, according to a middle-aged couple I spoke to after leaving the building together, who stayed and listened to the entire product presentation, and were close to buying and signing a contract:
- They will not allow you to keep or photocopy the contract for reading
- Have to pay the one-time membership fee immediately
- A 10-year membership will be about $10k to $12k
My own opinions
- Reminds me of Bernie Madoff's grand ponzi scheme. Huge initial capital payments. Great service, and products were really very good (since they have lots of $$$ from the one-time membership fees, to pay off for your travels and hotel stays)
- Damn it, never bring voice recorder
- The idea of "too good to be true, too good to be true" kept ringing in my head
What I did
After saying that I'm not prepared to listen nor pay for the membership, I was allowed to leave, and collect my complimentary gift.
Ultimate NOOB PWNAGE
And to really take the cake, here is a picture of the "$1000" certificate. It is a
FRICKIN PHOTOCOPY. The receptionist who passed me the certificates in an envelop said that the certificated ID number at the bottom right (1008) will be used to redeem at the website.
(no confidentiality clause, no unique winner identification, most of all, its crap anyway, so I'm free to post it here)
A
google search on "shoppingspreeforyou.com" will reveal that its quite a scam. You pay $10 to "process" the certificate, but will eventually still pay to buy the items you want.
Crap, even their logo was sloppily pasted over and photocopied.
If you like it, feel free to attend their presentation to get it from them. Also came with the 1-for-1 cruise, and a free 1-day car rental voucher. Will show pictures here if requested.
Other info
The call was from: 64381238, by Karen, from "Asia Demand", an outsourced call center.
The person who attended to me, was Stella.
The address of the place is the 3rd Level of Regency House. Not the apartments, but the office block.
The signage the moment you exit the elevator: "i.discover international", similar to the lousy UHU-job on the photocopied gift certificate.
