Suckered by a charity

[gm140]

Last October while in the middle of my tiling course I recieved a phone call from a charity "The Forresters Fund For Children" they told me I could advertise in their booklet which was going to be distributed to all residential and business addresses in my area. At the time I was wondering how I was going to reach all my prospective clients and thought this would be ideal as being associated with a reputible charity would make me look like an honest, caring person (which I am by the way).
I was just about to start out and was nieve, all this advertising for £349 bargain.

I agreed and was promptly phoned back to confirm the order, but this time the call was being recorded wheras the sales call had not been. Alarm bells should have started to ring but didn't as I'm a trusting soul (or fool).

A couple of weeks later received a proof through the post showing my advert and looked good and proffessionally done only now correspondance was coming from a company called Vardis. It appears Vardis do all the charities admin, sales etc, still no alarm bells.

I hadn't heard anything for about 6 weeks so I called them to ask when the booklets would be going out, only to be told that they are distributed on an area to area basis over the course of the year and that they go to hospitals, dentists waiting rooms and are sold at charity events and won't be going to everyone in my area at all.

I phoned a couple of the other adverts in the booklet, one lady had gone out of business as she'd paid up front to take advantage of their discount, this had been all the money she had set aside for advertising, another small business I contacted had received the same sales speil as me but thankfully like me hasn't parted with a penny yet.

Next step I contacted the manager at Vardis explaining how I and others had been mis-sold this advertising, after some discussion he reduced my bill to £150 but as I explained to him why should I pay anything for this as it isn't going to reach my target audience, therefore won't give me a return, he just kept telling me that it was for charity and he thinks the reduction is more than genourous.

I don't want to appear heartless and that I'm stiffing a charity but I feel I have to make a stand against their unscrupulis methods so I've contacted Trading Standards. Hope they can sort it out but I fear because the sales call wasn't recorded it's me and the advertiser in my areas word against theirs and they have a recording of us agreeing on the return call.

Anyone else been duped or am I the only idiot on here

Graeme
ETL Pro Tiling

 

[paulyoung666]

you aint an idiot , you have been sucked in , it should be illegal but i suspect it never will be , best thing to do is to move on , but dont lose the caring side of you

 

[DHTiling]

I really feel for you..

Read this>>> Vardis - Blagger.com - The place to leave feedback and comments about companies you have used

 

[united]

Not good mate.

You should never buy from cold calls. only advertise in places you want to once you have done your own research, made your own decision and called them yourself.

If it sounds too good to be true then it probably is.

Hope you get it all sorted out then you can spend your money somewhere else.

If you want to donate while advertising try your local Church magazines they are cheap and you help the community.

 

[gm140]

I really feel for you..

Read this>>> Vardis - Blagger.com - The place to leave feedback and comments about companies you have used

Thanks Dave had a look at the link its comforting to know I'm not the only one, their not getting a penny.

 

[DHTiling]

These type of comps have been discussed on here before...

You stick to your guns..

 

[mikethetile]

first of all forresters children charity do some fantastic work for children and are not some kind of rogue charity

the £150 is likely to be the costs of the ad and will be taken by vardis leaving the charity without payment

you agreed to the ad so will have to pay for it

in your position i would refuse to pay vardis but make a donation for the full amount to forresters with a letter of explanation

all of theese things are charitable donations, you will be lucky to get a single job from them

 

[Daz]

There will always be loads of dodgy and unscrupulous selling going on. As soon as one gets exposed and closed, another will start.

I find that as soon as you ask them to confirm the distribution area and numbers as well as what they are actually offering via email (don't forget to ask them to state what percentage of revenue is allocated to the charity), they usually hang up without even asking for your email address .

I've never had an email from any of the dodgy callers yet. BT Customer Street give that request a big swerve too :lol:.

 

[gm140]

first of all forresters children charity do some fantastic work for children and are not some kind of rogue charity

the £150 is likely to be the costs of the ad and will be taken by vardis leaving the charity without payment

you agreed to the ad so will have to pay for it

in your position i would refuse to pay vardis but make a donation for the full amount to forresters with a letter of explanation

all of theese things are charitable donations, you will be lucky to get a single job from them

Sorry Mike maybe Vardis should send the donation their the ones telling the lies,but I don't dispute its a leggit charity but they should choose their freinds more carefully, Vardis will drag them down and its only the kids that will suffer

 

[mikethetile]

Sorry Mike maybe Vardis should send the donation their the ones telling the lies,but I don't dispute its a leggit charity but they should choose their freinds more carefully, Vardis will drag them down and its only the kids that will suffer

thats right mate

its the kids that are losing out

think about it

you agreed and you sent the proofs back..........sorry mate

 

[gm140]

thats right mate

its the kids that are losing out

think about it

you agreed and you sent the proofs back..........sorry mate

I didnt agree to make a donation, I entered into what was going to be a mutually beneficial set up, I didnt realise I was being conned. Had they upheld what I was told in the sales call they would have had their money by now.

 

[mikethetile]

im not going to fall out with you over this gm

i only stated what i would do in your position

think this whole thing through properly

i was in round table for over twenty years and on top of the tens of thousands i helped raise i personaly paid thousands myself

charity donations are tax deductable and do your business a lot of good image wise

 

[jimbob]

it's ALWAYS good to give to charity, but sometimes it pays to give it a little thought first. Only a couple of weeks ago I received a letter asking me if I'd like to adopt a giant panda for £4 a month. I wrote back explaining that it's all very well me adopting it now, but what happens in 18 years when I've got to tell it I'm not its real dad?? :yikes:

 

[Gazzer]

it's ALWAYS good to give to charity, but sometimes it pays to give it a little thought first. Only a couple of weeks ago I received a letter asking me if I'd like to adopt a giant panda for £4 a month. I wrote back explaining that it's all very well me adopting it now, but what happens in 18 years when I've got to tell it I'm not its real dad?? :yikes:

I wonder if they have heard that one before :mad2::mad2: :lol:

 

[united]

it's ALWAYS good to give to charity, but sometimes it pays to give it a little thought first. Only a couple of weeks ago I received a letter asking me if I'd like to adopt a giant panda for £4 a month. I wrote back explaining that it's all very well me adopting it now, but what happens in 18 years when I've got to tell it I'm not its real dad?? :yikes:

:hurray::lol::lol::lol: