by Charlie Wright
Here’s a top tip for you…
Instead of sending money off for an envelope stuffing opportunity, try this instead…
· Withdraw £30. Put the money in an envelope and post it to a complete stranger. Pick any address out of your phone book. Attach a note saying “I don’t want this. Please spend as you see fit.”
Or if you’re of a more selfish bent….
· Attach £30 to a marshmallow… attach the marshmallow to the end of a stick… put the stick in a fire…. and watch it burn in a gluey flame while singing Kumbaya…
Finally, you could try this…
· Cellotape £30 to a tortoise’s back. Follow it, slowly, round a large garden all day, wearing nothing but your pants and a T-Shirt that reads Tortoise Sponsor Challenge 2010.
By using one of these strategies, you get to waste £30, a large portion of your valuable time… AND have an element of fun.
Whereas if you send it off to a company like Good Partners Mailing and Typing, it’s just no fun at all…
The grumpiest home-working opportunity ever
Good Partners Mailing and Typing is a classic example of an envelope stuffing scheme.
They advertise it as if it’s a home-working job (not a business opportunity)… but you’re expected to send £30 off to them.
Not the usual process for a job application , right?
They say they’ll pay you £1.10 per envelope. They’ll deliver you materials and equipment worth £800, (according to their sales spiel anyway). They’ll also refund your £30 after you’ve completed your first job.
So what really happens?
Well, as you know, I dislike and distrust all envelope stuffing schemes. But for this investigation I cast aside my prejudices and scoured the message boards and forums for any good experiences.
What I found wasn’t exactly positive…
One person who came across the website decided to phone the company and ask if they were the real deal.
A clever and sensible move… and any proper, decent company would be glad to answer questions from prospective clients.
Unfortunately…
“The person was rude and abrupt, did not listen to what I was saying and said that if I completed the application on line I would hear from them next week.”
Okay, but maybe that was a one-off. Even the best customer service staff can have a bad day but – whoa there! – perhaps not…
Another complainer says:
“I wasrudely spoken to by a male voice. I have checked the business with 192.com and the yellow pages and they do not seem to be in either of them. I asked for company’s registration number and I was hung up on!”
Yoiks!
Then finally here’s another testimony from someone who sent off their £30…
“They sent me a letter with membership card and assured me that they will find a job for me at the earliest opportunity but it is already 4 months… I tried to contact with them many times but they are not responding. Whenever they pick up the phone the person on the phone uses abusive language and is not helpful.”
Yes my friend, let me introduce the World’s Grumpiest Fraudster!
In the good old days, conmen used to use charm and wit to wangle money out of people. These days they act as if they’re OWED a living. Honestly, what has the world come to?
Avoid.
Talking of Old Fashioned Dodgy Geezers…
I don’t know if you read Sunday’s issue.
If you did, you’ll remember I was talking about a guy called Simmons… he rings people up out of the blue with racing tips… and when the tips ‘miraculously’ win, he gets these winners to send him money.
Of course, what’s likely is that he’s run a bunch of people, tipping every possible result of a single race. He then contacts the winners and asks them for money.
One of my readers wrote into tell me says that this scam was not only exposed by Derren Brown… but appeared long ago in a classic episode of Minder.
My readers says:
“T.P. McKenna played the part of Simmons. He had heart trouble and got Arfur to get Terry to run his ‘business’ for him while he recovered in hospital which consisted of Terry manning three red P.O. telephone boxes…. Nothing new, is there?”
Indeed there isn’t. Only the technology changes.
Saying that, perhaps I am the most wicked and evil of all people… because I may have destroyed our beautiful planet using a single email…
Have I destroyed the world?
If you remember my email about ‘Ambulance Chasing’ a few weeks ago, I described the potential of a health niche known as ‘The Cabbage Soup Diet’.
Afterwards, a reader emailed me to say:
“You have just set in motion the death of all residents in the U. K. or possibly even the World!
Reason – My wife tried the Cabbage Diet some years ago. Result – successfully lost weight but the toxic fumes resulting from said diet nearly overpowered the entire neighbourhood! Absolute, consistent and completely uncontrollable wind! People disappeared for miles around!
If I have caused mass flatulence in your area, I apologise sincerely.
Finally, if you’d like to read my emails on Tony Simmons, Ambulance Chasing and Farty Cabbages… PLUS a heap of new reviews which I’ve just posted here