Software developer at Afrigator.com
Love Python, do PHP.
An Apple Mac is a wonderful piece of hardware. See, its got this little application called a Dictionary. When I first heard that Donn Edwards is being sued for R461, 500 because he believes he was scammed by QVC (a.k.a. Quality Vacation Club) I did what I’d normally do and consulted my trusty Apple Mac Dictionary.
The Dictionary app not only gives you the Dictionary definition of the word, but it also has a Thesaurus section giving you related words. Here is what it returned for SCAM:
the scam involved a series of bogus investment deals fraud, swindle, fraudulent scheme, racket, trick; informal con, hustle, flimflam, bunco, grift, gyp, shakedown.
Aha! Trick! Lets see what the Dictionary app has to say about Trick:
a cunning or skillful act or scheme intended to deceive or outwit someone : he’s a double-dealer capable of any mean trick.
Hmmmmmmmmm…. Isn’t this exactly what happened? I mean, didn’t they “trick” Mr. Edwards in coming to their presentation by telling him he’s won a car, just to find out later that he’s been tricked and in fact didn’t win anything, but in fact lost precious time?
Bloggers being sued is not new. Hell, bloggers have been jailed for the things they’ve said! Still, they just won’t shut up. Viva La Revolucion!
Suing Donn Edwards might not have the most clever move. I mean, if one single blog post lost them about R300 000 of income, what is all this talk not going to do?! They should be losing millions by now. Here is some links to other sources:
Quality Vacation Club on Afrigator
Here is some posts and articles not on Afrigator:
Timeshares, annoying phone calls & lawsuits by Roxilla
Holiday Club is a SCAM by Make a good house a GREAT home
Is calling people and telling them they have won a prize a scam? by Guy McLaren
Timeshare ’sales scam’ on IOL
Why I think the Quality Vacation Club is a Dubious Organisation by Dominic White
Quality Vacation Club Bullies Blogger also by Dominic White
…and I didn’t even spend a lot of time digging!
So here is my advice to Quality Vacation Club:
Instead of spending a bunch of money suing bloggers, rather invest in buying some Macbooks for you and your staff. Then next time you get accused of something, consult with the wonderful Dictionary application and see if maybe, just maybe, there isn’t validity in the claims. Could save you millions…
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Jansie Blom 10:26 am on December 4, 2008 Permalink |
Or, invest your money in something really good; get a toshiba, WITH Windows Vista ;-)
Stii 10:30 am on December 4, 2008 Permalink |
Surely you’re jesting?! lol
Jansie Blom 11:04 am on December 4, 2008 Permalink |
hehe.
Rox 11:08 am on December 4, 2008 Permalink |
You can add my one to the list as well:
http://www.roxilla.co.za/2008/12/01/timeshares-annoying-phone-calls-lawsuits/
Rox 11:08 am on December 4, 2008 Permalink |
Doh, already there. :-P
Norio 1:02 pm on December 4, 2008 Permalink |
Hehehe, love it! Maybe all of this bad PR they’re receiving will help them see the light and they’ll drop the charges. Maybe someone will turn the tables and sue them. Mmm, a man can dream can’t he ;)
Donn Edwards 2:10 pm on December 4, 2008 Permalink |
Has anyone mentioned it on Digg or Muti?
Stii 2:16 pm on December 4, 2008 Permalink |
@Donn, its been all over Muti. Dunno about Digg, but I’ll add the Afrigator page and send some shoutouts.
@Norio Now you’re talking!
Jansie Blom 2:35 pm on December 4, 2008 Permalink |
if you post it to digg, please send the link to me as well, or tweet it, or whatever.
Stii 2:48 pm on December 4, 2008 Permalink |
Okay, I’ve dugg it. Please go digg it now!
http://digg.com/tech_news/QVC_Scam_Blogger_is_being_sued_for_complaining
Norio 2:52 pm on December 4, 2008 Permalink |
On my way!!
Arné 8:32 pm on December 7, 2008 Permalink |
good to see so many people getting behind this!
Travel 2:40 am on March 6, 2009 Permalink |
Hmm nice post man, keep up the good work :)
transidle 3:45 pm on July 1, 2009 Permalink |
In 2003 I was conned into buying QVC points, first things first you get the call from them where they state that you have won a choice of prizes and that you must come through to receive your prize, so off you go…
Upon arriving you sit through a presentation for their sales pitch and they then go on to tell you how fantastic their packages are and that you will be buying into something as safe as houses. You then have to sit through the paper work of explaining how you will be benefiting for future holidays and then only can you go and try out their draw to see what prize you have won, although in my opinion you only get a holiday and never any of the other prizes that were mentioned in the telephone call.
At the time I was still very young and was very interested in the idea, so I made the decision to sign up for what I believed at the time to be very lucrative only to learn later on how binding the contract would be, never the less you aren’t given the opportunity to think it out as it’s a “once in a lifetime” opportunity. So you then proceed signing a contract, which is done in an environment that no sane person would be able think it out since you are continually bombarded to hurry up. That said and done the contract was signed and sealed and they managed to talk me into management fees and levies because I was unable to pay a deposit and at the time you do not realize the implications due to the rushed environment.
The time came for my first payment to be made and I realized about the levies and management fees that were to be included into the payments, there is not much emphasis paid to these while signing the contract, and the biggest problem is that it can escalate at QVC’s discretion. More emphasis is paid to the amount payable for the points. I have now been a member of QVC for 6 years and the annual increase are not pretty.
So what is QVC’s solution to getting “out”? You need to go to one of the resale agents that will market your points after paying a marketing fee. The fee is reasonable; although the only guarantee is that the resale agent is one of the best in the market at reselling the points, although I would imagine that many people like me are in the situation that they are willing to give their points away at a loss. There are many laying around on systems globally that no one is will to take over, so the final outcome is that you will still be stuck with your points.
I have done the whole Google thing to discover more people like myself who are sitting with Vacation points regardless of whether it be QVC or one of the others, although I have not discovered many as yet that can offer a solution to getting “out” of their contracts, so I appeal to any person/s that have fallen into the same “trap” that I have and even lawyers/advocates that are willing to make their comments.
I am sure there are many people out there that would wish to get out of their “soul damning” contract as I do. So let your voices be heard and let us together find the solution, life is never without hope.
uerith 3:05 pm on July 3, 2009 Permalink |
i want to sue quality vaction club. they are liars. please contact me 0726380718
degville 6:56 pm on September 6, 2009 Permalink |
I was a employee of QVC and also own many units. I retired last year, and find that the units were the best investment my husband and I have ever made. We use our units extensively and enjoy the resorts that we have gone to. The management fees may be a bit high, but then the fees are very wisely utilised in keeping the resorts that they own up to date and clean.
We will never be sorry that we bought units.
Keith Forsyth 12:35 pm on October 8, 2009 Permalink |
I purchased 30 points in May 2006. To date I have paid in R20,262.00 towards the cost of the points, (total being R34,500.00) and R10,903.00 in management fees. The balance remaining is R24600.00. I havn’t calculated the intrest but it seems pretty high to me! With having to fork out close to R12,000.00 PA on management fees & payment towards the 30 points, we have not had the money to to go on holiday. We gave 120 points to World Travel to sell 12 months ago and they have not yet managed to sell anything. 30 “free” points expire in December 2009. Now it seems there is no way out of the contract without losing 90% of what we have paid in. If I had had all this information before being nailed by QVC I would never have bought into QVC, and we would have been able to afford a few weeks holidy every year as we have always done in the past.
Mario Koppers 10:23 am on October 17, 2009 Permalink |
All this about QVC is so familiar, and I find myself in a similar situation, with 60 points and huge yearly increases in management fees. After investigating selling the points, and being confronted by a slew of advertisers with the same idea, we have decided to cut our losses and give up the points.
If you are considering getting an agent to sell your points on your behalf, take care with those folks who ask you a fee in advance – there is little to motivate them to sell your points. The other option – paying an agent a percentage following a sale – is just not available.
My impression is that this business is just full of scam-artists. The decend thing for QVC to do, would be to offer to take back one’s points, even if it is at a reduced price. However, they are a bunch of scum-bags who balance on the sharp edge of decency vs rip-off.
If you really want affordable holidays at reasonable prices without being tied into unreasonable and escalating contracts, you might as well become a member of organisations like WTI or DAE; the membership is either very small or free and choices of resorts and times extremely wide.