Vehicle Center.co.uk - Scam?

Matt Simis

Got two phone calls from Vehicle Center.co.uk now after putting our car in Carzone. They seem to run a scam that charges £99 on the premise they have buyers available and ready (offered me 10,300 for '00 Beetle I have forsale, ie could be sold in matter of days), however from comments here and on:

http://www.blagger.com/db4/company_id/3321/companyname/Vehiclecenter.html

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/archive/index.php/t-294797.html

They seem to simply take the money and do pretty much nothing else.


Maybe should be sticky'ed? Anyone with good experience?


Matt

Atomic Pineapple

there was a bbc program on about this one night a couple of months ago and theres been warnings in the autotrader about such scams, i'd stay well clear of it if i was you.

el tel

It's often worth putting "No canvassers" in your car ad to discourage these people.

blastman

Scam. I've heard guys on the UK car forums talk about them. Steer well clear.

bmoferrall

Avoid!
->This muppet<- was scammed out of £90 by a similar (if not the same) outfit a couple of years ago.
The £90 was to be returned if they found a buyer for my car. I waited in vain for a couple of weeks.
After complaining about the lack of feedback a chap from 'co. Kildare', bearing a thick English accent, called about my car later that day :v:.
The penny dropped and my heart sank

bazz26

el tel wrote:

It's often worth putting "No canvassers" in your car ad to discourage these people.

Most scam merchants will ignore this and hope they can catch someone.

To the OP, I have heard of these guys before, telling you that if you that they have a number of people lined up to buy your car, just send them £99 and it will be sold within a day.

This is a a total scam. Ignore at all costs.

BnA

I got a call from these chancers before Christmas. I knew it was a scam as I'd heard about it on the radio. But it was a slow day so I engaged yer mon in conversation for about 15 minutes. Kerrist on a bike but he was some chancer. First of all he asked me a few questions about the car. I told him it was great etc etc etc. He was delighted. I then gave him a few negatives about the car but nothing would throw him off. It was just the car his customers needed.

I listened to his 5 minute speel before he got to the crunch....99 Squids up front. So I asked him what gaurantee could he give me that it would be sold. He told me how 95% of their cars are sold in 3 days or something like that. So I said.."What good is that to me... Sure you could just be making up those figures" So he then told me that I will have to take risks in this life if I want to make some money.

After that nugget of wisdon we moved onto specifics. I asked him how many people did he have looking for my car. He told me he had at least 8. So I enquired were these 8 people all around Ireland or were the 8 people actually local to me in Limerick. He assured me that the 8 people were all within a 50 mile radius of Limerick. I was selling a VW Corrado...!!!! So he was telling me that he had 8 people in the Limerick area that were looking for a Corrado...!!!!!! Now I don't think if I took out a full page ad in each of the national news papers I'd find 8 people within 50 miles of Limerick that wanted a Corrado. How the hell he found them I'll never know.

Anyway eventually I said to him. "Look I said. Do you think I came down in the last shower. I know it's a scam. It's very well publicised here in Ireland". Do you think he gave in at that.... not at all.... "Not at all sir. We are a very reputable company here in the Uk". He then went off to get his supervisor to talk to me but he couldn't find him.

I couldn't believe the neck of this fella. I said to him... "I cannot believe that you are still on the phone to me. I have told you I know it's a scam." I also asked him if he ever thought of getting a proper job.

Eventually after about 15 minutes he gave up. But do you think he went out meekly.... Not at all... He haughtily told me that he did not want to continue the conversation any longer because of the aggressive nature of my language, told me I was very rude as he only rang me to help me sell my car... and hung up....!!!!!

Now I have to say, hand on heart, I couldn't possibly have been any less agressive. It was a few days before the Christmas holidays. I had been out at a Christmas party the night before and was just walking down the road from work to get a fried egg sandwich. I was in great form altogether. Never more relaxed in my life. In fact, I don't think I could have been nicer to him.

Matt Simis

Got another call from them, 3rd or 4th now. Told him I checked them out online and they appear to be a scam operation like I mention to him in the last call (he asked how could they be, told him you could just take my money and not actually do anything for one..). He said he had never heard of any such complaints and was very anxious to see where this was written.

Told him go have a look at Google its all there (and Blagger.com). He said he would go and check it out and call me back...


Matt

blastman

These motor trade guys are all sensitive, artistic types, though....

bmoferrall

BnA wrote:

After that nugget of wisdon we moved onto specifics. I asked him how many people did he have looking for my car. He told me he had at least 8. So I enquired were these 8 people all around Ireland or were the 8 people actually local to me in Limerick. He assured me that the 8 people were all within a 50 mile radius of Limerick. I was selling a VW Corrado...!!!! So he was telling me that he had 8 people in the Limerick area that were looking for a Corrado...!!!!!! Now I don't think if I took out a full page ad in each of the national news papers I'd find 8 people within 50 miles of Limerick that wanted a Corrado. How the hell he found them I'll never know.

I was fed the same spiel. Improbably (even more difficult car to sell), they had ten 'clients' within a 30-mile radius interested in my car...and I had barely received a call in a month of intense advertising! After several rebuffs on my part I eventually succumbed. I handed over my hard-earned, charged the mobile's battery and braced myself for the onslaught. There followed two weeks of deafening silence. I was promised a 3-week listing on their website (www.tasautos.co.uk or somesuch) but my car never appeared on it.

It was an elaborate and well executed con (I'll see if I can dig up the terms and conditions they mailed to me). I guess there will always be enough first-time muppets like myself to keep the coal burning.

Tony

If you paid by credit card just get the money back from ther card company

bmoferrall

Tony wrote:

If you paid by credit card just get the money back from ther card company

I doubt it would be as easy as that to be honest.
Anyway, it happened a couple of years a ago in my case. I suspect they've changed identity since then.

Tony

bmoferrall wrote:

I doubt it would be as easy as that to be honest.
Anyway, it happened a couple of years a ago in my case. I suspect they've changed identity since then.

It is that easy if you act in a reasonable time, bear in mind that your contract is primarily with the credit card company not the supplier. If you tell them that you want a refund as you have not received what you paid for they are obliged to refund you immediately pending an explanation from the merchant which obviously they will not be able to give in cases like this. In cases where there is no signature on the credit card receipt a merchant does not have a leg to stand on unless he/she can prove they provided the service promised.

AMurphy

BnA wrote:

I .....
Eventually after about 15 minutes he gave up. But do you think he went out meekly.... Not at all... He haughtily told me that he did not want to continue the conversation any longer because of the aggressive nature of my language, told me I was very rude as he only rang me to help me sell my car... and hung up....!!!!!

Now I have to say, hand on heart, I couldn't possibly have been any less agressive. It was a few days before the Christmas holidays. I had been out at a Christmas party the night before and was just walking down the road from work to get a fried egg sandwich. I was in great form altogether. Never more relaxed in my life. In fact, I don't think I could have been nicer to him.

These guys do not give an inch. I played on for about 4 weeks on the Nigerian scam and when he realised I was not participating, (I asked him for a lonn), he responded with a tirade of abuse about wasting his valuable time, not being serious about doing business, listening and believeing other people ( I claimed to have mentioined "the business" to a cop, who warned it was a fake), and not to my partner, HIM, and not maintaining confidentiality, given the delicate nature of the "business". so wrote him a polite note indicatig the only "real business" I could see was he getting my bank acc numbers. But at no point is there any hint of an admission there is a scam and I suppose from his POV, it IS business.

UberNewb

BnA wrote:

So he then told me that I will have to take risks in this life if I want to make some money.

You should have said to him, "Well how about you send these 8 customers around to look at the car and if one of them buys it I'll pay you the 99 squids, you gotta take risks in life if you want to make money!"

AMurphy

Amazing the Sheet these folks can dredge up.
Just got a call this evening from someone offering some form of discount card that will save me "up to 12% as hundreds of local stores", and it includes some gift cars to local chain stores...... I let the lady warble on for a good 5 minutes.
Then the crunch, to avail of these gift cards and discount cards, I have to allow them to set up a monthly debit from my CC, for which they appear to know the last 4 digits.... obviously telephone no and address, but not the leading 12 #'s.
Actually they did not send the gift cards, but an application for the gift cards... and you know where that goes, well you apply and re-apply and it gets lost in the mail and eventually you give up, meanwhile your getting charged $15/month for the pleasure. And you'll probably find the discounts only apply to overpriced goods, if at all. Not uncommon to find the plan they describe is not supported nor acknowledged by the stores they claim accept them, etc.
Anyway, after she had wasted her time for 5 min or so, I said "NO".
I have no problem giving the dog the phone to chew on, wastes their money, if nothing else.

Another one. Automatic robotic dialers are set up to call a list of numbers, you answer the phone and there is nobody there for about 1~2 sec. Sure sign it is an automated dialer. As soon as you pick up, the robot searches around for an idle attendant and then patches the call through.
As soon as you hear that second "click" hang up, you have cost them a call, if nothing else.
If it sounds too good to be true, it is.

BnA

I got another call from the hoors last night. This time it was from Motor Help.co.uk. Same speel. Same hard sell. Unfortunalely eventhough I was in the mood for a good laugh because I was in the car on the way home from work and there was nothing on the radio, the freakin' battery died on my phone. I did get to ask her one question though that I didn't ask last time. I asked her how did these people (buyers) get in touch with them. She told me that they advertise on Sky TV. I told her I watch a lot of TV and being a fan of the Simpsons I actually watch a lot of Sky and I've never seen their ad. She told me the ad is actually on Sky TELETEXT...!!!!!

That is the third call I've got from them now since I started advertising the car in late December. I know the first crowd called themselves the Vehicle Center and last night it was definately Motor Help. I don't know who the second call was from as I didn't have time to talk to them that day. I wonder are they all the same crowd ?