Adverts placed in so called Emergency Services and Safety magazines

Hi all

I get a Bogus call every other day, I had the liverpool firm call me and i paid for a advert, I waited waited waited and waited, NOTHING

Then as i was going through my paperwork i thought i will do some background work and then ring them

I found out the MDs name address of both business and home, I called the nice man in the office and demaned response to my advert brought and paid for, He said sorry and that he will send one straight away, Guess what

Nothing came,

I the rang again, he posted a magazine to me and it would be there, It came and a five year old could of done it better and i wasnt in it hahahaha

loaded with both barrles i called and unloaded them down the phone, demanding money back,

fob fob fob fob he went money is on its way, I gave him a dead line and he said ok money will be there refunded friday

it didnt come now when i gobbed off a little more with the added words of "IM COMING TO LIVERPOOL TO FECTH IT MYSELF" along with i hope the MD is in else i will go to his house

they refunded me fully and i have never heard from them again i recall the company as IPL media and i have had a couple of posts about them before

Thanks for the warning. Glad to hear an assertive approach got you the refund.

This is the contents of a real 'live' letter which was sent to me by an Insolvency Practitioner just last week. The reason for receiving the letter was to ask if I wanted to add to any information they had regarding a particular media business I had had previous dealings with and had asked for my money back.

They gave me examples of misconduct which had not been previously known by the Official Receiver.

These examples pretty much sum up why you should be extremely wary of who you trust without actually having met them.

Examples of misconduct within the company were:-

Non-disclosure, removal or retention of company assets.

Failure to maintain, deliver up or preserve accounting records which account for a loss to the company.

Disposal of assets at less than their true value resulting in a loss to creditors.

Payment of some creditors in preference to others.

Excessive renumeration, dividend payments or pension contributions or other payments or provision of services and goods to directors.

Failure to supply goods or services wholly or partly paid for resulting in a loss to creditors.

Any fraud, fraudulent trading, breach of trust or other dishonest activity in respect of the companies trading.

Successive companies trading using the same name, assets and staff with the same directors including those ceasing to trade, leaving creditors unpaid.

Disqualified directors or undischarged bankrupts acting in the management of the company.

Non-appointed directors controlling the company's affairs.

Continuing to trade beyond a point when the directors knew or should have known, due to the creditor pressure, that the company was insolvent, thereby causing increased debts to creditors.

False or misleading representations to creditors about the company's financial position.

Failure to co-operate with the Official Receiver or liquidator.

As I have mentioned before what these people are good at is coming across as a genuine business that will help you while supporting good causes.

I am about to take all the information I have gathered to the Federation of Small Business and so would appreciate any comments or issues past or present that may have affected your business or indeed your welfare.

I make no apologies for being persistant on this one as I believe nothing has really changed for unsuspecting hard working genuine businesses just like you.

All the best.

Adrian.

Nobody can scam you without your consent. Just ask them to email their proposals to you. Give them your gmail address if you wish. If they are in any way shady you're unlikely to ever hear from them again.

Is this an old thread or is it me? Ok got it - it's an update - sorry!

I wasted a lot of time chasing this stuff down in 2010 -  records since zapped.

David's "e-mail me it" tip would have worked + Google did wonders. 

There seemed to be a whole ring (fronts for) these operators in the North West of England. Discussed with FSB guy who managed entries to the scams list on the FSB website, submitted details, but nothing happened. Seems an outfit at the centre of the ghost ads tricks, using them as the fear factor to run a protection racket is still going strong and has grown increasingly aggressive. Not wishing to draw on-line visibility here, I'll PM you the forum links.  Good luck with your campaign!

Thanks Ruth

Great to hear from you.

Sorry but this rant just can't stay in me any longer....

These scum bags have been around for a while and used to called me regularly opening with, 'we spoke 3 mths ago and you said to call you back, anyway we have a fantastic opporunity blah blah blah' . Simple, don't say yes to anything and hang up.

Never buy advertising that you have not already done your own 'due diligance' on and NEVER EVER buy it over the phone from some twonk who is selling space in a fringe publication that no one has ever heard of with a minority circulation. Certainly don't give card details. Invoice me once the publication is ready and my ad is to my satisfaction, if the publication is that good it is a win win? Money up front, not likely pal. 

If by some mislead chance you do you get to the stage where you have parted with you details and a 'contract' arrives, read the small print because somewhere it will say that you will be conned and will be having money taken from your credit card on a regular basis because you have signed a contract saying that you are an idiot, and although we will blatantly ripping you off threats of court action will most likely end up with you paying us for nothing so thanks!! Oh and we will share sell your details to other criminals like us so they can con you too.

Sorry, but when are we all gonna learn... 

Just say NO!!

Adam, brings back some painful memories!

Sorry Adrian, I know a few people in the past years that have got scammed by these b*****ds, the make my blood boil!

Firstly I make no apologies for raising this thread once again.

It appears to me that there is nothing can be done to stop these 'so called' publishers connecting themselves to good causes.

I was recently at a local networking event and spoke to a retailer who has now spent some 20K on this type of advert. And yes she continues to receive calls from a growing number of these operators. And yes they are just calling to confirm the advert you placed 6 months ago and Yes they have a recording of the conversation and Yes if you don't pay they will send the Bailiffs round.

Has this retailer had any results from these adverts - No.

These people are very good at what they do and are very convincing but please do not take on advertising unless you actually know the person and you can substantiate their results.

You will only be approached over the telephone and once you say 'yes' you will be added to a list which they all share. Many of them will have similar names and usually they say are connected with the Emergency Services or some sort of Children's charity.

If you want to place adverts you could do worse than contact another 4N member for advice and help.

Hope this helps.

ps. If you wanted to contact me because you are worried and in this situation - please do.