Why nobody ever wins the car at the mall • Hacker News Board

Re: Why nobody ever wins the car at the mall

#181

Post by hutzlibu » Tue, Jun 26, 2018, 1:33 PM UTC

emacdona wrote: post #173

pwg wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Roping the unsuspecting into an incredibly expensive time-share using hard-sell boiler-room tactics without ever being up-front about the true costs. I sat through one of these once, curious about how it was going to go, and with the intent going in of not ever buying anything anyway. They present the timeshare as if it costs only pennies a day, and never admit to the true cost unless pressed very hard (and even then…

I always thought it would be kinda fun to get a group of people together (maybe a Meetup) who would attend timeshare pitches for fun. The goal would be to pack the room with people who had no intention of buying in. Time is money, and I suspect the best way to cost them money is to waste their time.

yes, but you would be wasting your time - unless you all enjoy it.

Re: Why nobody ever wins the car at the mall

#182

Post by robin_reala » Tue, Jun 26, 2018, 1:38 PM UTC

neya wrote: post #157

The article mentions about GDPR, but I thought GDPR was mostly for online businesses? How would GDPR affect an offline telemarketing company like this one where almost all of your info are collected and processed to the fullest possible unethical extent?

GDPR affects any organisation (not just businesses) that collects and processes the personal data of people who reside in the EU. So yes, the same rules would apply here, assuming the business deals with EU residents.

Re: Why nobody ever wins the car at the mall

#183

Post by JumpCrisscross » Tue, Jun 26, 2018, 1:38 PM UTC

rubzah wrote: post #81

Why is it always timeshares? What makes them so ideal to sucker people with? I've seen these scams all over the world.

> Why is it always timeshares?

They're as expensive as a car, but sold (a) remotely (so the customer has no opportunity to inspect before buying) and (b) within a vacation mindset (which makes people less diligent about diligence). TL; DR Used car salesmen with fewer checks on their behaviour.

Re: Why nobody ever wins the car at the mall

#184

Post by mikeash » Tue, Jun 26, 2018, 1:38 PM UTC

polynomial wrote: post #152

cornholio wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The car is surrounded by posters that read "Enter to win" above a picture of a white vehicle otherwise similar to the blue car physically present. There is absolutely no doubt that ideogram promises a chance to win the car in exchange for the registration.

> There is absolutely no doubt that ideogram promises a chance to win the car in exchange for the registration. While a naive person may make that inference, a rational person may understand that 'ideogram' does not constitute an assertion that the picture depicts the prize to be won. I sure don't mean to defend such predatory scammers, but I'm pretty sure they are legally safe on that part. I had a friend last year…

I’m pretty sure you’re actually defending such predatory scammers here.

Re: Why nobody ever wins the car at the mall

#185

Post by pwg » Tue, Jun 26, 2018, 1:38 PM UTC

Angostura wrote: post #108

pwg wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Roping the unsuspecting into an incredibly expensive time-share using hard-sell boiler-room tactics without ever being up-front about the true costs. I sat through one of these once, curious about how it was going to go, and with the intent going in of not ever buying anything anyway. They present the timeshare as if it costs only pennies a day, and never admit to the true cost unless pressed very hard (and even then…

> I was watching the gullible filling out their "loan applications" and setting themselves up for $500/month for the next ten to twenty years before they could pay off the 'loan'. I presume that quite a few of these are actually timeshare employees playing the role of "conspicuously convinced punter"

That is quite possible. I presumed the 'open plan sales room' was exactly to play on 'follow the herd' mentality. These guys were slick enough that they very well may have filled half or more of the room with plants to further fuel 'herd' mentality.

Re: Why nobody ever wins the car at the mall

#186

Post by mabbo » Tue, Jun 26, 2018, 1:40 PM UTC

justinclift wrote: post #122

invalidusernam3 wrote: post #70

I remember a few years back walking on the beach with my dad and some similar time share scam people asked us if we wanted to enter a competition. We were handed two scratch cards with various prizes; cash, a holiday or the grand prize of a car. Obviously all the scratch cards were winners for the holiday. My dad scratched his card and said "Oh great, I won the car!" The scam guys eyes opened wide and he had a confus…

> The scam guys eyes opened wide and he had a confused look on his face and asked my dad to show him the scratch card. Obviously it was actually for a holiday, but it was great seeing the confusion in the guys face since he knew there was no car. As a lark, it would've been super funny to create a realistic winning "ticket" for the car and substitute that in place to see the reaction. Obviously it would require some…

Well, now I know what my next side project is going to be

Re: Why nobody ever wins the car at the mall

#187

Post by mikro2nd » Tue, Jun 26, 2018, 1:40 PM UTC

dxxvi wrote: post #166

Once, there was a telemarketer calling me and trying to persuade me to buy a home alarm system. All he wanted is to get my credit card #. I asked him to repeat himself 2-3 times for almost all of his sentences (not all, because that would make him hang up). After about 20 mins, he knew my game and said that I was wasting his time and I was not a good citizen of the U.S. I was sad because somebody said that but the wh…

Have to smile, reading this. It reminds me of the time I received a very scammy call telling me I'd won a week's holiday in Florida (US accented person; I am not in the US). Now in my world view, if first prize is a week in Florida, second prize would be two weeks in Florida. Losers get to spend the rest of eternity at Maralago (sp?). But all that's a horse of a different colour...

I asked the caller to hold a moment...

Went out into my veggie garden and spent almost an hour doing some digging and weeding and generally having a grand ol' time in the sunshine. It raised quite a laugh when I returned around sunset and the caller was still holding, waiting for me to return. Quite unbelievable! Led me to wonder how these people are incentivised.

I put the phone down without waiting to find out anything more about their scam/offer/whatever.

Re: Why nobody ever wins the car at the mall

#188

Post by lawlessone » Tue, Jun 26, 2018, 1:41 PM UTC

beaconstudios wrote: post #63

dvfjsdhgfv wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's one of these cultural differences between the USA and Europe. There might be more bureaucracy in Europe, but these officers actually do the work they're paid for. E.g. as for the superannuation issue, you could probably get a court order within 2-3 months here.

for an alternative viewpoint, I'm from the UK and I see these car sweepstake scams all over the place. I think the region you're in has a strong impact on what the police's priorities are, due to different leadership.

I've seen something like this in shopping centre in Ireland.

But the car manufacturers logo was all over it, which makes me think it's legit.. but it is always there.. which is suspect.

Re: Why nobody ever wins the car at the mall

#189

Post by jetti » Tue, Jun 26, 2018, 1:41 PM UTC

A few years ago my wife got a call about a free cruise but the catch was sitting through the timeshare sales pitch. We had no intention of buying in, especially since we couldn't afford it at the time, but we wanted the free cruise (well my wife did, I didn't want to go). Well we sat through the horrible sales pitch and then they put us in a room to get the cruise. We sat in the room for maybe 25 minutes before we gave up. Nobody came in to help us in that time. The reason we left wasn't because of the wait, I was determined to get that free cruise despite not wanting to be there. The reason was the restrictions behind the cruise. There were tons of blackout dates and you couldn't pick the exact date of travel. You picked 3 dates and they would let you know which one. I also believe there was a very short window of when they would notify you that you had the tickets to the cruise. I was starting my career at the time so I didn't have the flexibility of just taking a week off at the last minute.

Re: Why nobody ever wins the car at the mall

#190

Post by emacdona » Tue, Jun 26, 2018, 1:42 PM UTC

hutzlibu wrote: post #181

emacdona wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I always thought it would be kinda fun to get a group of people together (maybe a Meetup) who would attend timeshare pitches for fun. The goal would be to pack the room with people who had no intention of buying in. Time is money, and I suspect the best way to cost them money is to waste their time.

yes, but you would be wasting your time - unless you all enjoy it.

Right, in order for you not to be wasting your time, you'd have to get some value from attending. I think you could argue for any of the following: (a) educational, (b) entertainment, (c) charity work, or (d) none of the above. Depends on the person...