Vision charity magazine

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Defur Dog Grooming

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Dec 3, 2010
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Basingstoke
  • #1
    Hi, new member to this forum. I have agreed and seen my advert in the magazine that was sent with the invoice, however I can not find another person who has recieved this magazine (supposedly delivered to every household in Basingstoke). A small business owner I know was told by a trade checker she belongs to not to do business with this company, she did recieve a copy of the magazine but my ad is not in it. Does anyone know anything about the Vision group for childrens charity. I do not want to refuse to pay the invoice if they are genuine but I feel I may have been duped.:)
     
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    Wayne Brown EPM

  • #12
    I have also had the same company do an advert for my company to be published in there magazine i got a copy of the magazine sent to me but cant find it anywhere else. when i got a call asking to make the payment i asked where i could find it and they gave me some names of places but i could not find the magazine i now keep getting letters. I had the same thing last year whith a police magazine which turned out to be a scam that never actually got published they kept trying to get me to make a payment and then told me they wher going to take me to court after a lot of abusive language from my part in the last call they made to me they gave up.Its a shame that people are losing faith in these charity magazine adverts because genuine charitys are losing out they need to be stoped.The only good thing that has come of this is that i have used there artwork for my own forms of advertising.


    Many Thanks
    Wayne Brown
    Essex Property Maintenance
     
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    Maipenlai

  • #14
    My wife was contacted my the same company by phone they said it was a local publication it was not until she got the invoice that she realized it was UK based, non of the other adverts were local and we have seen no sign of any of these magazines in circulation she has agreed to pay if she comes across any of the magazines in circulation. She has got many demands to pay and is waiting for the debt collectors to call. She signed nothing and the verbal agreement was payment on publication of the magazine. We do not accept one copy of the magazine as confirmation of publication.
     
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    yourcreditmanager

  • #15
    It's a total scam... and they're total scum... Don't be pushed around by them - if you keep getting calls, just use a loud whistle on them!

    To the Op, I'm local to you and no such magazine has been distributed around Basingstoke to my knowledge...

    Michael
     
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    ThePublisher

    Free Member
    Mar 4, 2007
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  • #17
    Hold firm on your chequebook Defur, they are a bunch of chancers.

    As luck would have it we had a couple of visitors at my networking group last week who mentioned they'd been invited to advertise in a charity publication. When I did a bit of digging we established it was Vision on behalf of Forester's Fund for Children. They were very pleased when I gave them the low-down and saved them the grief.
     
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    sheen services

  • #18
    i am new also to this stuff well i received a bill on the 17th july 2009 from Vardis then a second from a new company called vision 4 Jan 2010 which I was informed by the person that they have changed there name to this. douse any on know if both these companies are actually bogus. As on letter the charity is mentioned also a phone number.
     
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    vision charity

    Free Member
    Feb 26, 2011
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  • #21
    I can throw a little light on this subject.
    This company has absolutely nothing to do with Vision Charity. We do not run a magazine,we do not sell advertising and we do not cold call businesses for money. We have had a large number of emails from people who have been approached in this way by Vision Publications.We have tried to put a stop to this with little success.
    I am not allowed by ukbusinessforums to post their website details but they are made up of www visiongroup uk net. At the foot of their homepage you will see a disclaimer regarding Vision Charity
    My only suggestion is to contact local press,trading standards etc to highlight this and hopefully the truth can be made available.

    If anyone would like to comment direct I will be happy to take a mail
    please go our our website for this as I cannot post it here

    We would of course welcome support from all businesses but as you will see from our website we run events not magazines

    Larry Davis
    Director
    Vision Charity
    Charity registration 1075630
     
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    Katy Radcliffe

    Free Member
    Jan 25, 2011
    90
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  • #24
    I just got a call from them, I expressed an interest in the smaller ads, and agreed to let them send me a confirmation letter and a copy of the publication. This was before I had a chance to check them out on here, of course.

    I will reply that I am not interested, after researching them, and I hope that will be the end of it. Obviously, I haven't given any money or signed anything. That may not stop them from trying it on, but I know I'm legally OK.

    The woman I spoke to was very, very good. She sounded very nice. She also seemed to have a good knowledge of my area, even though her accent was English. She specifically said that she knew my area well because her sister works at Faslane Naval Base. Of course, she could have been sitting in front of the computer, looking up local info so as to be able to sound like she knew what she was talking about.
     
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    Katy Radcliffe

    Free Member
    Jan 25, 2011
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  • #25
    Just to help the google-fu: Foresters Childrens fund = vision = Vardis = SCAM.

    All I did was agree to let them send me stuff. They called it a "letter of confirmation" but I said I wanted to look at the publication, first.

    A few minutes later, whilst I was reading this thread, another woman called and said "You just spoke to my associate a few minutes ago, agreeing to purchase advertising..." and I said "No, I agreed to let her send me information for me to look at. I haven't agreed to purchase anything." And she said "OK, then... we'll pop that in the post to you, today!" and that was the end of the call.
     
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    Katy Radcliffe

    Free Member
    Jan 25, 2011
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  • #27
    Yep. That's what's going to happen. Apparently, when challenged, they will provide a recording of the conversation which, I'm sure (thinking back on what was said) would be construed as an "agreement." I said that I would make my final decision after seeing the magazine, but specified that the small ad was the one I was interested in.

    Apparently, someone else who fell for this scam phoned trading standards and was told that, unlike consumers, business-to-business contracts can be verbal, over the phone, and they are not actually doing anything illegal. I will call trading standards, myself, tomorrow in order to get information and advice, and be ready and have my loins girded for battle.

    From what I have read thus far, although there will be calls from a collection agency, it doesn't go any further than that - they don't actually take people to court. I'm going to research that, further. In America, by the time it's gone to collections, its on your credit report. I do hope that nothing like that happens to me. I'm resigned to being dunned by calls and letters, but more than that would make me very angry.
     
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    Katy Radcliffe

    Free Member
    Jan 25, 2011
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  • #29
    I've sent them an email which they may not read, but will at least provide me with documentation of my having contacted them to cancel. I will also send a registered letter, tomorow.

    I wrote:

    Hello, I spoke to "Katie" today (08 March 2011) on the telephone. Although I told her that I wasn't going to commit until I saw a copy of the publication and did more research, Googling the "Forester's Fund for Children" brought up many links to fraudulent business practices by yourselves, including an article in the Daily Mirror.

    This email, which will be followed by a registered letter tomorrow, notifies you that I do not agree to pay for any advertising you may attempt to invoice me for.

    If you insist that I have made a verbal contract for advertising, then this message serves as a record of my having cancelled it well within the seven-day period stipulated on your website under "Legal."

    I consider this matter now closed and do not anticipate hearing anything further from Vision Group.
    Click to expand...
     
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    Katy Radcliffe

    Free Member
    Jan 25, 2011
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  • #30
    Just got another call from a man, this time from a number in Chester (01244349704). Wanted to sell me advertising in a magazine to support the local police. I kept him on the line for 15 minutes, making the guy repeat himself (and always avoiding saying the words "yes" or "OK" as some people think they may splice recordings in order to produce "proof" that you've agreed to their nonsense.)

    I let him go on and on and then I said "So, now I guess I'll be getting an invoice for something I never agreed to, followed by collections notices demanding payment? I'm not interested. I've just let you talk on in order to waste your time. Buh-bye!" I called him a nasty name and hung up.

    He kept ringing back constantly for another ten minutes. I didn't answer, hoping he'd leave something entertaining on my voice mail. He wasn't quite that stupid.

    Glad I annoyed him.
     
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    josgar

    Free Member
    May 5, 2011
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  • #31
    I have worked for this company now for 1 month. Apart from the poultry wages they pay i thought something was odd as they have split the workforce into 2 offices. Us on the phone no very little about where the money goes, the guys in the other office(the ones with the nice cars)seem to be swanning around doing as they please. I am going to go to work tomorrow, pick up my pay and every person I call I will warn them of this scam until my manager pulls me and when he does I will stand up and knock him to the floor for pulling the wool over my eyes. If he gets up I will knock him down again. I cant believe I fell for this charade and I can only apologise to the businesses who bought false advertising space from myself. I will donate what I can afford to the NSPCC. I feel sick about this as I have kids of my own. Beware the name JOHN SHEPHERD, he is calling the shots now. Rest in Hell Vision.
     
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    cliffsull

  • #35
    I just had Steve from Vision give me a call about the Forresters Charity, offering the same scam deal.
    AVOID THESE SCUMBAGS LIKE THE PLAGUE.
    Oddly enough... it sounded exactly the same as 'Steve Green' who phoned me a while back from a similar scam - Advanced Publications, once you receive a call from these scammers, your details will be passed onto others.
    It seems that Liverpool is the source and that they are all called Steve.
    Now when the ring, I challenge them for A registered Charity number, a contact number for me to verify with at the Charity and a number to cal them immediately back on.
    As they stutter and make excuses - I usually tell them to 'F$ck off and die' and hang up smugly.
    As I am not allowed to post links directly - you can copy and paste to see about how they were targetting Business in Wiltshire in April, 2011.

    www - pc-insecurities.com/blog/2011/04/possible-advertisement-scammers-targetting-new-business-in-wiltshire-and-elsewhere-advanced-publications-liverpool/
     
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    LPS Jim Bob

  • #36
    Just thought I should confirm all of the above. Unfortunately I fell for this last year, being a bit gulerble and new to the game and only wish I had seen this forum then. I can confirm all of the above and am currently being harrassed again by the same company....one female in particular who is very aggresive and has now threatened to pass my details to their debt recovery section. As with most of the other comments I have recived an invoice for something I did not agree to and as such have no intention of paying. I would advise everyone who has friends etc running their own businesses to tell them to avoid these scum like the plague, they will stop at nothing to try and get money from you.

    Now I hve seen I am not the only one, I relish the next call from them.

    Good luck
     
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    thekatric

  • #39
    WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT PAY A PENNY TO THIS SO CALLED **** GROUP.
    They state they are called Vision Publications Group, PO BOX298, Ormskirk, L39 2SW. Tel: 08452657054
    They did exactly the same to my partner and dept collectors keep calling.

    Law states that a contract cannot be made verbally! (The unsolicited goods and services invoices etc. regulations of 1975). What they are doing is illegal. No agreement was made in writing!

    Would anyone like to join me. I am going to watch dog about this. Also seeking legal advice to stop people like this.
    There office base I was told is apparently 31 Burscough Street, L39 2BG. Which obviously is a lie! The guy I spoke to in accounts in Steve (dont know his real name) The guy who owns the company is called Mark Andrews.
    I am taking them down big time. If there phone calls persist further they will not know what hit them!
     
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    Deleted member 128865

  • #40
    So, the VAT number of 819468001 on the Vision scam-website corresponds to:

    Name ANDREW LOWNSBROUGH !! VARDIS
    Address KEEPERS LODGE, SANDY LANE, LATHOM, ORMSKIRK, L40 5TU

    Over the years this fellow has run a whole host of companies (Vardis, Vision, Brough & Kudos Developments, Atlantic Media,     Sapphire Media) operating exactly the same scam. Most of these are now dissolved and/or defunct companies.

     Andrew Lownsbrough's full name is Andrew Charles Lownsbrough and his DOB is 4/11/69.

    The company which currently hosts the Vision website is a company called Wedfusion who may well be completely unconnected with the scam.
     
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