01268 555095, 08004585625, GVC and Club La Costa

by **tonyburgess** on Thu Mar 01, 2007 7:28 pm

I just received a call saying that my wife had entered a competition in December, and we had just been picked in the prize draw.
The number which called was 01268 555095, which appears a lot in this forum, and seems to be from GVC in Essex. If you call it back, it just rings and rings.
They referred me to another number to register for the prize, 0800 4585625, which does not bring up any info on a Google search, and I only had 30 minutes before the deadline to respond.
On calling, the answer is so quick that you miss the company name.
On asking, this is the famous Club La Costa!
We had our fingers burnt by them a few years ago, before they became famous, so I knew it was a scam and hung up.
People be warned.

by **Fred 2** on Thu Mar 01, 2007 8:07 pm

The 01268 is GVC Sales Ltd, Pitsea, Basildon. This number has also been used to push White Sands Beach and Country Promotions (and others). The 0800, if you split it and Google on "0800 458 5625", will bring you back to this forum.

by **thommo** on Wed Mar 21, 2007 3:55 pm

Same thing just happened to me and cannot get a reply. Thanks for your post tonyburgess, just about thought it was genuine!

by **sunnykate** on Fri Mar 30, 2007 12:25 pm

hi i recently entered a competion to win a free holiday and guess what within three weeks i had a phone call to say id been awarded a free holiday and that i would have to attend a office at lakeside. Being a bit wary a took some details from the caller and decided to check the net. Im so glad i did i dont think i will be taking up the offer of a free holiday looks like itll be another british summer holiday in a caravan!!!!

by **kjh1957** on Thu Apr 05, 2007 11:54 am

Having just visited the ideal home show, I completed a questionnaire as we left and were waiting to cross the road.
1 week later I had a phone call from Craig on behalf of CLC saying that I had won the prize holiday and that there was no catch and I was not being sold anything. All I had to do was ring 0800 0191905 give a reference number and ticket number.
I rang the number and thankfully the lines were busy and so I was given a message that I had rang Club la costa. So Hanging up I did some research and found that it is a good old time share sales con.
Thanks to you all for providing the information on the web.

by **greerj** on Tue Jan 08, 2008 4:18 pm

I had the same call saying that for completing a survey I had been awarded a weeks luxury break. When I asked what the catch was and if it was really FREE I was informed that we would in fact have to pay a �24 admin fee per person but only on booking a holiday. This is obviously a cheap holiday but as far as I'm concerned you very rarely get something for nothing so I checked the web and I'm glad I did.

As it was a free phone number I still called it just to see what they had to say. They asked me how long I have been living with my partner - I told them a couple of months and they said "this offer" (what happened to "prize"?) is only open to couples who have lived together for a minimum of 12 months. I can only assume they want to know that the couple is secure so that they would be more inclined to 'invest' together.

by **Murrielle** on Wed Mar 19, 2008 3:49 pm

Hi,

Just received 'phone call to say my husband and I had won a 7 day holiday, self-catering, inclusive of flights. Been invited to Lakeside on Easter Sunday, told not to bring any money with also going to be given M & S vouchers to the value of �25. Holiday can be taken in Spain i.e. Teneriffe, Portugal and also in UK. Gleneagles was mentioned. Also Cornwall. Being suspicious looked them up on Google and what did I find your comments. Thanks a lot. Really appreciate it. Might go to Lakeside to get "free vouchers" and just to sus them out. My husband knew straight away that it was timeshare.

Also advised me that upon booking there would be a small booking fee of �29.50, obviously inflation has increased the fee from �24.

Ruth

by **HW Jan.C** on Wed Mar 19, 2008 4:22 pm

So glad that this web site can help out, as a rule of thumb,, any free holiday,, is usually the hook line to get you in their grasp.
Please take my advice, IT IS NOT WORTH GOING JUST TO GET THE VOUCHERS... These people are alot more pursuasive than you are thinking, just take a look at our forums and see how many people didnt escape with just vouchers and now have to try and get back their hard earned money from these sheisters.
Jan

x

by **aramis** on Wed Mar 19, 2008 4:38 pm

Take Jan's very good advice, and forget the vouchers. If though you really 'must' give up several hours of your time, plus the time and expense of travelling, then make sure you leave your credit and debit cards at home! In fact don't even take money or a cheque book, and don't sign anything - not even to confirm receipt of the vouchers!

by **satnav** on Fri Apr 04, 2008 4:32 pm

I just received a call from 01268 555095, claiming to be CLC. Had all the usual speil and they gave me a number to ring :0800 988 9904. I googled it while they were still talking to me and it brought me to this forum so I am just mentioning the number(s) they are currently using so it might prevent others from enduring any aggro at CLCs expense. Happy Holidays! (But not with CLC, clearly!)