Posted by Veron ·
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py (3)
goes by the name veron (english) or wanting (chinese). a definitive leo born august 1, 1984. a solo traveler. loves cats, coffee, sensual music, yummy food and technology. when she's not at her job as an IS developer for the government, she's likely to be out dining, or visiting an interesting art gallery or event.
we all know how timeshare scam companies in singapore work. last october, local blogger gecko wrote about his encounter with one such timeshare company, grand seasons international (GSI). his post was quickly highlighted in tomorrow.sg (a highly popular local metablog) to warn people about this scam.
seven months later, tomorrow.sg has been slapped with a legal letter, supposedly for defaming GSI.
note that tomorrow.sg does not publish its own original blog content; it aggregates interesting posts (with a local focus) from various blogs. still, the law firm chose to take legal action against tomorrow.sg instead of the original blogger.
i am not sure how the editors intend to deal with this matter. they are currently seeking legal advice and support from people who have dealt with GSI before. i certainly hope that they would not bow down to pressure or be bullied into taking down the post, because that is exactly what GSI is seeking. scam companies do not deserve to win.
a quick google search for “grand seasons international” (with quotes) would reveal the said tomorrow.sg post in the first result, and “Grand Seasons International — Timeshare Victims Support Group” in the second. that speaks volumes about GSI already.
james seng, a tomorrow.sg editor, says it best:
“We are also mindful that threats of legal action should never be used to quash legitimate and valid criticism on the internet.”
indeed. blogs have become a popular medium for people to gather the most honest reviews and opinions. people trust a blog review more than, say, a paid review article in a magazine. but imagine being threatened with legal action for every negative remark made of a company, however accurate it is. no blogger would dare to speak ill of anyone ever again. instead, they would be waxing lyrical about every other company and product. would people still look to blogs as a reliable source of information?
be sure to read the full legal letter here and leave your thoughts on how the editors should deal with this matter. personally i am very curious as to how it will unfold. i have always wondered what i might do should bee cheng hiang decide to take legal action against me for my call for boycott.
now, for something more lighthearted… how should we deal with these timeshare scammers in the first place? well, i stumbled upon jayson’s blog a few days ago. yet another of these timeshare scam companies, global trend this time, called him up to offer him a “free gift”. he immediately knew that it was a scam and with some quick thinking, pulled a fast one on the company.
lucky for us jayson has recorded all his hilarious phone conversations with the scammer — a totally clueless but very persistent one! listen to how jayson (he uses the name “victor” in the recordings) brag about his “big and long shaguar” (jaguar!) that has to occupy at least “1.5 to 2 parking lots”. hahahahaha! he claims himself to be the CIO of a huge multinational company and how he enjoys “pajamas fridays”. hahahahaha!
guys, you must, must, must listen to the conversations in this order! trust me, they are bloody funny!
may 25, 2007 - 11:43am
may 25, 2007 - 6:17pm
may 28, 2007 - 2:23pm
thanks, jayson, for the laughs! do drop by his blog to listen to all his conversations with the scammer and leave your creative suggestions!
external links
a gecko’s tale: Timeshare Scam (October 22, 2006)
Tomorrow.sg: Grand Seasons International - Timeshare Scam Company (October 23, 2006)
Tomorrow.sg: Legal Letter from Grand Seasons International (May 30, 2007)
Jayson’s blog (see links on his sidebar for all the telephone conversations)
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Fierce! It’s like giving the scammer a taste of his own medicine. You’ve been punked! View all comments by Kevin
What makes it sweeter is that the scammer still has NO idea. I wonder what Jayson would pull this time. View all comments by Veron
hey Veron!
nice cosy blog you have here!
thanks for featuring my post here. I feel very honoured.
Well, let’s see if Jack calls me on Pajamas day this Friday.
Cheers~ View all comments by Jayson
It is really a common practice for companies engaging in illegal activities to conduct legal intimidation to discredit exposers of their low-life activities. These companies hope that the whistle-blower is intimidated enough by a legal letter to succumb to their bullying tactics.
There should be a law against frivolous law suits. View all comments by pkchukiss
Well, the contents of the letter look pretty stupid. Disclose the name of GECKO? Have they ran out of ideas to track down the person? It’s always the cowards who have to resort to such tricks.
But anyway, the conversations are really hilarious! Haha.. View all comments by Jacelyn
A friend who have worked for a timeshare company as a scammer/telephone marketer once told me that while she knows it’s a timeshare co. because of the type of questions she need to ask and the must-find-out question is “Do you have credit card?” She have absolutely no idea who she’s calling on behalf for. The company was secretive and her pay was given through an agent company. She get her commission based on the attendance of the people she called.
Besides timeshare co, there’s an MLM company http://www.swisscash.net. I’ve heard of many scams regarding that company and it’s pretty “popular” or notorious perhaps, a friend of mine have got into some kind of trouble with that. Wonder if there’s more information you can share with me? View all comments by Xanthe
Pkchukiss,
There -is- a law against frivolous lawsuits. In order to enforce it however, you have to….you guessed it…pay a lawyer and ask them to sue the bugger.
Yes, I know it’s not fair. View all comments by Anthony
Recently there is this Hight Yield Investment Program (HYIP) called SwissCash SIP25 that guarantee 25% interest per month forever. My friend invested in it and I’m very worried for him. I told him I don’t think this investment scheme is real, simply because it’s too good to be true. Since he is my friend I decided to go something to help him. I created this blog called http://swisscash-investment-review.blogspot.com solely for the purpose of gathering evidence to show that SwissCash is a scam. I managed to gather a lot of solid evidence from credible sources such as Today online newspaper, governments, embassy, banks, etc. Unfortunately, after my friend read the blog I created for him, he still don’t believe that the SwissCash SIP25 is a scam. I personally think SwissCash is a scam and you can see this site http://swisscash-investment-review.blogspot.com for strong evidence. View all comments by Swisscash Investor
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