Police and ambulance service wall planner adverts

[Lynne Baker]

Hi all
Has anyone been called to buy ad space on a wall planner lately?
I was called this morning by "The Wiltshire and Berkshire Police and Ambulance Service" to see if I wanted to advertise on their 2009 wall planner.
I thought this a little odd as, to my knowledge, there's no such entity as "The Wiltshire and Berkshire Police and Ambulance Service"! When I questioned the young lady she told me not to worry about that and to just hand over the money. I demurred gracefully.
Have I missed a trick, or saved myself from a scam?

 

[Urban Geek]

Even if it wasn't a scam, I don't think it is where I would want to direct my marketing budget. I have been approached by police services in the past for similar but not very tempted.

 

[Blue Rose]

Not sure if it's a scam or not but any advertising has to be thought about & the likelihood of clients coming in from that particular advertising medium.

Not sure that a wall planner would compel (sp?) anybody to pick up the phone.

Btw, what did you decide to do about the radio advertising?

 

[Lynne Baker]

I decided against it because they wanted me to sign up to a 13 week contract which added up to a hyoooooge amount of money. My cleaning lady also told me of a business in the village who tried it with the same radio station and got not one, not a single, solitary call as a response. I've used a 20th of the money to have a quarter page ad in two village magazines for the year!

 

[stoney]

Just to say i've done something similar before,it is a complete scam and a total waste of money!!

 

[essentia]

Hi I been asked to advertise in all sorts of things - the latest being with the housing association!! I just think that you have to be careful where you advertise - either because it is a waste of money and/or inappropriate or you are constantly sent emails/mail.

 

[TIPTOP]

I get these calls all the time, the last cold telephone caller was shoved in a drawer to talk to himself lol as he wouldnt take no for my answer, surely if we wanted to run with this kind of marketing we would source it ourselves and im sure it would be for a fraction of the price grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!! they seriously do my head in..... ooooh rant over now !!

Sue x

 

[Trinity]

Total scam, along with the Doctors Surgery wallplanner which was a big one round my way for a while.

I always tell cold callers I never buy advertising from a cold caller and I'm TPS registered and it's illegal to call me, call me again and I will report you.

 

[Ditzy]

Just a thought, but surely any legit wall planners, calendars, etc, surely they'd have been printed weeks if not months ago?

 

[TheBeautyWithin]

I work on my own out of premises connected to a doctor's surgery and whilst they're happy to put something in the staff room, its hugely frowned upon for a public service (hospitals, police stations, surgeries) to have advertising up. I may be wrong but I would approach cold callers like this with extreme caution!

I very rarely buy anything from a cold caller unless its a local magazine or paper that i want to advertise with... and then I ALWAYS refuse to pay what they're offering ... if they're cold calling they need sales!

Calla - I've taken to salon-geek-stalking your posts - you're full of great business ideas etc. Thank you!

Erica

 

[Ruth Mills]

Sounds dodgy, as there is no such entity; Wiltshire Police and Berkshire Police are completely different entities as far as I know (I used to live in Wiltshire)...

 

[dee]

i have had these calls before its a total scam !! dont even get involved in a convo with em ,x

 

[anca14]

Calla, this is a scam. Good you haven’t given them any money.
An article from FSB (federation of small business) newsletter discussed about these callers from 'police & ambulance' and confirmed is a SCAM.
Anca

 

[suzie49]

Same here I must have had about 10 calls like this from different companies, I just put the phone down...x

 

[Marley's Ghost]

In a previous role, I used to get these all the time.....and yes they are a complete waste of money. Not a 'scam' as such, because they are produced and do exist - they are pretty shoddy usually though, and god only knows who they get distributed to (if anyone).

A lot of them seem to come from the same call centre too.....different company names often, but very similar phone numbers - and you would swear that the same person had only the previous day called you about a different one...

You are very unlikely to ever get a call from these - and they are uauslly 200 - 500 an entry...so no small amount of money...

NB - they will sometimes call as if you have already booked a space - don't be sucked in, and if you have never signed anything, you are not liable at all...so tell them to sod off if they try that!

 

[HelenRobinson]

Sounds dodgy to me. I would call the The Wiltshire and Berkshire Police and ask them if they have a planner and if not tell them what happened...They will not like anyone using their name falsely I'm sure. Excellent sales technique though..don't worry about that just give me your money! lol! Thats where I have been going wrong doh!