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Post by Brewster on Jul 7, 2004 1:53:53 GMT
  Hi there I wish that I had found your site last week. I had not heard of TV Direct before. I received a brochure from them 26/06/04, telling me that I had been preselected for the top prize of £10,000 (followed by what I now know to be the standard carrot technique). I placed an order with them with payment in postal orders, even paying for next day delivery (£3.75), the whole amount being approx. £40. I took 3 days to read and re-read the documentation and could find no problem with it. In my mind I have planned to pay off some of my debts (from my student days), to treat my children to a proper family holiday for the first time in years and only yesterday I was looking at cars to buy (I am only glad that I did not follow up on the salesmans offer to sign the paperwork then and there). They are using the following address 'TV Direct Distribution - P.O. Box 385 - Southampton - SO40 3YZ'. Last night I visited royalmail.com and used their tracking service which showed that the letter was delivered to Totton (Southampton) on 01/07/2004. No doubt I will be receiving a deluge of similar 'tempting offers' in the mail in the future.   Brewster PS I also checked the address finder and the postcode does not show up on their database.
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Post by Kevin Harrington on Jul 19, 2004 11:12:56 GMT
The Royal Mail has certain 'Non-geographical' postcodes for use with PO Box numbers. It is done so that we can't find out where the PO Box is situated.
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Post by Kevin Harrington on Dec 17, 2004 15:35:19 GMT
OFT wins landmark mail-order case
The UK's trading watchdog has won a landmark court case against a Belgian mail-order firm.
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) was able to pursue the case in a foreign court, thanks to new cross-border powers.
The Belgian firm now faces a fine of 25,000 euros (£17,264) if it continues to send mailings, the court has ruled.
Hundreds of Britons had parted with money in the mistaken belief that they had won a £10,000 prize.
Recipients of letters from TV Direct Distribution and Just 4 You, the UK trading names of Belgian firm D Duchesne SA, were told they could claim their cash prize if they bought a small appliance from the catalogue.
This is a ground-breaking court action
John Vickers, OFT chairman
But the small print made clear that they would not win any money but would instead be entered into a prize draw.
The OFT claimed that D Duchesne SA's prize notifications were misleading and induced consumers to purchase its products.
About one million mailings a month were sent to UK consumers, with D Duchesne SA receiving 4,000 orders a day from its TV Direct Distribution and Just 4 You catalogues.
Welcoming the judgment, John Vickers, OFT Chairman, said: "This is a ground-breaking court action. Consumers in the UK are increasingly being targeted from abroad and this case demonstrates the OFT's commitment to using its cross-border powers to protect the interests of consumers."
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Brewster