Yep I've had a call from these guys too. At the time I didn't realise it was a scam but as I was busy asked them to send details in the post. The man I spoke with was a bit taken aback and said I could always book the ad and cancel later but I wasn't interested. That weekend an article was in my local paper with a representative of the local forces stating they had no involvement with the publication. Oh, and guess what, they never sent me the details in the post!

Unfortunately once your name and number are out there as we advertise our business via web, yell, etc the soft underbelly of the not so Great part of Britain occupants come out to play.

I've had numerous calls since setting my business up from yell to the observer magazine and also similar to the above. The last guy purporting to be from a fire brigade magazine said he was ringing me back following my company's agreement to place an ad. Of course I had never even spoken to them before but It's easy to see how a larger company could be taken advantage of.

I'm 40 years old, grumpy and cynical so told him he was mistaken......he hung up without even replying.

To OP I sympathise with you but thank you for posting and hope it saves someone else that reads this some money by not making the same mistake.

Ken

The police/fire brigade diaries/year planners have been going for a while, at least 10 years.

They also throw in 'emotional' ploys that you would usually support, such as looking after disabled, children, animals, etc.. It makes you seem more heartless when you tell them to p*ss off!

There's only one approach to take with people like this, get rid of them ASAP. Don't engage. Just say you don't do advertising.

On the subject of scams, just received an email this morning which is a scam I haven't seen before - "Your Company´s website is selected to represent England in The Competition Europe´s Best Websites!" There is an entry fee of EUR 350 and it looks like it may be an updated, SEO friendly, version of the European Directory scam which has been so prominent in the past.

Of course it may be genuine, it just seems to play on vanity - and if it's a genuine competition, which you haven't even entered, why should you pay a fee?

The website is http://www.europesbestwebsites.com/

We get the police diaries phone call every year because we did it once ... we got zero business from the thing....

I was recently approached by A Company through cold call, to sell an advertising space for a local community magazine street scene. At first i was very reluctant to advertise with them due to these entire mis sold space buzz in the market, but I was taken by surprise, and was proved wrong when I saw the Magazine it was genuine, and it did make a nice Read, as i asked them to send me the mags over.
Unlike others this company didnt push me for payment, and I was convinced with the artwork and designs they provided me along with all the paperwork in black and white. The Best part was all the paperwork arrived within the promised time duration. The artwork team did a good job and designed a nice piece of work. It was only once I was convinced I called them myself and made the payments and everything was safe, i never had any problem liaising with them
So there are some genuine companies as well, who work hard and do the business in right way its only comes down to you as a person in my opinion to be smart and break the clutter and make the right choice. As advertising with this companys Magazine Has helped me to push my business. Their artwork was just spot on and amazing. I would highly recommend their services .
The main reason why i was particularly inetrested in posting it here , as after reading the previous posts the company i dealt with was mode pr - and i got my services perfect from them, it is sad that few had bad experiences with them but in my opinio i wouldnt call them a scam as i got my artwork right , i got my paperwork to prove it ryte.... and i also got my mags delivered ... so it could be a bad experience for others which i feel sorry for ...