Comments on: Forresters Fund For Children – Vardis Scam Warning

By: RJ

RJ — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 14:12:45 +0000

They are still going. Please don’t just post here. Report them. Agencies to report them to 1st. Citizens Advice Bureau who will advise you and pass the information to Trading Standards, after that actionfraud.police.uk and Advertising Standards Authority.

Have you ever heard “The squeaky wheel get the oil?” Posting in a forum is good to warn people but is reactive, reporting them and getting them shut down is proactive.

By: Melangell

Melangell — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 17:27:42 +0000

In October 2012 they are still alive and well! I had a phone call about which I was very dubious and said I would think about it, would they send more information….I have just received a form of invoice! I now written a letter cancelling the “ad” and refusing to pay them, as well as stating very clearly that I wish to hear nothing further from them. I await developments!

By: steve

steve — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 17:45:58 +0000

since advertising locally….(small plumbing firm) i have been pestered constantly….today 13 phone calls,yesterday 11 phonecalls……..i haven’t agreed to anything yet! thank god….a manager rang me and said thanks for agreeing to support us…. i haven’t and will not be supporting such a scam….BEWARE! THIS IS STILL ONGOING DAILY SCAM!!!

By: rio

rio — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:05:38 +0000

Had a phone call from a scouse lass before xmas promoting advertising for the foresters fund. She went thru usual advertising talk, when i asked if she could send me some info to my email she said their server was down!!!!! aye.. she rang me back the next day and i missed the call and she left me message saying she would call in the new year. She rang today! I answered the phone and it was tracie again from liverpool. She was fairly convincing with her sales approach and being a fairly new business i was interested when she said the magazine would go to 20,000 homes, hospitals and doctors surgeries etc in my local area. I again asked for info in the post or e mail and would look over the details before commiting. She took my address, home tel no. and said they would send a proof copy thru of the ad and that someone would give me a call in the next couple of days… Hey ho I received a phone call about 2 hours later. I cant remember the name of the operator but they asked for additional details which i explained i wasnt happy to give. They said I had already signed into a verbal aggrement over the phone, which i replied i didnt realise that i had and that could they send me some info and i would expect to have to sign something before aggreing into such a contract with a reputable company!!!!!! who really care about the welfare of children. She said ok and put the phone down without sdaying goodbye.. great sales tactics!! These scum want smashing. I am a small business and advertise in one local magazine which so far has worked well. These vultures obviously prey on new businesses and where they find our details is beyond me. Looking at this thread it has been going on for years so someone is giving details of new businesses to them.. Their approach from the first threads has changed in my experience, they were women and arent to aggresive with their approach but try to give few details and skirt around the charity issue. I would love to see these try and get any money out of me.. Let the games begin!

By: Martin Davison

Martin Davison — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 11:48:36 +0000

Thank you for your comment Roy I recently had the exact same thing happen to me
I was thinking of advertising with vision group after they phoned me I asked for some information to read through
Next I got a digital copy of a magazine with my advert in it which led me also to believe that it must have gone to print its a lot of effort and money to waste doing digital copy’s for everyone as a sample
A short while later I got a invoice through the post asking for the payment or £375 I however had previously been told when enquiring that money could be paid and spread to cut the cost
Shortly later I got phone calls asking for the money up front I was then told they could split it into two payments luckily I didn’t have my card to hand when they called however I never paid as I missed a few calls from them then 5 days ago I got a call saying I could just pay as and when I can, I stupidly paid £50 on my card which has been taken from my bank. I had a missed call from them today and googled the number and have found hundreds if not thousands of threads like this. I feel I may have been scammed I don’t know if I can get my money back or not but I am defiantly going to ask where the book has been delivered and I will be phoning other company’s in my proof book to see if they are also legitimate and if they have had problems
Regards
Martin Davison
Wwwsanddwindows.com

By: Roy Batty

Roy Batty — Sun, 29 May 2011 11:06:53 +0000

Hi there,

The stories on here seem all too familiar to me. Like a lot of other people who’ve posted, I too was ‘convinced’ into spending money on advertising which would go some way to what seems like a legitimate charity.

Alarm bells started to go off when they sent me a ‘pay immediately’ notice about a week after I received the ad – I really started to get concerned when the threatening letters kept coming – being someone who regularly donates to charity, I know the form with chasing money owed, and legitimate charities DO NOT get heavy, no matter how long it takes for them to get paid (regrettably I have gone through stages when I just didn’t have the funds immediately, but they were happy to wait and eventually got paid).

***BREAKING THE SCAM***
As I was about to send the cheque (it was in the envelope and ready to go) – I looked at the booklet sample to get an address when the penny dropped – THE BOOK WAS PRINTED DIGITALLY (i’m a graphic designer, it was pretty obvious!). So why would a company go to the trouble of printing a fully made up digital version of the book, i’d already had a paper proof of my ad in the post? And as I had been invoiced, and many follow-up demands had been sent, the assumption was that the book was already in circulation, so why hadn’t they just sent me a LITHO version of the book instead?

My only assumption at this stage, based on the evidence, was that DIGITAL VERSIONS were printed to satisfy the curiosity of the advertisers – the 25,000 LITHO copies claimed to appear in “schools, colleges, libraries, doctors and dentist surgeries, hospital waiting rooms, shops, offices, salons, restaurants” were never produced.

Based on this assumption I decided to ring them and get more information. ***Note – they never have a conversation with you straight off, they ALWAYS ring you back, which tells me that they record everything***. Over the next week or so I constantly asked for evidence of the actual print run, which their litho-printer should have no problem at all supplying – again, i’m in the industry, this is pretty standard. After going through various departments, each of which was stumped (and quite flustered) with my request, a manager got in touch with me, explaining the distribution details, but again appeared flustered when I pressed him for evidence of the print run.

That final phonecall was 3rd March 2011. Since then no evidence was forthcoming but more importantly the constant payment requests have stopped completely. Again the assumption must be that evidence of a litho-print run does not exist – this worked out great for me in that I must have spooked them into leaving me alone, but it raises a much more serious issue – should Trading Standards be investigating this company on the grounds of fraud? The evidence would lead to the assumption that this company are selling advertising space which simply does not exist, therefore miss-selling. If I have it wrong I am happy for Vision to provide the information I have requested, as well as a fully litho-printed version of the book.

So basically if you’ve already placed an ad with Vision, and are receiving constant demands for payment, just ask for evidence of the print run, as well as a litho version of the book in which your ad appears. Drop into your local digital printer who’ll be able to distinguish a digital job from litho.

IF IT’s DIGITAL DON’T PAY!

Good luch,
Roy Batty.

By: Mathew

Mathew — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 18:32:21 +0000

I had a call today on the same lines as this – luckily I thought I’d check first and found this blog. The comment by FFFC above is all very well but I’d reccommend finding a ‘super local’ charity like a hospice or something that is very close to you geographically. Charities that fund raise like FFFC, even if legitimate, tend to spend huge proportions of their budgets on fundraising and not helping people!

Mat

By: vanandmanhirelondon

vanandmanhirelondon — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 15:07:18 +0000

It’s a shame that companies like VARDIS demage charity reputation. Personally I am put off from any kind donation …you never can be sure whom you came acrooss….it’s a shame!

By: fffc

fffc — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 17:41:51 +0000

Hi, We here at the Foresters Fund For Children are trying our best to help worthy good causes but worded web associations about companies like Vardis (We are aware that Vardis is no longer trading)
does not help our cause.
Please remember your local nursery or scout group, may need a donation at some stage, and your unsupported blogged/ blagged content will deter someone else from donating or supporting FFFC.

I would suggest the next time you think of putting fingers to keys, please remember that you WILL affect your voluntary local services who need funds.

If you check out our past and recent grants on our website http://www.fffc.org.uk you can see what we are doing to help those who really need it.
Ja.

By: northlondonremovals

northlondonremovals — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 20:14:11 +0000

How can it be they are still trading – isn’t there a way to get the government to shut them down??

By: Martynas Smetonis

Martynas Smetonis — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 13:37:25 +0000

Oh…It seems that these guys have been trying to trick so many people so far! Thank you so much for all of you sharing your experiences – I thought I was the only one victim. I felt really sick, angry and upset about my experience with Vardis. Please, AVOID AVOID AVOID them!!!!

By: Ellen Robinson

Ellen Robinson — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 16:30:40 +0000

Hi All, (17 August 2010). I got a phone call today from Forrester’s Children’s Charity asking me to buy advertising space. Their publisher is now “Vision” (no mention of “Vardis”) who called me litterally within one minute of putting the phone down with Forrester’s. I agreed to what I thought was a good idea but smelled a rat within a few minutes and after talking with my husband and when I googled the company I came across your blog. I’m feeling very sick at the moment. Vision asked me if I minded that the call was recorded, I said “yes, I did mind”, she went on anyway. I told her my business artwork wasn’t ready yet but she told me not to worry – they’d make it up! Called Forrester’s back to cancel who told me the order had already gone through but Gemma would call me back to confirm the cancelation. I haven’t heard from them again and by the sounds of it, won;t until the invoice comes through…

By: Daniel Lea

Daniel Lea — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 10:23:03 +0000

Hi Guys

Seems that Ive found this out to late, ive been scammed twice over the passed year !!

Once with FFF.Children, via Vardis, who are now calling them selves Vision Publications Group and Aware Magazine
Im not sure if anyone else has seen or heard about the Aware Magazine, which is now the Be-aware magazine, its a Police magazine sent out quarterly to all emergency services staff … BIG LIE its not !!

So watch out for them as well !

Anyway I am packaging all details and sending them to Trading Standards and sending a copy of the letter to Vardis/FFF.C/Vision Whoever they are !!

By: bob

bob — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 13:48:50 +0000

vardis the f’n. bees they got me last year, and this year there trying to scam me again. i told them i wasnt interested but the still went ahead and printed my details and are now looking for money. i have logged a complaint with trading standards and i am following there advice. i will keep you posted.

By: Angry Jock

Angry Jock — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 21:19:27 +0000

Hi, been checking out this vardis scam since I got the phone calls and all the letters and now the famous mag has popped through the letter box. So I thought I would do the right thing and phone all the adds in the mag and told them to check out vardis on google. On speaking to most of them there are a couple who knew it was a scam but still there add went into the mag even when previously cancelled. So far, by the response that I got no one is willing to pay them, one even told me that the mag was the same as last years the only thing that had changed was the people who had since been scammed.
In response to “Emma 25 May 2.48pm” your Bank should be able to dispute this item for you, the add was mis sold to you and not sold as described. If paid by debit card you should insist your Bank take more responsibility, if you paid by credit card then your Bank has a shared responsibility so you could claim back via a disputed item form, hope that helps.

By: MARTIN FISHER

MARTIN FISHER — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 23:02:51 +0000

hi all i got a phone call today telling me about vardis and that its a scam can some one tell me is this true as looking at the stores and it is im from barnsley the stores iv looked at start from scotland as any one add any help from the trading standards

By: emma

emma — Tue, 25 May 2010 13:48:52 +0000

hi, we have just found this site, we have paid them £100 for a £245 bill, how do we get our money back? we can’t raise a dispute form, we’ve tried with the bank, what can we do? thanks

By: Matheus

Matheus — Sun, 23 May 2010 16:42:10 +0000

tried to contact them with no sucess! =[

By: Tiffany Willings

Tiffany Willings — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:20:12 +0000

Hi everyone!! We had another call today wanting to know why we haven’t paid the bill for the advertising we have agreed to?? (NOT)

They even played back a telephone conversation to my husband that they had recorded without his knowledge (don’t think this is legal??), but at no point did my husband agree to have the advertising, all he said was send the paperwork and I will take a look.

The cold caller didn’t seem really bothered when my husband questioned him.

The man on the end of the phone just said that he would get his manager to call my husband back!! Which he did, but unfortunatley we were not home and missed the call!!

BLOODY BUGGERS!!!

When will they get the message?? I have contacted trading standards and will be doing so again later!!
Watch this space!!! Will they ever leave us alone???
Glad we’re not alone!!
Tiff

By: Steve Wood

Steve Wood — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:29:00 +0000

I wrote an email and letter (sent by recorded delivery)to Vardis telling them I was not interested and would not be paying them any money and would be contacting my trading standards office. I forwarded details and copies of everything to my local trading standards office (Southampton) who were very interested and subsequently asked me to update them if I heard any more from Vardis. So far, I have heard nothing more from Vardis.

I recently had another similar call from a company selling ad space in a magazine supposedly for the Fire, Police and Ambulance services.

I started asking the guy questions and established that the company was based in Cheshire.

The guy got a little flustered after a few questions and rang off – I heard nothing more.

By: Tiffany Willings

Tiffany Willings — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 18:05:52 +0000

Hello everyone!!!

How shocking reading everyones comments!

Vardis are clearly moving further down south as that is where we live.

My husband’s plumbing company has just been put on the web through Gas Safe and we had a call from Vardis within a week, asking my husband to advertise in their mag to raise money for a children’s charity Forresters??
My husband said that he was busy but if they could post some info he would take a look!!!
BIG MISTAKE
He has agreed to nothing either verbal or written!!
So far we have had 4 letters, 3 proofs and a bill for something he didnt agree to. Also the price quoted over the phone was said to be around £250 inc VAT, however the bill is for £550.0 + VAT!!! Clearly they are getting greedy!!!
Also when I telephoned to try and cancel it, a man was very rude to me and said only my husband could cancel the agreement. Every time my husband rings he gets no answer!!! Will the bills still come??? I’m not concerned now I know we’re not alone and hopefully an end will come to this scam!!

By: Steve Wood

Steve Wood — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 14:58:41 +0000

Hi all,

Seems these guys are still at it !

I was taken in a few weeks ago as it sounded a good cause and yesterday received a proof, basically cut and paste bits of content from my web site, which was so amateurish that it got me wondering. After Googling Vardis and forresters fund for children magazine it seems there are a large number of people who have been caught out by this scam over many years.

I have found 7 forums so far with reams of bad reports about Vardis and the owner as well as a page on the Daily Mirror (2007). One forum entry from September 2009 stated that Merseyside Police have received a number of complaints about this matter and that Trading Standards would also like to hear from anyone who has been contacted by Vardis recently.

BTW – They are also the debt collecting company.

By: Mark Gorton

Mark Gorton — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:35:54 +0000

Hi there, just had the call about children with cancer in the Dundee area, thought I would make an effort and said I would be interested. Took my name, address and told me the artwork would be with me in 6 weeks. Thought nothing of it, about 10 minutes later received another phone call(withheld) confirming order. It was at this point I decided to google Vardis. Thankfully I did.

The person who had phoned originally, had obviously forgotton to hide her number, so phoned her back. Phone was answered with ‘Hello’. By sheer chance it was the same person I had spoken to. Couldn’t remember our call but agreed to cancel my order, and asked why. What should I do now??

Thanks

Mark

By: Lynne Turner

Lynne Turner — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:24:24 +0000

My husband was contacted by Vardis this morning, asking him to advertise to raise funds for children with leukemia. He was told by a man calling himself Mark Brown that a woman named Gemma would call later to discuss the advert. Brown offered to supply artwork, which was declined, and fortunately I was home when he rang again.

I am trained in advertising telesales, and have trained sales teams in the past. This ‘gentleman’ has a VERY distinctive vocal style, and I instantly recognised him as the same person who had contacted us a couple of months ago. I challenged him and he denied that he had ever spoken to me before. I can swear that he has! He would not reply when I asked what he had discussed with my husband. I explained that I was a director and company secretary with the sole responsibility to authorise any advertising, and that we did not require his services. He became very smug and started to try and wind me up, accusing me of many things, but I remained calm and continued to assert that we did not want the advertising.

I asked if the call was being recorded, and Brown said that it was not. He then asked me what position I had within the company…too busy talking to listen, obviously, and I explained again that I was a director and comapny secretary. At that point I handed teh phone back to my husband, who again told Brown that we did not want an advert. He then asked my husbands ‘if he was lying about having placed the ad as his wife was standing by him!!!’

Tomorrow, I shall contact trading standards and the local Police, who were contacting all local retailers only 2 weeks ago about this scam. I shall wait to see if they try to follow it up.

By: Donna

Donna — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 17:03:31 +0000

Yes, I too in principal agreed to some advertising. but it has been playing on my mind as something dubious. I got there letter today advising me that their graphics department would be working on my advert. It’s at this point that I decided to cancel and also seeing this blog…thank you….anyway, phone numbers just dial out. I have emailed each email contact but I doubt that they will reply. I am told that I do not have rights to cancel as another trader we are operating on at the same level. So, I presume they will ignore my requests. I notice someone comment aboce that they rang them and gave them a piece of their mind. I wonder what number did you ring?

By: Madelaine Kelly

Madelaine Kelly — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 21:36:51 +0000

I am much relieved having found all the comments regarding Vardis. I too stupidly fell for the scam and agreed to place an advert in the ClassM8 Forresters fund booklet.I did so as I was led to believe that the charity was local and that the booklets would be distributed locally. The penny dropped when the booklet arrived and I realised that mine was the only local advert. I have had various unpleasant conversations with a gentleman from Liverpool and I have now received a letter from their legal department threatening me if I don’t pay up. What is hilarious is that all the letters come from the same man, Mark Andrews. He seems to be a one man show! I will not be paying after reading all the comments on the blog.

By: lilly

lilly — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:21:33 +0000

hi there
this comment is for susan ! ignore the letters when my parner and i found out they were scammers we stopped sending them money and they also said they were taking legal action so i rang them up and gave them a piece of my mind. the so called ‘collections agency ‘ is actually vardis aswell its the same assho*e that runs it that was more then 2 months ago so just ignore them they are scum!

By: susan

susan — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 23:04:28 +0000

hi, i am in a bit of a pickle with vardis myself at the moment, they rang my business partner at home after saying that they saw our website on the net and thought it was such a great idea they wanted to include us in they’re publication, they said that they would have they’re ‘art department’ ‘design’ a logo for us and that they would send it to us for our approval, in the same day we receieved 2 phone calls asking us to confirm that we were interested. I hadnt even googled the company and thought it sounded dodgy so the day after we spoke to them I rang to cancel the order.The first time I knew there was something not right was when the lady who answered asked me for the ref number that my partner had been given on the original call,this was indeed my partners initials along with some numbers, at NO point was she told that by taking this number down it was an unsigned agreement of going to print!my partner was told it was just a ref number for if we needed to ring and speak to them, but i was told it was in fact an agreement The lady was very polite until I told her I was ringing to cancel, she then became quite abrupt, I asked her if I had to put it in writing as it was under the 7 days and was told no and that she had actually cancelled the order whilst we were on the phone.Before I put down the phone I confirmed with her that the order had now indeed been cancelled and she replied “yes”. I then opened my mail at my office 2 days ago, only to find a letter from Vardis including the picture of the design they’re ‘art department’ had ‘designed’ all they have done, is to take off our site the picture that is on there and add some text and for this they want £300! After the call I made to them I discussed with my partner that I thought she should put something in writing to them about the cancellation, which she did, so by receiving this letter with the ‘artwork’ it is to me a direct denial of receiving either the phone call or the letter, so another has been sent out by recorded delivery….we shall see!

By: DJC Eire

DJC Eire — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:30:17 +0000

Although I was sceptical, in Oct 2008 I agreed to an ad in a wall planner/calender with Atlantic Media in Dublin,in aid of Children to Lapland Appeal.(I now know that Vardis is run by the same people) Received Invoice in November and calls requesting payment. Received planner in Jan 2009 from UK. As agreed I then paid the Invoice. They phoned me again April 2009 thanking me for my contribution to sick children and can they put me down for the next one. I agreed as long as I received invoice after I received planner, due Jan 2010. Needless to say invoice arrived in June 2009. I toid them I would n’t pay until I received planner. Planner arrived in August, (incorrect name spelling and dated Sept 09 to August 2010). Why do I feel it was printed specially for me. I’ve send the hundreds of phone calls from them since to voicemail.
I haven’t paid the invoice to date and have now received a letter threatening legal action for €195
Thanks to google & everyone I won’t be paying, as I am now convinced it is an elaborate scam.

By: bob

bob — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 13:44:51 +0000

load of robbers

By: Removal Services in London

Removal Services in London — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 11:15:29 +0000

They called me again today. I have already been a victim and apparently they can not even recall having called me in the past.

By: Rick

Rick — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 08:20:08 +0000

just to let you all know they phoned back 4/8/09 trying to say i’d committed to advertising, I informed them that i hadn’t and that i had looked them up on the internet and discovered what a con they were running, how disgusted i was that they were preying on new businesses using childrens charities as bait and that i would be reporting them to the OFT. the woman was very apologetic and said i would not hear from them again. i will wait and see.

By: Forester's Fund for Children - Scam? - Scottish Business Forums

Forester's Fund for Children - Scam? - Scottish Business Forums — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 16:51:57 +0000

[...] feedback and comments about companies you have used ? Scam or not – Page 2 – UK Business Forums Forresters Fund For Children – Vardis Scam Warning – Red Cardinal Warning – Forresters Fund For Children – Vardis Scam Warning at Studiopottery.co.uk Blog [...]

By: Rick

Rick — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 10:47:14 +0000

I have just had a call from Ashley representing the forresters fund for children asking if i would like to be ” the only gas engineer in the magazine”. I think i agreed to a ” beer mat” sized advert over the phone, for £150, he then said a woman will ring from vardis just to check if he had been courteous over the phone which she did. she started by saying that i had agreed to advetise with them, to which i replied i have’nt agreed to anything i am thinking about it. she then asked if she could ring me back on monday. after this occured i went on the net and found this site. i tried ringing back ( the number does not take incimimg calls so i sent a text to Ashley saying i have checked them out on the net and not to send me any mail or to contact me again as i am not interested. i will let you know how i get on. if they do ring they will be told exactly what i think of them.
i too am a new business which has just gone in the yellow pages.

By: Persimmon Publishing SEO Scam - Red Cardinal

Persimmon Publishing SEO Scam - Red Cardinal — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 03:47:18 +0000

[...] can also subscribe to email updates.I’ve written a lot in the past about shady dealings and outright scams. I’ve also received legal threats on multiple occasions after writing about what I felt [...]

By: Aoife mc c

Aoife mc c — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:07:50 +0000

hi my partner recieved a letter today saying that vardis were going to take him to court if he didnt pay the remainder of the bill which is €300 i cant believe that they are even asking us for the money as i know that it is a big scam. i rang them and eat the head off them and your man was sniggering down the phone. it was aired on irish tv about vardis a couple of months ago saying they were a scam so i hope that will act as some proof if they do take us to court. feck them they aint getting a cent of us.

By: Tara

Tara — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:03:10 +0000

Hi my husband recieved a phonecall from Vardis a few weeks ago from a lady asking him to support the Foresters Childrens Charity by placing an advert for €200+vat He told her no time after time on the phone and she said ‘look we will email you the advert and you can take a look at the proof and then see if you want to go ahead’ to get her off the phone he agreed. 5 weeks later an evelope arrived with the Foresters Childrens Charity booklet and an invoice for €200+vat! No email arrived previously with the proof of the advert either. In the booklet was roughly 12 adverts 10cm x 2 columns in size from very small buisnesses like tilers, plumbers, builders etc. people who in the current economic climate cannot afford to give away €200! and were obviously told on phone like my husbnad was that it was going to be distributed NATIONWIDE in IRELAND! the businesses were from Counties Sligo and Leitrim 2 of the smallest rural counties in Ireland. I think it is absolutely disgusting that this is going on. I work for a national paper and please be assured that if you do not PROOF your advert either by email or post (you get to see it and say ‘yes that is great go ahead please) you are under no obligation to pay a cent/penny! Best of luck and please do not pay if you sincerely did not get what you requested, or the book was not distributed where they promised. Kind regards, Tara

By: Billy

Billy — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 15:52:13 +0000

there threating me with legal action now what a joke !

By: Home Removal Services

Home Removal Services — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 21:18:42 +0000

Does anyone knows the procedure to shut these guys down? I was called by them last year and again this year. As with many victims, they arrassed me and forced me into a contract I knew nothing about. I specifically told the saleman on the phone to call me back because I was driving but it sound like he was even more motivated to carry on with the selling. He told me he just needed a YES and he would sort everything out. At the end of the conversation he told me it was recorded and they would send me a confirmation letter. Instead I got an invoice for 106 pounds that I never paid and passed it on to my solicitor.

By: sandy

sandy — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:36:12 +0000

iv just this second come off the phone with a guy called Tony saying he was from a childrens cancer charity Forresters, he is calling me back thurs morn to speak to me about advertising in the magazine for a fee and the money goes to the children, im not so sure after what i have seen on the internet so for every1 who has posted comments thank you

By: Treetop Press

Treetop Press — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:07:43 +0000

Play there game. send them an invoice from your company and keep calling them to pay it.

By: Billy

Billy — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 06:23:14 +0000

This mob has been trying to get money out of me ,some of the businesses in the adverts don’t exist(no Third Av in Bristol) and those that do i’ve been phoning them not to pay!

By: Lucy Shadwell

Lucy Shadwell — Tue, 26 May 2009 11:26:26 +0000

Today I found this website and wish I had seen it sooner. I am a young business woman who for the past year has been lead into to scams and cons, the usual threats of having recordings that I agreed to things which I did not! Vardis was one of these along with many many more! usually 0161 numbers or unknown which i am now too frightened to answer which is not good for business! Today Vardis called to see if I would continue support, and after seeing everyone else despair and anger I told them straight that they were a con and everyone was onto them, including consumer direct who I have a long file with and my local police who are investigating everyone who has contacted me regarding adverts for fraud
When you call, everyone answers with ‘Hello’ not very professional for such money making organisations and are very manipulative. I must admit Vardis are not half as bad as some others, people send tacky invoices with no-one to pay or business account and when you call them ask if you would like to rent a flat in Manchester!! Hahaha. Just some to look out for…. Vardis, Charities Commission (not the real one as charity commission does not take money!Clever play on words) Empire UK, Treetops Press, Forte LTD, and Changing Lives UK. Most are clever in leading you into more adverts which you have not agreed to, for some companies I ended up having about 3 from the same company! and the price got bigger every time!
I hope this helps some of you out there, my local police have been really supportive so are good to turn to if you are as deeply involved as I got.

By: Mick Grogan

Mick Grogan — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 12:20:03 +0000

I have just written a complaint online to the consumer rights agency about vardis. I received a letter from Crown Debt recovery last week and decided to search online for information about them and came across this blog. Thank god for the internet. This had me stressed out over the weekend but my mind is at ease now. They will never pursue debts as they know they havent a leg to stand on. Can as many people as possible complain about vardis as they need to be shut down.

By: Nick

Nick — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:08:51 +0000

I got the call last november, the women talked about endorsements by leading sports stars such as Sir Steve Redgrave, she mentioned at least four of them on the call, since then they have been after £111.63 !! sounds familiar to others on this blog, The last letter was received on the 18th of february (this is when they wrote it arrievd in the post 3 days ago !! this isn’t a legal going to court letter more a pushy letter to pay with this paragraph ” The Foresters Fund for children relies on funding and support from the business community in Cornwall, therefore it is imperative we receive your remittance as soon as possible. ” they think just because they mention my county that I will pay !!

I have seen no nothing from this company no wall planer or magazine, I work with the children in my local community and mentioned this to them on the phone, no one I work with has had a penny from Vardis or the The forresters fund for children.

I spoke earlier on to day on the phone to Vardis, He seemed annoyed that I took it so laid back he wanted my money and I said maybe, then he claimed to get the legal team on me. Like others I have dealt with these rogues before hang in there, it costs them more to take you to court than a £100.00.

bottom line don’t worry about them they want the scared factor to make you pay, they tried the children line (which hasn’t worked ).

Most cases would be laughed out of court.

By: steve

steve — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 01:14:21 +0000

I’ve also had the attempted Vardis scam pulled on me regarding the Foresters Fund, but thanks to sites like this they will be unsuccessful!
The sales people all had Liverpool accents and gave me the big sob story over the phone. I had just found out my wife was pregnant so accepted their offer but by the time the booklet arrived I had changed my mind. The advert was pathetic, it had my home address, home telephone number and even my Corgi number plasterd on it, information I never provided them with and would never agree to have printed in a magazine advert together!
They have attempted to call me on several occasions, I’ve told them that as I’ve not signed anything there is no binding contract, although I did agree to their offer on the phone and did not call them back within 7 days I’m not scared of them.
I find it sickening that they are using the childrens charity line to suck people into their scam. What a pathetic way to earn a living eh?

By: phillip

phillip — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:55:43 +0000

ok im going to tell you’s all for the last time if vardis threaten you with court request a copy of your conversation because 9 out of 10 case’s they have falsely advertised ie. they told you it was for a local charity and the law for a local charity has to go through your parish they have not a leg to stand on in any court and for those who are worried the statute of limatations for such a crime is 6 months and after that its a civil matter and a charity CANNOT sue any person under a civil matter as a charity DO NOT have authority to hold any person under contract FACT….if anyone has any legal queries on this matter contact me @ phillip.souster@gmail.com we will all stick together to get rid of this scum….

By: stewart

stewart — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 10:41:57 +0000

Hi Lynne

Your case is identical to mine if you look above you will see i have already commented twice.Hope my comments are usefull for you.since i commented on this site and sent emails to every one in there booklet(all emails returned as no email address and phone numbers dead)i have heard nothing from them for nearly two months so if they ring ignore them but also report them!Im no legal expert but this is not going to court trust me it will cost them and it will get thrown out of court.Let me know how you get on..

By: Lynne

Lynne — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 08:55:25 +0000

Hi, we to have been had by this company, luckily we have not paid anything, the first call from Vardis explained about the “forresters fund for children” and asked if we would take out an add in their yearly mag, which the price was around £445 + VAT, which we said we could not afford as we are a new business, this is for a half page add, so the guy on the phone said that we could have it for quater page price, we said that we would chack our finances. A few days later we got a call confirming our details, but not asking if we wished to place the add, which my husband did confirm our details.
it would be about a week or so later we recieved a copy of the mag, with an advert in for our business along with a bill for £528, i tried to phone to talk to them and was given a direct line to the guy dealing with our account, which did not work, it was a unreconised number. I eventually got to talk to someone and the got the guy to phone me back.
When he phoned he would not talk to me, only my husband, but after a while my husband convinced him to talk to me, i told him we could not afford this and that we never aggreed to take the add, to which he replied that my husband had aggreed and he proceded to play me the recording of the “comfirmation call”.
We then also reminded him that we were told we could have half page for the price of quater page, to which he said that the first call which that was offered meant nothing, which we thought strange.
He agreed to call back the next day to set up a payment plan (which he didn’t).And we recieved an answer machine message yesterday saying that they need payment urgently.
We will not be paying them any money, but do we just ignore this or do we contact the OFT or Trading Standards?

By: stewart

stewart — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 11:13:44 +0000

Hi all

I already commented futher up this page but would like to add this in response to Gary (above).After finding this page and reading about Vardis, i rang every number in my booklet (forresters fund for children booklet)and sent an email to every one with a email address giving them this link. The only problem being every single number in the booklet was just dead didnt even ring mobile or landline…(very strange). Even more bizarly all more email slowly began to return saying failed.Even more strangly since writing on here on 8th feb 09 ive not had 1 single phone call from vardis long may this continue…