Free Greek cruise with �1 Million scratchcard ? Con?

[vicars]

Hi, My parents were quite excited about a Greek cruise they won with a �1 Million scratchcard in a Daily Mail paper (nothing to do with the Daily Mail). They also offer many other prizes and if you win you call their number (get charged �1.50 per min - min/max 6 minutes) and hey presto they get a free Greek Cruise where you are just charged a landing fee when you get off the boat but otherwise it looks free. I can understand that you may have to pay the fare to get over there but has anyone been on one of these cruises? What more can you tell me about this or should we avoid like the plague?
Many thanks.

[1955]

Personally I think any "prize" where you have to pay money is not a prize at all

[Emmeedask]

Whats the saying "If it sounds too good to be true then it probably isn't".

I personally wouldn't have the nerve to go for it as you don't know how much you could be stung for.

[dzug]

This is probably the prize everyone 'wins' - there is generally one on these promotions. It's never as good as it seems

Is the cruise actually for two people? Many of these scratchcard and similar offers are for one person in a multi-shared cabin. By the time you've paid probably inflated prices for a cabin on your own and a second person, the landing fee and other costs (it only seems free) you've generally paid as much as if you hadn't 'won' anything.

[vehelpfulguy]

The problem is it has cost you about �10 (or more) just to find out the details (�1.50 a minute for 6 minutes).

If enough people do this they make quite a bit of money just from the calls.

And as others have said, nobody gives away "free" holidays.

You will find either that you finish up paying quite a bit of money yourself for one thing or another.

OR they make the situation so difficult that you dont want to do it - so they say you must fly out from Edinburgh and fly back to Plymouth or something like that.

Tear it up and throw it away

[vehelpfulguy]

Was it a Purely Creative card ?

If so it seems they are in trouble with the office of fair trading

http://www.oft.gov.uk/news/press/2007/165-07

And surprise surprise, here is someone else who won a greek cruise.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20 080627041724AAiVRPw

[vehelpfulguy]

Found a letter on the Guardian page where someone else "won" a cruise.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2005/aug/11/co nsumeraffairs.consumerpages

As you can see, he says:

"My wife and I must travel separately and take different cruises on different dates from different places, and if we don't want to share a cabin with a stranger we must pay a supplement of �300 each"

So it is like I said, they make it so difficult for you to take your "free" cruise that you give up.

They are SCAM merchants.

[vicars]

Thanks for all your replies - I think I will stay away and bin the winning ticket...unless anybody else fancies a cruise? Let me know and I can post it to you. Call me on 09106 ......