MLM - Discovery 8 - Scam??? - Help

[boroangel]

Ok...I seriously need some advice here...

My bro just called me and said he wants to borrow a few K from me. I asked him why and he said he joined a hotel club membership from this company called Discovery 8. And he bought it for $18000, now hes paying $300 every month and he has already paid up $6000.

He finds this a liability and now wants to get rid of it, he bought it last year.
Now this Discovery 8 company person tells him there is another buyer who willing to buy the membership for 20K, and my brother has to cough up another 4.5K to show 'intention of selling' before he can sell the membership to the other buyer. Then the guy will pay $20K in installments starting from next year in 4 installments.
IT all sounds darn fishy to me!!! I supposed the buyer and this company guy are the same person! ****....THis smells from head to toe like a ****ign scam to me...

What are our options now??? The best is if this membership can be REALLY sold off and we get the money back...I am not going to pay up another 4500 for my brother if the money cannot be gotten back. Is there some association or anyone we can approach to verify this?
What happens if he stops paying? I rather him lose 6K now than more money later.

Damn ****ing pissed with my brother now:angry:

 

[2evans]

is it the same as this? http://sgforums.com/forums/14/topics/303019

 

[kokfann]

very fishy...
need to pay 4.5k to show "intention of selling"??
total rubbish..

 

[boroangel]

is it the same as this? http://sgforums.com/forums/14/topics/303019

Yes I googled it just now and it seems to be the same.

 

[eyes]

It's the same scam sprouting from the Time-Share family of products. I don't understand why people falls for this kind of scam despite continual warnings on all media.

 

[romeo tango]

My heart goes out to you and your brother :

http://sgforums.com/forums/14/topics/303019

 

[allenleonhart]

Ok...I seriously need some advice here...

My bro just called me and said he wants to borrow a few K from me. I asked him why and he said he joined a hotel club membership from this company called Discovery 8. And he bought it for $18000, now hes paying $300 every month and he has already paid up $6000.

He finds this a liability and now wants to get rid of it, he bought it last year.
Now this Discovery 8 company person tells him there is another buyer who willing to buy the membership for 20K, and my brother has to cough up another 4.5K to show 'intention of selling' before he can sell the membership to the other buyer. Then the guy will pay $20K in installments starting from next year in 4 installments.
IT all sounds darn fishy to me!!! I supposed the buyer and this company guy are the same person! ****....THis smells from head to toe like a ****ign scam to me...

What are our options now??? The best is if this membership can be REALLY sold off and we get the money back...I am not going to pay up another 4500 for my brother if the money cannot be gotten back. Is there some association or anyone we can approach to verify this?
What happens if he stops paying? I rather him lose 6K now than more money later.

Damn ****ing pissed with my brother now:angry:

tell him say no, its a scam and ask him to just lose the bloody membership. why do u even need the membership in the first place? is he like some big business man flying around staying at hotels all day long?

 

[Canonised]

Cut loss immediately at whatever costs...

 

[shaoken]

Seems like a scam..

 

[diver-hloc]

Cut loss immediately at whatever costs...

Agree.... better loss the $6000 now than losing more later on.... :think:

TS... try to explain to your Bro that its a SCAM.... goodluck :thumbsup:

 

[Edwin Francis]

Say you advertised a $1K DSLR for sale on Clubsnap B&S, and get a responder asking you for $300 as a proof of 'your intention to sell' -- yeah, well your scenario sounds as reasonable as that.
Dunno what your brother's contract is like with this company -- AFAIK, they'll have clauses and penalties for early termination -- whether these are legally enforceable or not... well, you'd better consult a lawyer. Or perhaps a less expensive option would be CASE -- they have handled many time-share complaints by now.

Good luck! And whatever you do, don't pour in good money after bad.

 

[Limsgp]

That company is plain shitty..

Once I got a call promoting some discounted air ticket.. As I sometimes travel, I guess it is no harm checking them out.

During the presentation, I was honest and tell the places that I travel to and what I'm looking for.

Only after the presentation then I realise that it is like timeshare company. And, because I'm being frank, they realise that I will not be a potential customer as I told them that I'm not interested in forking out a large some of money for some membership.

And then they find all sorts of excuses to avoid giving out the "free gift". Totally no creditability. Waste my 2 hours listening to crap.

Advice to others. Nowadays, these creatures don't do like direct selling from the start. They chit chat to find out about you and to check out whether you're a potential target. If you're not the type that can fall into the trap, they'll actually chase you out. Don't believe those "no obligation" sales pitch by the telemarketer.

If you're there for the free gift (They promised), just play along and pretend you might buy it, then find an exit strategy.

 

[La Fontaine]

People get conned becos they are greedy. Those con-artist would entice you with some free makan, then, some free gift and voucher for makan or so other stuff.

And if you refuse to buy their package, I heard from friends that they even try to stop you from walking out!

Time and again, people get conned by them.

For the TS case, just cut loss and stop any further payment. They might harass you for the continuous payment. They will keep calling. Just ignore them. They cannot do anything to you. That I am very, very sure. If they continue to harass you, call the police.

 

[Limsgp]

hmm.. I don't totally agreed on that in relation to this company.

When I got the call, they talk about discounted airfares, which I'm interested in, that's why I go there. If it's only for the free gift, I wouldn't bother.

It's misrepresentation.

I doubt the free gift actually worth anything in the first place. But it was the misrepresentation that is disgusting. The free gift is more like compensation for the time spend listening to the crap, which in the end they didn't even give.

People get conned becos they are greedy. Those con-artist would entice you with some free makan, then, some free gift and voucher for makan or so other stuff.

 

[allenleonhart]

hmm.. I don't totally agreed on that in relation to this company.

When I got the call, they talk about discounted airfares, which I'm interested in, that's why I go there. If it's only for the free gift, I wouldn't bother.

It's misrepresentation.

I doubt the free gift actually worth anything in the first place. But it was the misrepresentation that is disgusting. The free gift is more like compensation for the time spend listening to the crap, which in the end they didn't even give.

and here lies the limit of law.

 

[boroangel]

Say you advertised a $1K DSLR for sale on Clubsnap B&S, and get a responder asking you for $300 as a proof of 'your intention to sell' -- yeah, well your scenario sounds as reasonable as that.
Dunno what your brother's contract is like with this company -- AFAIK, they'll have clauses and penalties for early termination -- whether these are legally enforceable or not... well, you'd better consult a lawyer. Or perhaps a less expensive option would be CASE -- they have handled many time-share complaints by now.

Good luck! And whatever you do, don't pour in good money after bad.

Indeed, I do not want him to continue paying up anymore. I have just known from him some of the main clauses in the contract, although I am not sure how enforceable it is in terms of refusing to pay up. And certainly, there isn't anything on early termination. Well, there is, it says if you stop paying up monthly then you need to pay up the remainder immediately. WTF!

 

[aryanto]

And if you refuse to buy their package, I heard from friends that they even try to stop you from walking out!

That would be unlawful imprisonment, but I tried searching with google for "Singapore law unlawful imprisonment" or "Singapore criminal law unlawful imprisonment" but could not find anything relevant. May be the term is different. Not sure if this can fall under kidnapping...

 

[snowspeeder]

That would be unlawful imprisonment, but I tried searching with google for "Singapore law unlawful imprisonment" or "Singapore criminal law unlawful imprisonment" but could not find anything relevant. May be the term is different. Not sure if this can fall under kidnapping...

It is definitely not under kidnapping, as the penalty is death sentence.

 

[La Fontaine]

Here is a short list of scams that has been floating around for quite a while:

1 Nigerian scam - they call you, tell you that you can get 200k if you pay them 12k to help them in paying some govt tax to get 3million out of Nigeria. After you pay 12k, there is still 25k to pay some admin fee. After that, another 28k for some agency fee and so forth...... And the 200k vanished in thin air.

2 China lottery scam - they say you touch some 2million lottery. Similar to above, got to pay this, pay that and so forth.

3 Van with some extra cheap electronic goods. Samsung 46inch LCD for a mere 200bucks..... too good to be true.

4 Magic stone scam - they prey on some old aunties in the wet market.

I am sure folks here have heard of other kinds of scams around.

 

[La Fontaine]

Indeed, I do not want him to continue paying up anymore. I have just known from him some of the main clauses in the contract, although I am not sure how enforceable it is in terms of refusing to pay up. And certainly, there isn't anything on early termination. Well, there is, it says if you stop paying up monthly then you need to pay up the remainder immediately. WTF!

Whatever is written in the contract, it is written in sucha way that is almost like saying "Head I win, tail you Loose!" With this kind of contract, you just tell them to fly kite.

In contract law, there is such thing as an unfair contract and that kind of contract cannot be enforced in the court - in fact, unfair contract can be rendered null and void.