Is this a clever scam?

[Quillan]

We had  very official letter arrive an hour ago through the post.

It is from the Tourist Directory and headed Guide D'Hotels and has a nice prepaid return envelope with it. It is written in French and asks you to tick all the box's for things you have in your CDH.

The two things you should be aware of if you read the incredibly small, like minuscule, print at the bottom of the page. You will be invoiced for 989 Euros once they have the paper back to be registered . You will have to buy a copy of the directory for a further 98 Euros. Oh yes and the prepaid envelope is post box Roissy (95929) yet the letter came from Switzerland.

Now I'm not saying this is a scam but the little bit at the bottom, so easily overlooked by the way, seems a bit sneaky as does trying to make it look like a government form and as for the prices well, if you get one you can decide for yourself. Personally for me it's a bin job.

[Cat]

Hmm yes, Novachannel is the company involved.  Try googling the name, it's a real eye opener.

[Pierre ZFP]

Wow what a bunch of charmers - may they rot in Hell.

[David]

In my opinion, yes, it is a scam.  Not illegal, but expensive.  As a self employed trader we got these things all the time in UK.  They set up a directory, charge you a fortune to be included in it, charge you to buy it, and this covers the cost of publishing.

However, very few people actually buy the publication, it (in our case) would not have helped with marketing, and the publishers walk away with a healthy management fee.

I suggest that you chuck it in the bin.

David

[Gastines]

We get about 10 a year from various agencies in France/Switzerland and used to get plenty of  "Trade" offers in UK. More rubbish for the recylce bin. Most don't even publish.

[Wendy]

Quillan we have received loads of those, about 5/6 a month; we just give them to the kids to rip open.Whenever we get mail like that we just throw it in the bin, whoever it is from. We particularly steer clear of 'tourist directories' of all kinds, French or otherwise, that ask for money. We market ourselves for next to nothing.

[cassis]

[quote user="Jura"]Quillan we have received loads of those, about 5/6 a month; we just give them to the kids to rip open.Whenever we get mail like that we just throw it in the bin, whoever it is from. We particularly steer clear of 'tourist directories' of all kinds, French or otherwise, that ask for money. We market ourselves for next to nothing.[/quote]

[quote user="Gastines"]We get about 10 a year from various agencies in

France/Switzerland and used to get plenty of  "Trade" offers in UK.

More rubbish for the recylce bin. Most don't even publish.[/quote]

Ditto.  Some Swiss directory contacts us by post regularly with a draft advert that shows our name address spelt incorrectly and asks us to return a form with any corrections, otherwise our listing will be published "as is", i.e. incorrectly.  Small print includes a billing instruction if you send a correction. 

It's not that clever but at least the address is not on the Ivory Coast.  [Www]