Just been on holiday to Tenerife...

[Mr Winkle]

i've just returned from a nice 9 day stay in tenerife - for those who believe the temperatures in the newspapers at being around 25c, don't believe a word of it - it was around 29/30c during the afternoon. it was so so hot, i was really surprised considering it was november.

anyway, whilst i was there i noticed there were loads of people touting these scratch card scams, the ones where you win ?1200 but you have to go in a taxi somewhere to collect it and it turns out to be a company pressure selling timeshare for thousands of pounds.

however, at first those people were an annoyance but as time went on i noticed every single one of them was british and i was intrigued.

now, how exactly do these people get jobs in tenerife selling scratch cards?

i decided to let one chap collar me, i asked who he worked for and he claimed he worked for the well known holiday company 'cosmos', he had an id badge, but it was obviously a fake it had the logo ripped off the website (in all it's pixelated glory) and it was printed on a 10 year old inkjet printer and had no details on it, like phone number, company registration number, registered office etc.

but just how did these people get into doing this? it's clearly an illegal trade because as soon as the police do a routine patrol, they vanish in shops, scratch cards hidden.

the other question i have is regarding the 'looky looky men', the chaps of african decent who walk around selling fake sunglasses, chains and watches. these are of particular annoyance, possibly more so than the scratch card touts as these men even approach you when you're sitting down enjoying a meal. they do take a firm 'no' as an answer and eventually move on though.

but where do these illegal traders get all their stuff from? it's all the same rubbish, every single one of them seems to be selling identical items, and most of them don't seem to sell many items either but how do they get hold of these things?

any insights from you learned neowiners would be greatly appreciated!

[b20a61u31]

I think they get them through black market distribution chains from 3rd world countries where they produce cheap look-a-likes of the real things. I was offered on several occasions sony video camcorders that only vaguely resembled the sony models and only had a sticker on the side saying sony. The poor workers that manufacture these are payed less than 60$/month and they have to work all day. A classic example of human slavery if you ask me.

[Dick Montage]

The thing is, this is often the "Oh what a scamp" face or very organised crime. Whether they know it or not - the "looky looky" men buy from someone, who buys from someone, who makes knockoffs, who eventually funds a lot of "very bad things".

The scratchcard thing - I always felt it was a massive scam, often used to sell timeshare or "holiday clubs". Oh yes, you have won a free holiday, but you have to attend this seminar, etc. However, a friend did one and actually honestly got a free 2 week holiday out of it, no strings! To say I was amazed is an understatement. But they still irk me, and I don't give them the time of day - the guys selling them are tossers, being all pally, trying to start a conversation. Please, just eff off!

[Panacik]

Its just another one of those things of the world that you need to look out for. There is nothing you can do about it no matter how annoying it is.

In many cases you do not realise where the money realy goes or how they get their stuff unless you are one of them.

Usually the people who work the streets trying to grab you, do so just for a bit of cash so they can stay on the island, however they do not always realize the bigger implications of what they are doing or the kind of funding they are supplying to certain other kinds of gang. Those that do know, often are of the thought process that they dont care. However when a member of their family is effected by a gang, who got funding from him working the streets, he kicks of saying it should not have been alowed.

This actually happens all over the world in a number of places, the difference being that you will find an increase in these people in tourist and hot places. The reason for this is because the sun makes people relax and because most people are tourists on holiday, your guard is let down somewhat more than if you were at home, so the chances of being able to make a sale from you is higher.

[sharpy2k4]

my parents got scammed by the scratch card things, they should have lost ?10k, in total i think when we were out there 3 years ago but got it all back through some other Timeshare we got reccomended by a friend, they got all the legal action together and got my parents the money back.

They took us (me,brother,mum,dad) to a resturant, bought us lunch, then to their "office" with pictures of 100's of other families they scammed. BUt yeh, was fine in the end, they now got a great timeshare in Costa Del Silencio which i think is a bit quiet for me (im now 18) but fine for my parents and my brother, they just came back a few weeks ago from a week there infact and had a great time.

I know what you mean by those LookyLooky men, in Zante when i went with mates they were everywhere, but the worst were the little Albanian kids who try to hug you and attempt to mug you of your stuff. One night some girl punched one in the chest to get them off her, it was really weird.