I got a call yesterday from a woman who said she was with TSI in Las Vegas, Nevada. She said that as a Visa/Mastercard/Discover/other credit card user I had been chosen to be entered into a drawing for $50,000. She then asked if i still carried one of those cards, then asked some survey questions about my likes and dislikes, etc. She made a lot of small talk with me, and was obviously not reading her script verbatim, as legitimate telemarketers and telesurveyors are supposed to do.
Anyway, after she asked all those questions, she said that I had also been chosen to receive some magazines free. She listed the mags I was going to receive and, surprise! They were all related to things I had just told her I had interests in. She said there was no charge for the magazines and that I was ALSO entitled to recieve a free diamond watch. This is eerily similar to a scam that I unfortunately fell prey to last year, under a company called CMS (this company has many complaints filed on this site also). So I kindly declined receiving the watch or the magazines. She asked why, and I told her, and then we ended the call.
Then TODAY, I received ANOTHER call from TSI. I told the guy I had already told the woman I spoke with yesterday that I wasn't interested. I asked how he got my name and number, and he really didn't know, said it must've been from the card company. I told him that's impossible because the address and phone number on my card account are my home address and number in MD, and he was calling me at school, in PA. So then he told me I must have signed something or did something sometime that would have enabled them to get my number, but he really didnt know how they got it. So I told him I wasn't interested, and yes I knew about the watch and the magazines (this guy actually mentioned that there was a price on the mags.)
I asked the guy politely to please take my name off their list, and he said he would, and that it should've been taken off after yesterday's call. But then he proceeded to engage me in ridiculous chit chat for a good 5 minutes, and I had to ask 2 more times for him to take my name off the list before he shut up and ended the call. If I get another call, I'll definitely be asking to speak to a supervisor.
A search for this company at the Better Business Bureau brings up a file that says "Based on a Bureau investigation of this company, we have been unable to ascertain that the firm has a valid business license." They sure don't tell you THAT when they call trying to con you into buying magazines. There are couple other complaints about TSI, although one of them reports the company being from canada, but it seems to be the same company.
I can't say for certain if they're offer is a ripoff, since I declined to accept, but I'm pretty sure it is.
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