Comments on: School Books Scam

By: M Pickering

M Pickering — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:02:15 +0000

Hi – just received an aggressive call today from Ben saying I had agreed to advertise in a Safety Awareness magazine (I hadn’t) & then I looked up the ad I had placed for a year planner with them & the company Excel Media is mentioned in previous emails! I have lost £94 but will never advertise over the telephone again. I was caught before by the sounds of it with a drug awareness booklet being sent to a school of my choice – I had the booklet but I bet they didn’t! I wondered why they didn’t ring me to say thanks!!! Luckily that was not my own company but now I am self employed I cannot afford to keep getting scammed.

By: Jane-Louise

Jane-Louise — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 10:03:40 +0000

Hi we are a small one man company and the company hassling us are now calling themselves ‘Safety in Schools’ and claiming to have produced leaflets for a local school on our behalf and asking for £195.00 for this unrequested service. We have been invoiced today and given 7 days to pay. My husband is far too polite so I took up the cause…. the next phone call from them was greated with as much aggression and expletives as i could muster and threats of legal action and trading standards against them and so far it has gone quiet! Be firm with them, lock horns if you have to or if you feel you can’t then return all invoices etc. to sender marked as ‘Unsolicited Mail’. They are closed down on average every 12 weeks but set up again. they are a scam.

By: Jane-Louise

Jane-Louise — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 10:02:26 +0000

Hi we are a small one man company and the company hassling us are now calling themselves ‘Safety in Schools’ and claiming to have produced leaflets for a local school on our behalf and asking for £195.00 for this unrequseted service. We have been invoiced today and given 7 days to pay. My husband is far too polite so I took up the cause…. the next phone call from them was greated with as much aggression and expletives as i could muster and threats of legal action and trading standards against them and so far it has gone quiet! Be firm with them, lock horns if you have to or if you feel you can’t then return all invoices etc. to sender marked as ‘Unsolicited Mail’. They are closed down on average every 12 weeks but set up again. they are a scam.

By: Sally

Sally — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 09:08:44 +0000

Hi guys,
Finally a result!
I sent an email to them asking for a recording of my partner placing the order. I received a reply back with a recording attached, this was the second time they rang when they claimed that the order had been placed. I emailed them back asking for the first recording, not the second and guess what… they’ve decided to cancel the order and the school won’t be receiving any books (they’d already said on 2 occasions that the school had received them) and we won’t be considered for any more advertising initiatives … do I look bovvered?!

It’s been 2 weeks now and we’ve heard nothing else (fingers crossed)So my advice to you all is to insist they send you a recording of the order…it might work for you too

By: Sally

Sally — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 15:31:54 +0000

I posted back in April about Safety 1st, we are still being pestered by this firm to pay the invoice of £351. I complained about them to Trading Standards but it doesn’t look like its made the slightest difference so I think I will complain again. I have also spoken to the school they alledgedly sent the Fire Safety & Awareness books to and they have received nothing…. more fuel for me!

By: Peter Lewis

Peter Lewis — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 12:16:38 +0000

I just had a call off them , had a few last year aswell. I told them they had to speak to my colleague Mr Mike Hunt. Im waiting for them to call my mobile and ask for Mike Hunt !!!!

By: Alan

Alan — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 10:32:35 +0000

Another similar story. I was approached by Peterson Leigh a few months ago stating that I had agreed to place an advert with them in a “Keep Safe and Sound Funbook” due to be issued to local schools. Being a relatively new business and wanting to support the community I agreed to place an add at the discounted cost of £159.00. I received an invoice with a London address, and when I initially refused to pay without seeing evidence of the actual book I was told that the publication would be posted immediately on receipt of payment. Foolishly I paid by Credit Card. Suffice to say I have never seen the finished goods. Since this time I have received 4 more calls. On every occassion the sales patter is identical – “you will be pleased to know that we have just finished our succesful advertising campaign and thankyou for agreeing to support us!” They always have a northern accent. I received another call this morning from a company claiming not to have heard of Peterson Leigh but quoted my credit card number! When I asked for their phone details the guy hung up. Having undertaken some research I find that the London address is a “virtual office” and a credit search reveals their address as being Whitefield, Manchester. Their website reveals absolutely nothing. Scamming people under the pretence of supporting children in the community is in my opinion the lowest of the low. I have just reported them to Trading Standards. These people need to be stopped.

By: Jennie

Jennie — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 11:38:07 +0000

Hi everyone,

my husband recently started a company (in June) and has had letters from two different ‘companies’ claiming he’s agreed to sponsor adverts etc. One company “The Child Safety Initiative” is a well known scam as I found out when I Googled them, I was suspicious as I know my husband would never agree to pay any money without checking with me (I keep the books) first. They have sent three or four letters getting more and more menacing, the latest one arrived this morning threatening to take him to court. I have replied to each letter, requesting an invoice and full details of their claimed ‘agreement’ from my husband. They have ignored our letters. My reply to this latest letter is to write to them saying the same as last time, enclosing the other two letters I’ve sent and sending it recorded delivery. I will also be contacting Trading Standards or the police.

The other letter arrived this morning from Excel Media Ltd, which is what led me to this forum. Being suspicious of the first company I thought I’d check these out too. I’m glad I did. They look much more professional than the other company, they have an email address etc, so I’ve e-mailed them cancelling the ‘order’. We’ll see what happens now. I’ve contacted my husband (out on a job site) and told him if he ever gets phonecalls about sponsoring anything to just say NO and hang up.

Thanks for all the posts guys, you’ve helped me out.

Jennie

By: David

David — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 08:07:43 +0000

I have almost been caught by Peterson Leigh… they called a month ago and claimed I had agreed to advertise in Keep safe and Sound Fun Book. I was busy with a customer at the time and it was also the first time I have ever received this type of phone call and kinda agreed to it, mainly to get him off the line. I received the invoice and the threatening phone calls demanding payment, I haven’t paid and asked for the book that i was advertising in. They have sent me one and it is pants. There is no mention of mine or anyone else’s company. I am in design and print and it is the worst design and print job I have ever seen. Totally unprofessional and not worth 29p never mind the £129 invoiced. Thanks to this site, they will never be getting £129 from me! Invoice in the shredder!

By: Del

Del — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 09:57:16 +0000

Second call this year about school fire safety earlier. He hardly got started, I just used every vulgarity in the dictionary, told him we were on to them and go google yourself.

Previous plan was play it cool and wind him up, but I’d not had morning coffee/fag.