bpshoppingspree is no longer online…
The popularity of this post has resulted in some backlash where some people don’t believe my claims that bpshoppingspree.com is a scam. In fact, one commenter has accused me of failing to do my research. I’ve changed this post slightly to reflect some additional research. Be sure to check out the charts toward the end of my post.
http://www.bpshoppingspree.com is a scam
I hate internet scams
I hate the internet scams that have become so prominent. Of course, we all can relate to the spam email that comes to our inbox on a regular basis, and we have learned to shut that out from our consciousness for the most part (my spam blocking software helps with that).
Many of us have also been contacted by someone in Nigeria claiming that we have millions of dollars waiting for us if we only give them our bank account number and other personal information.
It seems like the word of the day in any scam is, “I’ll give you tons of money, if you give me a little money.”
Well, a lady from my church just left my office as the latest near victim of a kind of scam that I thoroughly can’t stand.
(I’ve changed her name.)
Tasha just came by my office and asked if she could have some help using a computer because someone had just given her a gift certificate that she needed to redeem using a computer. We happen to have a spare computer sitting in our conference room for just such a reason, and I took Tasha to the computer to get her all set up.
Now, she doesn’t know much of anything about computers and has had a rough life in general. She told me that during her second year of college, she was shot in the head and has had to relearn so many things. It was clear to me that she was struggling with even pressing a letter on the keyboard or clicking the mouse buttons.
Well, I got her set up, went to the site for her, and showed her how it would work. The claim was that she had $1000 to spend at this online store. She could shop for whatever she wanted, and she wouldn’t have to pay for anything up to $1000 (that is if you don’t read the fine print). In point of fact, you have to pay a “Processing and Delivery” fee for each item.
While she was in the other room doing her selecting, I checked out the website from my computer in my office and discovered that unless you had a “passcode” from one of these “certificates” you couldn’t see their P&D rates.
It turned out, though, that the P&D is nearly 33% of the retail cost! When Tasha was done, she asked me to help her check out. I looked at the screen, clicked on a link, and discovered that her P&D would have been over $323!
You need to have a “passcode” to enter the site, but I’ve copied their P&D table here so you can see how ludicrous it is!
Subtotal More Than But Less Than or Equals Your P&D* $0 $25 $7.95 $25 $50 $16.95 $50 $75 $24.95 $75 $100 $33.95 $100 $125 $41.95 $125 $150 $49.95 $150 $175 $58.95 $175 $200 $66.95 $200 $225 $75.95 $225 $250 $83.95 $250 $275 $91.95 $275 $300 $99.95 $300 $325 $108.95 $325 $350 $116.95 $350 $375 $124.95 $375 $400 $132.95 $400 $425 $140.95 $425 $450 $149.95 $450 $475 $157.95 $475 $500 $165.95 $500 $525 $173.95 $525 $550 $181.95 $550 $575 $189.95 $575 $600 $198.95 $600 $625 $205.95 $625 $650 $213.95 $650 $675 $221.95 $675 $700 $230.95 $700 $725 $238.95 $725 $750 $244.95 $750 $775 $253.95 $775 $800 $261.95 $800 $825 $269.95 $825 $850 $277.95 $850 $875 $284.95 $875 $900 $292.95 $900 $925 $300.95 $925 $950 $308.95 $950 $975 $316.95 $975 $1000 $323.95 $1000 $323.95
Outlandish!
Now, of course that isn’t bad if you think that you are getting $1000 worth of merchandise for only $323.95, but check out the prices on their products. Here’s a sample from her shopping cart:
Code Product Price Sub 51293 Iron Chef Coffee Maker $139.95 $139.95 50128 Venus Overnight Rejuvenation Creme $24.95 $24.95 50506 Genuine Wood 2pc Pen and Letter Opener $16.95 $16.95 51080 Maxam Brand Extra Large Genuine Leather Purse $40.95 $40.95 51548 COBY 2.4GHz Wireless Security Monitor Infrared Camera CCTV02 $329.95 $329.95 50646 Maxam 40″ Acoustic Guitar with case HHGUITAR4 $350.95 $350.95 50786 Maxam 6pc Cutlery Set $44.95 $89.90 Subtotal: $993.60 Shopping Spree Gift Credit: ($993.60) Total: $0.00
$140 for a coffe maker?!
When you do the crossreferencing, you will see that to get the coffee maker, you will have to pay $50 in “Processing and Delivery”! I can go to Target and get a coffee maker for less than that!
All they are doing is marking up products 300%, giving them away for free, and charging 32% in P&D charges.
EDIT: Some people don’t believe me that they are unfairly marking up their prices. To prove this is the case, I have done a quick search for these exact products online at different stores, and I’m posting them below for your convenience.
Tasha was hurt.
I asked her where she got this certificate, and she told me that the car dealer had given it to her. Last week, she got a letter in the mail claiming she had won a brand new car. She went to the dealer, who claimed to redeem her car she needed to have good credit or get someone to sign for her. She refused, and on her way out, the receptionist gave her this certificate.
It makes me mad.
Additional Research — Feb 8, 2006
Here are the results of my small comparison shopping efforts online.
- Iron Chef Coffee Maker (apparently no longer available anywhere online) — $48.98
- Maxam Purse — $16.99 (price difference of
- Maxam Guitar — $138.29
So here is the chart with the official results:
Product BP’s Price Compare to Diff BP’s Markup Iron Chef Coffee Maker $139.95 $48.98 $90.97 186% Maxam Brand Extra Large Genuine Leather Purse $40.95 $16.99 $23.96 141% COBY 2.4GHz Wireless Security Monitor Infrared Camera CCTV02 $329.95 $69.99 $259.96 371% Maxam 40″ Accoustic Guitar with case HHGUITAR4 $350.95 $138.29 $212.66 154%
As you can see, I need to admit that I have slightly misrepresented bpshoppingspree.com.
For example, let’s say you ordered the coffeemaker. BP would charge you $139.95 + $49.95 = $189.90, but your certificate would cover the $139.95 and you would be responsible for the $49.95. However, if you had ordered from the site I just referenced (no longer online), then you might have paid a shipping charge in which case bpshoppingspree.com would have been the better overall deal!
However, the point remains that bpshoppingspree is still engaging in what I believe are deceitful marketing tactics. It appears that a savvy customer might be able to avoid getting ripped off, and might even get a good deal out of it, but many will be ripped off.
I do not accept the “buyer beware” argument.
Thank you, Jeff, for protecting someone from getting ripped off like that. It’s legalized theft is what it is and nothing makes me more angry at our American corporate culture than hearing about someone getting swindled by the fine print. Here’s a related story from my vault:
When I graduated from undergraduate school, I had no idea what I was going to do for money. One might ask, “What about your college degree?”, but let’s just say that it was a two part degree and the one part that actually had earning potential (teaching) wasn’t exactly what I wanted to do with my life. So anyway, after searching for two months and having no luck, I took a job as a telemarketer. Yes, I was that guy.
When I started, my coworkers and I were trying to upsell products for Time/Life Entertainment. An upsell, for any who are unfamiliar with the term, is retail jargon for selling an additional product to a customer who is already purchasing or has already purchased an item that is related to what you are trying to upsell. In this particular case, we telemarketing employees were upselling video set subscriptions of The Jeffersons to individuals who had already purchased the Sanford and Son video set. All of these video sets were burdened by the same scam-style regulations: you can get the first one, which includes two whole uncut episodes (whoopee) free except for the shipping and handling! Great, right? Yes, except that if you accepted the first one, you would continue to receive another tape every month until you cancelled for the exorbitant price of about $25/tape (included S&H).
Now, I didn’t have a problem with this practice for the first 5 minutes of my employment until someone actually answered the phone. I mean, how many people would fall for that, right? But I soon discovered, since I was working the morning shift, that the only people that answered the phone were elderly people who were not entirely coherent at times. Some of them, I’m convinced, really *were* just happy to talk to someone on the phone. I racked up a lot of sales on my first day simply because the people I was speaking to did not understand what was being explained to them.
To make a very long story less long, I continued to look for another job while I dragged my shame to that wealthy-looking office building every morning for the whole 5 days of my employment. I started on a Monday and quit by Friday because I’d thankfully found another job that didn’t require taking advantage of someone who might not understand every nuance of the verbal legal agreement I was reading to them.
Thanks for the comment, Chuck. Have I told you my own telemarketing story?
I agree that there are a lot of sales tactics that are effective and unethical, but the “shipping and handling” type things are what irritate me almost more than anything else.
I particularly hate the great deals you can find on ebay if you are willing to pay $15 for shipping something across town that weighs about 2 ounces!
Hey Jeff and Chuck, I am soooo glad that you have made this blog. I could not be more thankful in proving my case to my relatives.
My relatives called me up and told me that they just won a $2000.00 shopping spree on bpshoppingspree.com from a CAR dealership.
I can’t wait to show this to them, because I’m pretty sure that once I total up the items that they want and are asking me to even look into, I could buy them for about much lesser with branded names rather than names such as COBY or what not. Not to mention the fact that most of those items might not even have warranties and would be low quality. That’s my best guess via my experience.
If anyone reads this I would like to tell them also that before I buy from websites I’ve never bought before I definitely look for legitimate company names and contact telephone numbers and investigate by going to http://www.bbb.org which is the better business bureau, and as of today September 4th, 2005 Sunday I could not find any report on that company on the better business buread website.
Anyway, good luck people and watch out for such websites.
Sonu, I’m sure that once you take a look at the website, you will quickly come to the same conclusion that I did. It’s quite easy for a company to label something at triple its real value, give it to you for free and charge you handling that only amounts to 30% of the “list price.” What a scam!
Oh, and here’s another bit of wisdom from me (YMMV). Anytime someone tells you that you won something, hold out your hand and say, “Thank You.” If it doesn’t show up in 15 seconds, walk away. If it does, say, “Thank You” and then walk away.
Hi Pastor Jeff. I just wanted to say that I’m glad I’m not the only one out there that sees that BPshoppingspree is a big scam.
I am a Mary Kay consultant and for the past month we have been offered over and over that if we placed our next wholesale order by the end of November we would earn $500 towards the site. Well, I wasn’t going to be able to make my wholesale for the month, however a fellow consultant helped me out and just in the nick of time I made it. And low and behold I had not just $500 waiting for me, but $1,000. I was so excited!
I went to the site to shop and both me and my husband were amazed at the prices. We are extreme Ebay people so of course I ebayed each item to get an idea of “real” cost. You’re right on the numbers. But I thought, “I can get my items no matter how much, I have $1,000 to spend.” WRONG. After completing all the steps it informs me that I owe almsot $200. Funny that it comes to the exact cost plus tax and shipping had I ordered it from a secure site such as Ebay or another online store.
I was appauled. I was outraged. Mary Kay is a wonderful company to work for. I love what I do and I love the moral values instilled in the company. But advertising this site and promoting it to their new consultants and using it as a recruiting tool is just wrong:
“sign up now and earn $1,000 toward Christmas shopping”.
I informed my “next in charge” and have not yet heard her opinion on the matter.
I hate scams. And it has made me a sick and a nervous wreck all day b/c I know innocent women have been suckered by this scam.
Thanks for your comment, Joy. I can’t believe that a reputable company like Mary Kay would be promoting that site without doing their homework. I hope your “next in charge” does something about it, and I hope that other companies do their research before offering “free shopping sprees” to anyone.
Thanks for the spam reports.
Here is our story…
My husband and I recieved a call from C & D distributing out of Dover. Delware. Conerning a survey that we did and then a couple of days later I recieved a call stating that we had won. We we very excitided that we had won. We were told that we could chose from five different prizes. We chose the on line shopping spree since it was christmas. We set up a meeting in which we were to finish the survey with someone from their office. We were surprized to find out that we had to sit through a demonstration for their product. We liked very much what we saw in their product. It was something that we could very well use in our home.
The lady that showed us was nice and polite. We had some questions and when she called the office for us, the manager on the other line was very rude and short to my husband. We decided not to get the product at this time. While talking with the sales lady we found out that we were not the first ones to complain to her concerning the lies and deceit that was going on in their office.
We decided to get on line later that night to shop and boy what a surprize we found. We were told that we could shop on line from any where and didn’t realize that we were to shop from a very limited and high over-priced selection. The things that we want aren’t even on the list. Then you have the fees for the things you buy.
I am sending the paper back to thier company with a letter explianing why and what we found out about their company. Also to let them know that we will not being buying from them in the future, because of the lies and deceit that we found out . They lost a sale becuase of their dishonesty and I will be letting others know about what they have and are still doing in our area.
I am here to say THANK YOU for letting honest poeple out there know that there are others that don’t like being taken advantage of like we almost were.
Thanks for your comments Susan.
THANKS FOR THE BLOG! I JUST RECIEVED ONE TODAY, I’M ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO FIRMLY BELIEVES IN THE OLE SAYING, “TO GOOD TO BE TRUE!” SO I JUST WANTED TO CONFIRM MY SUSPICION AND I WAS RIGHT AND HERE IS THE PROOF! GOOD LOOKING OUT.
Thanks for the “heads up”. I received a flyer from a car dealership yesterday evening and didn’t get a chance to look at it until this morning. I scratched off the “instant winner” portion of the flyer and saw that I had won $2,000*. Knowing that the “*” always has a hidden meaning, I searched for the definition of the “*” and discovered that I had won an online shopping spree. Luckily, I saw your website directly under the shopping spree’s website. Things that usually are too good to be true are just that.
Thanks for the info regarding bpshoppingspree.com. Received the flyer on yesterday, read the fine print. Thank God He led me to do more research and landed me on your website.
Thanks for posting the P&D fees; you don’t know them unless you have the certificate and passcode. Their prices, as you’ve stated, are quite outlandish and utterly ridiculous. What a mark up! Something else I somehow found from their website:
“Fees and Services.
The Gift Certificate or Shopping Spree has no cash value. The User understands that the Gift Certificate or Shopping Spree amount issued on the Gift Certificate or Shopping Spree, whether electronic, printed or otherwise, applies to “our price”. The User may select as many items as the User desires up to the Gift Certificate or Shopping Spree amount based on “our price” for each item and will recieve a Gift Credit up said Certificate amount. The User may select items that subtotal an amount greather than the said Certificate amount without Gift Credit.
Items and Values subject to change as supply allows. http://www.bpshoppingspree.com reserves the right to substitute items of equal or greater value. Colors and styles of items may vary from http://www.bpshoppingspree.com photographs and descriptions.
Comparison values based on manufacturer’s suggested retail price when available through retail distribution or comparable value to version shown or on appraised value. Certain products may not be available in retail stores.” and on and on.
So thank you for saving me a trip to the car dealership where, no doubt, some salesperson would have tried to pressure me to buy some type, any type, or car. Sometimes, the bait looks good and wiggles like crazy, but in the end, you have to ask, do I go for it? is it worth it?
Take care people and God bless!
Thanks for your info regarding bpshoppingspree.com. Received the flyer from the car dealership a couple of days ago and searched the fine print. Thank God He had me to a little more research which landed me here. Thanks for listing the P&D fees which weren’t listed on the website; you can’t get them unless you actually have the certificate.
Something I found on the bpshoppingspree.com website:
“Fees and Services.
The Gift Certificate or Shopping Spree has no cash value. The User understands that the Gift Certificate or Shopping Spree amount issued on the Gift Certificate or Shopping Spree, whether electronic, printed or otherwise, applies to “our price”. The User may select as many items as the User desires up to the Gift Certificate or Shopping Spree amount based on “our price” for each item and will recieve a Gift Credit up said Certificate amount. The User may select items that subtotal an amount greather than the said Certificate amount without Gift Credit.
Items and Values subject to change as supply allows. http://www.bpshoppingspree.com reserves the right to substitute items of equal or greater value. Colors and styles of items may vary from http://www.bpshoppingspree.com photographs and descriptions.
Comparison values based on manufacturer’s suggested retail price when available through retail distribution or comparable value to version shown or on appraised value. Certain products may not be available in retail stores.” ……..and on and on.
The “our price” they list are obviously over-inflated and I agree with you that they are outlandish, and quite utterly, ridiculous.
So thanks for saving me a trip to the dealership where I didn’t have to deal with some salesperson attempting to pressure me to buy some type of car. Thanks much and God bless.
Ok, so maybe the prices are bad and maybe the merchandise isn’t incredible, but seriously, none of you had to do CRAP to get it, so who cares? It’s still free.
To krazycure:
You see, the problem is that the only thing you get for free is a piece of paper claiming you have a shopping spree. Sure that paper is free, and if you like collecting things like that, you’ve just come out ahead. However, if you try to redeem the shopping spree, you quickly discover that in order to redeem your $2000 shopping spree, you have to pay $600 in shipping charges.
Sure that sounds great until you realize that the products you got aren’t worth even $600. In other words, you pay $600 to get $500 in products (already a rip-off) but at least you thought you were getting $2000 worth of stuff.
If you didn’t do any comparison shopping, you might feel good about what you bought, but you are getting ripped off either way.
I got one of the BPShoppingSpree Gift Certificates and you pay about 33% of whatever thier “listed price” is. But I wasn’t able to find all the products on other sites (E-bay, Target, Wal Mart, K Mart) for less than the BP price. I agree you need to be very careful and do some research before you buy, but you may find something worth buying. I foud some things on BP were twice as much, some things were maybe $10 less and a couple things were 1/2 off. Nothing is ever free, do some research and you may find yourself a deal.
So, you can’t apply any of the money in the spree towards the P&D? That HAS to come out of your pocket? So, if you have a $2000 shopping spree: you can’t ‘select’ $1000 worth of stuff and ‘pay’ for it’s shipping with the remaining $1000 from the ‘spree’? If that’s the case, then now I understand what the fine print says “odds of winning 149,490:149,490″….that is such crap. I was going to go to sleep thinking I was a winner.
…sorry for my slightly innappropriate comment…
It does say “P&D may not apply” in the terms, which means, in some certain circumstances, it would be completely free I guess. But by putting ‘may’ in there, they leave it open to being ‘always’ i guess…good scam on th surface… they worked hard on this one.
Krazycure,
There is nothing that is completely free. If you look at the P&D chart above, even zero to $25 has a P&D charge.
Like I said, research the item, if you need it, will use it some time, or can sell it for more than 33% of “their price,” then buy it.
Don’t consider it a gift card, consider it a discount on certain items. At the same time you can also consider it a rip off on other items.
I bought a few things. I’ll let you know how it ends up when I receive them.
i got one of those certificate and we won $2,000, so we ordered items last thursday amounting to $1300+ but then i kept thinking about the prices. I can’t keep thinking about it, I felt bothered with the prices so this night I decided to do some research and dang…It led me also to this forum.
So I decided to cancel it, I can’t find a direct phone on the website just fax and email so I did email them but I stil worry that they’d take my money so I called my credit card company but they told me that they can’t do anything about it since the transaction is still pending. I thought I can put a stop on it, you know stop them from getting the money. So I just have to wait and I hope that they haven’t got the time to ship the items to save them from trouble so I can get my money back.
I hope that I can get my money back. Right?! I am praying right now that I don’t get scumed. This is the first time that I did this. I personally don’t believe in something free. Nothing is free in this world. I don’t know what happened that I got led into this. It’s my fault. Thank you pastor!
remy
san leandro, ca
p.s. the car dealers are still here.
I got the same certificate, but I did find a travel deal that is an amazing deal if it is true. Does anyone know the credibility of their travel deals? I tried to look up the sight of the travel company but you have to a have a passcode from the merchandise to even see anything. (They say it’s to keep the sight and personal information secure)
Can anyone help me on this one? I would love to take this travel opportunity, but I am very cautious.
Just “won” a $2,000 shopping spree and I am so glad I found this site! In case anyone is interested, I compared a few prices and found the following:
Cinderella Lap Desk
bpshopping.com: $37.50 (P&D cost of $16.95)
amazon.com: $15.99
Proctor-Silex 41464 Easy Morning 12-Cup Coffeemaker with Programmable Timer, Black
bpshopping spree.com: $89.95 (P&D cost of $33.95)
amazon.com: $23.97
Hamilton Beach Blendermaster Ultra 12 Speed (However this is actually called a “blendmaster”)
bpshopping.com: $99.95 (P&D cost of $33.95)
amazon.com: $30.55
Hamilton Beach Meal Maker Express Indoor Grill
bpshopping.com: $199.95 (P&D cost of $66.95)
amazon.com: $33.82
This is appalling and I am extremely angry that my small-town dealership is willing to participate in a program that insults the intelligence of it’s customers and neighbors. As far as I am concerned this dealership has no integrity at all and I will certainly never patronize them.
Bpshopping is a very carefully disguised scam. Beware!
Wow, I am completely shocked at the popularity of this article. So far, there have been over 800 hits on this article alone!
Anyway, I have a few more things to say…
*Amy*: Thanks for posting the prices on some actual name-brand merchandise. My assumption was right that in every case the P&D charge would amount to more than the product is actually worth. Your numbers have confirmed that.
*Kim*: I would also beware of travel deals. There are many ways for a people to recuperate their costs on travel. I would talk to a reputable travel agent (it’s completely free to talk to them) and ask them to compare the prices and features. Always remember that if you purchase a travel package from anyone, you will be at the mercy of their itinerary, and they can put you into any hotel they want. (Kickbacks abound in the travel industry.)
*Raquel*: Most credit card companies will allow you to report fraud. This is what you need to do. If bpshoppingspree won’t simply cancel your order, and it actually gets shipped, you write return to sender on the package and give it back to your mail carrier. If you haven’t opened it, you don’t have to pay any shipping charges to return it. Then, if they don’t refund your money, you can call your credit card company and enter a “charge dispute.” They will refund your money and enter an investigation with the vendor. This may make VISA or MASTERCARD aware of bpshoppingspree as a scam and will help prevent others from being ripped off.
*EVERYONE*: Do your neighbor a favor, if you got one of these in the mail, please do two things. (1) Tell your friends about this site and warn them about their own “shopping sprees.” (2) Contact the car dealers or whoever sent out the promotion and let them know they are promoting a scam. If the car dealer is reputable, they will stop the promotion. If they aren’t, they should lose your business.
So who is sending out these promotional cards?
I got a $2000. certificate from a good Chev dealership today I find it hard to believe that these dealers are aware of the scam that they are in bed with. after looking at the web site I was sure that it was not a real offer. All you had to do was show up at the dealer and you would get a $2000.00 even with out the mailing add. These people running this I believe are from Indiana it is probably legal there to run this scam. But I am surprised that a local car dealer would get in with these people.
I received the same $2000.00 certificate from the Chrysler Dealer today. I was certain that there had to be a catch. I new that I would find something out online. I am not so sure that these dealerships are completely in the dark about these scams. Anything to lure the customers!
Ditto with receiving this from a car dealership (mine was in Cola. SC). I knew there had to be SOMETHING wrong because you NEVER get something for nothing.
Thank you for exposing this
i recieved a 2000 gift cert today and with a little research I found there 800 number
1-888-999-6803
and
1-877-599-7867
I got my “winning” scratch off today from a local car dealership. I verified the inflated prices on a selection of items. The mailing did not include the odds of winning (I thought that was a federal requirement). Also, after paying p&d, there could be a requirement to report the $2000 prize as income on your next year’s taxes.
I received one of these $2,000 gift certificates from a car dealership and I had doubts about its value. Found your website and am glad I did. Thanks and God bless you.
Pastor Jeff,
First and for most, God bless your feet for carrying good news! I have been saved since 1988 and am amazed at how a few moments laziness can lead us astray.
I too came across a ‘$2,000.00’ gift certificate! ( From TRACY CHEVROLET 3400 AUTO PLAZA WAY in TRACY CALIFORNIA.
(HOTLINE # TO REDEEM YOUR “PRIZE” 1-800-822-1416.
Folks…call…write.. whatever, pull the wool directly out of the wolves mouth and say shame on you!)
I am glad I read this blog first.
I want to mention another scam that I was not so wise to protect myself from. A company that claimed to be a travel Agency called me one night. They called themselves Amercian Travel Agency. ATA was out of Orlando, Florida. I was familiar with Orlando only because I always get junk mail from Disney World, Universal studios, Cruise Lines, and other companies. So, I figured it was another harmless opportunity. This time, feeling the fatigue of work, I decided to say yes to a vacation. I gave them my checking account number after saying yes. They were supposed to send me a package in which I would have 15 days to cancel and they promised not to touch my account.
Well, I did receive the package. I changed my mind and called the sompany the DAY I RECEIVED MY PACKAGE. ONLY TO FIND THEY ALREADY CHARGED MY ACCOUNT 2xs!!!!! Some people do not catch the $45 or $50 dollars being withdrawn immediately until it is too late.
I called the company and they always state that it has been succefully canceled. I am sorry, the recording tells you. I had to keep all my papers to show the Sherriff in town and they said this is a new type of scam that is hitting hard. They stay in business makeing their millions in thirty days and then they get another 1 800 number and start all over again.
Careful everyone.
May we listen to the Holy Spirit more often!!!
Jessica
I found out today by stopping at the tracy california chevy dealership that the dealership buys the $2000 certificates for $3 each
the owner of bpshoppingspree.com is richard h——
*PERSONAL INFORMATION ON RICHARD HAS BEEN DELETED BY JEFF*
incentivestop.com is the site the dealers buy there $2000 scam certificates from
Just won the grand prize when I entered the Dodge car dealership and easily redeemed for the $2,000 gidt certificate at bpshoppingspree.com. The lady at the dealership said the site had many items and only had to pay shipping and handling. It seemed a bit scripted and tables were set up and she appeared to be a temporary, but was skeptical from the beginning and had already visited the site and could not get the p&d fee without passcode, so I vividly recalled her statement that only shipping and handling. Also, upon entering the dealership, a car salesman said I had won the grand prize as if the oil change or $500 cash prize was not as good as the $2,000 gift certificate. I wonder if anyone ever won the $500 cash and even the oil change although the oil change may help getting some other repair work done, but $500 cash I would like to know…
So, went to site and found p&d charges and this site and confirmed my suspicions. One other situation I can add is that Indiana is ripe for companies to receive money and never ship the goods!!! I found one fraudster doing this and he even had ebay buyers taken – I say this – BEWARE OF BUYING NEW ITEMS FOR TOO CHEAP even though the site being sold on is considered reputable. The fraudster will change names and companies and this particular one I found had spread to maybe 6 or more sites and his sales pitch seemed to have all excuses covered. I called the number for customer service and never got past a voice msg – even this was covered in the sales pitch-saying he worked full time and could only be reached 6-9PM and not to call Saturday or Sunday as it was family time. BEWARE AND LET THE APPROPRIATE PEOPLE OR SITES KNOW – there are people doing these things for a living – also, if the sales pitch says 6-8 weeks for delivery (the one I caught had 4 in inventory, I ordered 4, then the next hour magically 10 appeared in inventory for that item – a big screen tv set). The fraudster stated it may take a long time to ship because he gets the goods overseas in bulk – he used SONY and TOSHIBA and I notified those companies as well. I reported to the FBI fraud site and found out that over 2,000 complaints were filed monthly(or more) and not likely that it would be investigated. The fraudster also used in sales pitch a fake name and said it was fake as he did not want to be a victim of Nigeria spam – a sales pitch that is comforting or over-comforting should be a wake up call. Also, the fraudster only took US postal money orders, since they were 100% insured against loss and buyer would have the receipt! The Indiana corporation was a strange thing too – something called a private corp or something to that effect. And the address was off a rural Hwy.
I can only urge caution when it seems to good to be true and I felt great to have exposed this one at it’s start – wish the FBI would provide more help though especially when the tips are good ones.
Keep up the good work everybody! I found a seller on ebay selling these certificates! I notified the seller, and they honestly seemed to not know about the scam. I wonder how many good natured car dealers have been taken in by this.
Please keep telling people that it’s a scam.
the car dealers know I went back to the tracy chevy dealer that gave me the certificate and they said thet they buy the certificates for $3 each and said they did not care that the guy is scamming people and that it is a promotion that brings in customers
here is some more info on the site owner
Richard H——
*REMOVED BY JEFF*
I got my certificate from Kilgore Pontiac, Buick GMC in Kilgore Texas.
Jeff thanks for making that easy on me. I got that same certificate in the mail. I was all jazzed up at the prospect of getting 2000 bones worth of goodies for a “Nominal P&D fee”. I figured 2 grand, for maybe a 100 dollars in SandH… now that i see the chart, I see that I would have paid close to $650.00 I cross referenced some of the items, and the MAXAM 40″ giutar that they sell for $350.00 goes for $145.00 brand new on ebay, with the same case and extra strings… S$H included. thanks again…
Mark
“I got my certificate from Kilgore Pontiac, Buick GMC in Kilgore Texas.” (by Mark)
What a coincidence! Today, I received the same flyer from the very same dealership.
Thank you, Thank You, Thank You
I just got the same thing from Kilgore Pontiac, Buick GMC in Kilgore Texas.
I think we all need to contact the Longview News Journal and let them know how deceptive all this is.
This is for all the complainers out there who think that they are getting something for free. A tip: NOBODY IS GOING TO GIVE YOU ANYTHING FOR FREE!! ESPECIALLY A CAR DEALER. DUH! I work for a dealership that is doing this promo right now and after spending the last two days fielding the phone calls from every person within a 100 mile radius, i have had enough. READ THE FINE PRINT!! when you get anything like this in the mail or online, there is always fine print. When you read it, it will tell you what you are really getting. I can’t believe how many STUPID PEOPLE called and think that they each won $2000 cash! When you get something like this from a dealer, or from publishers clearing house, or anywhere else, READ IT!!!! All these offers have fine print. If I had a dollar for every call i answered in the last two days trying to explain this to people, I wouldn’t be sitting at work right now!
The whole point of these mailers (ALL OF THEM) is to get people in the door. Which is exactly what it does, because everybody thinks that they are getting something for nothing. DONT BE STUPID!
In response to Lucy…
I’m amazed at the attitude of this commenter. She seems to be quite mad at all the “STUPID PEOPLE” who get these certificates and think they have actually won something.
Imagine that! Who in their right mind would get a certificate in the mail with large print saying “You’ve won a $2000 shopping spree!” and think they have won something. They are stupid people indeed.
Or perhaps Lucy’s attitude is exactly what is wrong with these kind of scams. It’s taking the concept of “buyer beware” a little to the extreme to say really, “If the sucker wants to think he won something, let him. We’ll cover our legal butts with some fine print just in case.”
My suggestion: BAN ALL FINE PRINT! Wouldn’t it be great if advertisers were required to use nothing smaller than a 14 point typeface in all ad copy!
Okay, that’s for another time.
Dear Lucy, whenever you participate in something that is deliberately deceptive (“You’ve won!”) with an ulterior motive (“Come to our dealership.”) and blame the victim (“DON’T BE STUPID”), you are a con artist or at least an accomplice. Does anyone disagree with me?
After 33 years working with criminals I knew when I saw this BP Shopping spree that somebody was working a fraud scheme. Rules to live by–Rule one: “you can tell when a criminal is lying whenever their lips are moving” Rule one b: “see rule one when reading print material from criminals.” There are no other rules on this subject… Your site confirmed what I believed to be true. THANK YOU. Now here is how those who were injured by this crime can do damage control. Contact the manager of the business that sent this garbage to you. Tell them you are disappointed they did not look into this before they transposed honest valuable potential customers into victims . Ask them what they are willing or going to do to make it right before you decide to take your business, and the business of everyone else you know on this planet elsewhere. Guarantee you will win something if you take charge of the situation from the source that got you into this mess in the first place. PS :When I spoke to the manager who ran the establishment(car dealership) behind this promo, he asked me to stop in, take a test ride and he would make me an offer I cant refuse. I’ll let you know how I make out. Thanks again Jeff.
I don’t really think that “Buyer Beware” applies here since they aren’t required to purchase anything. That’s the part I just don’t understand. Everyone gets mad at the dealer and accuses them of fraud and ripping off customer’s when in fact it says right under their noses, “no purchase neccesary”. Nobody held a gun to your head to make you come in to the dealer or to force you to order anything from the shopping spree. So really all it costs you is a few minutes of your time to stop in and see our Sales people. The only way I could understand these accusations, is if it didn’t tell you as soon as you get to the site what the charges are. Anyone who calls in and asks is given as much information as they ask for. In conclusion, I believe that there are much bigger “scams” out there that you should be making people aware of. Ones that actually cost people money. We didn’t cost you a penny unless you are dumb enough to put in your credit card information and pay the P & D charges. We are just people trying to earn a living. Just like everyone else.
Lucy,
Let’s say I know a con artist. Let’s say his scam is getting elderly people to come to his “shelter” for very little money, but that hidden in the fine print of the contract is the agreement that their social security checks belong to him for as long as they stay there. On top of that, he charges exorbitant amounts of money for bare necessities once someone is a resident. $10 for a box of tissues.
Now, let’s say that your mother is sick and needs a nursing home. I tell you that I know this guy, and I give you his card.
Legally, I’m not responsible for you getting ripped off if you decide to “stupidly” put your mother in his facility.
However, morally, I shouldn’t be going around recommending this guy.
Any dealership or other company that hands out these “shopping spree” cards is recommending a con artist. On top of that, the dealership is advertising these as if they are worth something ($2000) when in fact, they are worth nothing. It’s a cheap trick at best, and it’s a con at worst.
If you still don’t understand what we’re all talking about or why it’s important, go to your boss, and ask him if you can have one of the certificates yourself. Tell him there are a bunch of wacko’s at this website who think it’s a scam, and do the research yourself. I mean go and buy some stuff. Use the certificate, pay the P&D charges, and if you are satisfied with the experience come back and tell us off.
However, if you come to agree with us that it’s a rip-off, you should also recognize your moral duty to prevent other people from getting ripped off too.
If I had your boss’s name or number, I’d contact him myself.
Thanks so much for all the info! I just got one from a Saturn in White Plains NY! Knew something was up. Tried to research on Google – nothing there and then found you through Yahoo.
Can’t thank you enough – will contact the dealer tomorrow to let them know what’s going on!
Hey, I received a $2,000 “shopping spree” from a nearby dealership. I considered driving the 20 minutes to the dealership to redeem it, but I thought I’d better check out the bpshoppingspree.com site first. I did and realized their prices were inflated . . . and I was suspicious about the P&D charges.
I’m glad I googled and found your blog. Saved me a little gas money! I hope you keep it here for others who might do the same.
My father received one of these $2000 gift certificates from a local car dealership. Unfortunately, he went to the dealership to redeem his “prize” before he spoke with me about it. They pressured him into buying a new car. He is 79 years old and will be paying monthly payments on this car until he is 85 years old. His old car was in perfect shape and completely paid for. I have contacted an attorney and we are submitting complaints thru the Better Business Bureau and the States Attorney General.
Hi,
I am sitting in a buick dealership that is running a promotion that is giving away the bp shopping spree. It has been mayhem for the last five days with people lined up at the door. Nobody noticed that EVERYONE here scratched off the cover and won $2,000. They were all here to collect the cash. There were a few dissenters, sceptics and a few actual car buyers.
Now that I’ve read what I already knew about the scam, I am glad that I work the internet and have not been involved. It’s good to still have your own personal integrity in this business when all the world around you is sinking in the mud.
I’m not saying that all people are stupid, but it is amazing the volume of people that have benn fooled.
I received a 2000 dollar winner from a Ford dealer in Western New York. The dealer said that it was legit. I am so happy to have found your website as I was concerned about the hidden cost also. The gifts are nothing but junk. The things look like they were buyouts from three years ago. You never get anything for nothing.
Thanks again
**FROM JEFF…**
Once again, I want to thank you all for your comments. I appreciate the discussion and even the dissenting viewpoints. However, there have been a few rather negative comments left here, that I just don’t feel are appropriate or beneficial. Therefore, I just want to let you all know that what follows is an example of the kind of comment I will either edit or delete. I want to leave room for disagreement and discussion on this site, but direct personal attacks will not be allowed. This comment, from Stephanie Largio, is an unwarranted attack against innocent people.
If anyone wants to give a dissenting comment, feel free to do so in a mature and rational manner.
**Original message follows:**
—-
I recently recived a 2,000$ dollar shopping spree in the mail. I’m not one of you other dumb people out there you had to have figured that you had to pay a Pda price. And Lucy I agree w/ her . Some people out there are just trying to make a living.And you should have realised what it was before coming down to the dealerships or orders items. And for donna….. if your father is 79 he should’nt be buying acar by himself
Thanks Alot
P.S
your really not getting scamed its alot cheaper for things if you find em’ at the right price
these scams are #####…………
(*edited by Jeff*)
My mother, who is in her sixties, also recently “won” this shopping spree prize from a dealership. Not knowing anything about it but feeling like something might be amiss I got online to do some research and found this site which confirmed my suspicions. I applaud your efforts, Pastor Jeff.
I am an attorney and I wish to address the comments of Lucy and the semi-coherent Ms. Largio. “Read the fine print” is no longer the bulletproof vest that it used to be. Courts across the country are increasingly unamused by companies that use unintelligible “fine print”, pyramid selling schemes, that require “deposits” before the prize recipient can get anything, or that otherwise make it impossible to collect a prize without advancing money. This is especially true where the vulnerable (elderly or otherwise impaired) are targetted.
It is also flat out illegal to condition entry or awarding of a prize on purchase and if a dealership uses this prize to get someone to buy a car then they are treading on thin ice. And let’s be honest, “getting someone in the door” isn’t really the object now is it? If anyone reading this suspects that they or someone they know were strongarmed into purchasing anything in order to sign up for or receive this prize then they should contact their state’s Attorney General and ask to speak to someone in the consumer fraud division (most AG’s have one). Don’t be embarrassed by being duped: these companies are in the business of deception. And you have rights.
Thanks for the legal insights Iris. I hope your advice helps out a lot of people and leads to some significant changes in the business practices of these car dealerships.
Hello again,
I first would like to apologize to Pastor Jeff and everyone reading this for calling people stupid. That was unfair and said in the heat of the moment. I am not sorry about the rest of my comments though. I was taught at a very early age that nothing in life is free and believe that this is a very important lesson and I hope that if everyone learns one thing from this mailer, it’s that.
In response to your comparision between our shopping spree and the nursing home scam, we aren’t comparing apples to apples here. We aren’t keeping any amounts of people’s money (unless of course they purchase a car) and if they don’t want to pay $10 for my “box of tissues” they don’t have to. I have been to the website and although you are right about the retail values being excessive, it’s still not a scam. We gave the customers exactly what we told them they would get. When they called (before coming into the dealership) and spoke with myself and my partner we told them it is a shopping spree and they are responsible for the shipping charges. It didn’t stop anyone from coming in to claim it.
In response to Donna whose father bought a vehicle during one of these sales, I suggest that if you don’t believe your father capable of making his own decisions, then you should get power of attorney over him. Otherwise he is perfectly within his rights to purchase whatever he wants. We would never tell a customer that they are required to make a purchase. The only condition of this “deal” is that they come in and get it. The flyer clearly states “No purchase neccesary” and we told everyone who called and asked that they are not required to buy a car. If they were otherwise convinced to buy one, then thats great! You aren’t required to buy anything.
When ordering from the from the internet or mail always send a U.S. money order. There are different laws govering them, it a felony cash one under fraudulent conditions they also can get charged with mail fraud. Keep your receipts and paper work in order for the postmaster, there is atime limit before the postmaster will look into it. Wayne
To Lucy:
I still think you are missing the point of all this. No one here is saying that you or your dealership are con artists. We are claiming that BPShoppingspree.com is a scam and that by pointing people to their site, you are acting as an accomplice.
If you truly believe that you are offering something of value, then we need to agree to disagree. If you believe you are not offering something of value (you claim nothing in life is free), then I think you have a moral obligation to stop advertising these “shopping sprees”.
The bottom line is that the shopping sprees are a scam. A $2000 shopping spree will cost you $600 and you will receive roughly $500 worth of merchandise. If you continue to endorse this, then you are gaining an advantage (customers visiting your dealership) from the naivete of others. I believe that’s wrong, and I hope your dealership doesn’t operate this way with regard to the cars it sells.
A family member got one of these famous fliers and “won” 2000—2000 what was my first question. I’ve always been a skeptic—and more so of bulk mailings. When I proved the bottom line, not only was it disappointing to him, but I called the dealership, to let them know that although I am looking for a car I’d never consider buying it there. Why? I simply do not do business with anyone who has either been unethical in any way or associated themselves with someone who is. I find it serves me well. I save time and money in the long run. While they may think they’ve gotten more potential buyers to their doors, in reality Lakeland Automall of Florida, owned by Bill Mutz, and the “reputable” marketing company that helped them out with this project has permanently alienated me, and I’m sure I’m not the only upstanding, responsible, well-off citizen they’ve lost—this simply doesn’t attract the kind of people they’d really like to buy their cars. I normally wouldn’t even respond, but it really got to me that a family member’s feelings were played with.
I get this gift certificate from stevan’s auto mobile.
SHAME ON YOU TRACY CHEVROLET, YOU WERE REPUTABLE UNTIL NOW.
Pastor Jeff-
I received one of these gift certificates in the mail this past week, but only remembered it today (the final day) after the dealership had closed. I decided to take a look at the web site and in doing so, I also pulled up several other URLs.
Reading this thread enabled me to see that I did not miss anything. I will share this information with my young adults-just to ensure that they understand that there is nothing free. It does make me sad, however, that some people will undoubtedly be duped by this gimmick. It makes me even more sad that there have been others who actually don’t see something terribly wrong with this scam! What a statement about society and being thy brother’s keeper.
Thanks again.
Hi all – whilst researching whether this is a scam or not, I came across your blog, and thank goodness I did! They are a few people selling these “passcodes” for $2000 bpshoppingspree.com on eBay for $250! I will figure out how to report them, and hopefully some of you can do the same!
Thanks!
IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE ……… IT IS!!!!!
I’ve always been suspicious of these offers. Glad I checked, and found your site. THANK YOU!!! There are way too many scams out there. I hope everyone is telling their friends about this.
Has anyone reported this to the F.B.I.? I think I will!!!!!
Thanks, again, and GOD BLESS YOU!!!!!
Nancy
I got the flier from Stevens Auto Group in Milford Ct. I screamed w/ joy to realize I won the 2,000$ prize. I looked on the website to see what I could get w/ my shopping spree. I never made it to BPshoppingsprees. I landed here. I read and re read with disbelief that this was happening. Then I wondered how many were duped by Stevens. I found the managers email and mailed him a letter informing him of what they were offering to potential customers and I also let others know of this scam. Thank you a million you saved me $$ and heartache. As I’m broke now just starting my own housekeeping business. I was sad because I have no money to buy my husband a birthday gift or Valentined day gift. I thought briefly this was my answered prayer. I will be happy knowing others in my position are now informed of the reality of the situation. Shame on you Steven’s! I hope they do the right thing and apologize to the public and never use this scam again as a way to attract potential customers. Thank God for you Pastor Jeff!
Ha, I knew it was a scam. I got the flier in the mail from the car company saying I won a $2000 shopping spree. I looked at it and laughed. In the past 6 months, I have “won” 3 cruises and now this from car companies. I’d rather have their second place prize, $1,500 cash. Did a “google” on the site and this came up. I love the internet :). I’m going to print this out and take it to the car company when I go to “claim” my prize. The cruises are just as big a rip off. For those you have to pay a $20 fee just to “register” your prize and find out what dates you’re allowed to use (all the dates are the off-season I’m sure). You also have to pay port fees and other fees that amount to over $200, plus airfare to the city the cruise is leaving from. Oh, and meals are NOT included, so you’re stuck on the boat and are subject to whatever price they want to charge you.
Thanks for the heads up on the fees, I was checking out the site because I figured it was a scam and couldn’t find the P&D rates or shipping charges.
–KurtRoedeger
Pastor Jeff, my wife got the $2K scam certificate last week and drove eight or nine miles to the dealership (a Ford outfit in Chantilly, VA) to claim it. They gave her the usual sales job right off, but trying to pry money out of that woman is a fool’s errand. She grabbed the cert. , we checked out the website, and smelled a rat. I still thought we might re-sell a few of the better “discount” goods on eBay for a profit, however — until I saw your table of P&D charges!! Have a mind to let that dealer’s management (and the Washington Post) know that we are onto the scam. Thx for exposing this.
Joe Johnson Chevrolet in Troy, OH.
Same scam, don’t do it, people!!
Has anyone reported this clown to the BBB yet?!?! There are plenty of elderly and just plain naive people who are throwing away their hard earned money on this rediculous scam.
The dealerships should be held accountable for soiling their reputations with this kind of business behavior. The companies should know enough about who they’re getting involved with to let people get scammed in this way.
Has anyone staged a demonstration outside of a participating dealership? THAT will get the word out fast.
Like so many others, I checked out bpshoppingspree after receiving a mailer, saw that the “P&D” charge was a scam, then googled to see if anyone had information about these folks. This turned up your blog, and I am grateful that you made the effort to post your findings. Thank you! You’ve done a lasting service to people who you’ll never even meet.
Here is the message I sent to the car dealership who sent the flyer:
Received your mailer indicating that I had “won” a $2000 certifcate to bpshoppingspree.com. Either you are not aware that bpshoppingspree is a scam, or you are aware and are letting them scam your potential customers in order to further your own business.
Please read http://jeff.mikels.cc/index.php?p=117&PHPSESSID=a8ffb62f634d78c38dd953878ee92411 and give some serious thought as to what kind of neighbor you’d like to be. Because you don’t have to deceive and manipulate people this way in order to do business. How about offering people something real if they visit your dealership, like coffee and cookies? Seriously, I think that would go much farther toward building a happy loyal customer base. Paying hundreds of dollars to redeem a “gift” certificate will only leave people disillusioned, disappointed, and distrustful of Blue Ridge Mazda.
— Pat
I am glad I found this site.
I actually received this mailer from joe johnson chevrolet in troy ohio just yesterday.
I filed a complaint with the bbb in dayton.
I have been reading your information on this BP Shopping Spree site.
I went to this site and spoke to the owner of the fulfillment company in New York. I have done a considerable amount of research and what you are doing is a MAJOR dis service to people. You did absolutley no real research into all the products. Your claims and the claims of others are in manmy cases totally unsubstantiated. For example one person writes they can but a cheaper coffee maker than a $50 one on the site, that is probably true, you can buy some for $5.00 but it is NOT the same one. So that is like saying a Yugo is the same as a Cadillac.
What this company charges is the same amount ANY TV marketing program charges for their s/h fees, which is about 30% on a National basis. So now why don’t you put every TV ad company out of business. I personally have gotten products from this company and I can tell for the $200 I spent I got well over that amount in product.
You sir are just hiding behind the internet and are not doing anyone but yourself and your “church” any good. If people want to buy things with this type of promotion then you should not discourage them at all. I am sure you never took the time to actually call the company that does the fulfillment of these products. BP is just a marketing company(you probably did not know that either) not a product selling company. I took the time to do the research and found they are a reputable company and the fullfillment company has been doing this program for over 5 YEARS !!! If they were not doing it correctly they would be out of business. I just wish so called “good people” like you would not deceive people into thinking you know it all. It is a sad day when people like YOU get away with whatever they want and do it by hiding behind the cloth of our Lord.
Hey thanks for all the good advice and comments. I just got one in the mail today from a car dealership. The dealership is about 35 miles from where I live and when I called the “event hotline” I was told that I would have to drive out there. If there wasn’t some kind of scam why couldn’t they just give me the passcode over the phone. I know now that this is their way of trying to get you out there so that they can sell you a car. Too bad for them I already bought a new car. Their a little late on that one. Again, thanks. I would have driven out there too.
I realize how cliche it is to respond to someone’s post instead of the topic itself, but I feel what I have to say is pertinent. First of all, Mark’s claim that Pastor Jeff did no real research is hard to stomach when Pastor Jeff not only provides the P & D chart, but a sample invoice as well. Next, it’s true you can’t call a Yugo a Cadillac, but I believe Mark missed the point. If you take the time to do some “smart shopping,” there is really no comparison. Here is one example:
COBY MP-C741 Digital MP3 Player
bpshoppingspree.com = $249.95
Free shopping spree -$249.99
_______
$0
Plus “P & D” +$83.95
_______
bpshoppingspree.com $83.95
amazon.com = $49.99
jr.com = $49.99
computers4sure.com = $52.95
I don’t know where Mark got his information regarding TV marketing companies’ shipping rates, or how it is relevant in this case, but I would’ve liked to see a source since it’s so hard to believe. Shipping and handling isn’t based on the items cost, it’s based on size and weight. Finally, Mark states, “If they were not doing it correctly they would be out of business.” That’s true, if they weren’t making a profit by scamming consumers, they would be out of business. Unfortunately what they are doing isn’t illegal.
Perhaps Mark was misled when he allegedly spoke to the owner of the fulfillment company in New York. Or maybe he was just in a hurry as indicated by the numerous grammatical errors. Nevertheless, I would seriously question Mark’s motives for defending bpshoppingspree.com. He does, however, implicitly, bring up one good point: you should always read the fine print; or in this case, the premises for an argument.
In response to mark:
Thank you for your wonderfully encouraging and helpful comments.
If you really want to prove your point, it would be worthwhile for you to tell us what product you purchased, how much you paid for it, what the P&D charges were and how much a comparable item would be at a local retail store. If you can prove that bpshoppingspree.com sells items that are worth their advertised price, I’ll rewrite this post or remove it entirely.
Until then, I stand behind what I’ve written and I do not for an instant claim to be “hiding behind the cloth of our Lord.” My name is out there for anyone to see. I’m not hiding.
### To everyone reading this site ###
I got a phone call today from Richard H———, **the owner of bpshoppingspree.com.** How did he get my phone number, you wonder? Well, people who own internet domains have their contact information available on a publicly available database called “whois.” In fact, that’s how you can find out who owns bpshoppingspree.com and how to contact him if you want.
In our conversation, he respectfully asked me to remove his contact information from my site, which I have done.
He also told me that he was surprised at discovering the deceptive practices of a “rogue marketer” who was printing these certificates in a deceptive manner. He has removed the website for the time being.
He also tried to explain his business practices, and I told him that we would have to agree to disagree.
During the conversation, he told me that he is a Christ-follower, an active member of his church, and the leader/host of a group that meets in his home. I encouraged him for those things, and was very appreciative of his calm and respectful demeanor on the phone. He definitely did seem like a nice man, and I can see why mark (above) was so impressed with him.
### For all believers out there… ###
Let me just encourage you all to be people who are in all things “above reproach.” Peter admonishes his readers this way:
> Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. — 1 Peter 2:12
Whether in business, in a relationship, or on the Internet, let us strive to do all things in a way that completely avoids any hint of wrongdoing.
I received a flyer from McDavid Plano Lincoln Mercury in Plano Texas 2-7-06. I called the dealership was told I couldn’t get cash, but I could check the website of BPshoppingSpree.com for items I might be interested in ordering with my instant winner code# that I have to pick up in person at the dealership within the next three days. I found your site first and opened it instead. Glad I did. I am sending a copy of the P&D charges along with my “your a winner of $2000.00 shopping spree” flyer back to McDavid Plano Lincoln Dealership telling them to take me off of their mailing list as this is a “Cheap” way to conduct business.
Just got one today in the mail… I’m not afraid of shaming the dealership into realizing it’s a fraud, so here is the info:
Currently SCAMING the TOLEDO, OH area:
YARK PONTIAC-GMC
1910 SOUTH Defiance
Archbold, OH 43502
A few friends and coworkers (who will get emailed tonight) also received the same mailing… A Scratch-off of a poker hand… claiming:
“YOU COULD BE THE GRAND PRIZE WINNER! (3) ”
Of course the (3) is a reference to small type that if you actually use the $2000 “SHOPPING SPREE” that your shipping will be around $555.95
Pretty steep for something “FREE” that you “WIN”
Glad I found Your blog… Hope this saves some heartache for those folks smart enough to “THINK” before they jump.
AS for YARK Pontiac-GMC… SHAME… SHAME…SHAME… More proof that dealerships are theives and that is why I buy and sell my cars personally one -> one with friends/relatives/co-workers. Cut out the dealers… Cut out the middle man! (and in this case SCAM!)
First of all I did not say you were hiding anywhere, I was saying you are using your calling as a preacher to tell people things that they take as gospel because of who you are no matter that you have done no research and have no idea what you are talking about.
You are as bad as the “scams” you are trying to expose. You do not have any proof of anything you claim, however I did some more research into what I purchased and 80% of what I got is a good deal, the other 20% is not great but not bad either. I think this is true of just about anything we buy online or from ebay or other TV advertising.
Here is what I bought and what I found is the “retail, and the probable costs if I went on the open market.
NASCAR – Bill Elliot #94 – Big Mac Die Cast Car 1 $29.95-retail same, actual on open market-$24.95 , my cost with spree-$9.00 great deal !!
LCD Nascar Watch 1 $16.95-retail $19.95, same on open market-$13.95, my cost with spree-$5.40, good deal slightly inflated retail
Chef’s Secret 8pc Steak Knife Set 1 $14.95-Retail same, open market, could not find- my cost with spree- $4.50-good deal
Hamilton Beach Extra Strength Smoke Filter 1 $14.95-retail not Ti2 Series Metal Woods 1 $149.95-retail $119.95, actual same-my cost $45.00 GREAT DEAL !! p.s. I hit the ball a long way !!
Wedge 55 degrees 1 $99.95 retail about $79.95 , my spree cost-$30.00 good deal
Yorkcraft(tm) 125pc Drill Bit Set 1 $40.95-retail $35.95 actual find at $29.95 my cost spree- $14.00 OK deal for quality received,not great
Yorkcraft 102pc Comprehensive Tool Set 1 $52.95-retail $49.95, actual on market-$39.95(sale) my cost with spree- $17.00
Disney Atlantis – Trial By Fire – PC 1 $12.95-retail $10.95, actual same, my cost $4.00 great deal
Wilson NFL Official Size Football 1 $29.95-retail at Target $21.95, actual same-my cost with spree $10.00 good deal
Worlds Funniets Cartoons Vol 1 DVD 1 $9.95-retail could not find-my cost $3.00 well worth it for the kids
Texas Hold’EM 400 Chip Poker Set In Aluminum Case (3) units @ $39.99=retail-$same and actual $29.95 on sale at BJ’s
my cost with spree-$13.00 each= GREAT deal
Subtotal: $593.42 Retail per spree/actual retail about $500, actual amount on regular market $475 my cost on spree..$183.00 delivered to my door. GREAT DEAL ALL AROUND
yes some were not fabulous but the bottom line is I got a bunch of product for a good price all around. certainly much less than I would have paid for each item individually. So there is your proof that it is not a fraud, but just a good deal. Nothing is free in life and people should know that. I also got one of those mailers when I went to a car dealership, and when I read the mailer it was very mis leading however after further invesitgation, BP Shopping spree does NOT do the mailings, they are just a marketing company that sells those certificates to the mailing companies. So to go after them is WRONG.
You should be talking to the marketing companies that sent out the mailers for the car dealerships. That is what I did.. The internet is a great tool for informing people about things, but I believe you mis used it and have done a great dis-service to BP, I spoke to Mr. H.. and yes I was impressed, but not because he was a good salesman, but because he spoke the truth and gave me some ways to find this out for myself without him having to tell me. So if you truly are man of G-d and a man of your word you will remove the unthruths from your site and don’t hurt a good Christian business man that has done nothing wrong.
### From Jeff ###
Hey everyone, make sure you read the additions I’ve made to my post above. You aren’t going to like this, but it seems that bpshoppingspree wasn’t as bad as I thought it was.
I still think it was pretty deceitful, though.
I tried to look at the site today, but it is indeed down. I think it is great that this site may have shut down this scam, but unfortunately, thousands of people are still going to go to dealers (like Bonaza Ford in Four Lakes WA) to get their “passcodes.” BTW, I suppose it’s not important, but I was wondering if they have been giving everyone the same “passcode.” Nobody has mentioned what passcode they were given.
I would also like to point out to Lucy that the free shopping spree is at the very least a deception and to use this to trick people into coming to your car lot is unethical no matter how you rationalize it.
First of all I did not imply that you were hiding behind your position as a Pastor, but what you are doing is using your position as a Pastor to make people believe that what you say is Gospel because of who you are. Yes to respond to the other person who said that you did “some” research with the chart and subsequent pricing, but first of all if you check the chart,it is outdated and some of the products you listed from last August are also outdated. I also found some of the products you priced out at much more from other places. You can always find someone who may have something on sale but not as a usual retail price. In many different marketing avenues they use the established retail in the open market place and “suggested” retail to show a bigger discount. Also I have no motives other than to give a fair report to the public. Just as you are trying to do…Also, s/h fees in most cases are NOT the actual s/h, whenyou buy form an infomerical for example, it costs $19.95 for the product and $6.95-$9.95 for the s/h which is about 30%..gee where did the fulfillment company that actually owns the shopping site get their % from???
Yes BP does not own the site, they just sell the certificates to the mailing companies that sent out the erroneous information on their mailers that deceived the public. Once again I got this by just doing a little investigation and getting both sides of the story.
oh and I apologize for the typing errors…
Having said that I will do as you asked and give you what was purchased along with some retail prices, actual pricing and what I Ultimately paid. Here goes….
NASCAR – Bill Elliot #94 – Big Mac Die Cast Car $29.95-retail $24.95-open market-$19.95-my cost with spree-$9.00
LCD Nascar Watch $16.95-retail-$12.95-open market-$9.95-my cost with spree-$5.50
Chef’s Secret 8pc Steak Knife Set $14.95-retail-could not find-my cost $4.50
Hamilton Beach Extra Strength Smoke Filter $14.95 -retail same, open market-$9.95, my cost $5.00
Ti2 Series Metal Woods $149.95-retail $109.00, open market-$89.00 my cost with spree-$46.00 .. and I hit it pretty well !!
Wedge – 55 Degrees $99.95 -retail- could not find-my cost $30.00
Yorkcraft(tm) 125pc Drill Bit Set $40.95 retail-$29.95 open market same- my cost $14.00
Yorkcraft 102pc Comprehensive Tool Set $52.95 -retail same, open market $44.00, my cost -$$22.00
Disney Atlantis – Trial By Fire – PC $12.95 -retail same, open market-$9.95 my cost $4.00
Wilson NFL Official Size Football $29.95 -retail same-open market- target had on sale $19.95, my cost $9.00
Worlds Funniest Cartoons Vol 1 DVD $9.95 retail could not find-my cost $3.00
Texas Hold’EM 400 Chip Poker Set In Aluminum Case $39.99
(3) sets- retail-$same open market $29.95, my cost $13.00 each
So over all I got quite a bit for my $183.00 delivered to my door.
Overall I am happy with what I got and would do it again for other products. I am sure not all the products on the site are great deals, but overall it’s not bad. I did not expect to get something for nothing. I would expect you,Pastor Jeff, to be a man of your word and remove the bad publicity until you can prove otherwise.
Respectfully..
Mark, I am glad to hear that this company may not have been actually ripping people off, but the “$2000 prize” is still a shameful deception. Any car dealers who uses this imaginary “prize” to bring potential customers to their lot is still being mighty dishonest.
Pastor Jeff,
THANK YOU !!!
Bonanza Ford in Four Lakes, Wa just sent me a flyer and guess what??
I did win. I found this blog before I looged on to that scam.
God Bless,
Dan Mller Otis Orchards, Wa
I recieved the flyer from a dealer in our area, and on it it stated that I had won $2000 on internet spree, all I had to pay was UP to $37 per $1000 in product ordered. I have not been able to get to the site this evening, but that to me seems like false advertising…the fact that they stated all that would be required to get the spree was no more than $74 for $2000 spree. What do you make of this? Can they state that legally when you have posted this actual shipping chart? Thanks!
I received a flyer from McDavid Plano Lincoln Mercury in Plano Texas Feb, 7th 2006 as well. Again just another way to try to get you in order to purchase a car. Pressing you to fill out a application for a car in order to receive yet another point on your credit. I am unable to even access http://www.bpshoppingspree.com.
These are crazy scams and these dealers need to be reported to the BBB. And is small print it states you receive $2000 of merchandise and servies without any charges* *only a small delivery fee is necessary. Are these the type of people you want to do business with? I think not!
To Mark:
Thanks for going into such detail to prove your point. I’m convinced that you found some incredible prices, and I’m happy for you. I must admit that I’ve never heard of “Yorkcraft” hardware before, but what do I know?
So, I concede that savvy customers like yourself can find good deals at places like bpshoppingspree.com. How then should we feel about the number of other people who are not so savvy?
Should we try to protect them?
Pastor Jeff,
That is what you call yourself….right? Pastor…
Is your relationship with Tracy so bad that you don’t have anything better to do with your time?
Pastor Jeff,
Sorry for the 2 posts above, but I did the first one and it came back with a message that it was spam on your site, so I started all over.
I am confused now. You said if I showed you that there are legitimate points to BP you would remove this post, now you are just saying that “OK you agree with some parts of what I have to say, but too bad it stays” I thought you were a man of your word as well as a man of G-d.
So be it… I am a little disappointed but not really surprised.
I hope some of the people who read this and other posts like it about other things, actually do not believe everything they read and spend just a little time investigating some claims.
Have a Blessed Day
Mark
Appomattox, VA
Yet another instance of a car dealer peddling a scam. I just called the dealership directly (NOT the number on the flyer) and had a nice conversation with the receptionist. She could not put me through to the sales dept. because there were so many calls. I told her that I had checked the website and had done just a little research. She said that if I would come in and get a coupon that the website would work. I asked if paying 150 dollars for a coffee maker sounded like a good deal to her. She replied that I would only have to pay the P&D for it. I told her that P&D is still more than what I could buy it for elsewhere. At that point she got short with me and said I didn’t have to come in if I didn’t want to. She then hung up on me. Needless to say I will never shop at that dealer.
Jeff i have heard of YORKCRAFT tools and such as though they are not of good quality. and my question for mark is the die cast nascar model that you “won” is this, The price you payed may not be a good “deal” that you think it may be. for die cast cars you have to know exactly what your buying and who it is made by. now if you bought it because your an elliott fan that hey more power to you but i cant understand why since hes horrible anyway. yes im a stewart and gordon fan. insert obnosious comment (here). If its made by Revell its going to be of lesser quality and be of less value. If its made by Action sports then it will be of beter quality and be of more value. I know these things since my father and i have been collecting diecast cars for well over 15 years. i am in excess of 75 cars and my father quit counting when he reached 100 cars. as well as such we deal in these cars and let me tell you, you can be “doubed” very easy. and i am an avid golfer and have never heard of these such woods or the wedge for that matter. if you really wanted a set of woods and a wedge you could go to http://www.walmart.com and type in golf and get a set of Top Flite Pro Response 16-Piece Right-Handed Golf Set thats with the bag included. all name brand items for 188.99 shipping cost is 10 dollars. and the tools you have purchased made by yorkcraft. i checked with my maintainence supervisor at my job and he says that he had a yorkcraft salesman come to his office “wishing” to sell him a contract for tools. he said that the salesman brought with him a full contigency of tools in his van that had every size and type you can think of. he asked if his guys could use his tools for the day. the salesman complied with enthusiasm. by the end of the day the yorkcraft salesman returned to find all but 3 of his wrenches were broken at the head and all the sockets were stripped. when asked if Yorkcraft would give them a replacement tool he replied ” if they had only if they are less then 90 days old and we have to have a contract with them for at least a year” now this tells me that these tools are of poor quality. and prolly the reason why you got them at that price. but of closer inspection of the http://www.yorkcraft.com website you arent even able to buy hand tools through their site. but this is why we have craftsmen tools and snap on and mac tools “IF” they break they will replace them for free. all you have to do is take them to a supplier. Sears being the premier supplier of craftsman tools. and you can find any snap on and mac tool supplier just by finding their trucks. now granted you can buy those same type of tool sets cheaper but if you use tools as avidly as i do and you break them i seriously doubt yorkcraft will replace them for free. out of all the tools i have bought i have only had to pay for 1 set of tools and if i have broken them ive gotten a replacement for free. thats because i buycraftsman tools from sears or from the craftsmen website. jeff im sorry if i have hijacked your blog but yes i did recieve a flier from Joe Johnson chevrolet in Troy ohio. i called them and they are aware the fliers they use are leading people to a shaddy website but they are also telling people to that their prices are inflated with a huge shipping cost.
In this wacky world, just another note of absurdity.
Scam or questionable business, good deals or trash,
doing your research or running head long into it …
here’s the head long – less than scrupulous people are
now auctioning their “$2000 free” sprees with passcodes
on Ebay!
Man! They’re just waiting for the next minute that
sucker is born!
Wow. Here it is, years later after this blog warning came out, and I just got one of these in the mail as a car dealership promo. Im the type that researches. Funny thing is, the junk mail just came to me today, and the website is down 🙂
Heres the worst part.. they are still trying to auction these pin numbers for these “sprees” on ebay and yahoo auctions! Someone should contact all internet auction places and let them know this is a scam!
Sorry matt lol we musta hit enter at the same time 🙂
See http://www.wivb.com/Global/story.asp?S=4433716 for info about new york’s response to this scam!
I called up the dealership i got mine from. Had to use phone book to get number. The number onthe flyer listed as “event number” gave a nice earfull of modem music.
When I got thru to the lady at thier desk, she was at first happy to tell me about the promo. Then I told her its under investigation, and the website has been taken down due to legal issues. She was very suprised and upset, and promised to pass this info up. I hope, for once, poo rolls UPhill, all the way back to bpshoppingspree!!!
I have not heard of this scam today February 8th 2006. Ive just received a flier from Harrelson Ford in Charlotte North Carolina. It Claimed that I won a $2000 shopping spree on bpshoppingspree.com
however in the fine print it says the customer will be responsible for a $555.95 Shipping costs. This is ridiculous, the website doesn’t even work. These car dealerships should suffer consequences for sending out false advertisements.
My wife and I recieved the $2,000 shopping spree certificate from Hamptons Dodge,Jeep dealership in Elmira,NY on 2/7/06. These dealerships must be aware that this is a scam by now. Why are they still using this advertising “tool”? What can be done???
I received a mailer from a car dealership and won a $2000 shopping spree to bpshoppingspree.com. I went to the website to redeem my prize and the site does not exist anymore. I then contacted the dealer, who informed me that 7 other people had won and had all come into the dealership to scream at him. It appears we all knew we were getting scammed and rather than sit idly by… we filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. One other note; if enough people have been duped by this website, and further by companies participating in these prize scams, it is possible to do something about it. Enough complaints could equate to a class action lawsuit, whereby these assholes would be forced to own up to what their doing.
Yes it’s a scam, and yes we have a choice to buy into it or not, but the car dealers that participate also have an obligation to act in an honest manner…this is not honest.
I received my scam letter from Hamptons Dodge in Elmira New York. When I typed the address in I could not reach the site but when I searched it in Yahoo it came up and I accessed it that way and appears to be functioning so beware!
Pastor Jeff,
I see you have decided not to respond to my last post. I question what kind of Pastor you are? Did you get a degree from some internet church or did you actually get a degree of divinity from a real institute? I am inclinded to believe you are doing this for some other reason, a reason other than actually helping people become aware of scams. You told me if I showed you how people could actually benefit from BP, you would remove your blog, I did as requested and you did nothing. I think you are a fraud yourself !!
I am sorry if this is strong, but I am a man of my word and if I say something, I do it, in business and espcially in my life.
As far as some of the above statements, I have had the tools for over 2 months and use them all the time and no problems whatsoever. I used my golf clubs today and did quite well, even for a hacker like me. LOL…
I will not send another blog here, so do what you want. If I do not see an appropriate response shortly, I will take that as an admission that you are what you are…Too bad, that a man of the cloth resorts to using an internet forum for his own purpose, rather than to help others as he states..
A disappointed follower of Christ..
Mark
One more to Mark,
Rather than taking a bunch of time to write a response, I’ll simply offer up some bullet points:
* I’m very busy and did not get a chance to read your post from the other day until now.
* My statement was, “If you can prove that bpshoppingspree.com sells items that are worth their advertised price, I’ll rewrite this post or remove it entirely.” As you can see, I’ve rewritten my post with a new comment on the top, a new chart at the bottom, and another comment in the middle.
In answer to your questions:
> “I question what kind of Pastor you are? Did you get a degree from some internet church or did you actually get a degree of divinity from a real institute?”
I invite you to read my “About Me” post at [http://jeff.mikels.cc/about-me/](http://jeff.mikels.cc/about-me/) which details my educational and theological background as well as having my email address if you want to communicate with me privately.
One thing I want to make clear is that I am no “man of the cloth.” I am a biblically-trained guy, but I’m just like any other guy. I have a wife and kids, and I am working now to start [Southside Church](http://www.thesouthsidechurch.org) in Lafayette, Indiana in partnership with [Midwest Church Planting](http://www.midwestbap.org/view2.cfm?pic=36&id=3&menu=3&disp=./cp/cp.cfm).
Nevertheless, I’m concerned that you would call yourself a disappointed follower of Christ based simply on a disagreement of perspective. I and many others agree that bpshoppingspree.com is ripping people off. The owner of the site has agreed with me that enough deception has gone on that he has closed down the site. I’m glad it wasn’t you, but don’t let some silly disagreement through the internet rattle your faith in Christ. He is far bigger than any of this earthly stuff.
If you still doubt my intentions, contact me directly, tell me what you want, and hear what I have to say.
The site is up and still being offered…….and shows no sign of closing down any time soon……
WOW! I just finished this legnthy list of informative emails about this car dealership solicitation. This car dealer just opened in our area, and the place reeks of being cheesy/sleezy. I must say I agree with many of the comments here: what a deceit!
222 Car Central, 7450 Hamilton Blvd, Trexlertown PA – cheesy
Right around the corner on RT 100 – Go to Murray Motors – they are fair, they don’t send advertisements to your home, they don’t haggle on price because they offer the book value or less.
[LINK](http://www.bpshoppingspree.com/include/page2.php?&page=PRODCT&product_code=51698&ID2=44&IDP=37)
even Jesus thinks this site is a joke!!!
I just checked and found that bpshoppingspree is back on line. I’m sad to say that I’m not surprised. These people probably have some kind of contractual obligation to the car dealers that are working with/for. Anybody who has gotten a “passcode” should post it here so the rest of us can check the actual prices.
I cant really say anything different from what everyone eles has said , and thank you, for saving us time andfrustration. After i read and thought about all this the odds of winning the 2000 were 1:1 which is 100%
I thought at first I’d made a mistake telling my daughter and husband (whom are both mentally challenged) to just throw away the claim that they had won $2000 from bpshopping.com, my friend took her ticket to the dealership and bought a new van, plus had the $2000 shopping spree. Then low and behold I recieved my flyer in the mail claiming that I to won the shopping spree from bp… thank God that I found out the truth before it was to late! The kids live on a very limited income, and have a 6 month old son – this would of done them in for a full month of bills, had I not told them to throw it away because they couldn’t afford a car right now on their income
att pastor jeff
you said that the owner of bpshoppingspree claimed that deceptive practices of a “rogue marketer” are responsible, look up the whois for bpshoppingspree and you will see its registered to incentivestop.com so that means that bpshoppingspree.com and incentivestop.com are the same company, I had pulled a whois on both sites last month and they both came back as registered to richard h****, the dealers know its a scam, and the tracy dealer said they buy the certificats from incentivestop.com for $3 each,
Dwayne had a good idea. If you have a certificate, please post the “passcode” so that we can all check out the current prices for ourselves.
att pastor jeff
$2000 shopping spree
cert#
BPA0051209
I find myself in the same situation as Heidi from above. When i “won” the $2000 shopping spree i was of course skeptical, so the first thing i did was read the fine print. It clearly stated that the P&D charges were not to exceed $37.50 for every $1000 ordered. $75 for “$2000” worth of stuff didn’t sound bad so i checked the website out and of course you need a passcode to see any of the P&D info. i called the dealership for verification (Hamptons Dodge, Chrystler and Jeep, Elmira, NY) and all i got was a voice recording stating that i needed to come in to redeem the “Grand Prize”. up to that point it seemed to check out seeing as the fine print clearly stated the max P&D charge applicable. i did notice that a lot of the items on the website were marked up as high as 300% (especially the electronics) but at the time i just figured it was their way of claiming you’ve won more than you actually have (i.e. says $2000 but due to mark-ups you really get $750-1000 in real world value). when i arrived at the dealership i immidiately noticed there were three other people there redeeming the same “Grand Prize” that i was. that sent off the bells and wistles but i figured since i was already there i would pick it up. from the set-up of the dealership i can see how it would be easy for some to fall victim or feel pressured into buying a car. when i returned home and looked at the P&D charges posted on their website i was appalled and decided to google the website and it led me here.
Thank you all for your postings and info and especially to Pastor Jeff for getting the word out on this scam. Despite what some have said about you in this post you are a great individual. Your posting this site doesn’t have as much to do with your being a pastor but as it does with your general concern and love for others, which i’m sure also reflects itself in your profession.
My concern is the fact that the fine print was false and misleading. that has to be illegal. unfortunately the dealership kept the mailer they sent so i no longer have the fine print but i will try to reobtain it tomorrow if possible. false info in the fine print goes beyond taking advantage of “stupid people” and crosses the line into not only very wrong and immoral, but illegal as well.
I won too, went to the dealership and I new right then that this is a bogus %%%%%%%. She asked me are you here just for the prize or cars, I said I am here for prize because I already have a brand new car. So the %%%%%%% had a about 100 copies of certificate in her hand and gave me one and I thought to myself, yeah right, where you think I come from. I find it hard to believe anyone would fall for this %%%%%%%% but someone should sue these %%%%%%% because this is a false advertising and they are wasting people’s time.
*Edited by Pastor Jeff: Please remember to curtail the profanity people.*
Left Hampton’s a copy of the WIVB news story above.
Market Company told me Jack Hampton would would make up the differance from the $37 misprint to $370 .
Monday going to send the AG from this area a copy of the WIVB story.
The NY AG which is running for Governer will take this on.
Keep you posted
I also have received a flyer in the mail in which you scratch off and what do you think $2000.00 grand prize winner. I went to the car dealership where they tried to rip me off some more. I left with the gift cert for $2000.00. The Lord was telling me to get out of there. My son-in-law found this blog and showed it to me. Thank you Pastor Jeff and bless you!!!
Passcode BPAO099418.
Blue Ridge Mazda in Raytown, MO.
I was poking around the BP website and found out that http://www.bpshoppingspree.com, http://www.freegiftsamerica.com and http://www.woarewards.com are all the same site.
Thanks for the great information. We got one of these “free” $2000 shopping sprees from a local car dealer today and I told my 10 year old it was a scam! Your blog helped me convince him!
Don’t worry Pastor Jeff I didn’t even have to go to the dealership to catch onto this one so I am not mad enough to cuss!
Hello my mother was a victim of the bpshoppingspree scam by way of a local car dealership yesterday, when she called the dealership they told her that she would be receiving cash and that if she did’nt make it to the dealership in time to redeem this winning ticket that she wouldn’t be entittled to the 2,000 dollars reward.
so i took it upon myelf to make the phone call to see if she was right and i was told the same thing so we had to rush to this place in time before they closed, Keep in mind that we are in rush hour traffic and twenty minutes away. This dealership (Bill Heards Chevorlet, collierville, tn.) was also on the news last night for being associated with this scam).
Once we walked through the door, we noticed a woman arguing(loudly) about how she almost crashed trying to make it to the dealership cause she too was told that she was entittled to a 2,000 dollar reward! It was obvious that she did’nt get it.
so once we sat down we was then told that the cash is torwards a 2,000 dollar shopping spree on http://www.bpshoppingspree.com!
My mom had a look on her face that made me wanna go crazy, i was hurt for her, cause four days earlier we were at this very same dealership and they had already turned me & my mom down for a vehicle. I was mad, and the salesman had approached us to sale a vehicle and made it hard for us to leave the place. Once they got my name they noticed that i was their days earlier and was refused a vehicle they told me that they wanted me to do the app again and I refused. They insisted on doing another background check (credit) and i still refused. so once i got home i logged onto http://www.bpshoppingspree.com to find that thism site was so out of tune that the shopping cart page did’nt pop-up, and the only page i was able to view was the home page! which took an hour to pop-up. How can a big name dealership associate their company with this bogas site, used to lure in people for the sole purpose of saleing cars and a dream to people.
My mom has worked everyday of her life from the time she was 15, now 48 and has never financed a car, never won money, and never needed a handout from noone. (Only wish that something good would come her way one day, and she thought that it had, but her trust in this world today was steped on). I dont appreciate this at all and something needs to be done to stop these companys from false advertising! Something could have happened to someone in that rush hour traffic and then what?
I just received one of the “instant winner” scratch offs for a $2000.00 shopping spree at bpshoppingspree.com. I have been around long enough to realize that nothing is free, especially where a car dealership is concerned. After visiting your website, I am even more convinced of it. I got mine from Chuck Sypolt Chevrolet in Louisviille, Ohio. I don’t know if they realize that this is a scam or not, but if they don’t have enough integrity to check before becoming involved with such an obvious rip off, then I won’t ever bother to visit their dealership, and will also inform all of my friends of their shady tactics. Buying a car is hard enough and I feel I am getting the short end of the stick every time I deal with a salesman. I don’t want it from a scam artist also.
Thanks Jeff for the very informative article. I also got a insant winner scratch off thing from a car dealership and was going to throw it away, but I looked at the fine print and checked out the website, and then Googled it to see if anyone had written anything about it. I hope more people find out the truth through this site.
And remember,
Proverbs 28:20 (NLT)
The trustworthy will get a rich reward.
But the person who wants to get rich quick will only get into trouble.
or as The Message translation puts it:
Committed and persistent work pays off;
get-rich-quick schemes are ripoffs.
So, this tells me that I should be working diligently, not trying to get rich quick or fall for such scams.
Fenton Motors of Stillwater Oklahoma is also using this type of promotion. Glad I read this information before I wasted my time and effort.
Thanks!
I got one today from David McDavid’s Honda Irving Texas
Thanks for the help Jeff. The site is online:
http://www.bpshoppingspree.com/
Peace
Thank you for your blog. Carriage Motors in Temecula, CA sent me one. I found it really odd that I could learn so much about the products and prices but not the P&D. So I did a internet search and came to this site. I didn’t have any intention to “purchase” anything, and now I know why. Thank you again.
Thanx for helping me out. God will bless you. God put your article right under BPShoppingSpree.com. Because i would have probably bought alot of stuff i cant afford. THANK YOU
my paper came from Chuck Sypolt chevrolet in louisville, Ohio
i actually read this entire thing.
it’s ridiculous that all of these car dealerships are doing this.
i received my $2000 “prize” in the mail monday, from kelly automotive in mason, michigan. i didn’t look at it until today. it seemed kinda weird that i could have won such a cool prize, so i typed the address in Yahoo!. your site was actually the first thing Yahoo! hit. i truly appreciate the effort you took to post this blog. it’s irritating that people would try to even argue that you didn’t take the time to research anything // or that this ISN’T a marketing scam. i praise your efforts.
well, nothing i’ve said is really any different then anyone else! but a sincere thank you for this post 🙂
Kahlo Chrysler Jeep in Noblesville, Indiana. I wonder if the BBB has investigated?
Thank you for your blog. Carriage Motors in Temecula, CA sent me one as well. I knew it was too good to be true and your blog helped save me a lot of precious time figuring it out for myself. And to think I have already purchased a vehicle from them. They will not get my future business. I just hate dishonest people who prey on the working class.
Hey, Meredith–I also received my $2000 “Grand Prize” notice from Kelly Automotive in Mason, Michigan, today. What an amazing coincidence!
Less than a month ago our dealership had one of the sales with the bpshoppingspree give-away. It was sold to us by 360 marketing.
They came in with 11 salesmen from all over the country who were skilled in all the most deceptive practices imaginable.
We are a single point GM dealer with loyal Buick customers in the golden years of there lives. To say that our reputation has been ruined is an understatement.
We were deceived as were our customers and the people who did this are long gone.
Watch out if the salesman that approaches you at a sale has a ‘360 Sales’ shirt.
It seems this scam is just spreading like wildfire. Someone really needs to put a stop to this. For some reason it seems to be primarily Car Dealerships promoting this – the only other place I’ve seen use something like this is “Timeshare salespeople”. And for the “car dealers” who pretend that they didn’t realize this was such a scam – YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING ME – no car sales person who has survived as such for more than a month could fall for this scam – THEY KNOW THAT ***EVERYONE*** “WINS” – unfortunately the elderly (which all us young folks will be someday if we are fortunate) are very prone to fall for these scams and many people aren’t aware that EVERYONE won.
Preying on the weak like this is PITIFUL – and that is what these CAR DEALERS ARE DOING. Please – everyone who receives one of these scams call or write to these dealerships and let them know what you think about them – or even better go down and ask to speak with a manager and let them know what you think about this.
Anyways, I just received one (a $2,000 “shopping spree”) from:
Ourisman Honda Volkswagen
3371 Fort Meade Rd.
Laurel, MD 20724
Event Hotline: (800) 339-4341 (phone number for the dealer I assume – but their “real” main phone number is 800-211-0710).
Their “BIG EVENT” that they are promoting is 2/21 through 2/25/2006
And I have a 4-year bachelors degree from a decent private college and a 2-year masters degree from a major university (both with a gpa of 3.4+ in a tough science discipline) and “wading” through the fine print was cumbersome and difficult on this flyer and even then the flyer has nothing about the “processing fees” (read EXTORTION) associated with the “$2000*” I’ve “won”. You have to go to the website (which even today not everyone can easily do yet – especially the OLD and the POOR – the ones most prone to this SCAM) and even then the website is deceptive and hides the SCAM as best it can – it isn’t until you DRIVE to the dealer and waste time (and get “harassed” by them) that you finally get the certificate – then you have to drive back home and log on to the website to finally find out the TRUE COST (until you have a certificate they hide the fees as best they can) AND THE *REAL* FINE PRINT.
So really there is NO ACCURATE FINE PRINT until the consumer has spent time and money driving out to the dealership. That alone should be more than enough for a class action lawsuit.
Thanks for letting me rant.
James
Pastor Jeff,
I see a lot of comments left in the past few days, which seems to demonstrate two things: this promotion is becoming more widespread and that many people are finding your site, for which they should be grateful. I just received one of the “winning” offers myself. Add Torre Nissan of La Quinta, California to the list of dealerships who have associated themselves with these con men.
I think you were too easy on “Mark” (whose signature links back to the bpshoppingspree website – hmm?) If those deals he quotes are the best he can come up with, that is evidence of what a rip-off this site really must be. Others have already mentioned the shoddy tools and the no-name golf clubs. What sort of business sells a $149 wood but doesn’t name the manufacturer? Notice how Ti2 is merely the name of the club, nothing indicates it is actually made of titanium. The Nascar watch Mark got a great deal on looks more like a Happy Meal prize. I’ve seen volumes of cartoons like that one for a buck at Big Lots. Etc.
Mark is either an employee of the company, or a deluded shopper who thinks he got a good deal on his $183 of trash. And nothing he or anyone else has said excuses the plainly deceptive tactics used by bpshoppingspree: the fake contests where every ticket is a winner, or the message “NO CHARGE for Shopping Spree Recipients” which is written on every single product page of the website, when in fact shoppers are charged, and charged more than the items are worth. And could anyone sink lower than to question your integrity as a man of God just because you criticized his favorite website?
I don’t know if this is becoming your most popular post on your blog, but since it has already kept people from falling for this scam it has done a valuable service. Thank you.
I just received a flyer from the car dealership “Stevens Auto Group” located in 717 Bridgeport Ave. Milford, CT 06460. It wanted you to scratch off a spot, if you got 1 slot machine, you would receive a FREE OIL CHANGE, 2 slot machines, $500 CASH, 3 slot machines, $2000. Of course I noticed the little asterik next to the $2,000 yet none next to the $500 CASH and FREE OIL CHANGE. When I checked, it was in the middle of a bunch of footnotes and said you get a certificate to use at this site. After Google, I found your site and was pleased. Also in fine print was you had to redeem it between JANURARY 31st and FEBURARY 4th and on the flyer it said to deliver before 1/30/06. The car dealership is a two hour drive away and in the flyer were also a coupon for 90% off a used car from original car price. After thinking over this a little, I realized it meant 90% off the price if the car was new and not used. What unethical tatics especially saying the 2 slot machine prize was CASH to imply the 3 slot machine one was too. Their event hotline is 800-339-4883 and website is http://mysmartauto.com/stevens . I’m sure pissed.
Got this from Harrisburg Hyundai. Read the fine print and knew the web site for which the certificate would be issued. Checked out the site but without a code wasn’t able to see the P&D charges. Fine print on the brochure stated something about not more than $39, so I figured worst case I’d pay $39 for a $100 set of golf clubs or the like (even though the online price for the clubs is $599). So I picked out a few things I liked – and tried to pick higher priced items so the $39 fee would be all I’d pay. Went to the dealership and talked to a sales representative from FL (I’m guessing brought in for the extra workload). Without any hassle really got the certificate. This was Friday evening. I don’t have a PC at home so I had to wait until Monday to shop. In an odd twist, my certificate wasn’t for the bpshoppingspree site, but rather wsnrewards. Is this a new twist on the same scam? Anyway – the web site for the certificate I have has some rather menial items for sale and not nearly the selection, and of course the same or quite similar P&D fees. I’ve lost nothing except a few minutes to drive to this dealership on Friday. I fear others are far less fortunate.
Well I received the same flyer from Seguin Ford Mercury. The business was packed on Saturday with people walking in with grand prize winners. I asked the salesman if this was legite he said it was. Sorry now that I drove over 90 miles to claim the prize that I will never order now. Thanks to your emails.
I got mine from Dooley Productions, who called me and said that I won free carpet cleaning from Kirby capet cleaner. I had heard from the company so I thought why not. Well, when they came for the cleaning they tried to sell me a carpet cleaning system for over $2000. Not a bad system, but refused anyway. They left me the certificate for $500 shopping spree. I am so glad I did a search for this site and came across yours also. Thanks alot. for saving me money on stuff I wouldn’t haven’t bought anyway. Thanks again.
I got one from Ourisman Chevrolet in Bowie, Maryland. The flyer with the three slot machines. The fine print says “*Grand prize is $2000 online shopping spree. Customer is responsible for shipment of purchased items. Shipping may vary.”
“Shipping” doesn’t seem like it should mean this very high “processing and delivery fee”. What are they shipping it on – the space shuttle?
Turns out, if I want to buy a bunch of stuff I had no interest in buying originally, I can just put in the code someone provided on this page and avoid the scary car dealer altogether. The site doesn’t seem to know the difference.
Most of the stuff on the shopping site did not appeal to me. I did see what looks like one good deal on the site – a 42 piece set of Mikasa china. The P&D fee would be about 150.00 and the set is advertised elsewhere online for 199.99. However, I don’t trust the shoppingspree site and didn’t someone say the site can “replace the item with a similar item” or something like that? Not that I was in the market for dishes, but if I were, I’d probably just pay the extra 40 bucks to get it from a more trustworthy/known site.
I never consider “sale” things a bargain if they encourage me to spend money I otherwise would have saved on things I don’t really need.
Recieved one from Rolling Hills Auto Plaza in St. Joe, Mo. It was a Toyota dealership. It as advertised as though I had won $2000 cash. Fine print talked about APR and % but didn’t seem to mention anything about an online shopping spree. I just knew it was a scam. I knew it in my head. My mind was screaming SCAM!! over and over again but…. nothing ventured nothing gained.
Went there and the one sales lady acted so surprised that I had won. She said she didn’t know much about it. Talked with another guy and he asked me to come look at cars while we wait for something (not sure what). I told him to give me the prize. He took my flyer. Went inside came out and handed me two $1000 shopping sprees to http://WWW.WSNREWARDS.COM. I told him to show me where it said “Online Shopping Spree”. He pointed at the fine print and pulled it away. I looked at him in disgust and got in my car and drove away.
I swung by Phalen Motors in Atchison, KS. They were offering a free wal-mart gift certificate worth up to $2500 if you won their scratch off.. It looked good. They used a poker hand scratch off and I had the best possible hand in the game. I told the salesguy I couldn’t buy a car today and he promptly reached in the $5 gift card basket and gave me one. Telling me he didn’t know how much it was.
Got home throughly disappointed and looked http://WWW.WSNREWARDS.COM. Cheap junk worth half of what their prices are and would not tell you S/H prices unless you entered your certificate code. Once entered you have to buy everything all at once. Sooooo its a big rippoff. I hope no one was actually ever bought anything from this site. You could probably order every item on the site for $2000 and pay $650 S/H on $500 worth of Merchandise.
Amazingly getting a $5 gift certificate was the least crooked part.
this message is for Mark,
I’ve read the entire bp thread here, and buddy you are a sissy (said with the love of Jesus of course).
You make extremist accusations against someone who simply places a “be aware” notice on their blog, and then try and hold their feet to the wrong fire. Several wrong fires actually.
You hide behind the same thing you accuse this man of.
You glorify yourself as being a perfect adherer to the golden calf of “being a man of your word”.
Jesus, who you follow, says some very interesting things about people who are zealous stalwarts about codes and rules.
Another thing about your unbendable stance on “being a man of your word”. Good thing God is not you, or else we’d all be in a heap of dung.
God has changed His mind often over the course of time. Still does.
So for you to attack and scathe a follower of His by trying to hold him to a standard that even God Himself does not follow…this shows your butt, friend (again, said with the love of Jesus).
(And this is only in reference to one of your polar inaccuracies.)
Maybe some scales will be dropped from the eyes so you can smell what you’re shoveling.
Love you, brother.
“with the measure you use, it will be measured to you”
–Jesus, Matthew 7:2
this message is for Mark.
I have read through this entire bp thread, and you are the only coward and sissy who decided to chime in (said with the love of Jesus, of course).
You attack and scathe someone who simply puts a “buyer beware” post on their blog with extremist comments which have nothing to do with the post.
You then glorify yourself about how perfectly you bow down to the golden calf of being a “man of your word”. Then comes the attempt to hold the poster’s feet to the wrong fire. Several wrong fires actually.
You try to hold the poster accountable to a standard that even God Himself does not hold to.
God has changed His mind multiple times over the course of history. And He still does.
And it’s a good thing, or else we would all be in a heap of dung.
Jesus makes some very strong comments about people who stalwartly hold to rules and codes in an unbendable way. Ever wonder why?
Maybe some scales will fall from the eyes so what’s being shoveled can be smelled (again, said with the love of Jesus).
Love you, brother.
John
“with the measure you use, it will be measured to you”
–Jesus, Matthew 7:2
Hello,
I would just like to add myfreegits and octoberenterprises These are two new sites, exactly the same. Actually, octoberenterprises is a recruting site for selling mass quantities of the cards. And the online auctions are getting irksome. Anyway, just wanted that there so in case anyone googled. I found this site while looking for information on [www.myfreegifts.com]() I knew there would be an explanation out there somewhere. It did take a long time to find this site though. I hope more people start debunking places like this. Thank you again.
A “Shopping Spree” means: you go to the store, throw the items into a cart, and leave with them. It does NOT mean: you pay $10,000 to get $1,000 off on merchandise that is already marked up 300%, with P&D costs to match.
I thought I’d try the ordering the grocery coupons through woarewards and see what happened. Well, they didn’t send them, told me they never received the order. that’s what happened. So much for the shopping spree. I stopped payment on my credit card and shredded the certificates, which are not worth the paper nor the ink.
Adding one more variable to the equation: Is it just me or has everyone who has reported receiving a certificate got it from an American car dealership (Ford/GM/Chrysler)??? Personally, I received mine from a Ford/Mercury dealer…
Another reason to stay away from American cars? (unscrupulous dealers!)
BTW, WOArewards.com is the new face of bpshoppingspree.com…
-John
I JUST WON!!!!!
I have won $1 before and jumped off the walls, it was real i knew it (and it was)
I got this in the mail and won $2000 and i just new it was fake… several people in my area won, and a friend just won and she won 3 months ago…
I reaserched this and found this site, THANK YOU for making it it is not worth the gas to go to the dealer …..
and I am NOT surprised by this and I am sure the dealers KNOW what they are doing, it gets you to go to the lot to get a car, and i am sure they get some of the money you spend.
to add to what most everyone has said
THIS IS A SCAM AND IT SUCKS!
Thanks again for letting us all know.( I really wish the post office could just not deliver them it is a waste of time and money)
is bp shoppong spree being sued?
I appreciate that you have taken the time to research this. It is a shame that one would think that they have benefited from this opportunity. As stated when you think you are actually getting something for your time , In my case the time I spent at a dealership that only had one car in the price range I wanted, I get angry. I just paid my car offin full and was looking to purchase another…cash. When they could not get another car in the price range they upped my $1000 certificate to $2000. This seemed to be a good deal until I went online to look at what they were offering and the obvious mark up. I am a Marketing major and the items they list cost pennies compared to twhat they want you to pay in the P&D . So for those that are not Marketing majors thank you for taking the time to help them see the light. Understand that everyone is not going to see what is right in front of them.
I am so blessed to have come across your warning and now how to research for myself.
Here is my story: My intended is 20 years my senior and has built a brand new house for me. Now, I was a lost soul I was attracted to everything sinful and then I met my Love and he really taught me alot about and is one of the reasons I am saved. Well he owns his own business which involves alot of physical work
I am so blessed to have come across your warning and now how to research for myself.
Here is my story: My intended is 20 years my senior and has built a brand new house for me. Now, I was a lost soul I was attracted to everything sinful and then I met my Love and he really taught me alot about and is one of the reasons I am saved. Well he owns his own business which involves alot of physical work (his 62& I’m 43) and is wearing him down. Anyway, I wanted to surprise him and start making money on the internet and I am not that literate to the internet. as soon as I set up an e-mail address I was told that I was a winner but I had to give the bank account number and other personal information, well everything is in my beloved’s name and we have been toghether for ten years so I been trusted to use the account and in the past I always did good ,until I became a winner. These persons drained the whole bank account, he was so upset that he called the police to have me arressted and as my name was not on the account the police were going to but I explained and by the grace of God and being the christian he is my love forgave me and also attended a conference with me to learn how to buy and sell on the internet an I used this knowledge to investigate the latest “I’m a winner” deal I received in the mail and low and behold , thanks to your researdh and concern for your fellow man I am indeed a winner.
Thank you and God bless you.
Just wanted people to know that you can now goto BBB.org and find info about bpshoppingspree. It also lists its current owner and it’s other operating websites. Thanks to Jeff for keeping this post active.
Less than a month ago our dealership had one of the sales with the bpshoppingspree give-away. It was sold to us by 360 marketing.
They came in with 11 salesmen from all over the country who were skilled in all the most deceptive practices imaginable.
We are a single point GM dealer with loyal Buick customers in the golden years of there lives. To say that our reputation has been ruined is an understatement.
We were deceived as were our customers and the people who did this are long gone.
Watch out if the salesman that approaches you at a sale has a ‘360 Sales’ shirt.
These article are often inspiring and i want to browse standard content. Writing is just great, Say thanks a lot for the post.