Right... Here we go folks. You can say the following is 100% proof that Chain Letters are a waste of time and money. The date is now 27th October 2003 and the promise that if I followed the instruction and sent out 200 letters, I'd be £50,000 better off are an absolute lie. I'm still waiting for the first £1 to drop through the door. I'm getting enquiries about whether I've made my money yet, but still no coins.
Right... Below you will see what this chain letter
is all about, but to keep you up to date on how things are progressing and so
you don't have to wade through that original introduction each time you log in,
I will be posting what I have done and what I have received in chronological
order below.
I am working on the principal that envelopes cost 3p
each. 1st class stamps are 27p, 2nd class stamps are 19p
DATE: 26th July 2001
I have sent a letter on 8th May (1st Class) enquiring whether the chain letter
made any money for the person on the top of the list
(0) MARK (VISIVO) at P.O. BOX 1, EBBW VALE, GWENT, NP23 6YQ.
I also sent a letter on 8th May (first class) enquiring whether the chain letter made any money to the other 5 names on the list. CLICK TO VIEW LETTER.
(1) S.
EVANS, COOMBE VIEW FARM, ANSTY LANE, WALSGRAVE COVENTRY. CV2 2DT
(2)
M.
BROADBENT, 5 ROSEBERRY GARDENS, DARTFORD, KENT. DA1 2NX
(3)
S
DYSON, 19 HAWTHORNE GROVE, ROTHWELL, LEEDS. LS26 0AJ
(4)
E
PALMER. 4 COMO GROVE, GIRLINGTON, BRADFORD, BD8 9QA
(5)
THIS PERSON HAS ASKED ME TO REMOVE DETAILS FROM THE WEB
CLICK TO
VIEW
I also sent them the £1 coin
suggested in the chain and enclosed an SAE (all 1st class). CLICK
TO VIEW LETTER.
(0) Sent 8th May 2001. 26th July No reply. Cost 60p.
Now over 100 postal days in.
(1) Sent 11th May 2001. 26th July No reply. Cost £1.60p.
Now 100 postal days in.
(2) Sent 11th May 2001. 26th July No reply. Cost £1.60p.
Now 100 postal days in.
(3) Sent 11th May 2001. 26th July No reply. Cost £1.60p.
Now 100 postal days in.
(4) Sent 11th May 2001. REPLY
17th MAY. Cost £1.60p.
Click to view.
(5) Sent 11th May 2001. 26th July No reply. Cost £1.60p.
Now 100 postal days in.
I regard postal days as Monday to Saturday. I ignore Sundays.
I am still not totally convinced that these sort of chain letters will make any money, but to prove the point on the 19th May 2001 I mailed 200 letters containing the chain letter, PLUS a letter of explanation to people who I randomly picked from phone books. The names were randomly picked and once the addresses were attained, I sorted them so that I didn't send two letters to the same town. CLICK TO VIEW MY LETTER TO THEM. CLICK TO VIEW ADDRESSES SENT.
COSTING TO DATE 10th September
OUTLAY
Cost letters 1 - 5. money out £8.60p
Sent 19th May 200 chain letters postage cost £38.00p
Printing cost 2p/side 3 sides X 200 copies = £12.00
Envelopes cost 3p X 200 = £6
TOTAL OUTLAY £64.60p
Please note, although my outlay has reached this figure, I am also adding a personal letter to each envelope, which has cost an extra £4.00p to the total above. I am also working on the stated 200 letters. I am also able to print at a cost of 2p per side A4.
INCOME
Total in £0.00p but 1 letter through post. 1 Email in Guest Book.
I still have NO REPLIES comments or £1's from any of those 200 mailings.
LETTERS SENT 19th MAY. CURRENT DATE 10th September. THAT'S 100+ DAYS IN SO FAR AND NOT A WHISPER. WILL I GET MY GUARANTEED £50,000 IN 60 DAYS? THE ONLY WORDS I CAN THINK OF THAT SUMS UP THIS STATEMENT IS "A LOAD OF HOGWASH"
Should anyone wish to make a comment about anything concerning my investigations or about chain letters in general, please post a few words to my guest book. Please view the Guest book, I have had one letter posted there on 25th May from Louise Maguire.
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Dear Readers,
I understand that (PERSON ASKED ME TO REMOVE NAME FROM WEB) (CLICK HERE FOR LETTER) has been sending out Chain Mail to Quest readers that states that if you follow the instructions in the letter you'll be sent £50,000 through the post in 60 days. Well, those people I have already contacted say they have already binned the letter. I still have mine. Handwritten on the top of mine it says Quote "I have made nearly £2,000 so far so thought I would share my success with my old friends from Quest." Unquote.
Being the sort of person who likes to look into these things in a little more detail, I am intrigued as to how accurate or feasible the Chain Letter actually is. Ones I have come across before have been rather nasty and threaten you with death or bad fortune if you break the chain. This one is different inasmuch as there are no threats; only the promise of becoming rich, quick. There is even a mathematical breakdown of how the chain will work.
If you would like the full wording of this chain letter then please click HERE to go to that page.
At the bottom of this letter there are of course the names and addresses of those people who are already in the chain and who have obviously already sent out their share of letters. The top one, as suggested has been crossed out and (NAME REMOVED) address has been added to the bottom.
The top address of course should no longer be in play to receive those £1 coins you are supposed to forward, so I have decided to first contact this person to see what their views are o this letter and whether indeed they received their fortune. I have copied the letter to "Mark" (no other name given) below for all to see and as soon as I hear any further news I'll post it on this web site.
I have already asked a colleague of mine who works in the Law department to look over the wording of this Chain Letter and to tell me his thoughts on whether indeed, it is as "above board" as it claims to be. His answer was a definite "Yes, nothing written in this letter was outside of the Law". However, he did go on to say that once monies started to come in, the operator could find themselves in trouble if they didn't mention it on their Tax forms, especially if the sums of money mentioned (£50,000) were accurate. One other point was raised as well, that being the statement that (NAME REMOVED) made regarding having already collected £2,000 from this venture. My colleague from the Law department stated that "If this statement wasn't actually true, and is being used to try to persuade people that these letters worked, then that statement could be deemed as Fraudulent and if proved to be used to encourage people to take part, where it is indeed not true at the time of writing, then it would be Criminal Deception". However, although (NAME REMOVED) name and address is at the bottom of my list and mathematically speaking, if she has sent out 200 letters at the same time, there wouldn't have been time for her to receive that amount of cash back yet. But on the other hand, this could have been the second posting, so we only have (NAME REMOVED) word for it at present.
Hits since 8th May 2001