In a magazine that arrived half an hour ago was a scratchcard from Purely Creative Ltd. I know that the chances of winning anything on these things is infinitesimal, but I had some time to waste so before chucking it out I scratched off the panels.
Wow! Three matching on one set, two on another. It looked as though I had only to claim and I would win a prize on BOTH. On three matching the prizes ranged from a million pounds to a £50 M&S gift card, on two matching from £5,000 to £15 cash.
Hold on. Before phoning them to claim my prize, I Googled "purely creative scratch card"
What did I find? There have been at least four trading standards judgments against them, Watchdog have successfully taken them to court, and several people have online blogs recounting their failed attempts to claim their prizes. Just phoning to get a claim number costs £9 - and you are likely to get a prize worth about that. I don't think I will bother.
Here is one of the accounts - www.ben.me/purely_creative.php
To go through chemo therapy or choose not to?
