The Voice - Consumer's Voice

Is Helping Hands International for real?

I’ve seen lots of adverts for Helping Hands International on Facebook. They say you get a free laptop or ipad, brand news cars and a house. Is this true?

What do you think? The advertisement from Helping Hands International does indeed make the claim that you can “benefit from” a “Free Laptop or ipad”, “Brand New Cars”, “Interest free Loan without collateral”, “Free International Trips” and a “House of your Own”.

What do they say you need to do to obtain all these things? Despite my best efforts, I can’t find any clue about how any of these things can be achieved.

Do they have any products to sell?

Multi-Level Marketing companies like Amway sell household products and Herbalife sell “health” products (although it’s cheaper and healthier just to buy yourself some fresh fruit) but with Helping Hands International there’s nothing. They sell nothing but illusions of wealth and prosperity.

In fact, their advertisement says there is “no selling of products, no monthly targets, no rejection, no failure and no experience is needed”.

Helping Hands International isn’t a Multi-Level Marketing scheme like Amway or Herbalife. It has no products and the business model is entirely based on recruiting people beneath you and them recruiting people beneath them with the promise of money magically flowing up the pyramid in your direction. That’s not multi-level marketing, that’s a pyramid scheme.

Another problem with them is that they’re liars. Their advertisement claims that they are “in partnership with Bill Gate Foundation, Hyundia Motors, Apple Corporation, HP”. Those are their spelling mistakes, not mine. They can’t even spell the names of the companies they claim support them. Which, of course, they don’t. There are no such partnerships.

So in summary, they’re a lying pyramid scheme that can’t type properly. Do you think you’ll make money from them? If you still do, please send the money you’d contribute to me instead. I won’t lie to you, I’ll spending on myself.

Where’s my roof?

I approached a local company for supply and roofing of my house, we agreed verbally for a deal worth P150,000 which I paid beforehand for the entire roofing including labour and they promised a time frame of two weeks at the most. Its been two and half months and my house is partly and improperly roofed. I'm always on their back demanding answers about the delay but they are beating around the bush. They have and are still delaying my project costing me extra expenses like rent because I would be staying in my house in two weeks wasn't it for their lies. Everything in on hold at my site since I cannot do anything till the roofing is all done and they dodging my calls now and send one or two guys to the site once in a week.

Thanks, please help.

You’ve got various options here. It depends how nice or nasty you want to be.

If you feel like being nice, I think you should write them a polite letter explaining your objections to their conduct and lack of performance, giving them fourteen days either to remedy the situation or to compensate you for their failure to deliver what you had agreed with them. Explain in the letter that you also need them to pay for any costs that the delay has caused you such as the rent you mention. Conclude your letter by saying that if they fail to do these things you will immediately, without any further notice, take legal action against them.

If you feel like being nastier then get yourself over to your nearest police station and insist on laying a charge against the company for “obtaining by false pretence”, contrary to Section 308 of The Penal Code or of “cheating”, contrary to Section 310. Either way you should insist that this is a criminal matter (not a civil one) and you need the Police to investigate. Get the cops to make the phone call while you wait.

Or we could just call him for you and explain what’s about to happen? I’m not sure whether that’s nice or nasty. Here’s a better idea. Let’s do all three!