'Honey Helpers'

[crazy_bull]

interesting the email in the newsletter is yahoo, the one you got was freedomain.

getting more dodgy.

No sorry I just put it down as 'free domain' to indicate it was a free email address as I didn't want to give them advertising, mine was a yahoo one as well.

I sent them an email asking who exactly they were and how they got my email, they responded with this:


Hi

Thank you for your email. We are Honey Helpers, a consortium of Bee-keepers running a service, taking the hassle out of trying to sell your honey slowly and through various channels. We will buy all of your honey in one smooth transaction in cash.

If you would like to make use of this service please complete the attached application form and we will then be able to provide you with a quote.

Thank you for your custom and choosing Honey Helpers

Warm Regards
Honey Helpers

Attached was a form to fill in requesting all manner of information about me and the bee's, needless to say I responded saying you still have told me nothing about yourselves, no name, no address, etc so I will not be giving you any details.

The website that this is linked to implies that the chap is not originally from the UK, as he says 'I was totally amazed that people kept Bees in England and practised Bee-keeping.'

It could still be genuine, I hope it is as it isn't a bad idea if they can pay and do pay, just the way they seem to be going about it comes across as a bit dodgy......

C B

 

[crazy_bull]

Plenty of people jumping to conclusions at the moment.

It may sink without trace or be a good service. I see it as someone trying to have a go and earn a few pounds and I say good luck to them.

I completely agree hence why I started to investigate it as they could be paying good money for the honey, but after asking directly for more information from them I got nothing. I might ring them later if I get time to find out what is going on.

 

[Hachi]

If they are legit then great has anyone used them? results, comments? If someone has used them and had a bad experience it wouldn't take the police much effort to cross reference and join the dots if this were the case. Just using a mobile doesn't make you invisible either.

 

[psafloyd]

Rightly or wrongly I have suspicions when I see a Hotmail, Yahoo email or similar used. It doesn't inspire confidence that the business will be around for long....or maybe I am just a little too cautious ?
S

Why? I use Gmail for work and have a domain linked one as well. Doesn't make my business one any more genuine. It is actually a Gmail account in any case, just linked to my website domain which is easy peasy and cheap as chips to sort out.

More likely to be dodgy if NOT using internet mail, I'd have thought as they'd want it to look more 'legit'.

 

[psafloyd]

Seems fair comment as long as any sale you make is cash on handover of goods. I would be wary of cheques or pay later promises from an unknown who approached in this manner.

A fair exchange is no robbery.

 

[BeeJayBee]

It could still be genuine, I hope it is as it isn't a bad idea if they can pay and do pay, just the way they seem to be going about it comes across as a bit dodgy......

If they are legit then great has anyone used them? results, comments?

From the website it looks as if they might need to be a bit more careful with their labelling. If they're buying in from multiple sources, from different parts of the country, how can they call their product "Local Honey"? - But that's their problem.

If they offer a fair price then it could be a good deal.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

From the website it looks as if they might need to be a bit more careful with their labelling. If they're buying in from multiple sources, from different parts of the country, how can they call their product "Local Honey"?

But as they can prove they have bought some honey from British producers they can call it 'British' and salt it with a load of cheap imported stuff to widen their margins.
Call me cynical - but it is an essential qualification in my job.

 

[HoneyHelpers]

Concerns and reservations

Dear Fellow Beekeepers,

Thank you for your comments and concerns regarding our service. I can fully understand your concerns and why you may be hesitant in using our service.

I can assure you that the service we provide is 100% legit and we are not out to try and con anyone. We just run an open and honest service whereby we will offer to buy your surplus honey, after all we are also Beekeepers and know the issues involved selling all our honey.

A number of other Beekeepers have already used this service and sold honey, been paid cash on delivery & collection. Obviously we cannot provide other beekeepers details due to privacy and data protection (hopefully people who have already used this service will come onto this forum and share their experiences of using our service).

The application form we ask our customers to complete is just so that we can establish whether the honey is 100% pure raw honey produced by beekeepers in the UK. This way we can represent the honey accurately and for our records to show accountability.

We fully understand your hesitations in providing exact locations of apiaries as we would not feel comfortable doing this either. This is
why we do not ask about exact locations of apiaries but just about the area the honey was produced in and what floral the bees fed on. Just so that we can offer raw local honey to people based in and around those areas.

We are happy to conduct the transaction on whatever basis you feel comfortable, whether that's you dropping off the honey or us collecting it. You will always be paid cash up front and in full for whatever price we have agreed initially.

Any questions or issues that you would like us to clear up, pls feel free to contact us at honey.helpers @ yahoo.com

I hope this helps to clear up any concerns or reservations anybody may have.

Many Thanks
Honey Helpers

 

[Haughton Honey]

Contact name and address?

 

[HoneyHelpers]

Contact name and address?

my name is Curtis, the address for honey drop-offs is 11 abbey road, Newbury Park, Ig2 7ne

 

[HoneyHelpers]

my name is Curtis, the address for honey drop-offs is 11 abbey road, Newbury Park, Ig2 7ne

just to confirm, we only buy british honey and where possible try not to mix the honey so that we can keep them flavour specific

 

[crazy_bull]

Good on you for responding, although I'm not sure why you wouldn't tell me that info in my direct email, I am interested in what you can do as I think it is a good idea, can you give me an idea of honey volume you can take and at what price. I will send you another email, I would also like to know where you got my email address from.

Regards

C B

 

[HoneyHelpers]

Good on you for responding, although I'm not sure why you wouldn't tell me that info in my direct email, I am interested in what you can do as I think it is a good idea, can you give me an idea of honey volume you can take and at what price. I will send you another email, I would also like to know where you got my email address from.

Regards

C B

because like you i also have to be careful what information i share and with whom, who am i speaking with pls?

 

[crazy_bull]

because like you i also have to be careful what information i share and with whom, who am i speaking with pls?

I have sent you another email, but surely if you are out touting for business you need to make the first move, you need to say 'I am X and I can do Y' asking the prospective client for all their details first is the bit I found dodgy, remember it was you contacting me first, hopefully all a misunderstanding.

 

[eric]

sounds like a nigerian company plzz

 

[HoneyHelpers]

I have sent you another email, but surely if you are out touting for business you need to make the first move, you need to say 'I am X and I can do Y' asking the prospective client for all their details first is the bit I found dodgy, remember it was you contacting me first, hopefully all a misunderstanding.

oh ok thanks, i will take your concerns on board. I will respond to your email asap

 

[Mart_got_hives]

Bearing in mind the original poster doesn't seem to have heard of yourselves before you emailed him I'm wondering how you actually got his email address in the first place. Looks like you may not be cognisant of the Data Protection Act which certainly rings alarm bells for me.

 

[Debrastorr]

General advice re scams via email is NOT to reply. The logic of this is that replying tells them that this is a live email address - and a live address is more valuable to sell onto the other scammers.
I rather think the same advice re calling any phone numbers back.

 

[Tim.S]

Google street view is a wonderful thing................

 

[Gilberdyke John]

I didn't know google street view had email addresses for beehives? Google earth can show images of small square structures which might be hives so perhaps we should place hives under tree canopies or use some other camoflage for security?