Hello, may I suggest that people stay well away from the robbers at Winston Pride & Associates, Queensland. We feel so stupid to have been caught up with them. We have been scammed nearly AU $5000. When we phoned to say that we weren't happy with the product, all they wanted to do was "upsell" us to another (more expensive) program. They do not return phone calls or faxes or emails. They do not collect their registered mail from their PO Box. Registered mail sent to the street address was returned to sender.
I have now lodged a formal complaint with Office of Fair Trading, Queensland. I have lodged a formal complaint with Scamwatch, (ACCC) Australia. I have lodged a claim with the Magistrates Court here in Perth, WA.
STAY AWAY FROM THEM!!!

As much as I tried to convince myself otherwise, it's gambling!!! And I'm not a gambler!

I got away with only losing a little under $2000 (sorry to those that lost $5000). I have now withdrawn the remainder of my online betting account.

When it comes to consistently picking the winners, noone can do it!

I'll stick with my flutter on Melbourne Cup Day in the future.

"If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is". Very true in this case.

I wish this post was around when I was considering joining over 3 months ago. I googled Winston Pride and found nothing except for their 'homepage'.

If you're thinking about joining them - don't!

All the best in future endeavours everyone... J

Hi all.
I have been aproached today by these people to join for $1000.00
I was very keen and so was my work mate on joining.
We thought hey a $1000.00 each isnt much, but after reading these comments we have decided on NO
So sorry to you all for what you have lost, but a big thanks for what we have saved
Cheers pc

Hi , these people have been hassling me to join their plan every day during the last week, I couldnt find any info about them and then finally found this site last night , pleased you agree with me that its a scam no doubt about that . Some of you may wish to contact the company directors of Winston Pride . Carole Paul Smith , 211 Stanhill Drive Cheveron Island QLD 4217, OR Benjamin Charles Nelmes 11 Fullerton Steet Benowa QLD 4217, When I turned them down they came back with all the discount offers etc, trifeca bonuses, what a laugh , thanks all for you posts you have saved me at least $3000.0 lets see if we can save a few more

Hi - the Company Directors names - is that Carole & Paul Smith ? or is it Carole Paul Smith?

Thanks!

Hi , with a bit of effort I could probably tell you what she had for lunch, it is either miss or mrs , pommy spelling for carol carloe pronunced as u say it with the e carole paul smith , i didnt name her, havent bothered to get her phone numbers but can as can any one , nothings private while these people scam hard working aussies and kiwis. and when I have the time I may dig a bit deeper , I did tell them that if this was A SCAM they would regreat ever ringing me , iv only just started, CLOSE THEM DOWN

Wish I had seen this website before being caught. We too were silly enough to invest with them but thankfully not anywhere as much as they asked for. Had one telephone call from them with the 1st weeks selections (Alan Jackson???) and nothing since. The finance managers name is Andrew Johnson??? Cannot get to speak to anyone, except a very rude "Customer Service" (Ray Williamson???) person. Have sent numerous faxes and get no replies. We will be reporting this to whoever, we can, starting with ASIC, and ATO. and thanks to the above also Federal Police, Fair Trading and A Current Affair. I say lets get these bastards!!

follow the channals i have given you to the fraud squad and, commerce comm thru fair trading ,i have today posted their brochure to qld fraud squad and print out of directors share holding and res addresses, keep complaining and they will eventually do something.taking the company thru the legal process will be very expensive encourage the qld govt depart to do it for you

We too (foolishly) joined winston pride - we invested $2600 for the basic and the trifecta program, needless to say there hs been no success, we have put nearly $3k into our trading account. We are determined to get our money back and will follow all the above suggstions. I was told a bit of infomation today - this company used to trade as Superbet or something similar.

registered office of winston pride, Simmons Partnership, Oasis Shopping Centre Suit 46 level 2, 2/26 Victoria Ave Broadbeach. principle place of business 80 Davenport st south port gold coast, both dorectors have their houses in trusts, Carole Paul Smith born scotland 10/9/47 , but you can bet there will be smoke screens every where keep on to the queensland police fraud squad by following links above and they will eventually do something about it , but probably after the horse has bolted and 1000s of people had done their money, if any one has a spare brochure please post with a note to kevin milne, fair go tvnz auckland

The following document has been lodged by me with ACCC,.ASIC, Quensland Justice Department, Western Australian Dept of Fairtrading and various tother blogs and scam sites concerning WINSTON PRIDE AND ASSOCIATES PTY LTD.

I received a phone call from a female person some time before the 10th September 2009 ,probably about a week. I can not recall her name but now believe it was Carole Smith. She asked me could she post me some literature regarding a business opportunity. I said that would be ok and the call ended. A brochure from arrived a few days later from Winston Pride and Associates Pty Ltd. (`The Company`), seeing that it was to do with gambling I wasn’t interested.
On the 10th Sept 2009 I received another call from a female who said her name was Carole. She enquired as to wether I had received the mail out and if I had any questions. I asked her the price for the product, she replied $6600.00, etc,etc. I asked why if this was so good they would be selling the product. Her answer was that the TAB has a limit on the amount you can wager, etc,etc She asked if I was interested, I said I would think about it and I would be asking more questions. The call ended. About 5 minutes later a male person rang me, and announced himself as belonging to `the company`. He said the had a special program for $3300.00 and you pay the remainder of the $6600.00 ,$3.300.00 from the profits after six months using the system. I asked what happened if you never made a profit, he said that couldn’t happen but they had another program for $3,300.000 and you were supplied with 5 boxed Quinellas for specified race meetings and no more payments apart from placing a minimum $500.00 into an online TAB account registered in my name . If the $10000.00 target was not reached in a 6 month period after signing and returning the documents the $3300.00 would be refunded. I enquired as to how long the company had been operating and was told eight years. I then supplied my credit card details reluctantly as I advised him I would prefer to use bank transfer. He said Credit card was better because no interest was charged, etc. etc. I would receive a receipt by fax for the $3300.00 and their application details and contract details would be sent by email for my authorisation and to sign and return same by email.
When the papers arrived the same day the contract had no mention of the guaranteed refund, so I did not return the documents.
The next day 11th Sept 2009 a different male person phoned and I explained why I had not signed the documents. He said the document I had received was a basic contract and when I had returned the original documents I would ,in about ten days, receive another contract document from their solicitors which would have the guarantee included. I then asked him to send me a copy of the new document, he asked why. I told him I did not authorise documents I had not seen. Later that day he called again and asked had I received the documents , I said no because I hadn’t checked my email. He then said time was running out because for me to receive the information to place bets on the coming weekend. I told him I wasn’t sweating on placing bets this weekend and whenever would be fine. He hug up abruptly.
The documents had arrived and the new contract was identical to the old one but for an extra line tacked on to include the guarantee clause. I then became suspicious because that could have been included on the original contract.
I checked the ASIC web sight and found no real problems there except that the company had only been operating just over twelve months. I then contacted Dun & Bradstreet. The document they sent me contained the names of four other companies that Ms Carol smith had been registered as a board member. Namely Investgrowth Pty Ltd, Lorac Investments Pty Ltd, Platinum Professional Programs Pty Ltd and Supatab(Aust)Pty Ltd. I looked up these Companies names and could only find one that still existed, namely Platinum Professional Programs Pty Ltd. This name led me to blogs from two people who endcountered problems with refunds from Platinum Professional Programs Pty Ltd
The alarm bells went so I contacted the credit card company and asked for the debit of $3300.00 to be reversed. They said this could not be done and to inform the people involved why I had decided not to go ahead with the scheme.,
On Saturday 12 Sept 2009 I emailed the reasons for wanting a refund. The email which I have sent thrice with read receipt request has not been acknowledged and the telephone number supplied 1300664883 goes only to the receptionist who tells me that Carol is not available and can I leave a message. The only other contact number has a 1902 prefix and you have to have signed up to the scheme to get that number to contact the proprietors. I have left messages three times to no avail.
I did some more checking and find that the registered office according to Dun & Bradstreet is Simmons Partnership ;Oasis Shopping Centre suite 46 level 2 ; 2-26 Victoria Avenue ;Broadbeach ; QLD 4218 , who have removed their web site from the internet.
To sum up basically they have $3300.00 belonging to myself.
I have signed no documents
They have no authorisation to deduct $3300.00 from my credit card.
No contract has been signed.
No service has been provided

As alot of people i was scamed by Winston Pride and Associates PTY LTD. I can relate to each and every one of these comments and I urge people who are thinking about joining to steer clear. Just for google reasons i am going to write the following for people who search Winston Pride. Winston Pride And Associates PTY LTD SCAM SCAM SCAM. Winston Pride SCAM. Hopefully this will come up in search engines so people can see all these comments. But seriously, cant we all get together and get our money back? They have Breached the fair trade Act something chronic!!!!! what they have done can be seen as illegal!!!!!!

Unfortunately the likelihood of getting you money back folks is next to nil. I got scammed by Fortune-100 about three years back and lost $5K plus dud bets. I am told there is a reason they are all based in QLD and that is because the laws up their give them some immunity from litigation or prosecution.....all that can happen is that ASIC follow up on the matter because they operate under QLD legislation, which has been their shield.

So, rather than trying to get your money back using the normal processes which we all know are pointless but necessary steps towards getting an appropriate outcome for you, why don't you instead focus your attention and rage on potential breaches in their trading practices, like tax avoidance, discharged bankrupts operating businesses, etc.

Sometimes a flanking attack can be more effective than a full-frontal assault. If it was that easy, everyone would get their money back, but these companies (term used very loosely) are very good at covering their arses when it comes to refunds, but they nearly always use the same tactics, some of which may be used to bring them undone. These tactics include:-
- A website that promises big returns for little investments
- A website that does not provide much or any historical and verifiable data
- A website that does not contain any address details for contacting them in person
- 'Hard-sell' sales personnel
- Sales techniques that rely on "pay now" or "discount ending soon" tactics
- Very little governance information that can be followed up on
- Quite often an address that will be a PO Box
- Commonly located on the Gold Coast, but nearly always in QLD or Hong Kong
- Contracts that not legally-enforceable in a court of law
- Direct selling tactics. Cold canvassing sales pitches.
- Always ask where they got your phone number from and advise you are on the Do-Not-Call Register. This generally applies only to Australian businesses so there is a potential breach there
- Keep an eye out for them at trade shows and trade fairs and watch what they say and do very closely looking for misleading and deceptive conduct. Video if necessary.
- Different sales personnel with regularly conflicting information
- Always advise that you are going to record all phone conversations using a taper recorder for your personal records, and put them on speaker phone. This will get a reaction because this can be acted upon in a court of law, if you advise the other person you are recording the conversation. They know this so are very, very reticent to have their conversations recorded and they will usually decline. You ask why if their organisation/’opportunity’ is legitimate
-Always tell them you are busy when you call and ask for a direct line number that you can call back on. Make sure you check it against the number on the website. Give it 12-24 hours and then call back and verify the number is live and it belongs to the person you spoke to earlier.
-Always call the numbers on the website. Most will be answering machines or advisory notifications that tell you, "All lines to this area are being used right now. Please call later." WTF!!!!
- Always advise that you are running the documents past your lawyers and make sure you do it. It's a bit like pre-purchase house or car inspection - it costs money upfront but will save you '000's later on.
- Always ask for sales staff's mobile numbers and check them to see they are active. Call back after 24 hours to test it is active and valid
- Ask them why they are selling if it is any good. Advise them that this is bollocks about maximum bets on the TAB.
-Advise them that you will ring the TAB to confirm this statement = possible breach by ‘misleading and deceptive conduct’
- Ask for complete historical data to support their claims. If they cannot provide ALL of it, it may constitute a breach by 'deceptive and misleading conduct' for claims of returns on investments that cannot be substantiated.
Ask if these documents have been audited and signed off by an auditor or accountant
-Check with the accountant that the data has been audited and ask for a compliance certificate to prove it.
-Check out their accountant. It may be a family member or person involved in the ‘company’
- Ask for references to other users
Check out the other users to the best of your ability
- Do some research on the Net! Google is a powerful tool and there are a lot of horse racing forums in Australia that will provide more than enough examples of how people got burnt.
- Ask if any of the directors have held director positions in failed companies in the past and ask for details and follow up. Again, a possible breach of the Act
- Never provide credit card details until the absolute last minute.
- Advise you will pay in person as you do not own a credit card. For what it is worth a flight to the Gold Coast is a pittance to pay in person compared to what you will lose
-Ask the sales person what their experience is and if they have worked for any other similar companies selling similar products. Check them out too. Gives you some ammo if they ring back….”Ummm, you said that you used to work for XYZ company, who have received a lot of complaints online
-Don’t fall for the BS line that bad comments online were posted by ‘competitors’. This would constitute anti-competitive behaviour and is a possible criminal offence
- Ask the salesperson what their personal contact details are and test them 12-24 hours later to validate
- String them along for at least two weeks, making sure they call daily and keep them on the phone for as long as possible. I.e. Treat it as a game
- Ask why they don’t guarantee a profit in their documentation when they are basically doing this online or over the phone.
- Try to get them to use up maximum hours on the phone chatting. This serves two purposes 1) they will be fixated on you as a prospect and won’t be chasing new leads, and; 2) It racks up the phone costs. Tell them to call your mobile as the home phone is silent number, and you don’t give that out to just anybody. Calls to mobile phones are expensive.
- Tell them that you work nights so a 3:00 AM call is good time for you to discuss it further.
- Tell them you are still waiting on your legal advice and finally;
NEVER EVER EVER EVER SIGN UP OR HAND OVER MONEY.

ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT THESE PEOPLE HAVE FOUND A LOOPHOLE IN THE SYSTEM THAT ALLOWS THEM TO LEGALLY RIP PEOPLE OFF & THE ONLY WAY TO BEAT THEM IS AT THEIR OWN GAME.

Use your head and look for another way to bring them undone, and try to encourage them to make a mistake that will cause them to commit a breach of the Fair Trading Act or the Trades Practices Act. If you record everything (an MP3 player with recording will cost about $50-100), you have it on the record.
A good place to start is by reviewing in detail those two Acts and look for angles/breaches, but remember to focus on the facts and keep all e-mails, documents and receipts as evidence and keep your emotions out of it. The courts don't care about your feelings....they only care about the facts.

Good luck.

you have the directors home addresses on the gold coast listed above why doesnt some one pay them a visit (you know what i mean) unfortunatley I dont live in Australia, and fortunatley they didnt get my money , if they had it might have been like shelling peanuts

i too have been sucked in to this scam. and like the rest did all the checks and they came up with a clean history. the salesman was relentless and called weekly, finally saying that the boss was selling 1 trifecter package at $1k. well curiousity got the better of me, and thought what the hell its only $1k, it also came with the promise of a money back gaurantee if i never made $1k from $100 investment in the first month. the rest of the story you can all guess goes pear shaped! the first saturday the ring and give me win/place selections. I explain to the woman on the phone i signed up for the trifecta package, and she said she would get some one to call back. after about 3 weeks of daily calls, alan i think his name was calls me. talking to me as if im some sort of idiot that misinterpreted the whole thing, and deneying the mony back claim. let me finish this off by saying that a few of my unsavouring mates on the goldcoast will be paying a call to these guys to ask politely for a refund, i i dont care if the even recover the money!

what about a goole map of the directors home addresses listed above ,its time to get even!!!

You may be too late I just goggled up Carole Paul Smiths house and there seems to be a sign on the outside ,can`t quite read it but it looks like a real estate sign. Perhaps the might accept a dodgey cheque for the property.

ring every number they advertise and ring it every 5 minutes jam their phone lines

Wow - I don't believe it, if we had of actually put the trifecta bets on this week for an outlay of $315.00 we would have collected $370.82. That really wouldn't have paid for the last 6 weeks where there were losses every week. The nearly got 24% - a lot less than the 75% we were told they hit!! Time is running out for them to reply to the letter I sent them - next stop Fair Trading!!

Guys,
I only too well understand your rage. I got burnt by the now-defunct Fortune-100 (BGT Global) bunch of SOB's and no matter why you try and do, stopping nothing short of paying them a friendly (or not-so-friendly visit) I can tell you that your chances of ever seeing that cash is nil.

The only thing you can pray and hope for is that they get shut down, and get the directors charged under the Fair Trading Act or Trades Practices Act. The only problem with that is they will start up another company in 6 months using different directors but the same people pulling the same scam under a different name....watch it...the Fortune-100 boys and girls will do it....I believe it was Scott Emerton or Scott Emerson.

At the end of the day, the only thing I can see working is if the QLD Government evict them from the State, but with the amount of money being made from racing, it would not surprise me if they are receiving 'African handshakes' if you know what I mean.

My story
I lost over $5k to Fortune-100 and nearly the same again on dud bets that their system told me were good bets.....To beat them at their own game, I learnt to program in VB.Net and built my own application using Dynamic Form's data feed service. It now turns a good little bit of pocket money, but what I won't do is try and sell it to anyone....after all, it is my little victory over the blemishes on the boil on the arseholes of racing.....namely these scammers.

that's strange, the fax number on their website & brochure & letterhead is listed as : Fax: (07) 5552 4413 ???

Check the Fax Number on this web page. Again, the power of Google....simply by copying nad pasting the FAX number above.

http://www.premiumwarranties.com.au/

Is that FAX number correct? Turns out they operate out of Springwood