Publishers Clearing House (PCH) is widely known for surprising winners on the door steps of their homes. Local resident Paul Baiza thought he was a winner, but to his unfortunate surprise, no one showed up.
Baiza, 82, received multiple letters confirming his award of $7,000 per week for the rest of his life, along with a check in the amount of $50,000 and a brand-new Lincoln Navigator. The letters provided instructions on what to do when the Prize Patrol was scheduled to arrive on August 31.
“I did everything, we bought cake for the people that were gonna come to the meeting, we bought the roses that they said,” Baiza said. “I made the reservations at the motel, Days Inn, and nothing. None of that was used because they didn’t show up.”
While he had his doubts, he said because he received more than 10 signed confirmation letters in less than four months, all of which were signed by Deborah Holland of PCH, he believed he had indeed won.
The final letter Baiza received advised him of the required actions he needed to complete to prepare for his surprise visit from the PCH Prize Patrol.
He was told to purchase a bouquet of long-stemmed roses from Adams Flowers, advise all local media of the surprise visit and reserve hotel rooms for the Patrol Prize team at the Days Inn located near Texas Tech University.
But, when Baiza attempted to make the room reservations, he realized that hotel was in the process of being demolished. It was then that he began to wonder if he had become victim to a horrible scam.
“I was skeptical a little bit, because everything that I received in letter form has been so real that it looked like it was there, I believed everything she told me and what I was going to get today and what I was going to have for the rest of my life and nothing materialized,” he said.
Baiza was ready to celebrate with his friends and family, but when no one from the PCH showed up, Paul decided it was best to share his story to warn others of this scam. He advised others to “watch out the way they write up on the letters that they send and their handwriting.”
Now, Baiza encourages the Better Business Bureau to have an hotline to inform others of these scams. He says he will proceed to write a letter to the Publishers Clearing House.
We reached out to Publishers Clearing House and the South Plains Better Business Bureau for their comments, but we have not heard back from them.
