Sunday, 30 November 2003
Chain Letter
My daughter (age 8) got a chain letter from a school friend of hers last week. A real snail mail chain letter. It purported to be trying to set a Guiness Book of Records record and was sent FreePost (no postage required). I'm pretty surprised the Royal Mail delivered it. After searching around the Internet, I found out that variants of this chain letter have been in circulation since 1981! Geez. Talk about perpetual motion! Check out Break The Chain.
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My daughter aged 10 received one of the guiness book of records chain letters and i was really furious, i know this has been going on some years now and it needs to stop there is no such thing developiing for the guiness book of records, and im surprised royal mail even delivered it without a stamp. I think royal mail need to be told that these such letters are a hoax and need to be stopped. luckily enough the person who sent it has to put their name on the back of the envelope so i personally delivered it straight back and asked them never to do it again. IM furious.
ReplyDeleteHi there,
ReplyDeleteMy son received one of these letters on 4/5/05. I normally put chain letters straight in the bin as they are a nuisance but this one was from a classmate and was freepost from the royal mail so I thought it was genuine. I wrote out my son's five envelopes but was not comfortable at forwarding them as the people who received them would have to send to five people etc. so I thought I would do some net surfing to check it out and now thanks to your comments my paper shredder contains 5 more envelopes with contents!!! I am really cross with the mother of this class "mate" and will certainly let her know!
Just got another one of these chain letters but this time it was for my son. This one purports that it needs to keep going until Winter 2005 to get published in the Guinness Book of Records along with all the names of children that took part. It gives you four days to send it on to seven friends under the age of sixteen....etc, etc.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't make me angry to receive these; just sad that it raises a false hope in the children that take part.
If you search the Guinness World Records website for "chain letter", you get to this official text:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/gwr5/content_pages/record.asp?recordid=58952
I agree with the comment that it only helps to making children become cynical and much less sensitive to the genuine causes.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter got one from our next door neighbour's daughter and it broke my heart to have tell her the truth once I checked out the Guiness Record Book statement. Also her mother was really embaressed about it.
My 11 year old son has just receivesd the same letter and was still awake at gone 11pm tonight worrying about letting his friend down who sent him the letter!! I shall show your site to him to reassure him that throwing it away is the best course of action.
ReplyDeleteGlad to be of help!
ReplyDeleteThis same thing has now turned up in my childrens school.
ReplyDeleteI am a parent governor of the school and will be asking the Headmistress to make an announcment at full school assembly to stop this in its tracks, well at least as far as this one school is concerned.
my son has just received this same letter and i also thought it was genuine because of the post office delivering it so forwarded it on to four friends of his. he is really excited about having his name in guinness book of records so i will have to break it to him gently that it is a hoax.
ReplyDeleteI have the same concerns as most of the other that posted...my daughter is in fact anxious to see her name in the book and I have to inform her it is just a hoax. I normally do not partake in chains, however with the "no postage", I felt it was genuine. I never had a second thought until I received 2 of the 7 letters back for "no postage". Upon the reciept of these, I thought I better look into it. Now I am embarassed that I sent them out and wonder what the other parents will think of me now!
ReplyDeleteI am fustrated with these chain letters. My duaghter aged 10 recivied on of these chain letters TWICE! Both of them are actually from her classmates and I typed in guiness book of records on google and found out that chain letters are 100% JUNK!!!!!
ReplyDeleteA lot of concern is brewing!!!
AND...I found out that they said that the chain was never broken, I mean I have sent one to my sister(wich was the 1st time I had a chain letter) she did not recive the letter...so maybe it has been broken It sounds a complete con.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteMy daughter recieved this chain letter from a school friend 1 day after her 9th birthday in December and was so excited that she could have her name in the Guiness book of records. I had to explain to her about chain letters and told her not to send it to any of her friends but she was so upset and worried that everyone would find out that she broke the chain. I'm so glad I have just found this site and all of your comments and have just read a few to my daughter and she's alot happier now. What sort of twisted person would start something off like this and give false hope to children?
Today our daughter received one of these letters from a classmate. It advised that the letter had been started in 1996 and that if it was kept going until winter 2005 it will be published in the Guiness book of records 2005 (along with the people who took part). It told that the chain had never been broken and that to keep the chain going my daughter should write the letter to seven friends or family aged under sixteen within the next 4 days. It also advised ITS FREE - you need to write GUINNESS BOOK OF RECORDS FOR CHILDREN on the envelope instead of a stamp. THAT PART IS UTTER RUBBISH. WE RECEIVED A CARD FROM THE POST OFFICE ADVISING THAT AN ITEM HAD ARRIVED FOR OUR DAUGHTER WITH INSUFFICIENT POSTAGE AND THAT WE MUST COLLECT IT FROM THE SORTING OFFICE. MY WIFE QUEUED FOR 20 MINUTES AND THEN PAID £1.21 TO RECEIVE THIS PIECE OF JUNK MAIL. The really worrying thing about all of this is that our daughter is only six years old, as is her classmate and the copy letters have obviously been sent out by her friends parents !!!
ReplyDeleteI also received a letter from a friend, who had telephoned me to ask me to continue with the chain. Obviously we did! My daughter enjoyed doing it. We sent out the letters to her friends and phoned some of them. One parent however, found your web site and instead of having a word with me, wrote a letter to all the parents of her school via the children. My daughter has never been so embarassed and now cannot sleep at night. The problem wasn't the letter, it was the over-the-top reaction of a certain friend! The letter is not threatening and no malice was intended - unlike the reply! Maybe we should contact the Guinness Book of Records as we seem to have taken part in the longest running chain letter!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteYes, I pity the amount of disappointment and anguish these chain letters can cause children. Over-the-top reactions by parents aren't helpful either. It's always embarrassing to be taken in by a hoax.
ReplyDeleteI believe it's just a matter of education and to keep spreading the word that these hoaxes and numerous deceptions abound on the 'net.
Yes we received a chain letter to only it was address to my son age 12 we thought it would be fun to do so we did the copy of seven letters and try to send them .
ReplyDeleteThe post office told me that they require postage and she would not send out.
So I call me friend who son was the one who sent to him and she told that there was more then just her son doing this.
I would like to stop this letter from going any futre
I told my friend that the post office here would not allow it and that got me think to look this up on the net and I found our web site. I hope that this site is legal and help stop this letter,
We live in Saskatchewan Canada I see that this is a UK site. I have the post office here in Canada upset with me and now I'm upset with thw person who started this because they now have hurt childre again in a diffenert way .PLease as parents we need to stop this letter I 've not sent them. I well be call the local
RCMP police.
Thank you
Debbie
My son received one of these World Record Chain letters yesterday. Like some people here, I checked it out on the net because I wanted to do it if it was real as it would make my son (age 6) so happy. I also found out it was utter crap, also, I have no idea how my son got it as he doesn't know the child who sent it to him. Luckily, I didn't explain it to him, but I think it is a really cruel joke to play on kids.
ReplyDeleteWell i got a chain mail, at first i thought it was rubbish but then my step dad red it and said that it must be true because theres no stamp and it has the mchine marks on it and so i thought ill give it ago and it was easy but all ma mates at skool who i sent the letter to are moaning !!!!, they sed that aint sending it and they will break the chain, i just thought WHATEVER!! lol
ReplyDeleteHow could the names of all of the children who took part be listed? First of all, you we need one heck of a huge book. Secondly, who is copying down these kids hames? The ridiculous letter is going through thousands of post offices. Who is sorting them and writing the names on the return address line? Santa and his elves? The whole thing is foolish. I can't believe that there are adults out there who believe these things.
ReplyDeleteThis website realy helps as i am now sending a copy to the girl who sent it to me
ReplyDeletemy daughter was sent a chain letter yesterday saying that she has four days to copy this letter and sent it to seven of her friends my child is only 3 years of age. The letter states that this was started by children in 1996 and that if it keeps going till winter 2006 all the childrens names who took part in the chain will all have there names published in the 2006 guinness book of records. I think this is stupid and should not be able to continue. I have contacted the guinness book of records and they say that it a load of crap and to put the letter into the bin. and that the book has already been published they should send aletter to all the post offices to tell them not to accept the letters as this is not fair on our children.
ReplyDeletei ve just sat there 4 2 in a half hrs wrighting thse stupid letters and my mum has just found out thre not real that was just rubbish there doin it 4 a joke icould just.............SCREAM AAAAHHHHHH am never readin gunniss book of rubbish records again
ReplyDeleteam not sur if there real or not if they r real i'll let my friends down so sumbody tell me
ReplyDeleteI'VE RIPPED MINE UP THATS WHAT U PEOPLE OUGHT TO DO
ReplyDeleteSORRY IT WASNT ABOUT GUINESS BOOK OF RECORDS ARTER ALL
ReplyDeletemy daughter also recieved one of the letters, we live in america, and it cam no proble without the stamp! I thougth it was real and did not want to hurt her friend who sent it, today I even got mad that my duaghter could not find the letter so that I could help her respond! ARGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! I hate that I got angry and stressed over nothing! I wish the post office would not send them on, it would stop them in their tracks!
ReplyDeleteI AM 14 AND JUST GOT ONE OF THESE LETTERS.AFTER RECIEVING IT I DONE SOME BROWSING TO SEE WHAT I COULD FIND AND THERE IS NO SUCH THING. I HOPE THE RETARDED FUCKERS WHO STARTED THIS WOULD ENJOY TO KNOW THAT THE LETTER IS MORE USEFULL AT LINING MY CANARY'S CAGE.
ReplyDeletei've just got da chain letter and then done some browsing and found out it was fake !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! how could it be going from 1996
ReplyDeleteits a big hoax! my daughter has just recieved one and after checking everything on the computer i know now its rubbish although i was not entirely duped as i have had a couple of these type of things before.
ReplyDeletei can not understand how people carry on the chain by falling prey to the not so clever people that start these things in the first place,
they are done to scare us all that we will get bad luck if we break the chain!!! well luck is a fuuny old thing and it has nothing to do with daft pieces of paper with crap words on them luck is about good and bad things that happen to us all in our life so pleez pleez everybody if you get one of these daft letters BIN IT IMMEDIATELY then forget about and take life as it comes .
my daughter got one of these letters as well and it was my thicko sister in law who forwarded it-it,s now circulating northern ireland
ReplyDeleteIt is very annoying that children get their hopes raised about having their names in the Guiness Book of World Records. My daughter had a letter and we were charged postage! Fortunately we have a nice postman who didn't collect. I will now have to ring everyone we asked to take part so that they know it's a hoax!
ReplyDeleteMy friend sent it to me and although i didn't want to break the chain... someone had to! it is unfair because people don't want to let-down their friends. THEY ARE RUBBISH !!!
ReplyDeleteMy son just received one of these letters this morning in the post ,the letter did contain a stamp .I have to say i am really angry that the parent of the child allowed her to send out such a letter to her pals. The letter was written by the parent and she would have supplied the stamps and envelopes.Why fuel such stupidity
ReplyDeleteMy daughter received the letter today, she was upset as she felt compelled to forward it. Needless to say its in the bin with the rest of my junk mail crap
ReplyDeleteMy daughter recieved one of these letters from a kid in her class, apparantly the teacher had photocopied it to make forwarding of the letters easier!!
ReplyDeleteI am sending my daughter to school in the morning with this website address to let the teacher know what a mistake she made.
Grrr. My bro got one of these from a guy and he wanted to send it to my friends! Turns out it's bollocks, i'll tell him that. Stupid chain letters. Grrr
ReplyDeletei'm only 12 i think this is a load of rubbish THROW IT IN THE BIN NOW got 1 of these yesterday i didnt realise it was a hoax my dad looked up on google and found this website thanxz have all ready rip it up will make great bedding 4 my rabbit !!!!!!don't feel you've let ur m8ts down cause u avent you've helped stop this stupid thing !!! It says it was started in 1996 & nobody has broke it yet.Wat rubbish !!lol J
ReplyDeleteIM AM 12 YRS OLD I GOT MI HOPES UP SO BADLY AND MI FRIEND TOLD ME IT WAS NOT TRUE
ReplyDeleteI am nine years old and I got this letter a few days ago. I was really scared about letting my friends down and not doing it, but my dad looked it up on the web and found this site. Thank you everyone for what you have posted, now I know that chain letters aren't really important.
ReplyDeleteI received a chain letter 4 days ago and I was really excited that I had got one but my parents found this web site and I realised that there was no point in doing it and I was really upset and embarrassed about believing the letter,I AM REALLY ANGRY ABOUT THIS!! I will tell my friends about this web site.
ReplyDeletethank you from meghan
Hi there
ReplyDeletelike many others we have just had this letter delivered but having 2 daughters under the age of 16 that meant we were supposed to send on 14!!! Then I thought about it, how could it possibly be true? It would mean that someone was keeping records of millions of names worldwide through thousands of Post Offices.Absolute junk. Both letters are now in the bin where they belong and my daughters will never know about them! Cant believe the Royal Mail delivered them with no stamp. From now on I might just send all my letters without stamps stating its for the Guiness book of records world record attempt, might actually save me money!!!!!
We can stop, or at least cut down, spam from the net, but not so from the snail mail. Must be the Post Offices that instigate these letters, hoping there are many mugs to continue sending them, hence increasing their profits.
ReplyDeletei received this letter yesterday or should i say my 5 year old received it!! I lovingly typed out another 7 copies so's not to disapoint her, she is quite excited about forwarding it on. i thought i might brouse the net to see if it was ligit. i must say i detest chain letters which threaten ill-health or bad luck and this one didn't and seemed harmless enough. i am quite shocked at the reaction of some parents, especially those who would confront another parent for sending it!!! seems irrational to me. i say those who wish to take part for fun do so, and those who dont bin it!!!
ReplyDeleteIm 14 and i have jst recieved the chain letter that has 'been going since 1996' I think it is ridiculous how they can expect people to believe such nonsense, how on earth could they fit all of those names into a book?!?!? It is a meaningless waste of money and I think it is very cruel having to tell young children that their names will not appear in the book.
ReplyDeletemy daughter got post today. This LOAD OF RUBBISH chain letter, send to 7 other children, will be in guinness book etc. We don't even know the name of who has sent it to my daughter (even spelt her name wrong). I thought I would check it out, and found this site, VERY USEFUL, THANKS!! I will be taking the letter to school, just in case any one there gets this rubbish.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter has just received this letter, (Guinness Book of World Records is not even spelt correct) the letter arrived via the post office no stamp & no charge. My daughter has left a note for me to post them. I have binned them ,do i feel Guilty NO ,will i tell my daughter, NO why should i upset her the letters are gone. Writing out the letters used 7 bits of paper to practise her hand writing , no enverlope used, no stamps used and they went in the recycle bag. lovely neat handwritting at the end , use of dictionary to correct spelling mistakes 2 lessons in one. Chain letter binned at my house, Please parents follow suit
ReplyDeleteI got thousands of them while at school. And it was different that time. Instead of forward all you had to rewrite them by hand. I never did it.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.anita-jewelry.com/chains.html
I recieved one today and i think it was a load of rubbish. A while ago there was a letter to get into the book of world recoreds. But did it? NO!!! To me is just plain Stupid. If you recieve one of these letters, do not post it on, think of all the other childrens' hopes of getting in the Guiness World Records book.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, the letter has also reached Holland... it was sent to us (my 6 year old daughter by a friend) I was checking addresses of friends and while I was logging on the internet I thought: "lets check this mail" It saves me a lot of throuble... I was also supprised they actually delivered it without a problem... And what is the supprise we will be receiving in a weeks time... I think the mailman, asking for money for the 7 letters you've send, ha ha ha.
ReplyDeletei have recieved the chain letter and i want to know if it is true that it goes in the guiness book of records. i have sent it, like it said to 7 other kids under 16. was it a mistake to do so?
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately this sounds like it really is a load of rubbish. It was difficult to explain to my kids that this lettter was the deliberate work of someone who has nothing better to do but let down thousands if not millions of children. ..B.R.E.A.K...T.H.E...C.H.A.I.N....
ReplyDeleteGreenpeace reckons it takes 13 trees to make one tonne, or 1000kg of paper. There are 40,000 pieces of paper in a tonne, divide this by 13 trees - means that each tree makes 3,077 pieces of paper. Every tree makes about 3,077 pieces of A4 paper.
ReplyDeleteIf each recipient of this letter sends the requested 7 more out – and those recipients then send another 7 – with those sending a further seven – and then the following recipients another seven each ……. Well – just those 4 waves of recipients will have chopped down 5 and a half trees!!
If this bogus letter truly has been around since 1996 – and gone as global as this message board indicates – then an entire forest has disappeared just because some half-brained executive working for the wood-pulp industry – conned a few innocent kids.
And all this is without even counting the envelopes, the petrol driving the letters from depot to depot, and the postie’s shoe rubber.
Put a stop to it now and do what Shanthi – our 6 year-old did – recycle the letter.
The chain is still going round but my m8 said that she is not going to send the letter because its not real and she tried having a look on the internet and could not find enough information and her mum and dad are over protected so she wont be able to send it... im so sorry but i will send another letter to some1 else
ReplyDeleteNadira above makes an excellent point. In fact, thinking about whose child knows who, I'm almost sure that my daughter recieved a chain letter link from the same girl at school.
ReplyDeleteSurely it's up to the parents of the younger, more impressionable children to clearly explain the absurdity of these chain letters - and then make the 'only a bit of fun' bit - how to stop wasting the earth's dwindling resources - and recycle the letter AND envelope.
My daughter, age 7 was so excited to see she had received something in the mail address to her. She was soooo disappointed when she realized the whole thing was "just a trick" (however unintentional). I am still shocked that the US postal service mailed it without a stamp. I could have saved hundreds of dollars over the years by writing "Guiness book of world records" in the corner of all my correspondence!
ReplyDeleteNeedless to say, we broke the chain.
i am eleven and woz about to sebd this letter to my friend when i found this site i really didnt think anything woz going to happen anyway as i recieved one in 2005 and it sed winter 2005 and now its saying winter 2006
ReplyDeletei receved one of the chain letters.And am shocked that
ReplyDeleteit is targeting children under 16.All in all i am totaly descraced
My 10 year daughter has recieved the very same letter as described above. I am so glad we found this website so she can see for herself it is a hoax.
ReplyDeleteWe both received this letter from one of our school friends and looked it up. It makes you feel bad if you don't send it and it says the post office knows who breaks the chain(yeah right). DON'T SEND IT, then we won't be the only people not to!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteHi
ReplyDeleteMy son has just received the guinness book of records chain letter from the grandchildren of our neighbours.
He is 6 years old and really excited so I contacted a few of my friends who agreed they could send them onto their kids.
But after reading this I'm not going to bother, I will explain to my son what a load of rubbish and waste of time it is and how it could worry people to receive them.
I have contact the guinness book of records who say it is a total hoax and they never enter records of chain letters into their books
Thanks
Em
I have just received the same chain letter from my best friend at school. I thought it would be really great to be in the Guinness Book of Records but after my mum looked into it on the internet I now know it is rubbish!!
ReplyDeleteI will be seeing my headmaster tomorrow to let him know that it's going around my school.
Rebecca (Age 8)
I have just recieved it from my best friend. The thing is, it says i have to send to seven friends under 16. I dont have seven peoples address'. Anyway, I know it is complete junk mail the first time I read it, but if I don't send it on, my best friend will probably get upset.
ReplyDeleteEmmy (12)
i have recieved a chain letter saying:children started this letter in 1996 and if we keep it going till 2006 it will be published in the guinness book of records along with all the children who participate nobody has broken the chain yet so please do not be the first to stop it!
ReplyDeleteall you kneed to do is copy this letter and send it to 5 friends all under the age of 16. the reason it has to be posted is because the post office is monotoring the letters to see who breaks the chain. you have 4 days to do so. on the envelope write:
the guinness book of records. and remember to put a stamp on it. on the back of each envelope write the 4 names and your own. thanks for taking part!
what a load of RUBBISH- if you recieve this kind of letter DO NOT REPLY!!!! BREAK THE CHAIN!!!!!!!!!
the post office is after money- and no-one can read your letters but the person you have sent it to!
ReplyDeletemy three year old daughter received the chain letter also i was gonna send them off untill i found this page on the net now im not i feel stupid my self for beleiving it.its stupid!
ReplyDeletemy 9 yr old girl recieved the chain letter yesterday, i thought there wasnt any thing wrong because no postage needed and also said the post office were keeping note of who broke the chain. My dad suggested looking this up online and hey presto, this is what i find. I wont be letting my daughter send 7 more out, and now ill sleep better knowing im not putting anyone else thru this, i will also contact the school!
ReplyDeleteMy three kids each received one of these letters. We were going to have to find 7 different kids per each one of my kids to send this to. I thought has to be a hoax. I can't believe the post office sent the letter without a stamp.
ReplyDeletemy son also got this chain mail i never for a minete thought this was real but he seams excited that he is able to write to his friends i dont see the harm as long as he asks the parents permission as my son has and they seem happy to go ahead so i dont see no harm as someone said its not malicious and most kids like mine dont know what guiness book of records are and will prob never read it anyways.
ReplyDeletei am 13 and i got one from my sister yesterday i
ReplyDeletehave told my friends about it and if they want to do it on my letter it says we have to keep it going until winter 2006 but my brother got it 2 years ago and it said we have to keep it going till winter 2004!!!! its aload of rubish
I am 10 years old and I too received "the chain letter". I was excited about being in the Guinness Book of Records.When I asked my Mum to look it up on the net - I was very disappointed to find out it was a hoax.I will not be sending on any chain letters to my friends,as I don`t think that it would be fair.
ReplyDeleteBecca,age 10,Scotland.
What a waste of time and also our wasted tax dollars at the US Postal Service! I've got to go convince my very social 14 year old daughter it's a fake.
ReplyDeleteJanell, 40, in Texas, US
im 12 and many ppl have sent me this. i actully beleived dat it was real and sent it 2 my fwends now i have 2 ring them up and tell them it wasnt real.my fwend told me it wasnt but i still did it now im embaressed i did i cant beleive this has gone worldwide. we live in australia.
ReplyDeletemy daughter has just recieved one of these letters this morning, i am not even going to show her it as she is sitting her sats and if she was to even see this letter it would put the fear in her, she has enough pressure with these, so to worry needlesly would make things worse. as far as i am concerned these are a total waste of any childs time. so my advice is put it staight in the bin don't even show them to your child. my daughter is 11 years old
ReplyDeleteMy daughter age 9 also just received this letter. I to was fooled due the fact that the U.S. Postal Service sent it through without a stamp. Thanks to this website we have not forwarded it. However I am sending it back to her friend with this website address along with informing the school principal.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I wonder if I sent my bills out and wrote over the stamp area "Guiness Book of Bill Sending" would it go through??? I'm sure it wouldn't even leave the mailbox!!
I came home from school to find that one of my friends had given me a chain letter. I'd never heard of chain letters and when I saw my friends name on the back I immediately opened it and because I was confused I showed it to my mum. read the instructions and I then I saw her frown, she threw it down and I said "WHAT"
ReplyDeleteI was angry at this point because it was my letter.
At bedtime she told me that this letter was a hoax and a fake and it can't of possibly not been broken before because it had been going from before I was born.
So I was fustrated when she had screwed it up and thrown it in the bin. I tiptoed out of bed and I fetched it and then I realized that if these people who were sending them were dangerous they could look up our surnames on the computer and capture us. I threw it away and realized my mum was only keeping me safe and in the morning I asked her why and she said "because I love you and you are only 9 if I lost you now i'd never be happy again because you are my baby. Olivia age 8
I got a chain letter from friend in the mail and I thought it would be nice . but in the letter it said the post office would know who broke so my mother wouldn't let me do it .she was going to the post office to see what it was about . she looked online and found out it was a big fake!
ReplyDeletethis is not a good thing at all
Nikki
hi i was wanting to know about how i never got a thnakyou letter in july because on the letter i got from my cousin it said "you will recive a thank you letter in one month time".i never got that so i was wondering if you could send me an email of one as i worked hard to keep the chain going.
ReplyDeletesend to jock54321@hotmail.com
My daughter just recieved one of these letters from a friend.... and has copied 6 to send out....to her friends. Usually chainletters get dumped in our house (beit via snail mail or email)
ReplyDeleteThe only reason I kept this one...is becuase Australia post seem to have covered te cost of it.. whats the go there?
How do I tell her now its all a scam...
The poor kids all over the world the have been fooled
(sigh)
This is ridiculous!
ReplyDeleteYes, in the North of Netherlands (Holland, see also Frouwina Bloem 4/8/2006). Today 3/17/2007 the letter is written in Dutch !
ReplyDeleteJa hoor, daar viel vandaag weer een zo'n ouderwetse kettingbrief in de bus. En dit keer kost het ons niks, want TNT stuurt de brief gewoon door blijkbaar.
Ik geloof het bijna zelf dat op het postkantoor nu iemand bijhoudt wie er allemaal op de buitenkant van de brieven staat.
Via de email heet het een HOAX en het is dus echt onzin. Het zal binnenkort wel in de krant staan.
Frouwina Bloem
4/8/2006
Just today i got this letter from my friend stating:
ReplyDeleteChildren have been sending this letter since 1996! If it isn't broken by the spring of 2007, it will be entered in the Guinness Book of World Records, along with the people who took part in it.
The Chain has not been broken, so please keep it going!
ALl you have to do is type or copy this letter and send it by MAIL.
Mailing this letter is FREE! No stamps necessary. Just write "The Guinness Book of World Records for Children" where the stamp should be. The reason you have to send it by mail is so the post office will know who broke the chain.
You will have 4 days to get this letter to 7 people under the age of 16. The day you get the letter counts as one of the four days.
In a few days, you will get a letter thanking you for your part.
Now, wouldn't it be cool to see your name in the Guinness Book of World Records?
PLEASE DON'T THROW THIS AWAY!
Come on --let this happen. Thank You!
--
haha. utter crap.
Its fake and retarted as hell
ReplyDeleteMy son also got this chain letter from a neighbor - it states that if not broken by spring 2007 it will be put in the GBOWR...Sound familiar - now it has hit the midwest (usa) and the letter was post marked and sent without a stamp - so we can see how some might think it is legit. But, my son and I checked out a few web sites and concluded that it should go into the "bin" as you all call it in the UK. How bout the round file? Worse yet is that the neighbor boy used our copy/printer to make those 7 copies of which we got one. Lovely! My son was worried for a while about breaking the chain, but after reading other posts on this website, I think he can sleep easily tonight and foget about the whole dang hoax by the morning!
ReplyDeleteThanks BrainNoodles and friends... now let's get back to watching Charlie and Lola!
My daughter age 8 also just received this letter. We live in Sweden. What are parents thinking when the lets there kids sending this crap?
ReplyDeletemy niece just sent this letter to my daugther, i thought i was kind of wierd that the post office would even deliver this without a stamp, you have to have a stamp to deliver anything, and it does not matter what it is...
ReplyDeleteI got this letter today. I was excited to send it out. But my poppa showed me this web site I read the disappointed comments,I put it in the shredder(Chopper).
ReplyDeleteI'm 9 years old but I'm not stupid!!!When I read about Greenpeace and the trees, I wanted to save nature.
I thought was going to be so cool to see my name is the Guiness Book Of World Records, but then when my mom looked it up she was surprised to see the it was a fake and kids around the world were getting it too. I am disapointed , and so are my friends. My friends are so happy they didn't get their hopes up too much.
ReplyDeleteCHAIN LETTERS ARE FAKE! even though they are fake i cannot sleep.so i can feel safe i forward them.i think i should stop because it is scaring my freinds. chain mail is FAKE! in 1996 bla bla bla i will die my FOOT!
ReplyDeleteI too received a chain letter in the mail with no postage, which almost had me until I check then Net...don't stress out over these things, just go on and don't participate! almost fell for it due to being sent to my daughter..oh, well, it's all old news, chain letters, that is..
ReplyDeleteI got a chain letter from my best friend.Then I was so concerned about breaking the chain.I was almost done typing the letter when my parents said it was a fake.So I decided to look it up. then I found this website.
ReplyDeleteThank you everybody for these helpful comments!
ok you know what is sad... the fact that hundreds of postal charges were never charge... it helps find a new way to send free mail for goodness sake.! It just shows the weakness of the system!
ReplyDeletemy friend just sent me a chain letter and im sooo mad at her whenever my friends send me a chain letter or just a crap letter i send a letter back to them saying look im letting u know my e-mail and my address but that does not mean u can send me crap e-mails and if u send me one more of these i will ignore u for the rest of my and ur life! i know that sounds harsh or even a little mean but i hate chain letters. so im going to tell my friend that she better not send me anymore of these chain letters and that im breaking this chain letter just so that i can make everyone mad and then people will think of me as the crule fun ruiner kinda like my bro sometimes lol
ReplyDeleteI work for the Postal Svc and trust me the Post Office did not start this or any chain letter. What is surprising to me is how they are getting through with no postage on them. Yes I too received oe from Hiwaii. It is now garbage fodder. Honolulu stamped it and sent it through though no postage was on it.
ReplyDeleteSee what the U.S Post Office has to say:
ReplyDelete"Guinness World Records does not accept any record claims concerning chain letters or variations of chain letters. This particular chain letter also states no postage is necessary which is also untrue."
http://tinyurl.com/3cl9gf
hay,
ReplyDeleteI have been in the same situation as Elaine. It's POPOSTEROUS!
What really makes me mad is when my friend said please dont let
us down. YA RIGHT ITS RUBBUSH!!!!!!!!!!!!! BREAK THE CHAIN!!!!!!!
AVERY CLARK, age 13, California ,US
At first, I thought it would be really cool to see my name in the Guinness Book of World Records until my family and I did some research on the subject. That is when we realized that the whole thing was a hoax!! If you received a letter about that stupid chain going from 1996, and whatever, just throw it away and forget that you ever received it.
ReplyDeleteI usually throw out or delete any chain mail (snail mail or email). Since this was received without postage, I was almost fooled and gave my daughter permission to go ahead and send it. Then, I thought again about the ridiculous claims and checked it out on the net. Thank you for posting these comments - saved us a great deal of trouble.
ReplyDeleteI had the copies made and envelopes ready...and luckily the internet not so far away. Thanks for the insight! My 7-pages of rubbish will be recycled and the chain will not pass my ocean.
ReplyDeleteCheerio,
Max
My daughter just received this letter in the mail over the weekend. No stamp - suprised the post office does this. I figured it was not real - just like all those email chain letters trying to scare people that bad luck will come to them if they don't keep it going - it's just an email - it has no special powers! Delete them!
ReplyDeleteim 11 and happy to find out that it was a fake,yet also disappointed to find that it was fake!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteKentucky, USA
I just got this letter today and I went on the internet and I found out that there is another identical letter saying it ends in winter of 2004 and this letter says it ends in Spring 2007 - that made me know that this is a big hoax. If you ever get a chain letter like this, don't worry - you can just throw it away. It is worth nothing. I am going to tell my poor friend who sent it to me and worked so hard to do this. BREAK THE CHAIN! SAVE SOME TREES!
ReplyDeleteI know!!!! It is a fake. Now, I didn't get on that said Winter first, so when I got the first, I WENT CRAZY!!!! I was like, "MOM we can NOT break this record!"
ReplyDeleteMy daughter got this chain letter today, i cant believe that people are still sending this on. I am annoyed that other parents let it go this far! honestly - who in their right mind would believe that you can send post just by writing guinness book of records where a stamp should be. I am glad i looked online as i didn't realise how big this thing is. it is definitely going in my bin. what a croc!!
ReplyDeleteI am 8 years old and I am so mad because the whole Guinness book of World Records chain letter is fake. The letter got my friend and my hopes up. I didn't want to tell her it was fake, so I wouldn't upset her.
ReplyDeleteI still can't believe the letter was fake.
My daughter's got this today in Perth WA, an updated Guinness World Records link is http://www.guinessworldrecords.com/mediazone/general/060505.aspx
ReplyDeletesome parents are really stupid!!!! Do your homework people!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThe copy we received told us to affix a stamp and write Guinness Book of World Records just under the stamp. I decided to goggle it before I shelled out for 7 stamps. Also we were told to do it in 4 days - usually not a problem but we received it on the Saturday of a Bank Holiday. Chain letters can be fun but only so long as they don't threaten misfortune if the chain is broken (this one thankfully didn't) and they don't set false hopes. I received one telling me to send £1 to the person at the top of the list and I would recieve hundreds of £'s in the matter of a few weeks - and that was from an adult.......
ReplyDeleteI was concerned when I found out this wasn't from the Guinness Book of World Records. This could be extremely dangerous, especially because the chain letter says that they will record who sent it. Who knows who could be sending this.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest question I have is why does the post office continue to deliver these chain letters? It must cost them quite a bit of money to deliver mail without stamps.
ReplyDelete5/23/07
ReplyDeleteI got the letter today and now i need addresses for the people. I dont want to break it. So the people that get it next,DON'T BREAK IT!!!
I received one of these letters for my daughter and then phoned round for addresses so she could send it to all her friends. I was suprised that the post-office is delivering these letter if it is all a big con. Not only that the fact that I have made wasted phone calls all for some sick idiot who made this all up. I deffinately going to ensure that everybody I know that it is all a big CON....!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm twelve and I got this letter, too. I decided to google it and I found THIS!!
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to say..THANKS EVERYONE!
I just got the letter a couple of days ago. I thought it was real but then my mom showed me this, and I am going to show it to the freind who sent it to me. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI am 11 and I recently got the chain letter. I am a bit surprised, and I definetly have to tell my friends that it was all a hoax. Thanks everyone!
ReplyDeleteMy daughter had received this for the second time last week after avoiding sending it out when she received it last year, I decided to go ahead and let her do it. I don't usualy respond to chain things myself. It seems a little unrealistic that they would be able to keep track of who sends these letters anyway. One letter was returned postage due and the others weren't. Why does the Post Office do it if it is fake? Even if it isn't real-she has fun doing it. I think that we won't be doing anymore though!
ReplyDeleteI got this letter a few days ago. I really didn't want it break it so I wouldn't be embarrased. But when I searched google and found this my problems are almost solved! My friend beleives in this thing TOO much. Its pretty annoying and sad for the peeople who get fooled. I am really mad at going through that big fuss for nothing! We should sue the post office for this!!!!! I hate it, I WANT to break rthe chain and further more I looked on other sites. Some said if not broken, by winter 2004 others spring 2006 spirng 2007 and more. I got the one with 2007
ReplyDeleteI got one today. I had a hunch that it was a fake and i jsut searched it and now that i have found over two years worth of people saying its false, i'm gonna tell people that it is false. Plus it's crazy that you are not supposed to use a stamp!!! it's like cheating the post office of there money!! I can't belive it. soo why r people sending htem stll? i don't know but it's been here for a long time. i'm not gonna foward it. Thanks to all who wrote on here to help me make this dissicion. it really helps!!!
ReplyDeletethanks~lizzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzy
I got one of these 6-11-07 and i was wondereing why the post office even thinks about sending it. It must cost a fortune to send it without a postage stamp.
ReplyDeleteMy kids got this chain letter 30/05/07 we passed it on as the Australian Post seemed to be on board. Now what is strange is that a country where it is illegal to send chain letters in some states, like Queensland, and who have the same postal service are forwarding the letters with out the correct postage Why? Also before any one jumps one me, there was no threat, harm or bad luck etc coming my way in the letter if wasn't sent on. So send it or don't send it up to you.
ReplyDeleteMy Daughter received one of the letters. Now they say that"if it isn't broken by Summer 2007....." My concern is if there is a pedophile working at the postoffice and knows about this, he/she will see the letters without stamps and know they are from kids under 16, and will have their addresses on them. This could be scary...
ReplyDeletewhat a whole load of crap! the very first person who started this chain letter should get a life. stop sending freaking chain letters (of any kind) cause it's all just a bunch of bull.
ReplyDeleteWe received this letter - also without postage affixed - I NEVER forward chain emails, so WHY OH WHY did this one almost have me fooled? My 12 year old daughter is dissapointed. I'm just frustrated with myself that I spent about 2 hours on the letter, addresses, envelopes, etc. before coming to my senses and looking something up on the web. I found several sights confirming that this is a hoax, but BrainNoodles - you're the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI live in Arizona in the United states. I also got one of these. No stamp. Post office also delivered it. Why do they enable this kind of stuff? It made me believe it was legit. That was until I checked it out.
ReplyDeleteI really cannot believe this thing is world wide. All of the people who think this is, "Just for fun", think again. It's breaking a lot of kids hopes, it's costing the postal systems a fortune, and by just sending it to just one person you are allowing hundreds of more people to get this letter. I got this letter from one of my best friends today and I was SO angry that he would fall for this. All I need to know is why the postal systems allow this to keep on going. Hmm.
ReplyDeleteFirst my sister got one of these and I said it was a joke but she didn't belive me because they wouldn't let it through it did not have a stamp. She got another one and sent it to her friend who sent it to her brother who sent it to me and I stopped the chain. I found this today and found out most letter chains are all jokes. The letter I got said it couldn't be broken until winter 2007! What a joke.
ReplyDeleteDON'T DO THESE CHAINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was pretty excited when I got my letter coz I had never recieved any type of chain letter bfore. My brother said "Honestly annie, its fake" but i saw that there was no stamp. it took me ages to choose people to rite it too and other stuff. then at skool a couple of days later a girl who got the letter said she had had it before and it said "you have to keep the chain til summer 2007" it didnt occur to me that it was fake. another frend sed that my friend sed she had recieved the letter and sent it bak to me. i got the letter a few days later, and sent it to my cousins, not thinking that it might be fake. but i didnt think that i would ever get a thankyou letter coz i had been wait about a month. my friends couldnt be bothered continuing and broke the chain and now i do to.
ReplyDeletethank you brain noodles for letting me see sense. i will ring my friends straight away.
Guess what?? This chain letter has made it to Melbourne Australia. My daughter received 2 such letters claiming to be part of the Guiness Book of Records for Children. I went to the post office and they did not know anything about it, even though it went through their system. It is a shame how these supposed chain letters lead young innocent minds to believe that if they do not follow the instructions, they will be to blame for breaking the chain. DO NOT POST IT!!
ReplyDeletei am 12 and live in Australia. i recieved a letter saying that it was started in 1996 and the guinness book of record people would be monitoring who didnt keep the letter going around. i am extreamly surprised that the post people would actually send these letters for free just because it has 'Guinness book of records' on it. even though it is a wast of time i find chain letters kind-of fun an doing this lets people no that u r their friends!!!
ReplyDeleteWho ever started this thing is mean. I was
ReplyDeletereally exited at first ,But then my mom checked out this website and I was really dissappointed.
I got one to say if i don't reply i could be killed my some clown!!!!!!!!! they are a hoax and should be stopped now!!!!!ahhhhhhhhhh
ReplyDeleteHi everyone just thought I'd let you know...
ReplyDeleteToday most letters are sorted through automated machinery. If you drop a letter in your corner collection box the next time it will be seen or touched by a human is when your letter carrier is standing at your mailbox making a delivery. Seeing a letter without postage we are told to bring it back to the office where it may be returned to sender for postage or if it has no return address delivered postage due(41c) Sometimes it is just not worth the hassle to do that and since its for the kids the letter may be delivered w/o postage. I always try to tell my customers that this is a scam and there is no
Guinness Book record... I hope this helps
Hello
ReplyDeleteI got the letter and I wondered how thay could fit all the names in because the book is already big enough and also my friends will be disappointed to know this is a scam. I live in Australia.
Bye
It goes on. My daughter got one from a boy she likes. We saw that it was postmarked by USPS and had no stamp affixed, just the words Guinness Book of World Records. So, we fell for it. Feeling so stupid!
ReplyDeleteI was going to do this for my daughter who just received a letter from her friend until I decided to look up info on this letter. For the cost of a stamp you can donate to Africa and buy rice for the children to feed them! Honestly...who would send these things without doing research? Waste of time and money...money could be put to better use for your own childrens education, donating to charities what have you.
ReplyDeletewow. some people really get worked up over chain letters. oh well. it's just more junk mail. really to be embarrased or feel stupid about sending something in the mail for free... it's not that bad.
ReplyDeleteno duh, it's not going in the guiness book. It's just fun to see if the letter is really going to be sent for free.
Thanks so much for this website - got the Guinness Book of Records Chain letter and was agonising over whether or not to pass it on. It doesn't ring true - how big would the book be if ALL the names were published? and I can't see any postal worker diligently marking down all the kids' names. It's a load of rubbish and chain letters, whether they are innocent or not, should not be passed on. I thought there was a law against them anyway.
ReplyDeleteMe and my sis received one. We live in South-Africa. Luckily my dad checked it out before we sent it on!
ReplyDeleteI received one of these chain mail letters today, and I have found this website very helpful and the letter is going straight in my bin!
ReplyDeleteI received one of these chain mail letters today, and I have found this website very helpful and the letter is going straight in my bin!
ReplyDeleteWell...
ReplyDeleteim just in yr 7 and recieved of these chain letters from a friend at a different high skool, my friend(who everyone really hates at skool) told me it was a hoax, but since it DIDNT COST A THING i was really annoyed at her becas NO OFFENSE but shes always jealous at me, and she even admitted that, and always wanting to make me look like the fool.....
Im surprised that the letter was post marked and sent without a stamp !!im really frustrated
and dont know how 2 apologize or say anything 2 her...........
anonymous
sydney AUSTRALIA
Well....
ReplyDeleteim just in yr 7 and recieved of these chain letters from a friend at a different high skool, my friend(who everyone really hates at skool) told me it was a hoax, but since it DIDNT COST A THING i was really annoyed at her becas NO OFFENSE but shes always jealous at me, and she even admitted that, and always wanting to make me look like the fool.....
Im surprised that the letter was post marked and sent without a stamp !!im really frustrated
and dont know how 2 apologize or say anything 2 her...........
anonymous
sydney AUSTRALIA
ive never had a chain letter!!! unlucky everyone else!!! :D
ReplyDeleteThis chainletter is still going. My daughter received one over the weekend, says it needs to keep going till Winter 2007. Normally I would just throw it in the bin, but she was upset she would let everybody down if she didn't send it. I thought it was ok as it was franked and delivered by Royal Mail, but glad I decided to look on the web before going ahead and letting my daughter send it out. It makes me so angry to play with kids emotions like this - what do the originators of these scams actually get out of it ????
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI have a concern about this, it's nearly the end of summer 07 but is this chain letter really true or just a hoax? My cousin sent me a letter and I'm not sure whether to keep sending it or just forget about it. In my letter it says to remove the first name at the back of the letter and put your name under the last person and to send it to at least 6 of your friends. Whats the point? The chain mail will still be sent even if you just send it to 3 people, i think this is a hoax, but the NO STAMP incident confuses me, how come the POST actually sends this mail around? How can millions of names be publishes in the World Record Book? I'M REALL CONFUSED AND I DON"T WANT TO LET MY COUSIN DOWN!!
Hi,I just wanted to say THANK-YOU to all you others who have recieved this sort of letter and posted comments.I have got one saying it began in 1996 and dont stop it before winter 2007,all my friends in my class have got them,we are only 10,Im very upset to find out this is all a hoax, but glad I found out before I posted it on and can save Trees by telling them also not to send it.WELL DONE Brain Noodles your helping save the planet.
ReplyDeleteI get email chainmails and I really hate them! They are totally ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteThey can't work becuase by the post office can't read mail! How can it be kept track of? IT CANT!
these people lack brains!
Our daughter recieved the chain letter on Christmas Eve,so being in the Christmas spirit and not at all cynical, were thinking who to send it on to. After Christmas I felt uneasy and stressed and realised how sad it was if not real, so found this site and will explain to my child who copied and printed the letter herself. By the way Royal Mail charged for us to collect it. They could do the decent thing and bin them.
ReplyDeleteive just got the same letter saying that it ends winter 2007.my dad says its a waste of time but im not sure because my friend just wouldnt do it if it was.what do you think?
ReplyDeleteThis is a lesson to us all - never never never fall for chain letters or chain emails, they are always rubbish. It seems that this one has been doing the rounds for ever! My 11 year old daughter was very excited about being in the Guinness World Records but I never trust chain letters and did the internet search. Like the rest of you I found out it was a hoax. She had produced all the letters but we haven't sent them. It seems it is currently bugging us in Australia so please any of our friends who happen to google "chain letter" and end up seeing this comment don't be fooled. I also can't believe that Australia post is delivering these letters.
ReplyDeleteIm am 10 yeares old and i just got a letter and i looked it up on the website. I read the website and it is JUST nonsence!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So will i bbreak the chain it is just NONSENCE!!!
ReplyDeleteThis letter is still alive and strong in the USA. My 6 yr old got it this weekend (no stamp). Thankfully I always check the mail before her so she did not see it.
ReplyDeleteOne more piece of paper for the recycle bin. I can not believe the post office delivers it without postage and they want to raise rates.
Am really glad I read this. The 'official' Guiness record chain letter is still doing the rounds and my daughter was very upset when I read these comments and had to explain to her it wasnt real. What I would like to know is who has the time to sit and think of this rubbish in the first place?!?!
ReplyDeleteMy daugher, aged 8yrs, has received one of these chain letters today from her cousin, the usual speal, forward letter to 7 of your friends to get into the Guiness Book Of Records, Freepost. Saw letter, looked very sus so decided to google this, thank god, what a total scam, cannot believe the parents that have been fooled by this and helped their children forward these on. Mine has gone in the recycling bin..suggest you all do the same!! Come on grown ups..wakey wakey..break the chain!!
ReplyDeleteWe are 16 and 14 and we just recieved it yesterday. stupid chian mail, we reshearched and found this site. now we no it is a hoax and we are showing all our friends. thanks you all have been a great help.
ReplyDeletemy child just received a world record chain letter in Qld Australia today 17/03/2008 so it has been circulating. I received a bill for postage with it. I looked up on the internet and there can be hefty fines if it is sent as the post office does not support it and it's against the law It is a rather scary situation as children do not understand the implications behind it.
ReplyDeletethanks for the letters on this site as my daughter's is going in the bin!!! But what happens to the postage bill????
Rani...aged only one, received her first chain letter for the World Record for he longest chain letter. Thank god, I googled this first. I hate chain mail received (and that goes electronically!) I have let all my friends on the Gold Coast know this is scam. Hope more others check this out before sending it....plus chain letters are illegal in Queensland!!!!! I wonder why...they are annoying and are for the superstitous!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteMy daughter has just received a Guiness Book of Records Chain Letter. She was so exited and really believes in supporting good causes. I looked at it in detail and I to thought if the Royal Mail was preapred to send it then it must be o.k. but just to satisfy my mind and my husband, who also thought something was wrong. I looked on the internet and found this site. Thank goodness my daughter had not put them in the post this morning. Yesterday, we spent hours preparing these letters and envelopes but at least I can delicatly explain to her that it was not a good cause and that she would be doing the right thing by destroying the letter.
ReplyDeleteMy son recieved this letter today, he is a well rounded child and when we explained it was garbage he laughed,this may not be the case with all children and some may be concerned about breaking the chain. How cruel this would be. I will certainly be talking to the senders parents.
ReplyDeleteHi I got one of these chain letters from a friend at school, but my mum wasn,t sure about sending it on to my friends. We looked on the web and found out it was a load of rubbish glad we didn't send it on. My mum said she would of looked a fool to my mums friends. They're now heading for the bin!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteIf you get one of these do the same or face the shame Lol X
after a lot of printer ink, about 30 PAGES or so, time and phone calls,and trying to convince other people it was a great idea, i decided to look at the current record for guinness book of records for chain letters, and suprise, suprise from the horses mouth, HOAX - DONOT REPLY. WHAT A FOOL now i have to ring back around with egg on my face. POOR ME, POOR KIDS RATHER,im gonna be getting good use of my shredder, shows how easy taken in we can be.
ReplyDeleteCan't believe I could've been so stupid!
ReplyDeleteI've always disliked chain letters and text messages alike and I believed this because Royal Mail have backed it! Why?
I sent everyone a text before forwarding three who were happy . . . need to send messages to them saying that it was a hoax now. Royal Mail need a good telling off!
Thank you to all who have commented on this chain letter. My daughter received one from her friend and will be disappointed to know that this is a hoax, as will the friend that sent the letter. I will spread the word at the school that my daughter attends and hopefully this will put a stop to this particular letter.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks again for taking the time to inform others.
Sallyann (UK)
i received the chain letter from my friend 2day. i think u should do it 4 fun but u do not hav 2. Also i think it wont actually b in the Guinness Book Of World Records but its still fun 4 those who want 2, 2 participate.
ReplyDeleteI got the same letter today from my best friend,
ReplyDeleteI think it is wrong to get childrens hopes up (including mine) to get their names in the Guiness Book of World Records. It's stupid because it keeps going up a year 2003, 04, 05, 06, 07, up until this year, spring 08 This is the letter I got. Children started this letter in 1996. If not broken by spring of 2008, it will be put in the Guiness Book of World Records along with the names of everyone who took part of it. No one has broken the chain, (which it probably has) so PLEASE DON'T BREAK IT! Ally you have to do is copy this letter and send it to 7 of your friends under the age of 16. Mailing is free; You dont need a stamp, look at my letter to you. All you need to do is write "Guiness Book of World Records for kids" in the spot you would usually have the stamp. The reason you have to send it by maiul is so the post office knows who broke the chain. You have 4 days to send this letter. The day you get it counts as the first day, so send it right away. In a few days, you will receive a letter thanking you for taking part. It would be really cool to see your name in the Guiness Book of World Records, so DON'T THROW THIS AWAY!
Everyone who gets chainmail like this should break it because the Guiness Book of World Records doesn't recognize un-broken chain mail.
How would they keep all the names that have been sent from all over the world in a book of records?!
this is CRAP...
ReplyDeletei sent it got my hopes up high then read these
comments
how could the post office do this
this is CRAP.....
ReplyDeletei got my hopes up high then read these comments
iam revolted post office how could you do it
The letter is now saying it must be kept going until Winter 2008, and its been going since 1966!!Statisically that would be alot of names in the Guiness Book Of Records! My 3 year old son received it through the post from a nursery friend. Although I was initially taken in, my husband, cynical about this,and from the Esther Rantzen That's Life generation, checked the internet. Thank you to sites like this. Fortunately my son is only 3,so its of little consequence or diasppointment to him. I would have been the mug addressing the envelopes, which I did feel a little uncomfortable about not wanting to annoy people, or have them having to stump up the postage!!I am friends with the child's mum who sent it us, so I'm sure she'll see the funny side too!I feel sorry for the older kids who have received this though and the embarassment they must have felt.
ReplyDeleteI recieved the letter on Monday and it told me that if the letter was still going through Spring 2008 my name and everyone else who took part in it would have their names in the stupid book. So I sent it to 7 of my friends as the letter told me to, then I got a letter from my friend saying that the whole thing is fake! So now I have to tell my friends including my friend that mailed me the letter that we all wasted our time and energy to send it out.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter got a letter like this, supposedly started in 1996 promising entry into the 2009 Guinness Book of Records. I went onto the official website and they have a text service available. So I sent a text asking if the letter is indeed endorsed by them or if it's a hoax. This is their reply:
ReplyDeleteGuinness World Records does not recognise or verify a record for the longest chain letter. Many versions of letters exist, inc. a 1996 one. None are Real.
So I think that the answer is BIN THEM!!
I also received this letter for my 9 week old son, now please tell me how he is going to send it out. I was initially taken in, but decided to check it on the internet and found this website.
ReplyDeleteThanks
I recently got this chain letter saying that in was started by children in 1996 and if it keeps going until winter 2008 it will be published with all the names of the children who took part. It's complete rubbish! I was going to send it but then my mum said that it looked false so she googled it. Thanks so much to everyone who answered because now I am not going to send it! :)
ReplyDeletexxx
My son received this from a friend the day after it was sent and immediately started typing the letter and addressed the envelopes himself. I told him that I doubted his name would actually be in a record book but they are fun to get and send (as long as no one is asking for money). I was actually impressed with his desire to address envelopes. Hmmm? Educational? It was a lot different experience than when I had to hound him to write his thank you notes. I'm amused how angry and uptight parents get over this.
ReplyDeleteI received 2 of these letters today for my 2 boys and was nearly taken in by this, solely because it was delivered by The Royal Mail without postage being paid! However now thinking about it logically, this could never have worked anyway!!!! I would love to know who the sad person is who starts these things, have they got nothing better to do with their time! because i certainly have. The poor trees eh 14 letters and 14 envelopes times by however many other people forward these! glad i decided to google it!!
ReplyDeleteI am 9 years old and i received the letter today. I didn't want to break the chain because I didn't want to upset my friend, but after I researched about it I found out that it wasn't true.
ReplyDeleteI've looked on lots of websites and decided I would write back to my friend about all the websites and everything else. I felt bad but I think it was the best thing to do. I found on the envelope it said that my friend did pay to send it. It said it was started in 1999, and that is NOT true because my sister has had one before and she broke it as well, and i also found out that the post office doesn't accept unpaid chain letters. Thanks for your site: that helped me understand :-) Thanks! Emma
I read through 30 or so comments and started to realize 1 thing....most everyone that has commented likes to complain and make an ant hill into a mountain!
ReplyDeleteBIG DEAL if it doesn't work. It's fun for the kids and if you're that "embarassed" to send one out in fear of what the other parent(s) might say....then maybe you should reavaluate your own mindset in order not to subconciously spread these fears onto YOUR children.
Lighten up. Unless these addresses are being stored in some data base where you will receive an onslaught of junk mail, then there's no need to be all up in arms.
I could care less about the junk mail personally, but the trees that it comes from...now that's a mountain to wage war on.
I just got one this morning. Says it was started in 1996 and your name will be put in the 2008 book of records. I had one a few years ago saying my name wil be put in the 2005 one. Loooadddd of rubbish
ReplyDeleteOur daughter got one of these and put a lot of effort into writing to her friends despite my telling her to check on the internet first.
ReplyDeleteThere must be a positive way of using this effort and what is wrong with children writing real letters to other children?. If you remove any threat to do with breaking the chain and the post office will deliver for free there could be a very positive outcome.
Apologies to green people for advocating writing real letters but for most children receiving post is a great treat.
right, i just got it on email. The first thing I think about is : "oh my god , really?" When my senses came back to me and I realized it was just a stupid message! I ran through the forward list ( quite a long list ), and I felt sorry for those who actually believe them! I sent some warnings to my friends, so that they won't fall for that idiotic trick. One of my friends had actually forward them to 7 peoples and seem quite dissapointed when he received my mail. I wonder who got this idea, and I sincerely suggest them to stop it!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThe Guinness Book of Records has updated its statement about chain letters and how it doesn't support them in anyway:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/mediazone/general/060505.aspx
you people should be nicer to your kids just because one person dosen't like it dosen't meen you all have to agree what if you get a real one would you just throw it away and doun gos a holl bunch of work did you think about that!
ReplyDeletei got this letter today and i was seriously thinking of sending it on!! My one saus that it was started in 1996 and will end winter 2008!
ReplyDeleteI havent got the heart to tell the girl who sent it to me that it is fake as she is only 9..
As soon as I saw this had no stamp on I was very aware of what it could be. i gave one to my 4 year old to open, she was really impressed that she had mail. She could not read it so was not particulary bothered. I read the top paragragh which says the same as all the above postings on this site and told her it was junk mail. I will be informing my friend of this and I will talk to the post office. It's not right to buil childrens hopes up of receivng mail, if you want to write us then write but put a stamp on. I will be binning these letters as soon as I have visited the post office!
ReplyDeleteThanks to you lot our there who have also stopped this stupid chain! well done.
My 12 yr old received one couple days ago from cousin,saying it started 96 ending winter 08. will not send on as don't like chain letters, as with previous comments, it uses alot of paper,so will just recycle it along with other junk mail. Found this website which was a great help, as told son who wasn't bothered after knowing these comments.
ReplyDeleteThey're doing it with e-mails now. Same thing, but with e-mail.
ReplyDeleteHi, Thanks for your postings above. I've just gone through it with my two daughters who receivd one of these letters today. Happy to say my daughters are breaking the chain.
ReplyDeleteThis is very strange.... Every comment at the top says 05' or 06' my letter says spring of 08'! It has already happened and i have already sent my letters. but i just wanted to do some research on it. Wat a dummy am i?!
ReplyDeleteI recved the letter today from my best mate and am now pretty sure after reading all of these comments that my grans shreder will be full at the weekend(tomorow) when i see her as it is a whole load of junk so if you are a kid or an adult who have recvied this then please break the chain it is a hoaz.
ReplyDeleteI recved the letter today from my best mate and am now pretty sure after reading all of these comments that my grans shreder will be full at the weekend(tomorow) when i see her as it is a whole load of junk so if you are a kid or an adult who have recvied this then please break the chain it is a hoaz.I also read that others say that is to be in by different dates and that it has been going and in 2000 my mum and dad got the book of records and reading the above it looks like it was a hoaz and it was not in it.And thank you if you stopped the chain we are saving paper.
ReplyDeletei got the letter last year 2007 but i dont know if its in the ginnius world records book tell me if it is plz
ReplyDeleteyou guys are mean, let kids have fun, let them have fun with stuff. It abit like santa, when there old enough they'll understand. It just a bit fo fun added to the world and you guys are stopping it.
ReplyDeletehi,
ReplyDeletei have just got this letter from my cousin. i genuinely thought it was real as it had no stamp on. my mum to be safe checked the internet and found loads of websites lke this but the comments here being most usefull. i think its a disgracefull thing to do as me and many others have always hoped of being in the book. i think it is interesting how the first message is from 2003 stating the chain will end winter 2003 wheras my letter staded it will end in 2008!
this is low. i'm ten years of age, and i got a chain mail from my cousin who lives in galway, ireland. i live in leitrim, ireland. the letter said i am to photocopy seven letters and send them on to seven friends. if whoever is sending them would just stop, the world would be a lot happier. i was so excited about the thought of my name and my cousins and friends names in GBOWR 2010. My friend Gráinne came in to school the next day and told me it was a hoax, i nearly screamed. THEY SHOULD BE STOPPED!!!!!
ReplyDeleteMy son was sent this by his cousin.Got me thinking how on earth could they list everybody who had received this letter. Went on the web to check it out .Found this site. I have now put the letter in the bin where it belongs!!!!!
ReplyDeletemy 3 children received this chain letter and i sent it on to 21 more children, i never thought anything about it due to them still being delivered with out a stamp, until looking through the guinness book of records website and could not find anything, then i came across this site along with others stating thats it a hoax, im fuming to all the time, photocopying and envelopes it has cost me to send on a further 21 letters, not to mention having to explain this to my children!!!
ReplyDeleteMy 8 year old daughter has just rec'd this letter in the post, why does the Post Office endorse this by allowing the delivery to continue?
ReplyDeleteNow I have to communicate this web search about the hoax to the school, and our friends. I am concerned about how many addresses have already been delivered to.
Hey everyone chain letter aren't a scam!!!!!!!!!!!!! Children have so much faith in these why would they make them for nothing?
ReplyDeleteSo please give your child a chance.
i just recived a load of chain letters i am 12 and i mayb a kid but i no how annoying they are ! they only write them to scare us if we dont send them on i think some one should complian because my friend is now sat up some nights scared as she is soft and gets scared easily dont let your children read these or open any attachment for two reasons some contain viruses and some can scare younger ones. they are imature and stupid!!!!
ReplyDeletethis is so FAKE!!! it may say free postage but it certainly isnt! i work for royal mail and it should ALWAYS get charged as it is fake and has no postage on it!!!
ReplyDeleteplease people bin it if you recieve it cause adding any kids name and address to strange mail is very inapropriate!!!
It's still running... 2009...
ReplyDelete