Now that the warm weather has returned, the flyers left on my door and door-to-door sales people have come out of the woodwork.  The BBB regularly reminds consumers to do their homework before deciding to do business with any company, whether you’re going to them, or they’re coming to your door.  This time we’d like to offer some tips to the businesses that are coming to the doors of consumers in Utah.

• If you are going door-to-door in Utah it is very likely that you’ll be required to have a business license in each community.  Check with the city to see what licensing or registration is required.  Find out if there are limitations such as time-frames when you can go door-to-door, what “no soliciting” means (most cities have laws that you should not knock on that door!) if it is on the door and make sure you have an accurate map so you know what community you are walking in.

• Have some form of identification from the company you work for that you can show the consumer. 

• Don’t be offended if the person doesn’t open the door or if they tell you they aren’t interested.  I’m sure you’ve been told that not everyone will want to hear your pitch.

• If the customer says that they only have a certain amount of time to talk to you, please respect their schedule.  Arrange to come back if you can’t make your presentation in that short amount of time.

• Don’t pressure any consumer.  Treat the person as you would want to be treated.  If the consumer says no, don’t push them to accept the offer.  That’s when complaints are filed that sales people are pushy.  ‘No’ means ‘go away!’

• Tell the truth.  Only make claims that are true and can be substantiated.  The consumer should ask you to write down any claims not in the contract and initial those claims, so be honest.

• If you don’t feel good about what you’re telling the consumer, find another job.  Don’t say something you know isn’t true or verifiable.

Each year we receive hundreds of complaints from consumers who feel that they were pressured into signing a contract.  Make sure that you are not the sales person who gets that complaint against them.

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) has gotten quite a few calls this week about a new “Senior Enhancement Program.”  We don’t know exactly what it is, because it’s savvy seniors who called us instead of calling the company.  But, here’s what we do know:

They want to meet with seniors and state that they might be eligible for $400 a month, just for being a senior citizen. 

What’s the scam you ask?  Well, it could be a company trying to get seniors to sell them something.  Or, it could be worse: a scam artist trying to commit ID theft by asking for personal information (in order to get the $400 – which would be non-existent).

Be as smart as the consumers who have called us today – don’t give out any personal information, realize that if it sounds too good to be true it probably is, and remember you don’t get anything for free!

Report questionable offers such as these to the BBB – www.bbb.org, 801-892-6009 or 1-800-456-3907.

For nearly 100 years, now, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) has worked with businesses to help them to regulate themselves.  More and more over the past few years it appears that companies are popping up with the sole purpose of scamming people.  They just want the cold hard cash from hard-working Americans. 

About five years ago the BBB noticed a couple companies that were selling diet products using a negative option.  They sold their products via the Internet and charged consumers a low up-front fee (usually under $5) and then hit the consumers with a monthly fee (usually somewhere around $70 - $90) after a short trial period.  Two of the first companies that we noticed were Ultralife Fitness and JAB Ventures LLC.  Both the Utah Division of Consumer Protection and the Federal Trade Commission  took action against these companies.

Unfortunately, there are now hundreds of the same types of offers out there – they include diet pills (hoodia, acai berry, amla berry and green tea to name a few), offers to make money using Google, and obtaining government grants.  We issued a warning about these offers, but the complaints keep pouring into BBBs across the country. 

The companies use a trial offer as the hook to get consumers to bite and give their credit or debit account number.  They hide the terms and conditions down at the bottom of the page (or worse yet use only a link), so that the only money the consumer thinks they’ll “lose” if it isn’t a legitimate offer is the couple bucks that they are paying to get a “free” CD or bottle of pills or whatever.  In reality, consumers can lose hundreds of dollars if they aren’t careful!

One of the companies doing this is googlemoneytree.com.  This company is located in Utah.  The State of Texas recently asked for a temporary restraining order against this company and several other companies, and Jonathan Eborn individually (collectively known as the defendants).

The State of Texas alleges that the “defendants are engaged in an elaborate scheme designed to deceive consumers so that they will sign up for defendants’ work from home program.”  The full text can be accessed on the State of Texas’s website. 

The Better Business Bureau system has hundreds of thousands of reports on companies across the United States and Canada (www.bbb.org), which can be accessed 24/7.  Yet consumers are still being taken advantage of each day because they didn’t check our reports.  If there was one thing I could remind consumers to do it would be to check out each company BEFORE you do business.  That goes for online sales and business you conduct face to face.