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Consumer Protection Lawyers |
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Law Office of Arthur L. Weiss, P.C. |
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Phone: 520.319.9057 Fax: 520.319.9058 E-mail: weiss60@msn.com |
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To contact us: |
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Infomercial scams |
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The use of the infomercial as a selling tool has become widespread and very profitable. While some infomercials offer a viable product at a reasonable price, many of them make false promises of riches with no risk and/or no use of your money. There are hundreds of stories of people who spent the initial teaser amount, usually $39.95 or some other innocent sum, only to find they are now subjected to high pressure sales tactics for sums in the thousands. It only takes a small percentage of vulnerable individuals to make these scams highly profitable.
Scams come in many forms and variations. In one variation, you pay the small teaser amount, usually around $40 - $50 which is FULLY GUARANTEED for thirty days. If you are unhappy return the product for a full refund! You return the product and wait patiently for your refund. It never arrives. After five phone calls to the company you give up. Scam two - you agree to pay the initial $39.95 only to find that the company is now taking that amount monthly out of your account. Calls to the company to correct the matter are placed on permanent hold or the guy in that department is always out of the office. After making half a dozen payments you finally close your account to stop the withdrawals. Scam three - you actually buy the next step in the program for $10,000 (that’s right - ten thousand dollars) and before you know it you own $100 worth of useless junk. If that junk happens to be property somewhere, then you will have a recurring property tax bill to pay as well!
For most of us the loss of $39.95 or even a couple of hundred dollars is not critical and we chalk it up to a lesson learned. Fine. That is really what it is. However, if your losses are in the thousands or in some cases, tens of thousands, it is a different story. Arizona has a large population of retired individuals, at home, watching these infomercials and highly vulnerable to their sales pitches. The good news is that there are now many websites dedicated to exposing these scams. If you have questions about an infomercial I recommend you run an internet search on the title of the program you are interested in. You will be amazed at what you will find. Here is a small sample of websites with information you can use:
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