Newspapers Aiding and Abetting Deceptive Advertising

Have you seen the full page ads in the newspapers lately? The ones showing security guards and armored trucks and "vault bags" full of coins? Then they list counties whose residents are now eligible to "claim" these "U.S. Gov't Issued coins" for only $59.

I've written a letter to the editor of The Dallas Morning News about this, but they didn't print it. After all, a full page ad brings in a lot of revenue! So what if a bunch of poor gullible people think they're getting valuable coins (they're not) from a government agency (it's not).

These "vault bags," they say, are "loaded with valuable Indian Head coins issued by the U.S. Gov't." Well, yes, they were issued by the government, but they're not particularly valuable. If they were, do you think they would be selling them for $59? And their definition of "loaded"? Four ounces to a bag -- that's about 18 nickels - a face value (and a market value, too, I can assure you) of 90 cents. My advice is to take your $59 down to the bank and exchange it for $59 worth of nickels. You'll have just as good a chance of finding a rare one, plus you'll still have your $59.

"After the vault bags were loaded with rarely seen coins issued by the U.S. Gov't they were sealed for good." The "U.S. Gov't" didn't seal these bags. The employees of this sleazy company sealed them. But the seal is important. The money back guarantee is no good if you break the seal -- "If for any reason within 10 days of receiving your product you are dissatisfied with your purchase, return the entire product for a refund . . . No returns if seal is broken." So if you don't like them, you can return them, but you can't look at them first.

Here's some information I gleaned from the Better Business Bureau about this company.

The BBB has rated this company "F."

Factors in the rating for Universal Syndications, Inc. include:

• 12 serious complaints filed against business
• Advertising issue(s) found by BBB
• Business has failed to resolve underlying cause(s) of a pattern of complaints

On November 2, 2012, the BBB sent correspondence to Universal Syndications concerning the advertising of "scarce coins."  Company responded November 14, 2012, showing they made a couple of changes to their advertisements.  However, BBB files indicate that this business still has a pattern of complaints concerning the number of rare/scarce coins contained in the bag.  Consumers indicate the majority of coins contained in the bag are newer coins and pennies.

As of May 2013, BBB continues to see a pattern of complaints of misrepresentation concerning the number of rare/scarce coins received by consumer and has not resolved the underlying reason(s) for the complaints.

If you want to read more, here's the BBB website link:
http://www.bbb.org/canton/business-reviews/mail-order-and-catalog-shopping/universal-syndications-inc-in-north-canton-oh-23001053/

"So you better believe at just $59 and shipping the Vault Bag fee is a real steal." That's the truth -- they're stealing your hard-earned money! Shame on them and shame on The Dallas Morning News and The Paris News and any other paper printing these fraudulent ads.