BBB Business Alert:
All That Glitters May Not Be What It Seems
July 20, 2009, Memphis, TN – Recent emails notifying Memphis area businesses that they have won prestigious awards from a national association appear to be part of a widespread scheme designed to get companies to pay for “vanity” awards and plaques of little or no value.
The group behind the “awards” program is the U.S. Local Business Association of Washington, D.C. The emails to businesses tell them they have been selected as an “outstanding local business” and offer them the opportunity to purchase one or more awards to mark the honor.
The Better Business Bureau warns that area businesses exercise caution when dealing with U.S. Local Business Association or an affiliated group called U.S. Commerce Association. Descriptions of the Associations, the websites themselves and the names of persons identified as Selection Committee Chairs are identical for both associations and the BBB believes the promotions are being made by the same entities. According to the BBB of Metro Washington, D.C. and Eastern Pennsylvania, the association’s Pennsylvania Avenue address is a known mail receiving/forwarding address. The BBB has not obtained any verifiable address or phone number for either named group.
Arnold Hearing Aid Company of Memphis’s email from U.S. Local Business Association announced that they had been selected for the 2009 Best of Memphis Award in the Hearing Aids category. Beverly Fortner was immediately suspicious since she had never heard of the association. “You’re always suspicious when you notice that there is no phone number or address for the company on the email,” said Fortner. She also discovered that, although the initial email didn’t say so, in order to display her award at her place of business, she would have to pay for it herself.
Fortner contacted the BBB to find out more about the company. What she found out is that the company has an F rating with the Better Business Bureau for failure to respond to complaints.
“From everything we can tell, this is just one more ploy to profit off the universal desire for recognition and approval,” said Randy Hutchinson, BBB President. “We are advising people to steer clear, unless they want to pay for what appears to be a meaningless office decoration.”
BBB of the Mid-South offers the following tips for businesses to avoid losing money in a “vanity award” program:
- Learn everything you can about the organization that is giving the award. If it is coming from a mystery company, chances are it is simply a ploy to get your money.
- Ask specific questions about how your company or organization was chosen for the award. Be wary if you didn’t apply for an award or the group cannot tell you how you were nominated.
- Find out how many similar awards are given each year.
- Most legitimate awards do not come with costs for the recipient. If there is a cost, scrutinize it even more closely.
- Check the BBB Reliability Report on the company at www.bbb.org or by calling 901.759.1300 or 800.222.8754.