Dear needtoknow1234-ga;
Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting
question.
Actually, unless and/or until someone lodges a complaint against this
entity for some alleged wrongdoing, there is no basis for any claim
that they are anything other than what they claim to be, and no way to
predict whether or not they will be around in 3 years when your
voucher comes due.
Ask yourself this: “Does this sound to good to be true?”
If it does, as the saying goes, it probably is. But not everything
that seems fishy is illegal or unethical. Some enterprises operate
under the premise that you, the consumer, will pay your fee, and
either forget about them, violate some rule, or die. Even if this
company does hold true to their claims, and in three years honors the
voucher for 100% of its face value, it is likely that you will be
rewarded for your efforts from the proceeds gained from those who
forgot about them and never cashed a voucher, those who violated a
some “rule” along the way and rendered themselves ineligible, or those
who passed away. At any rate, they will have either sat you your money
(and other peoples’ money, from which your final voucher payment
probably originates) and collected the interest (some of which they
probably use to “pay” you with in the end) or heavily invested it,
which you could very well have done yourself.
Is this unethical? Maybe…maybe not. After all, it can easily be said
that you’re an adult and you “did” enter into the agreement with them.
No one twisted your arm. If you break the rules and lose your money,
you should have known better. The questions now are:
Are you willing to risk losing your money on ANY venture; this one or
any other?
Would you, personally, find it unethical to cash in your voucher in 3
years and receive your money, knowing that some other person isn’t
getting theirs because of a 2 year old technicality – AND that the
money you receive potentially comes from the other guy’s misfortune,
forgetfulness, shortcoming, death, or whatever?
Would you reconsider entering into this agreement, if you thought
something was awry, or were directed to even one single, credible
source that publicly doubted this program?
Then consider this:
“The Consumers Trust of New York has approached a number of local
businesses recently with what looks like a great program to get
customers in your door. The firm’s program promises that customers who
participate in a "no fee" voucher program can receive back the entire
cost of their purchases from your company within just three years.
Your business is expected to pay a small registration fee for each
customer’s participation. If the customers follow the rules, they’ll
get a check for whatever they spent when the voucher comes to term.
The Better Business Bureau – and a number of local business owners who
declined the deal – are skeptical of the offering. The program
requires participants to run an unreasonable gauntlet of requirements
to qualify for the rebate, such as renewing registration every six
months and resubmitting their contracts, receipts and other sales
paperwork upon each renewal (notarized). Consumers Trust’s marketing
literature even states, "The Cashable Voucher is a financial memory
test or challenge and we know...very few vouchers will ever be
redeemed...and in effect those who do not claim pay for the few who
do." There are so many requirements that the BBB believes that it
would require a mnemonic expert to complete the process. Advertised
claims of "cash back" that turn into a frustrating morass of paperwork
seem more likely to generate ill-will than goodwill with customers.”
This information was published and comes directly from the BETTER
BUSINESS BUREAU OF GREATER CLEVELAND. In my opinion, if what the BBB
says is true, they have certainly cast some doubt on the probability
that you will actually get your voucher cashed, because, as it says in
the notice, ***and read this again very closely, now: ***
“…THE CASHABLE VOUCHER IS A FINANCIAL MEMORY TEST OR CHALLENGE AND WE
KNOW...VERY FEW VOUCHERS WILL EVER BE REDEEMED...AND IN EFFECT THOSE
WHO DO NOT CLAIM PAY FOR THE FEW WHO DO…".
The Cleveland BBB says that this statement comes directly from the
company “itself”. You even said it yourself when you said, “…If we
meet their outlined terms…” This is not some arbitrary statement to
you – this, according to what the BBB has indicated above, appears to
be the very foundation of the company’s success.
I also want to note this: The information I have provided you with is
derived from the SINGLE SOURCE that I found that suggested anything
other than glowing revues for this company and its program. Several
reputable businesses are in fact participating in the voucher concept
with Consumer’s Trust, and none of them, from what I can tell, have
published anything detrimental about the company or the program as of
this moment.
I hope what I have given you is sufficient to answer your question.
Beyond that, we’ll just have to wait a few years and see how all this
turns out ourselves.
Below you will find that I have carefully defined my search strategy
for you in the event that you need to search for more information. By
following the same type of searches that I did you may be able to
enhance the research I have provided even further. I hope you find
that that my research exceeds your expectations. If you have any
questions about my research please post a clarification request prior
to rating the answer. Otherwise, I welcome your rating and your final
comments and I look forward to working with you again in the near
future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga
INFORMATION SOURCES
BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU OF GREATER CLEVELAND
http://www.cleveland.bbb.org/SpecDetl.asp?ID=2
SEARCH STRATEGY
SEARCH ENGINE USED:
Google ://www.google.com
SEARCH TERMS USED:
“CONSUMERS TRUST”
“CONSUMERS TRUST” “CASHABLE VOUCHERS”
“CONSUMERS TRUST OF NEW YORK”
“CONSUMERS TRUST” COMPLAINT
“CONSUMERS TRUST” SCAM
"CASHABLE VOUCHER PROGRAM"
“CONSUMER’S TRUST” |
