I have no idea if anyone on here has done this, but the FTC frowns heavily on forging customer testimonials.
I think they can only enforce these laws when it is in mail or online form. So I guess fliers may be out of that realm, I still would not advise it.
I just read about some companies getting popped. The FTC may not be looking into any of our companies, but rumor is that some of the companies getting caught were turned in by their competitors. They do pay attention.
I use some comments provided to me from my clients, but without there names as they were part of a client satisfaction survey that was anonymous, I did this so that I hopefully would have gotten their honest opinion on my work. The comments are by no means forged, and all records are kept in paper in case anyone was to challenge them. Just wondering how the FTC? would enforce this? are these testimonials that actually have a name and address to them?
CFP,
Its a good thing that some one is monitoring it. Some business owners advertise unfairly to get more customers. I have a guy in my area that advertises that his company is "voted # 1 in residential window cleaning. Rated # 1 is another one that he uses. Its really deceptive to the public. Voted # 1 by who? You know that your mom doesnt count as a fan. You see it alot in the auto sales industry. Outrageous claims that have no foundation is unfair and unethical. largest volume leader in the area is a big one. I get a newsletter from my local BBB that has all of the companies that use deceptive advertising to get folks in the door. Its a shame that some use these tactics to get buyers. Another one is “Going all out for business” Geez! What will they come up with next?
I have TONS of that here Steve. It has been getting real dirty and outrageous with the lowballers here… mostly to each other. I fear it causes a ripple effect and touches all of us in some way.
Marketing 101- never use superlatives (better than, greatest, #1)
There were 2 companies in my area that were doing the rated # 1 thing in my area. Funny thing was that their YP ads were next to each other:D. Vengence is mine!
This one bothers me more than any others as it’s just plain stupid. If you wanted to lie about something the personal referral lies would draw more people than which association you belong to. Most customers are unaware of the associations anyway. It’s just a stupid lie to use in my opinion.
AUWC just nailed another “member” (NOT) from L.A. yesterday. He couldn’t answer any of my questions about membership, I explained that he was free to use the logo after paying for the priviledge, and “POOF” his web site had no morw AUWC logo on it this morning.
It will never cease to amaze me the amount of shady operators in this or any other industry. I always believed in an honest days wage for an honest days work, and have never had to put on false airs to garner clients.
Some business will abuse the BBB logo too. Did you know that it is breaking the rules to use the BBB logo on your website? If you plan on using it on the web, you have to belong to the BBB Online Reliability Program. That is a totally different logo in itself. It cost me an add’l $100.00 on top of my membership. The reason that you cant use the standard logo ( or any bbb wording) is because the web is larger than your servicing area or the area your BBB represents you in. They also did a site audit and found out that I didnt have a privacy policy (mainly telling a visitor what you will be doing with their info). They advised me to put one on there ASAP because it is Federal law. You must disclose how, and in what way, you will be using thier information they give you.
