While this system sounds ideal when the concept of how it is supposed to work is explained, reality is quite a different matter. Here is the basic set up the coupon certificate programs, how they are sold as working and how they work in reality:
Promoter: The promoter, usually the owner of the company, recruits sales people by charging a “distributor fee” for the business opportunity of selling coupon certificate booklets. The investor (i.e. sales person) is told he/she can sell the booklets to consumers for $15 to $50 each. The booklets contain 20 to 50 certificates with each certificate having a redemption value for $10 worth of grocery coupons. If the math alone is considered, it looks like a great deal. Each booklet has a coupon value of between $150 and $500 so selling them for $15 to $50 should be easy. The investor can make a big profit selling the booklets to consumers and the consumers can save big money by using the coupons when they buy the groceries. It appears to be a win – win – win situation for everyone involved. The reality is, however, that only the promoter will make money.
Investors: These are the people who spend several hundred to several thousand dollars to buy the certificate booklet distributorship. They end up losing money because the large earnings the promoter claims they can make are never realized. The main problem is that the consumers realize that the coupon books are not the value that is claimed and thus there is no repeat business making continued sales difficult.
Consumers: These are the people who purchase the coupon books expecting large savings on their groceries. There are several issues that keep them from getting the savings they thought they would receive.
1) To redeem the certificates, you have to list a minimum number of items, so you wind up with a lot of coupons for items you rarely use.
2) You are usually required to send in a “processing fee” of $1.00 or more with each coupon redeemed which cuts more into the savings
3) You are usually required to send a self addressed stamped envelope with each order meaning stamps and cost of the envelope reduce your savings further.
4) The redemption value of the coupons is often very low.
5) The promoter says they will try to fill the order, but makes no promises. If you send in your order form and do not receive all of the coupons you requested, you’re simply out of luck.
6) The expiration dates are often within a month or two of the time of receiving the coupons. That results in difficulty in using all the coupons if multiples of the same coupon are requested.
The result of all this is that the consumer receives very little, if any, real savings from these coupon books. You can read more about this scam at ftc.gov
I was one of the unlucky ones who fell for this. I invested $7,000.00 debted on two credit cards. (which I am still paying for at a high interest rated. No where on the advertising was any thing posted that the coupon booklets would expire in six months. There was on way that I would be able to send these before they would expire. I did not know of this until I started to get complaints from the few customers that I had, that they were not getting any coupons that they requested and when they did, most of them had already expired and the booklets had a date in the back cover that they would also expire.
Im glad i read this because i was considering buying one of these books and now i dont think i will. Thanks for the info.
Phyllis, what was the company name that ripped you off?
I received some phone calls offering me “free” grocery coupons worth $500 to “reward” me for being a special customer, or some such. They claimed their company was Lifeguard Marketing out of Scottsdale AZ, but I would bet anything they were calling from India. They wanted $4.95 for “shipping and handling”. I refused to give them my credit card number. They were very aggressive. Has anyone else received these calls, or know about this company? I assume it was a scam…
Never, ever, give out a credit card number to anyone that calls you. You have absolutely no idea who they are. There is no doubt that it was a scam of some type.
On May 20, 2009, I also received a call from Lifeguard Marketing asking for $4.95 for “shipping and handling” for “free” grocery coupons worth $500 to “reward” me for being a special customer. I quickly declined.
I just received 3 phone calls this morning from “Lifeguard” in Scottsdale, Arizona. While on the phone with the first guy I was googling lifeguard. I couldn’t get anything to come up. I kept telling him no thank you, I’m not interested and he would not take no for an answer. I ended up hanging up on him and then waited 10 seconds and picked up the phone to call my husband and he was still there talking. It took another 2 minutes for him to stop saying hello and hang up. It wasn’t a minute later someone else called, she wouldn’t take no for an answer either, and then I finally got a hold of my husband and they called again while we were on the phone. I don’t think that this company is for real. I agree with Bonnie as they were very aggressive!
I received the same call 3 times, hard to understand them because of their accent. They say they are Lifeguard. (Lifguard??? I repeatedly asked him to spell it and he left of the “e”). They want to send your package from AZ, they say the grocery coupons don’t expire for 2 years. If you agree to receive them they transfer you to processing where they get your credit card info so they can charge you. I told them to remove me from their calling list. I hope that is the last I will hear from them, I wonder where they are getting phone numbers from???
I get calls from this company atleast once a month from it sounds like the same person but they all have an Middle-Eastern Dialect. The latest one I got said his name was Dutch Miller and that he was with Lifeguard a Marketing Partner of some sorts. Anyway for $4.95 he will send me $500.00 worth of grocery coupons since I am such a good customer. He always asks for “Robert” when he calls. At first I thought he had the wrong number, but now I am certain this is just a scammer and they have a database of phone numbers that they go through from time to time. If anyone has any knowledge of how to get ahold of these people please post a phone number for me to reach them at. I have a few choice words I would like to tell them.
I also received a call from these guys this morning. The caller was clearly Indian, and if her name was really Feona Morris, I’ll eat all of my hats. My wife did not chAnge her name when we married, so I know it’s a scam when they give me her last name.
I will certainly report the caller ID number to the do not call registry. I would reinforce the admin note about giving out your credit card to cold callers. Even if they aren’t ID theves, they can use that as evidence that you have a relationship with them and then call you with all sorts of offers, even if you have registered with the do not call list.
I just received my first encounter with these scammers. I was gung ho about getting coupons but I was online wanting to search them through the Better Business Bereau. they were very demanding that if I give them my Visa Debit card information I could get all the details from the processing center that I would soon be connected with. I honestly do not have a Visa Debit card!! I have a debit card, but not a visa!!!!! I continues to ask for phone numbers to contact their company, e-mail addresses, web addresses, his name, his position, etc. He eventually hung up. As did I but I picked the phone back up to *69 the number and he was on the phone again. I said so did you find the e-mail, did you find the number, how about the address to the location you are at currently, He said in a very sneaky and almost laughing voice You have a good day, good bye now, good bye now, good bye now!!!! I have yet found any ligit info on this company. They told me lifeguard was the name, I supposedly was talking to Bradley Jones. He also sounded Indonesian. I am definitly giving all my friends and family heads ups…
I got this call today. I am on the “Do Not Call” list. The Indian man who called me said they could call because I was a “customer” of one of the companies that contracts with them. I know the whole thing is a scam, but how do they get around “Do Not Call”?
They can’t – report them for a “do not call” violation
Same story for me…Received a call from a man with an accent who was very much in a hurry. It was obviously a call center. You could hear all the other salespersons talking in the background. He offered so little information about the $500 worth of grocery coupons for only $4.95 shipping prior to wanting to switch me to an authorization line that I was immediately suspicious. I then began asking questions while searching online. I had to ask for every single piece of information he gave me–company name Lifeguard; location Scottsdale, AZ; his name and ID#–James Malcom (when I asked him to spell his last name he left out the “l”). He insisted that the coupons were not discount coupons and could be used for any brand, at any store, which sounded unbelievable. After every answer, he wanted to quickly transfer me to authorize. Meanwhile, I came up with a website but the coupons displayed were discounted and were for certain brands. The site didn’t provide a physical address, so it may not have been the same company. Finally he got a supervisor, Dwayne, on the phone. All these fabricated English names…what a joke. I learned that it was a 14-day trial to view information regarding a way to cut medical expenses and $49.95 a month to join. Supposedly, if you cancel before the 14 days are up, you still get to keep the coupons. He was very insistent, asking for the expiration date of my credit card, even after I told him I wasn’t going to do it.
Thank god for Google. I googled the name of this “company’ while I was on the phone with them just now and up popped this great site! It confirmed my suspicions. I told the guy his spiel sounded like a scam which of course, he denied. Then I told him not to call me again and that I was reporting them to the Attorney General and having them added to the No Call list!
When I got this phone call tonight I had to laugh when he told me his name was Alex Stewart, not with that accent it isn’t. So I said to him, “OK, that’s not really your name” and he started telling me about his parents and repeatedly said, “so, that is why I speak with an accent, now I will transfer you to my supervisor”. This guy began with flattery, “what a lovely voice you have michelle”, and ended with “why do you not understand, it can be any card number, Visa, Walmart, zero balance or just one dollar”. Again I had to laugh, and told him there was no way I was giving him any account number (although he referred to it as an identification number) from any card. Suprisingly he said good bye and hung up, and I went to the computer and found these postings in under 3 seconds. They are still out there, although they didn’t use the name Lifeguard, it was something like Shop Smart, so be careful.
Thanks for having this information. It confirmed that I did the right thing when this guy with poor english skills called me. He offered a $200.00 retail gift card to me from a company others mentioned in their post; Lifeguard, and wanted to transfer me to some rep to get me to pay $4.95 for the package. He was persistant and finally hung up when I asked how he got my number and told him I was on the do not call list.
I submitted a complaint about this company today. The (obviously middle eastern person who called me back twice after hanging up said his name was Evander Jones. I was not able to get a street or mailing address but got a number of 1-877-216-2406. I made my complaint by Contacting the FCC at 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322)
I just got off the phone with my Mother. She requested I research Lifeguard in Arizona. I’m glad I added “scam” to the search so I found this site.
She was offered a $200 gift card for the $4.95 shipping, but they required a credit card.
I’m glad to say she recognized it as a scam. They called her 4 times within 30 minutes and finally stopped. She did tell them to take her name off their list.
I told her that if they call again to tell them the following:
1. She has caller ID (doesn’t, but they don’t know that).
2. She’s on the National Do-Not-Call list. Unfortunately, her State doesn’t have a similar policy in place.
3. She will report them to the State Attorney General’s office and let them handle it as harassment (SP?).
None of the callers spoke English as a first language; she said it was obvious they were Indian.
Short of the Attorney General’s office and the FTC, is there any legal action that can be taken against them? Just curious.
Thanks for all the information and comments that have been posted here. I appreciate it.
BEWARE NOW THEY ARE CALLING YOU AND SAYING THAT YOU WON A VOUCHER FOR $200.00 THAT YOU CAN USE AT ANY MALL IN THE USA.yOU JUST HAVE TO PAY $4.95 FOR THE SHIPPING. I HAVING KNOWLEDGE OF THE SCAMS OUT THERE TOLD HIM THAT I DIDN’T HAVE ANY CREDIT OR DEBIT CARDS, AND HE STILL PROCEEDED TO TRY AND TOLD ME I COULD GO BUY A CREDIT GIFT CARD & PAY THAT WAY. i SAID I WAS UNEMPLOYED, AND HE SAID YOU CAN AFFORD $5.00. SO I TOLD HIM IF YOU WANT ME TO HAVE IT WHY DON’T YOU PAY IT FOR ME,THAT’S WHEN HE SAID HE WOULD CALL ME TOMMORROW.HIS NAME WAS ERIC SMITH.