Looks like it hasn’t taken long for the scammers to come out on this one. I just came across this story today, and wanted to share it with you. I guess if the headline looks to good to be true, it probably is. You’ve really got to be doing something wrong to get this many complaints with the BBB. I wonder how they’ll respond? Feel free to browse our other articles (send them to a friend) for advice you can actually trust. We’re not here to seperate you from your hard earned money; we just want you to enjoy your TV.
From Herb Weisbaum @ MSNBC:
Ads are running across the U.S. promising free television channels, services and digital TV converter boxes, but are really a bait and switch tactic that prey on consumers’ lack of knowledge about digital TV conversion requirements.
A BBB investigation found that Universal TechTronics is peddling “five-year warranties” for $59 that must be purchased with their “free” digital TV converter boxes.
With shipping and handling fees rolled in, the total cost per box is nearly $100. BBB believes that these are the same boxes consumers can buy in electronics retail stores across the country using $40 U.S. government coupons that make the total cost to consumers about $20 per box.
Universal TechTronics’ ads imply their converter boxes are free and will provide free channel reception, similar to the type of services consumers receive through cable or satellite providers. Ads state, “No Bills: New ClearView TV receives free channels, no need to pay for cable to get the new digital picture quality and sound,” and “Public to Get Free TV Without Gov’t Coupon!” Additionally, the ads use the term “Miracle ClearView TV” to disguise the product and further deceive consumers.
Universal TechTronics has several product lines and also does business under the name Heat Surge LLC. Overall, in the past nine months BBB has received nearly 200 complaints about the company’s business practices.
The company has received an unsatisfactory rating from BBB due to its pattern of complaints. To date, complaints against the company concern slow delivery or non-receipt of product, difficulty reaching customer service representatives, delays in obtaining refunds after returning merchandise, product quality issues and advertising claims. The BBB reliability report on this company is available online.
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