A Texas business known for aggressive and dishonest sales tactics is apparently attempting to market its expensive “quality specialty advertising products” to Lincoln County businesses.
Southport resident Carl Murphy owns Murph’s Gunsmithing LLC. He received two calls in the last three weeks from individuals representing themselves as employees of Premier Impressions, an Arlington, Texas-based business.
The first call was a sales call. The employee said the company was manufacturing magnets that would display contact information for local emergency agencies, and was selling advertising space on the magnets.
The employee made it sound like it was making the magnets and selling the advertising at the request of the Damariscotta Police Dept. and the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, Murphy said. He also indicated The Lincoln County News was involved.
The employee said advertisers would receive 50 magnets and local businesses and law enforcement agencies would distribute the rest.
Murphy said he remembers similar magnets from his parents’ refrigerator when he was a boy, and he told the salesman to send him a bill for the $300 advertisement.
The employee repeatedly requested Murphy’s credit card number, but Murphy declined. “They were willing to do anything to get my credit card number,” he said.
The focus on the credit card number made Murphy suspicious, and calls to the Damariscotta Police Department and the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office confirmed his suspicions, he said.
Lincoln County Sheriff Todd Brackett said he believes Murph’s Gunsmithing was the target of a scam.
“The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office has not contracted or employed any company to work on any kind of advertising materials,” Brackett said. “I don’t recommend that folks have anything to do with them.”
Sheriff Brackett said he has received several complaints about the business that targeted Murphy and other, similar companies.
Brackett asks anyone who receives a sales call from the company to call his office at 882-6576 and ask for Amy Sinclair.
The Lincoln County News publisher Chris Roberts said he has not had any contact with the company.
Murphy said he received an invoice and a follow-up call from another employee trying to collect payment. He told the employee he would not pay the bill because he believes it is a scam.
The company, Premier Impressions, actually uses 20 names or more, according to an October 2011 edition of “The Watchdog,” a regular column by Dave Lieber in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, but all appear to be pseudonyms for or subsidiaries of Universal Adcom.
The Better Business Bureau rates Universal Adcom an “F” because it has closed 380 complaints and nine “serious” complaints about the business in the last three years, and because of government actions against the business.
The complaints describe a pattern similar to the tactics described by Murphy, the Southport gunsmith. The callers often claim to be affiliated with a local chamber of commerce, government agency or sports team, claims that often prove false.
Sometimes the advertisements are for maps, t-shirts or tote bags instead of magnets, and sometimes businesses complain of receiving bills without receiving a sales call.
When businesses do order the magnets or maps, they often complain of the company’s failure to deliver the products on time. Businesses that receive products often complain of inferior quality and poor customer service.
Some businesses say Universal Adcom automatically bills them or charges their bank account or credit card at regular intervals, although they only agreed to a one-time transaction.
According to the Star-Telegram column, attorneys general in Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois and Oregon have taken action against the company, leading to a large fee and restitution in at least one case.
The Lincoln County News called five different phone numbers for Premier Impressions from Dec. 24-31, but no one answered and there was no answering machine or voice mail. The company did not respond to an e-mail requesting an interview with a company official.
The Lincoln County News‘ experience is consistent with other companies’ complaints to the Better Business Bureau regarding the difficulty of contacting the business.
Murphy, the Southport gunsmith, said he tried to e-mail the business at an address they provided, but his e-mail was returned.
Universal Adcom President Jim Gildenblatt and company officials defended the company in an interview with Watchdog Nation, Lieber’s website.
The company officials said the company does not advocate dishonest sales tactics, terminates employees who say “anything unethical” and works to resolve customer complaints, according to the website.
The officials said they are going to start recording sales calls in an effort to improve their Better Business Bureau rating and “protect” the company and its customers.
Executive Vice President Marc Alcorn, however, said sometimes customers “are liars” who change their minds and try to get out of paying for advertisements.
According to The Watchdog, Universal Adcom and its affiliates and owners also do business or have done business as Academic Assets, All American Sports, All States Media, American Medical Directories, Custom Sports, D&L Map Service, Fanfare Sports Marketing, Gildenblatt Enterprises, Graphic Impressions, Historical Map, Hometown Productions, Mirror Map Co., Multi Marketing Corp., MultiMedia, Premier Map Company, Prime Time Advertising, Scoreboard Productions, Texas High School Publications, Totes to Go and The Weekend Fisherman.