U.S. Local Business Association - a vanity award scam
Filed under: Ripoffs and Scams
The Responsible Marketing Blog recently blew the whistle on another 'vanity award', the prestigious-sounding U.S. Local Business Association's "Best of" award. This so-called organization makes its living sending out letters of congratulations to naïve business owners, congratulating them on receiving a best-of award and inviting them to claim their plaque (for a handsome charge).
The Better Business Bureau notes that the USLBA lists no phone number, not even in press releases (!!) and the web site is privately registered via Go Daddy, which it finds suspicious. I spoke with a business owner who had been given an award, and he told me that the award was free; the money comes from the purchase of a plaque.
The field of vanity award scams is almost as old a publishing; who hasn't received a pitch for inclusion in some form of a Who's Who, with the chance to buy copies of the finished product for friends and family? In the age of the internet, putting together such scams is even easier and less expensive.
How do you protect yourself from such scams? First, be brutally honest with yourself. Does your work really warrant a Nobell Prize? Are you truly worthy of The U.S. Spurious Association's Man of the Year Award? Do you really think that Stephen Hawking would nominate you to join the ranks of the Time Lords? Get real, people. If you lust for an award plaque, any trophy shop will make one for you, and you can have it read anything you want. If in doubt, look to the BBB.
This reminds me of nothing so much as the episode of the Simpson's in which Homer wins the Montgomery Burns Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-21-2008 @ 12:36PM
Tom Lee said...
Agreed on this scam. I get a email stating that I was being awarded best web development company in Wallingford CT. No phone number no address on the website and we are not even a Web development company. Once I said this they adjusted to my business, however we have never even had a client in the town our office is in. What a scam.
Regards,
Tom Lee
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11-24-2008 @ 12:15PM
KCM said...
I just rec'vd an email congratulating me and our architectural firm for being selected as the best... blah blah and I was thrilled inititally. Then I was like wait........
Typed in the USLBA online and found your site. Thanks for blowing the whistle. I knew it sounded fishy.
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12-09-2008 @ 10:32AM
fred said...
While not a new scam, thanks to these people and others like them, I get the displeasure of having to tell my unsuspecting clients that they have been duped. Throwing away $100 and a bruised ego makes for a very bad day. Business advertising and marketing is tough enough - I do not need this! Thank you for posting this.
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12-16-2008 @ 12:38PM
Paula said...
Thank you for checking this out. I received this award and was pleased until I noticed the email address they sent it to was not my exact address and got suspicious. Thanks for sites like this one to save us money and embarrassment.
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12-19-2008 @ 10:54AM
K said...
I received an email today and when I read it I couldn't stop laughing. I am such a small business with a very select number of clients so I knew it had to be a scam. I feel sorry for the people who actually fall for it. And I have seen a few of these plaques around town so I know more than a few people must either not realize it or not care.
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12-22-2008 @ 1:05PM
Mark said...
I just got an e-mail from USBLA as well. I immediately Googled them to see who they were, suspecting some kind of scam/ripoff. Sure enough, up comes the Responsible Marketing Blog and the truth. Not that I would have ordered a plaque in the first place, but I have been hit with enough of these "Free" or "Just pay for shipping" invitations to be suspicious. I always check out if they have easy ways to contact them, as it reveals a lot. Another scam is the "Grant University/Grant Professor". read the fine print and realize how impossible they make it to cancel their "Service". They also start debiting your account for monthly payments for a couple of "Buyer's Clubs" and something called "Wealth Builder" in addition to the $70.00 per month charge they hide in the fine print of the agreement. Never mention any of that on the main part of their web site. I was able to cancel and get my account credited by e-mailing, registed mail and telephoning while keeping very clear records all of it. Fool me once...maybe if enough of us report and comment on these people, we can make a difference.
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1-09-2009 @ 6:55PM
Douglas Canning said...
yeah, my company won an award too.the funny thing is my business moved to a different town three years ago. These people at USLBA are complete crooks and they need to be stopped and put in jail.
www.dirtbag.com
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