I came across Greeting Cards of America on the internet. I called their 800 number to receive more information. After several phone conversations and verbal promises I made the commitment to buy 5 stands and 5000 cards plus a locator of their choosing for $6500.
The nightmare began when I was promised the items would be shipped within 7 days of receiving payment. It was after 3 weeks at least. I was told that Greeting Card of America and the locator work together to have them placed upon arrival.
Placement was 2 months after GCA received their money. During initial phone conversations I was given the assumption they did their locating or it was a sister company. They acted as if the two companies worked hand in hand and had a great working relationship. Boy was I frauded on that aspect.
The locator was totally unaccessible after he received his money. I had to work around his schedule. He sent a locator from out of the area who was a joke and complained about these companies who make all these promises of finding good locations. The locating company they solely recommended is a joke.
I am assuming the two owners are related somehow. After receiving the cards they were nothing as claimed in the brochures. They claim you receive only the top 10% best sellers of greeting cards by top manufacturers in the country.
They are all made in China and very few are ones that I would buy. They claim that their cards have a proven track record but the only track record is their ability to sit around and not sell.
After complaining for over 3 months about the cards I was able to exchange 1000 of the cards but still have 4000 cards that no one will buy $2.50 which is what GCA suggest retail price.
They made verbal guarantees on several conversations that the cards would be placed in locations that average 6-8 cards sold a day. I realized this was probably a little on the high side but figured half of that amount 3-4 cards a day was still a worthwhile venture.
It turns out that the average card rack sells 6-8 cards a month. They claimed to have a fund raising program but it is also a scam to get you to spend more money. It normally takes 3 or 4 calls to complain to a live person at the company and the response is always I will have to get back to you or I'll see what I can do.
Which is always nothing. I offered to resell them back their racks and cards for a reduced price (so they could keep some of their scam and frauded money) but was quickly told that is not part of their company policy.
I was told I would be given names of other people to sell my stands or cards to if I wanted to sell my business. I was then told this is not company policy. Their whole selling tecnique is nothing but lies and deceit.
James
dayton, Oklahoma
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