Cash4Gold Offers Blogger $3,000 To Remove Negative Post
Want to get rich in blogging? Just write negative posts about sleazy companies and wait for them to bribe you to take your post down. That's what the Cockeyed blog learned after blogging about their experience in using Cash4Gold's servicess...
...where the gold buyer offered them a price that was 1/3 of what they could get at a local pawn shop. Subsequently, Cockeyed's post became the number 3 Google result for Cash4Gold. A SEO rep for the company sent Cockeyed two emails offering money to take the post down or make it more positive. The second email offered "a few thousand."
Shoot, how do we get in on that action? Our archives would be worth their weight in gold, after we melt them down.
Cash 4 Gold would like to melt down and recast their reputation [Cockeyed]
PREVIOUSLY: How To Avoid Getting Ripped Off By Cash4Gold
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Comments:
suddenly, i hate everything ...and i'm gonna blog about it!
"They did something similar by joining (OTHER CONSUMER AFFAIRS WEBSITE)'s advocacy program"
What's the other company that sold out?
There's an uncomfortable distinction in morality between paying for a sales pitch and paying someone to take down what could be seen as an "anti-sales" pitch.
I had no idea my dignity and ethics were worth that much!
You know it's a real recession when all the companies trying to scam people out of their gold come out of the woodwork. Seriously, who would ever think that sending off your gold in the mail and getting the person buying it to tell you how much it's "worth" would be a good idea??
Now, where's my $3,000? I'm a star commenter here!
(Kidding, lawyers...)
What if you take the money, change that post and then just make another post telling people how shady they are?
I'd take the cash, particularly if I could convince them that "a few" == 5.
If Cash4Gold can afford a Superbowl ad, then they can certainly afford enough lawyers to force Rob to comply.
It will be the same thing that happened to infomercialscams.com. DirectBuy couldn't get them to remove the link to hundreds of negative comments on the first page of google results, so they sued them and forced their removal.
Gold futures rose Friday to their highest level in more than three months as investors sought the safety of the metal following government data that showed the U.S. economy contracted the most in 27 years during the fourth quarter.
Cash4Gold stands to make an even bigger fortune if they can get negative reviews off the net, because one thing that more people are doing is checking the net for bad reviews before conducting business with a company.
@audemars: I assume you'd have to sign some sort of contract, but yea...
*delete post*
*New Post* I just received my $3000.00 check from Cash4gold.com! They only tried to rip me off, so no big deal... bribe money is awesome!
As much as I would like to take $3000 for a few minutes work, I think this post needs to stay up just to inform all of those people getting scammed by C4G. Unfortunately only a small percentage of people will actually do the research, and probably a lot of people who really need the money are getting screwed.
@audemars: I'm guessing there would be a contract involved that would prohibit this, just as there are for most settlements (we pay you and you can't talk about it any more).
@Blueskylaw: Not to mention that with gold prices high and consumer desperation equally high, there are a lot of willing targets (though, again, it's beyond me why they would go to this company if they could do better even at pawn shops). Just offer ridiculously low amounts for gold in exchange for money jobless people are desperate for, and you're going to make tons of profit. I just don't get the mentality of letting the person buying from you set the price. It's not like there is a monopsony in gold buying.
OMG seriously, Google Cash4gold and see if you can spot the fake reviews that sound like sales pitches.
just read some horror stories from here.
really reputable company i must say o_0
It's not Cash4Gold doing this - it's the goons at their interactive marketing company. Theoretically, said goons have the blessing of C4G to engage in this "online reputation management", but realistically, they may not. This is pretty lazy and stupid as it is. It's just re-ignited the original negative publicity. But it probably would have cost a crapload more than $3K to develop a SEO strategy that would push the negative listings off the 1st page of Google searches.
Let's all google Cash4Gold, and click the link to Cockeyed, I think that will keep his article on the top of google search result?
Well, this could open the door for the company to claim black mailing. So, at the end, the guilty company that got the bad review can claim that the blogger would only change his/her review in exchange for money.
Disclaimer: I'm neither a lawyer, nor have played one on tv.
You're the website that took the bribe. C'mon I know it was you.
damn when i complained about buy.com not combining shipping all the refunded me to get me to change my review was one items shipping charge. i knew i should have held out for more.
@szeno: If you're logged in to your Google account, you can click the "Promote" button next to the link. Every little bit helps! ;)
This is full of win!
@parkavery: with a few grand to spare, i can pay someone else to talk about it for me. of course it depends on the wording of that contract....
Do I have this right? People mail their jewelry to this company without any indication of how much they will be paid for it, and have no recourse if they're not satisfied with the price? What kind of BS is this? How can anyone complain they're getting ripped off when they're willing participants in this scam? More power to C4G!
I always wondered about Cash for Gold and was curious how many people were stuffing their gold into their envelope and mailing it off, oblivious to what it might really be worth. I also wonder about the safety of sending jewelry through the mail that way. Perhaps they have some insurance set up or something?
@APFPilot: kc2idf has it right on the money (har har). If you read the link, you'll now see a giant pile of how awesome Cash4Gold is (written by Cash4Gold and the RipOffReport editorial staff) followed by a tiny paragraph of how much they suck (written by an actual consumer).
@szeno: I want to give that guy at Cockeyed a reward for not accepting the buy off, do they accept paypal?!
My answer to the company would be:
"How much is it really worth to you? Let's talk."
There's no way $3K is even near the number.
This happened to me about a month ago. The guy who runs Blue Frog Mobile asked me to take down an old article I'd put up about him back in 1995. He offered me $1,000. Here's what I replied to him:
@cheesebubble: Just don't blog about monster cables. They'll sue your ass instead of offering money.
Rob Cockerham is a one man crusader for both consumer rights and the mundane (How Much Is Inside). His distaste for MLMs, telemarketers, door to door sales and his infamous "torn-up credit card application that was taped up, sent in and approved" would make any of the Consumerist nation proud.
In fact, it was through Cockeyed.com that I found the Consumerist.
I smell a guess commentator from the West Coast in the near future? Ben, Meghann, did you get that?
@szeno: That would be so awesome to C4G's Super Bowl ad generate a ton of business. I'll be clicking from every new IP address I come across.
C4G TFSU!
who is stupid enough to mail their jewelry to ANYONE? the post office steals enough mail thank you very much. You think half these packages are going to GET to these vipers?
Then where do you get rid of your old jewelry? I've got 5 12x12x12 boxes full of jewelry I've inherited from relatives over the last 20 years. No pawn shops near me, and I don't think the mall store would take it in.
Suggestions?
I'm tired of looking at these and money would be nice.
I have never used this service and I can't imagine being as dumb as the people on their commercials. "I sowld awl mah gawld aftah mah 8th mahridge und dawt cash!" Yenta FTW!
The guy in their commercial is obviously a crook. Sorry to be so judgmental, but anyone who sends jewelry through the mail is insane. Just because they have a barcode on the package doesn't guarantee it will get there. Even if it does, what's to stop them from claiming the package was ripped open during shipping and they received nothing?
Even if they do receive it, once they have it in their hands, they can tell you, "We value this ring at $5.95. Here's your cash!" It's like giving the keys to your trade-in to the new car dealer while you're negotiating. Don't do it!
Anyone who gets screwed by these guys pretty much deserves what they get. The best way to protect yourself is to be smart and avoid these scams all together.
Ripoffreport.com...Could that be the "consumer protection site" he mentions having already paid off? They do everything to advertise them and hide the real complaints under their support for them!
The original blogger was testing their services. He didn't fall for the scam, he wanted to see how the company operates.
@sleze69: @kc2idf:
You will also notice they carry full-color paid advertisements for cash4gold and they are "Certified Safe" by Ripoff Report. Looks like ripoff report could be sued if someone gets ripoffed by cash4gold. I started looking into this scam last week when I ran the cash4gold name through ripoffreport (even mentioned it here). They don't even hide the fact they were paid... Cash for gold is one of their biggest advertisers! Isn't there something illegal about what the consumer protection site is doing? Like the BBB taking money from companies it is taking complaints about?
I was decieved. Sent a solid gold watch from 1948 and was offered 250 dollars. Later appraised for 25 to 4,000. There is no excuse for this and I will spend much more than that to out their questionable buisness cons,{oops, I mean practices} to out this conning of the poor who are the main customers of this company due to these economic times.
@chuckv: To a point. This website posts complaints that center around seriously unfair or mishandled customer service stories, not just "company X refuses to break policy and give me this bigass discount I deserve for being a good customer!"
INDIVIDUAL blogs, where anyone can just up and write how much of a "ripoff" company X is are just online ranting. A blog like this is more structured.
cash4retraction.com is still available.