Here at Consumerist, we can tell you a lot about Cash4Gold. But the smart grid technology advertised by GE has fared a lot better...due to federal stimulus money.

About $4.5 billion in federal stimulus money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is being doled out by the U.S. Department of Energy to help utilities turn the existing power grid into a smart network. This modernization is designed to enable two-way communication between utilities and consumers.provide safer, more-efficient management of the electric grid, and save you money.

One might call it Cash4Current. No?

A tale of two Super Bowl ads: GE's smart grid and Cash4Gold

RELATED:
Consumerist's Super Bowl Ad Liveblog
Cash4Gold's Superbowl Ad Targets History Buffs With Mc Hammer And Ed Mcmahon

The lawsuit says there are two specific promises that Cash4Gold makes and breaks: 1) that there is a 12-day return policy and 2) items sent in will be handled with the highest care. Cash4Gold breaks the first, claims the lawsuit, when checks are received by customers either after the return period is over or close to it, or when the company melts the jewelry before the expiration of the return period - allegedly a frequent occurrence.

Cash4Gold breaks the second when it "repeatedly 'loses' the items sent," frequently blaming the mail service for "an absurdly high number of 'lost' items," according to the suit.

The lawsuit says, "These promises are lies. In a massive scheme to defraud tens of thousands of consumers throughout the nation, Cash4gold breaks both of its well-publicized promises with abandon, all the while committing a series of other frauds and misconduct, including attempts to silence former employees who dare to expose this fraud."

Furthermore, Cash4Gold employs "a deliberately frustrating so-called "customer service" system which results in most individuals eventually giving up attempting to receive compensation for their "lost" or greatly under appraised jewelry."

The various techniques Cash4Gold customer service reps use to delay and discourage consumers from getting their money's worth or their gold back illustrate how Cash4gold's "institutional culture is corrupt to its very core, designed at all levels to commit fraud," says the lawsuit, which seeks treble damages.

Reached for comment, Cash4Gold responded, "Cash4Gold has not been served with a complaint and therefore has no comment at this time."

Read the entire lawsuit here. (PDF)

More information about the suit can be found in the press release on the plaintiff's lawyer's website.

PREVIOUSLY:
Cash4Gold Drops Consumerist From Lawsuit
Cash4Gold Threatened Jail If Negative Comments Weren't Removed
Cash4Gold Defendant Liberis Files To Vacate Default
Cash4Gold Activates Magical Press Release Machine
The Article Cash4Gold Doesn't Want You To Read
Cash4Gold Counters Critics With Super Polite Blog Posts
Florida AG Examining Cash4Gold Complaints
10 Confessions Of A Cash4Gold Employee
Cash4Gold Offers Blogger $3,000 To Remove Negative Post
How To Avoid Getting Ripped Off By Cash4Gold

There was no settlement. The decision was unilateral; we did not ask to be dropped and we didn't agree to anything in exchange. All our posts, like our feature investigation into the company's business practices, The Article Cash4Gold Doesn't Want You To Read, or the post that started it all, "10 Confessions Of A Cash4Gold Employee," remain published. However, Cash4Gold, run by CEO Jeff Aronson, pictured at left, continues to sue Liberis and Nephew. The two women have legal representation in Florida. It's a case that, as we've reported, has implications for whether ordinary people can safely use the internet to criticize corporations and other organizations with much bigger legal budgets. As such, we'll keep you informed about developments in the whistleblowers' case, and the world of mail-in gold buyers at large.

See the notice for dropping us here. (PDF)

PREVIOUSLY:
Cash4Gold Threatened Jail If Negative Comments Weren't Removed
Cash4Gold Defendant Liberis Files To Vacate Default
Cash4Gold Activates Magical Press Release Machine
The Article Cash4Gold Doesn't Want You To Read
Cash4Gold Counters Critics With Super Polite Blog Posts
Florida AG Examining Cash4Gold Complaints
10 Confessions Of A Cash4Gold Employee
Cash4Gold Offers Blogger $3,000 To Remove Negative Post
How To Avoid Getting Ripped Off By Cash4Gold

In our conversation, I explained to the lawyer that I was confused about the lawsuit because it was based on comments I had nothing to do with. He suggested that I should speak with Michele Liberis and urge her to remove the comments about Cash4Gold from the internet. I insisted that I was confused by the lawsuit because it had nothing to do with me. He said the best thing for me to do would be to convince Michele Liberis to remove the comments she had posted. He stated his client was willing to seek jail time for me and Michele Liberis if the internet comments were not taken down.

Likely what Cash4Gold's lawyer referred to was the potential for a contempt of court order for not complying with the directives of the injunction. While possible, it's unlikely the court would have gone along with it, but how would Nephew, who was not represented by counsel at the time, know that? Another classy move for Cash4Gold.

Read the whole motion here. (PDF) Cash4Gold will have to file their opposition to the motion shortly.

PREVIOUSLY: Cash4Gold Defendant Liberis Files To Vacate Default
The Article Cash4Gold Doesn't Want You To Read
10 Confessions Of A Cash4Gold Employee

The Motion also includes Liberis' answers to Cash4Gold's complaint, in which she denies all of the allegations. We contacted Cash4Gold for a comment on the new filing, and the company said they needed more time to review the document, and would be able to provide a response on Monday. We'll report on their comment when we receive it.

Defendant Michele Liberis' Motion to Vacate and Set Aside Default (PDF)
The Article Cash4Gold Doesn't Want You To Read

Tue Sep 1, 2009 7:08pm EDT "Cash4Gold Begins Search to Find the Perfect Canadian Personality for Future Ads"
Wed Sep 2, 2009 8:09pm EDT "Cash4Gold Prouder Than Ever to Be Sponsoring MMA Legend Randy 'The Natural' Couture"
Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:21pm EDT "Cash4Gold Provides Cash for the Golden State - World's #1 Gold Buyer Donates to Red Cross to Help With California Wildfire Relief Efforts"

Wednesday's was interesting because it was basically a rewrite of one they sent out last week.

(Photo: Denzil)

What is Cash4Gold doing? Starting a "Search to Find the Perfect Canadian Personality for Future Ads."
PREVIOUSLY: The Article Cash4Gold Doesn't Want You To Read

If you have any broken, ugly jewelry lying around in a drawer somewhere, you've probably taken notice of a company called Cash4Gold that promised to pay "top dollar" for your not-so-precious precious metals. If you're like us, you might have even seen a post on ComplaintsBoard.com by a former employee exposing Cash4Gold.

The whistleblower's post appeared on ComplaintsBoard last November. We featured it this February, as part of our ongoing coverage of Cash4Gold, after the company raised its public profile with a multi-million dollar Super Bowl ad. The post was indeed written by an ex-employee, Michele Liberis, who is now being sued by the company for defamation. Recently, Cash4Gold added Consumerist and ComplaintsBoard as co-defendants in its lawsuits (PDF) against Liberis and another former employee, Vielka Nephew (PDF), in an attempt to force us to take the information down. Liberis and Nephew have chosen to stand up to Cash4Gold's legal attack, and so have we.

We believe citizens, consumers, and employees should be able to exercise their free-speech rights online – and journalists should be able to report on those efforts – without fear of intimidation. That belief is at the core of what makes Consumerist tick. And it's what keeps the internet from being just a brochure with hyperlinks. Below, more about this episode and what goes on behind the public façade of a company that bills itself as "World's #1 Gold Buyer."

Why did Michele Liberis – a 28-year-old single mother of two – decide to blow the whistle on a company that has a history of taking actions to silence its critics? It all started last fall when she learned that a friend was considering selling some jewelry to Cash4Gold. As it happened, Liberis had recently been fired from her job in the customer service department with the Pompano Beach, FL-based company. In its lawsuit against her, the company says she was fired in part due to "chronic absenteeism without adequate excuse" and a "disruptive attitude." Liberis says the only blemish on her record that she is aware of is that she parked in a reserved area on one occasion. Whatever the case, while there from early June to early October 2008, she got a first-hand look at how the company manages to pay customers a fraction of what their gold is worth and Liberis wanted to help her friend avoid what she saw as a mistake. As she told Consumerist:

"She [the friend] knew something was odd but it just sounded so good … When I sat down and told her everything that we did, you know, it was like, ‘Wow.' Like, she would have never thought, you know. So I was like, "Well, if she would have never thought, who else? Who else would have never thought?"

That's when she discovered ComplaintsBoard, a Web site that specializes in hosting consumer beefs.

"I thought this was a fair site, you know, for me to write down what I need to write down on what I know … I'm not a blogger, I've never blogged. I didn't even think what I was doing was blogging. I just kinda did it because it's a place where you could put your complaints. So I wrote down everything I did and I saw."

We were unaware of the post when it went up, but Cash4Gold was already on our radar. We wrote about them in October, after Rob Cockerham's Cockeyed blog posted an item about Cash4Gold offering an individual $60 for gold that a local pawnshop valued at $198. When the gold owner called Cash4Gold to complain, the company rep immediately nearly tripled the offer to $178.

A few weeks afterwards, Cockerham got two emails from a marketing consultant working with Cash4Gold. The consultant wanted to know if Cockerham would agree to a "financial arrangement" to "de-optimize" his post so it wouldn't appear so high on Google - or just take the post down for "a few thousand dollars." Cockerham didn't take the consultant up on the offer, but did post both emails on his site. Various media outlets, including ours, ran the story.

Cash4Gold's previous tv ad
Back then, Cash4Gold was just another company promoting deals of dubious value on late-night TV and the Web. That all changed in February, when Cash4Gold ran a 30-second commercial on the Super Bowl. The ad, reported to have cost $2.4 million, featured M.C. Hammer and the late Ed McMahon. The two celebs appeared to sell off valuables, including a solid gold toilet, to make ends meet. Gold fetched over $900 an ounce at the time, and the ad attracted public and media attention.

Cash4Gold's Super Bowl Ad
The day after the game, we found Michele Liberis' anonymous whistleblower post. Liberis' allegations were detailed enough to be credible. Moreover, they were supported by a pattern of statements about the company that could be found on the Internet and in the media, ranging from low-ball offers with little time to respond to allegations of lost jewelry. For example, in one report by an ABC affiliate from November 2008, a reporter said she waited two weeks to get a Cash4Gold check, and then got the company to nearly triple its original offer. The final offer was still less than half of what the reporter said a local pawn shop offered her. We felt Liberis' post was newsworthy, and we published it under the headline "10 Confessions of a Cash4Gold Employee."

We weren't the only news organization with questions about Cash4Gold. In February, the Los Angeles Times published a report titled "Beneath Cash4Gold.com's shiny veneer, a dull reality." Yahoo! Tech warned readers that Cash4Gold customers are likely "getting the short end of the stick." In March, CEO Jeff Aronson told ABC's Good Morning America that Cash4Gold was a "service business" that doesn't pay the highest price for gold but offers "convenience and ease."

Less than two weeks after we ran Liberis' anonymous "10 Confessions," we received our first letter from the company's lawyers. (The company also sent letters to Yahoo!, the LA Times and reportedly a number of blogs – including some that had linked to or referenced Liberis' post.) The letter to us asserted that the post by Liberis was "false and defamatory" and that we should "immediately remove" our coverage of it, and "block further posting."

We decided not to remove the post, and instead replied with a 2,400-word request for additional details that might back up Cash4Gold's claims. Reason: we felt that killing a post we deemed to be both credible and newsworthy would be a disservice to our readers and a betrayal of our responsibility as consumer journalists.

In that letter, and in several follow ups, we've asked Cash4Gold and its lawyers for evidence to support their broad assertions of falsehood. We've also lauded the company for starting its own blog, and pushed it to continue to join "the public debate" about these issues.

Instead, Cash4Gold has pursued a take-no-prisoners approach against Liberis and her former colleague Nephew. The company sued both women, who, until recently, had no legal representation. Both now await the outcome of court cases that could lead to escalating fines and perhaps even jail time based on contempt charges. For our part, we've continued to research the story. Since Cash4Gold's original challenge, we've talked to Liberis and Nephew, Cash4Gold customers, the Better Business Bureau, the Pompano Beach fire department and the U.S. Postal Service, among others. We've dug through numerous web sites, legal documents, complaints to the Florida Attorney General and public records. We've also tried to interview Cash4Gold's Aronson, though without success. Bottom line: the available evidence from the time Liberis was working at Cash4Gold provides ample and compelling support for her 10 points. Here's why.

LET'S MAKE A DEAL

To understand the basic deal that Cash4Gold offers, we turned to Consumer Reports' "mystery shoppers" – the nationwide team of anonymous consumers who help buy the gear that our parent company tests. The mystery shoppers sent 24 identical gold pendants and chains to Cash4Gold and some of its national competitors. The necklaces were purchased for $175 each. We calculated their "melt value" – meaning how much the raw gold was worth – as about $70 each, based on the market price for gold when the necklaces were received by the companies (during the test period, the price of gold fluctuated, but never dropped below $900 an ounce).

Our tests – which lasted from May through early July – found that Cash4Gold and its competitors offered simple and relatively transparent service. Online tracking systems were updated promptly, the companies generally mailed out checks within a day or two, and customer service reps were courteous and professional. The actual offers, however, were miserly. Cash4Gold sent back checks ranging from $7.60 to $12.72 (or 11% to 18% of melt value), the lowest amounts of any firm. But others weren't far behind: GoldKit offered $7.81 to $20.59, and GoldPaq $8.22 to $13.11. Each of those deals was worse than what our mystery shoppers could get at local jewelers and pawn shops, which offered anywhere from $25 to $50. The results reinforce advice we've offered before, which is that consumers should not use these highly marketed services because the payments they offer are too low. No matter how nice the person is who gives it to you, a bad deal is still a bad deal.

Cash4Gold declined to discuss the test results, but other news reports suggest lowball checks are typical. CEO Aronson has said the company pays from as little as 20% to as much as 80% of the gold's value. And in an interview with Good Morning America, he suggested that customers who want more money should take their business elsewhere. "If all you care about is the net dollar, and you're willing to go to the seedy part of town, and you're willing to travel around ... I want you to go there," Aronson said.

Nightline interviews Cash4Gold CEO Jeff Aronson
All this stands in contrast to Cash4Gold's advertising claims. While its website acknowledges that a jeweler or a pawn shop might offer more, one TV ad boasts "With gold, silver and platinum at their highest value in decades, Cash4Gold.com is able to give you top dollar for your unwanted jewelry." The same ad goes on: "Because we own our refinery, we can cut out the middleman, which means more cash in your pocket." But we have trouble squaring that "top dollar" claim with the offers we got, suggesting that Liberis was justified in warning her friend – and alerting the internet.

THE CONFESSIONS RING TRUE

We also delved into Liberis' specific allegations. At one point, for example, her post asserted that Cash4Gold "was temporarily closed recently due to health and code violations." In its blog, Cash4Gold says this is "entirely false." Yet a check with the Pompano Beach Fire Prevention Bureau turned up numerous citations (PDF) at Aronson's business location at 1701 Blount Rd., where Liberis worked. These included having no fire alarm system, fire extinguisher violations, blocked exits, exposed wiring, compressed gas cylinder violations, and items stored too close to electrical panels. Fire inspector Aaron Efferstein adds that they had three fires at the location, including one that set the roof ablaze.

Police report on Cash4Gold's 10/03/08 shutdown by city inspectors

Each of these issues was eventually remedied, Efferstein says, except for the sprinkler system. He says Aronson and the building's owner couldn't agree on who was going to pay for it, and so after repeated delays the fire department shut down the site. Cash4Gold is now in a new Pompano Beach location, 2800 Gateway Drive, where Efferstein says there've been no compliance problems. "I gather they've learned their lesson because they've been pretty good where they're at," he said.

Another of Liberis' statements: Her post said that "although the payment (check) for your item is dated within 24 hrs of testing your jewelry, we SOMETIMES DO NOT actually send out the check until up to 3-4 days later." On its blog, Cash4Gold countered that an audit showed that 100% of the company's checks are dated the day they're sent out.

Our mystery shopper test turned up no problems with mailing time, at least now. But there are many indications – aside from the aforementioned ABC affiliate report – that the company's performance hasn't been so good in the past. In fact, Brodie White, President of the Better Business Bureau of Southeast Florida and the Caribbean, says delayed checks, low payments and lost packages are among the most common complaints he's received about Cash4Gold. Why were late checks a problem? "When [the customer] got the check, the time to execute the refund policy was either over or about to expire." The BBB currently rates Cash4Gold a C on its A+ -to-F rating scale, but White said the company has been rated as low as a D-, and that the BBB revoked its membership.

Complaints about late checks, which also turn up in the Florida Attorney General's files, suggest that Liberis was right that there were at least occasional delays in getting checks out during her time at the company.

Other Liberis statements are verified by Cash4Gold's own blog. The first of the "10 Confessions" refers to the fact that the "refiner's pack" – the prepaid envelope used to ship gold to the company – is insured for up to $100, based not on an actual appraisal, but on a description provided by the customer. In its action against Liberis, the company included this statement among those it deemed "false and defamatory." Cash4Gold's blog, however, declared: "This is correct."

Another statement pointed out that, at the time Liberis was employed there, Cash4Gold customers would have to pay a shipping charge to have items Cash4Gold didn't want returned to them. Suit against Liberis: "False and defamatory." C4G blog: "...Cash4Gold did charge for returns at one point. ..."

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE

Liberis paystub showing bonuses
Finally, Liberis outlined a bonus system where customers who objected to tiny checks were immediately offered two to three times as much cash. As she describes it, reps got a $15 bonus for getting a customer to accept less than double the first check. And they got $10 for keeping the payout under three times as much. Liberis provided paystubs showing her earning as much as $815 in bonuses over two weeks – nearly doubling her pay of $906 for the period. Nephew also confirmed details of the system.

The company's blog disputed these claims, saying that, "... customer service representatives have received bonuses, but they are based on the number of calls, abandon rate and customer satisfaction." However, in the Nightline interview, Aronson admitted the company used to negotiate with dissatisfied customers. "It was something that I would do to make the customer happy," he said. "And if it came off negatively, we have stopped it completely at this point." Despite this assertion, a Cash4Gold rep did offer one of our mystery shoppers a slightly higher price when she complained, which would have brought the total of the company's best offer to 29% of melt value.

We think Liberis' and Nephew's descriptions are credible. The logic of such a system is this: If the customer simply accepts the original check, the company can make a hefty margin – as much as 80%, based on our tests. If, on the other hand, the customer complains, such a system would reward reps who managed to offer just enough to keep the customer from demanding his/her valuables back, and no more, up to whatever limit the company allowed. Remember that even at triple the initial offer, our estimates suggest the company would in some cases still earn about a 60% margin.

Cash4Gold Customer's video showing the checks he received
We don't begrudge Cash4Gold the right to make a profit. And the company does have some major expenses, such as advertising, that must eat into its margins – and make it harder to offer consumers a higher price. Earlier this year, Florida Trend magazine estimated that Cash4Gold needs to "knock, on average, $155 from the metal value on which it pays per transaction to consumers" just to cover its marketing costs. Consumer Reports Money Adviser recently noted that gold buyers with lower marketing costs, such as Red Swan, may be able to make higher payouts to customers; a recent NBC Today Show report found that Red Swan's offers could be more than double those of Cash4Gold.

INJUNCTION JUNCTION

4-14-09 Motion for entry of a default (PDF)
4-14-09 default entered (PDF)
6-11-09 Verified Motion for Temp Injunction and Motion for Default Final Judgment (PDF)
6-25-09 Order on Verified Motion (PDF)

Meanwhile, the legal documents filed by the company present several puzzles. In its original lawsuit against Liberis (PDF), the company asserted that her statements were "false and defamatory." Yet a later order against her (PDF) prohibited her from publishing "confidential and proprietary information" as well. Obviously a statement can't be both proprietary (hence true) and false at the same time. We've asked Cash4Gold to clarify which part of Liberis' statements were which, but it has refused.

In April, the company managed to get a default entered against Liberis. That one-sentence statement, signed by a court clerk, was obtained because Cash4Gold's lawyers assured the court that Liberis hadn't responded to its lawsuit. Yet Liberis had submitted detailed answers (PDF) to questions Cash4Gold had served on her with the suit, and those answers had been filed with the court. In an interview with us, Liberis made it clear that she felt she had complied with her legal obligations by responding to the company's questions.

In June, the court granted Cash4Gold's request for a default judgment against Liberis on the merits of the case and issued a temporary injunction (PDF), giving Liberis one day to "remove any and all postings on the Internet regarding Cash4Gold." At Cash4Gold's request, the order added at least one charge that wasn't in the original suit against Liberis: the aforementioned claim that she had disclosed "confidential and proprietary" information. And the injunction then required Liberis to stop publishing confidential information or risk being held in contempt. Yet the company had never included those charges in their lawsuit, never described the supposedly confidential information at issue, and never gave Liberis a chance to respond to those new claims. The injunction was received by Liberis on or about its June 26th deadline, according to the company. In the order, the company repeated its claim that the default judgment against Liberis was justified by her "failure to serve any paper as required by law" – despite the fact that Liberis' detailed written response to the company's questions had been, at that time, on file with the court for about two months.

The contradictory statements and mixups have not stopped Cash4Gold from prevailing in the Broward County, Fla. courts, at least so far. On August 18th, the judge postponed determining whether Liberis should be held in contempt for violating a court order, but issued a new order giving her 10 days to ask ComplaintsBoard to delete her post, which in any event had already been replaced with a link to another site. In a separate hearing that same day, a different judge declined to hold Nephew in contempt, instead granting her two weeks to find counsel, and said the court would review her entire case then. Both women now have an attorney.

WHERE WE STAND

Just to be clear about the Consumerist's position, we consider this a legitimate and even important news story. One core mission of a consumer-oriented news site is to alert its readers to bad deals. Everything we've learned about Cash4Gold's offer so far places it in that category, in our view. That's why we have resisted the legal efforts to silence our reporting, and why we've continued to dig into the story, despite the company's lack of cooperation.

As part of that effort, we reached Aronson on Aug. 12. In a brief phone conversation, Ben asked the Cash4Gold CEO if he'd be willing to talk to us about "some of the questions people are raising, to clear things up." Aronson said, "Sure," and told us to contact his office for an interview. The public relations contact instead referred us to the company's general counsel. A couple of hours later, Cash4Gold's law firm told our attorney that we were being sued, and that all further discussion should be lawyer-to-lawyer.

The company appeared to relent last week, saying Aronson would be willing to do an in-person interview this Wednesday. But yesterday, it canceled the interview - which is why this article cannot represent Cash4Gold's position beyond what the company has already said on its blog and in earlier interviews with other news outlets.

But as you can tell from this lengthier-than-usual post, we're continuing to report on the story anyway, and still hope to bring you Cash4Gold's side of it if whenever they're willing to talk. So, Jeff, we take you at your word that you'd like to get together, and look forward to speaking soon.

UPDATE: After this post went live, Cash4Gold said the following in our comments section:

On the advice of legal counsel, Cash4Gold was unable to offer specific comments to the Consumerist for this article. It would have been highly inappropriate given the pending litigation concerning Consumerist's refusal to remove a false and defamatory posting about Cash4Gold from its website, even after the person who authored the comments requested that they be taken down.

The "person" Cash4Gold refers to is Michele Liberis. And when Cash4Gold says she requested that we take down her posting, this is what they are referring to (PDF). This letter from her new lawyers says that Liberis continues to stand behind all of her statements and believes that the injunction the company obtained against her was improperly entered. Although she is seeking "dissolution" of the injunction, in the meantime she's playing by the rules and is complying with its direction to send this request.

Regarding Cash4Gold's claim that it couldn't comment for our story because it had sued us, we note that we had requested detailed information from Cash4Gold for many months before the company sued us — since February in fact — without getting any response. The company added us as a defendant only in August.

UPDATES:
Cash4Gold Hit With Racketeering And Fraud Class Action Lawsuit
Cash4Gold Drops Consumerist From Lawsuit
Cash4Gold Threatened Jail If Negative Comments Weren't Removed
Cash4Gold Defendant Liberis Files To Vacate Default
Cash4Gold Activates Magical Press Release Machine
Internet Alerted To Our Cash4Gold Investigation

DOCUMENTS AND LINKS
Complaint against Liberis, Consumerist, ComplaintsBoard (PDF)
Complaint against Nephew, Consumerist, ComplaintsBoard (PDF)
ComplaintsBoard post
Cockeyed post 1
Cockeyed post 2
Cash4Gold's old TV ad
Cash4Gold Super Bowl Ad
10 Confessions of a Cash4Gold Employee [Consumerist]
Beneath Cash4Gold.com's shiny veneer, a dull reality [LAT]
Beware Cash4Gold and other gold-buying ripoffs [Yahoo! Tech]
Good Morning America [GMA]
Cash4Gold's Public Relations Companies Attorney Accuses Me of Defamation [FMD Consumer Blog]
Nightline interviews Jeff Arononson
Cash4Gold customer video about low checks
Cash4Gold's blog response to ComplaintsBoard post
Cash4Gold's Fire Bureau citations (PDF)
Police report on Cash4Gold's 10/03/08 shutdown by city inspectors
Cash4Gold BBB Report
Cash4Gold's Rush [Florida Trend]
Original lawsuit against Liberis (PDF)
Order against Liberis (PDF)
Liberis' responses to Cash4Gold's questions (PDF)
Temporary injunction against Liberis (PDF)
Defendant Michele Liberis' Motion to Vacate and Set Aside Default (PDF)

"The only way for customers to know for sure that they are working with the real Cash4Gold is to contact us via our website www.Cash4Gold.com or one of the official toll-free hotlines featured in our advertisements," said Cash4Gold CEO Jeff Aronson.

"Cash4Gold does all of its business direct to consumers and we do not operate any physical stores. All true Cash4Gold advertising points to the company's official website and hotlines; any other use of our logo is fake, whether it is being used to advertise a website, promote a gold swap party or call attention to a gold buying event or store at a local mall.

You hear that? Your local pawn shop is only offering CASH 4 GOLD, not Cash4Gold.

PREVIOUSLY:
Cash4Gold Goes On Tour - Consumerist Waits For The Live Album
10 Confessions Of A Cash4Gold Employee
Cash4Gold Offers Blogger $3,000 To Remove Negative Post

Consumer Alert! Cash4Gold Frauds Misusing Industry Leader's Name, Logo [BusinessWire]

Have you, or has anyone you know, been to one of these events? I trust the atmosphere is sketchier than a pawn shop, as opposed to more like Antiques Roadshow.

Beneath Cash4Gold's shiny veneer, a dull reality [LAT] (Thanks to Anthony!)
PREVIOUSLY: 10 Confessions Of A Cash4Gold Employee

UPDATE 2: Cash4Gold (Green Bullion Financial Services, LLC) sent us a copy of a judgement they obtained on default, granting a "temporary injunction" against the ex-employee to prevent them from "publishing any more confidential, proprietary information, and any defamatory information on the internet."

We continue to look into the ex-employee's statements and will keep you apprised. (7/02/09)

UPDATE 1: Cash4Gold has filed a defamation suit (right-click here and save to your harddrive to view the PDF) against the ex-employee who posted the below allegations against the company on ComplaintsBoard. The company asserts that the employee's statements were entirely false, and claims that she said she was going to "make Cash4Gold be sorry for firing her." They have also asked us to remove this story. We'll be looking into this and will keep you posted on further developments. (4/3/09)

If you decide to investigate the creaky clock tower, turn to page 4.
If you decide to read the confessions, to the post inside.

Spotted on ComplaintsBoard: "I would like an article to be posted pertaining to the refinery Cash 4 Gold, located in Pompano Beach, Fl. I am a former employee, who would like to alert/warn the public on the scamming process involved with this company. There are many of us who would like to vouch on behalf of this fast growing scam. We would like to get the word out to everyone on this step by step scam which involves so many people in this country and their valuables.

Below I have attached the full details on the scam involving this company. We know this first hand, because this is how we were trained. Please take note of this information and do what you can to get the word out there, especially in a time when the economy has truly affected everyone for the worst. Thank you!

I am a former employee of Cash 4 Gold. I did not know much about the company before being hired. On my first day of being hired, I was taught the "Cash 4 Gold Scam" from beginning to end.

1. The "refiner's pack" that is used for you to put your jewelry is "insured for UP TO 100 dollars, " according to how much they determine from a description from you, the worth of your items to be, NOT an actual fully researched appraisal.

2. We receive your "Refiner's Pack" within 3-4 days, BUT we are instructed to tell you that it takes "7-10 business days, for us to receive your pack, ALTHOUGH many times, your package has already arrived.
(All cash4gold customers who have called customer service to track a package can vouch for this)

3. Your jewelry gets appraised by hand, a magnifying glass, a plastic container, a small weight pad, and a bottle of ORANGISH fluid, which your items are then determined a value for. Not million dollar equipment or specially trained jewelry experts. The company was temporarily closed recently due to health and code violations. I have witness testers being transported to Medical Centers, due to the testing department environment. There is literally a cloud of smoke in the air from acid and other testing material. If you were thinking it was some state-of-the-art testing facility, you thought WRONG.

4. Although the payment (check) for your item is dated within 24 hrs of testing your jewelry, we SOMETIMES DO NOT actually send out the check until up to 3-4 days later. (if you are a customer check the date the check was issued against the stamped date on the envelope.)

5. We do offer a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee or your jewelry returned, BUT THE CATCH IS, that the guarantee is to contact us within 10 DAYS from when your check is DATED. (This begins with the time it took for the accounts payables dept. to ISSUE the check and also including the TRANSIT TIME for you to receive your check in the mail. **** NOTATE THE COMMERCIALS THAT INSINUATE THAT YOU GET YOUR CASH IN 24 HRS.*** If you request (sign) for FAST CASH (direct deposit) you automatically WAIVE your rights to have your items returned, EVEN if you are not satisfied with amount of your deposit.

6. You generally receive your check around the "7th-10th" business day, AND majority of the time Customers are outraged when they lay eyes on the amount of their check. Some Customer's even receive a check for 0.01 cents.

7. There have been times when we have received your package and MISPLACED or LOST it at the facility. We CLAIM to not have received the items and even try to convince you that it was lost in the hands of USPS. At which point we begin an insurance claim process on your package. We ask you to send us an itemized list of the content of the package, trying to be as descriptive as you possible can (if you can remember everything in full detail) and a copy of your state issud ID. We then issue an INSURANCE CLAIM for UP TO 100 dollars. GOD FORBID your items are worth more then a 100 dollars. If you call customer service to check on the status of your shipment, and we actually have not received your package, we inform you of the insurance claim process. For those who know that their items are worth more than a hundred dollars, they become very upset and threaten to take action against the company, at that point we inform the customer that if they knew their items were worth more they should have added additional insurance at the Post Office. BUT unless you are paying to ship your items in a completely different package other then the refiner's kit, you are unable to add insurance to the package.

8. For those who do get in touch with us within the allotted time frame, we already know what you are calling about. Customers want their items returned, because there check amount is so insultingly LOW. The first thing a Rep will ask you is "HOW MUCH WERE YOU EXPECTING TO GET BACK?" This way we can know how much to "BONUS" you.

*Definition of a BONUS: We issue low checks just to have you call us back if you are smart enough to realize that you just got scammed. For the smart one's we are paid to offer u a bonus up to 3x the original amount of your check and you accept. For ex: Sally Smith receives a check for $27.86 for a Rolex watch(which we don't issue value for), a class ring, a ring with diamond chips, a pair of earrings with emeralds, as well as a few sterling silver pieces, and maybe a few items that were really of no value. Now Sally Smith calls the cust srvc dept, where she speaks to a rep who seems so concerned and will see if she can do better with the amount by speaking to a "SUPERVISOR". We then place the caller on Mute, and speak to our neighbors or doodle on a sheet, or twiddle with our hair for about 45 seconds, while we are supposedly speaking to our supervisor about Ms. Smith's complaint. We then come back with an offer to "BUMP UP YOUR MELT DATE or any other lies the cust srvc reps can think of, and offer you a total amount of $53.20 which is a little under double the amount of your original check; in which case if you accept, the cust srvc rep makes a 15.00 bonus off of your transaction. If the customer service rep offers you under triple the amount of your orig check, he/she makes 10.oo in bonuses.

9. If you accept the offer, the deal is done, and you are told that the call is recorded (which most of the time, the record button does not work, or the box if full.)It's just a way to make your feel binded by a verbal contract. IF you do not accept the deal, you have to return your check, and it takes sometimes up to a month to receive your items back after we receive the check.

10. If you only want the items that we do not find of any value back, you have to pay 10.00 shipping and handling fee to have your own items returned, which varies. Although it is listed under the terms and conditions, this charge varies from a 10.00-15.00 charge to NO charge, reason being, UNSURE.

Cash 4 Gold is definitely not a trustworthy or credible company to do business with. You are almost better off taking your items to a local pawn shop or shopping around for other companies. With the economy the way it is, Cash 4 Gold seems to be a way out of financial stress for some, but in actuality becomes a stress of its own. I would advise you to think twice before sending in valuables or items inherited and of sentimental value, its not worth it."

PREVIOUSLY:
Cash4Gold Offers Blogger $3,000 To Remove Negative Post
How To Avoid Getting Ripped Off By Cash4Gold

...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

Their shilling might have more credence than the average celebrity endorsement; given the pair's financial troubles (Hammer burned through his multi-millions in just a few years, Mcmahon battled foreclosure), they probably have first-hand experience with Cash4Gold's services.

Direct Response Advertising to Visit Super Bowl [Adrants]

Cash4Gold snaps up a slot for Super Bowl XLIII ad [USA Today] (Thanks to David!)

Rob at Cockeyed.com saw a late night commercial for Cash4Gold ("Sell your jewelry NOW!"), so he decided to test their service. His friend Brent gathered up some scrap gold and first had it appraised at a local pawn shop. Then, armed with a baseline of what to expect, he mailed it in to Cash4Gold. Their offer: $60, or one third of the appraised value. When he called and rejected it, they countered with a surprising new figure.

Brent called Cash4Gold and immediately and asked for his stuff back. They made a new offer on the phone: $178!

Can you imagine? They covered their smell a little by suggesting that they could manipulate the numbers on their end so that it would look as though he sent in more than he had....suggesting that they were doing HIM a favor by upping his offer to this new, more attractive number.

The two things to remember if you send in your gold to Cash4Gold:

1. Get your gold appraised first so you know what's fair, and reject any unreasonably low offer over the phone so that they have the option of making a counter offer;
2. Do not use their "FAST CASH" option, which offers a direct deposit into your bank account, but forces you to accept their first offer. You will almost certainly be paid a fraction of what your gold is worth.

"Cash4Gold Will Offer One-Third of the Actual Value for your Gold " [Cockeyed.com] (Thanks to Michael!)