Spend any time listening to conservative talk radio, and you’re likely to encounter Goldline, the metal company backed by Westlake resident/conservative kingpin Glenn Beck, Ol’ Blabbergums Sean Hannity, and other right-tumbling radio jocks.
It’s a company that thrives on convincing YOU, American consumer and intelligent being, that the government and FDIC-protected banks have no business with your money, and you should instead buy gold coins and bury them in your backyard along with your grains and guns. In February the company agreed to repay $4.5 million to customers due to “unfair sales practices,” after the Santa Monica, Calif. city attorney’s office hung 19 charges on the company, accusing them of bait and switch tactics. Customers believed they were buying gold bullion when in fact they were buying overpriced gold coins, maybe with chocolate inside. Criminal charges against executives were dropped when Goldline agreed to disclose the price mark-ups.
The latest piece of the Midas puzzle came this week, when former employees Carol Taylor Gabrelow and her husband, Joel Gabrelow, sued the company for unlawful termination. See, Mrs. Gabrelow informed company higher-ups that their telemarketing techniques violated state and federal law. The execs then fired her and her husband.
“Goldline specifically targets vulnerable consumers with sales tactics designed to pressure those consumers into buying products that would often result in the consumer losing over one-third of his or her investment the instant the purchase is made meaning that, even when the price of the precious metals increases, because these consumers were deceived into purchasing coins with mark-ups exceeding 50 percent, it could be years, if ever, before the consumer recoups, much less makes any profit on, the investment,” the complaint states.
Keep on being great, Glenn Beck.
