If you’ve ever listened to conservative talk radio, you’ve probably heard of Goldline, the precious metal seller endorsed by Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and others. But,critics allege that Goldline is misleading its consumers, much like the talkers they sponsor.
The company’s business model was built on systemically swindling and scaring its mostly elderly clientele into purchasing overpriced gold coins, prosecutors in California alleged, leading the company to settle for $4.5 million in refunds to its customer. The City Attorney in Santa Monica, where the company is based, brought 19 criminal fraud charges against the company that were later dropped, but a Los Angeles judge last year instructed the company to foot the bill for a court-appointed monitor, who was tasked with ensuring the company revealed its price markups and stopped misleading consumers.
But now, the company’s former compliance officer is saying she was fired for complaining to her bosses that she was being prevented from speaking with the monitor, Courthouse News Service reported yesterday. Carol Taylor Gabrelow, who is suing Goldline in LA for wrongful termination, says her bosses were afraid she would spill the beans to the monitor about her company’s shady tactics. Her complaint alleges:
“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.”
I have actually almost completely lost touch with Beck after he was summarily dismissed from Fox News for being even too wingnutty for them.
But once in a while DO catch a portion of his radio broadcast, usually on Mediaite or some other internet site calling him out for being ridiculous, and I have noticed that his schtick seems to be focused almost exclusively on frightening people into not trusting the internet, banks, or the government, and then selling them some product to protect their identity, money, or help them get a boner.
Like many of his fellow Right Wing radio shock jocks, Beck's audience is made up of mostly elderly people who cannot yet figure out how to turn on their computers and poor white trailer trash survivalists who seem to think that Beck is broadcasting out of a bunker somewhere, while hiding behind a pile of sandbags.
And while I feel badly that these poor wretched mouth breathers are getting ripped off by this fly by night gold exchange company, part of me thinks "That's what you get for listening to fucking Glenn Beck!"
I mean come on! Beck has NEVER met a conspiracy he did not believe in wholeheartedly, and is so incredible arrogant that he even started his own online school so he could personally help dumb down the American people.
As if his stupid radio show wasn't doing that already.
