Complaint Review: Greeting Cards Of America

My story is the same as others who have reported on Greeting Cards of America (GCA). I found the add on the internet and responded to the form. They called me and we talked on and off for about 3 weeks. I invested over $13,000 for 10 stands and 10,000 greeting cards in February 2003. My order took almost two months to fill, but the cards I received seemed to be in relatively good shape--all coming from Paradise Greetings in Los Angeles, CA.

Many of them had additional stickers with prices/bar codes that cheapened the quality. The stands seemed to be presentable and could hold over 400 cards. There were several cards that had print missing or musical cards that would not stop playing. The order sent more than the 10,000 to compensate for inventory problems.

In my opinion, the cards and the stands were as advertised. The problem began with the placements. American Eagle out of Stone Mountain, GA was the placement company recommended by GCA. Before I invested, the CGA rep stated that the cards, placed in high-volume retail stores such as Wal-Mart (yes, he specifically mentioned Wal-Mart) experienced sales (by other distributors) in the range of 8-10 per day per location. "I could triple my investment in a year." they said. When the placements were made, all were mom & pop type businesses--something that I see as total misrepresentation on the part of both American Eagle and GCA.

After a month, sales averaged about 1-2 cards per week per location. This is less than one card per day for all ten locations!

I called to complain only to find out that no one was answering the phone. I could go on with this story, but I would only be singing the same tune as the previous stories.

There is good news. GCA was closed down the week of 28 April, 2003 by the Federal Trade Commission. The PRESS RELEASE is provided at http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2003/04/greetingcards.htm.

The report states that the "FTC is asking the court to prohibit misrepresentations, appoint a receiver, freeze the defendants' assets, and obtain consumer redress." What redress is possible, I do not know. The FTC makes no promises. For those who wish to speak to an FTC representative about your experience with GCA, please call (404)656-1364.

Jon
Orange Park, Florida
U.S.A.