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Jim Norton Ford Deceptive Advertising Broken Arrow Oklahoma
Jim Norton Ford mailed out a postcard with a scratch and win offer. It said I won one of five prizes and to visit their dealership to redeem it.
The advertisement mentioned a $150 gas card, and that is what Jim Norton Ford told me I won. However, what they gave me was a card/voucher for FreeBeeGas.com. The voucher instructed me to go online to redeem my gift card.
But once you visit FreeBeeGas.com, you discover that you must:
(1) pay a $5 registration fee which is supposedly redeemed if you buy enough gas and mail them the receipts,
(2) buy your gas from the same gas station brand
(3) mail all original receipts to them at the end of each month,
(4) and buy $100 worth of gas to get a $25 gift card.
I would have to buy $600 worth of gas and mail in all my receipts to get my promised "free" $150 worth of gas and to get my $5 registration payment back.
That is not "free" gas. It is a ripoff. It is simply deceptive advertising from Jim Norton Ford to get prospects in the door. They do not realize they are only annoying and angering prospects and turning them into anti-Jim Norton Ford spokespersons.
Joe
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
U.S.A.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
M_tech Skeptic
Bonaire,Georgia,
U.S.A.
Read offers carefully
#2Consumer Comment
Tue, June 03, 2008
The consumer with this complaint made the mistake that many people getting "free" offers make; they rush to get the free stuff and do not read or understand the offer first.
I received a similar offer from my local dealership - $300 in free gas certificates. Stated in the offer was the requirement to purchase $100 in gas each month from one brand in order to receive a $25 certificate to redeem for gas at that brand station. My offer also stated that I would be required to pay a $5 processing fee that would be refunded with the final $25 certificate.
Joe in Broken Arrow seems to think that having to spend $600 in gas to get $150 back to spend for gas is somehow a ripoff. While it may not be free, it is still $150 worth of gas that he won't have to pay for.
He also thinks that dealerships send out these "free" offers just for fun. It is advertising. Businesses advertise to get customers, period.
I guess the bottom line is for the buyer to beware. Nothing in life is truly free, but $150 to spend on a commodity that we all buy in the first place is real close.