Del
SANTA MONICA,#2Author of original report
Tue, April 17, 2007
Summary of the Better Business Bureau ratings: The rating the Better Business Bureau assigns a business is determined by our composite score of such factors as its type of business, length of time in business, compliance with competency licensing requirements, complaint volume, complaint history, seriousness of complaints, how the company responds to complaints, and our experience with the company's industry in general. The scoring system takes into account the importance we feel each factor is to the company's reliability. The highest rating assigned to a company is AAA; the lowest is F. Between those two ratings are nine others in order from higher to lower. The ratings are defined as follows: AAA-An exemplary rating. This means that nothing in our files causes us to have any doubt about the company's reliability. AA-An extremely high rating. The condition that lowers this grade from AAA is not what we believe to be a significant one. A-An excellent rating. A company with this rating may not rate higher because of a greater number of rate-lowering factors, but we do not consider them to be factors that would likely adversely affect consumer transactions. BBB-A very high rating. A company with this rating would not have a significant number of complaints or other considerations that could pose a problem to consumers. BB-A high rating. The company would generally have demonstrated good business-consumer relations, and we would expect any consumer complaints not to be of a serious nature and to be satisfactorily handled by the company. B-A good rating that still implies reputability. The rating may relate to length of time in business, a past problem that's been corrected, or something else that does not cause problems for consumers. We believe a company with this rating would generally conduct business and respond to any complaints satisfactorily. CCC-A good rating. We would expect nothing less than a satisfactory business transaction, but read our full report to determine if you have any questions or concerns. CC-Average rating. We would expect consumer transactions to be satisfactory. Since each transaction is individual, read our full report to determine if you have questions or concerns. C-Acceptable rating. We know of no reason not to do business with this company. If the level of this rating relates to anything specific that we know might be of concern to consumers, it is stated in this report. Read our full report to determine if you have questions or concerns. D-We have enough concerns about this company (for example, their offer, customer complaints, advertising, etc.) that we recommend caution in doing business with it. F-We strongly question the company's reliability for reasons such as that they have failed to respond to complaints, their advertising is grossly misleading, they are not in compliance with the law's licensing or registration requirements, their complaints contain especially serious allegations, or the company's industry is known for its fraudulent business practices. NR-"NR" is displayed when the Bureau is conducting system maintenance. Our rating of a company and our reliability report on a company reflect our conclusions and opinion about the company based upon information in our files and our experience with the company. Neither the rating nor the report is a guarantee of reliability. Readers should not rely solely upon a company's rating, but should read and consider the entire report, including complaint and response details, before deciding whether or not to do business with the company. Lear Financial, about 10 years in business, is rated a "B" by the Better Business Bureau. Do you want an investment company handling your hard earned monies rated average, at best? A quick audit of the BBB site bears 26 complaints in 36 months, many not satisfied. In fact, like most companies in business for as long, rated as low as Lear Financial they "may" have more pending lawsuits than recent BBB complaints. We spoke to several that agree with Mr. Doug Hanes "So after talking to a few other people about getting ripped off by Lear, I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau in California. This quickly prompted a call from Kevin DeMeritt and we had another loud conversation about their misleading sales practices. His response to the BBB was full of lies and contradictions" Further, most consumers do not bother with the BBB, citing no actual ability or recourse to recover justice. My opinion is that Lear Financials, rather low, BBB rating will lower in the coming several months and your RIGHT Billy, if I may borrow you words, "they would be put out of business."
Billy
River Ridge,#3Consumer Suggestion
Tue, April 17, 2007
This is a complete joke! Don't you think if Lear Financial was indeed as bad as DEL is saying, they would be put out of business?? The views expressed here are a complete joke. All I know is that if I were planning on investing with a company and a disgruntled ex-employee started blasting bad things all over the Internet about the company in question, I'd probably go to the Better Business Bureau and check everything out for myself. It seems to me that Lear has a pretty good reputation; considering the amount of volume they do.
Del
SANTA MONICA,#4REBUTTAL Individual responds
Thu, April 12, 2007
According to alleged business practices of Kevin DeMeritt at Lear Financial Inc., of widespread systematic fraud, misleading sales / fee practices, other wrongful and illegal acts against investors or employees along with the following information republished with the permission of an ex female employee of Kevin DeMeritt and Lear Financial: [Former Female Employee of Kevin DeMeritt at Lear Financial] I am a minority woman who worked at Lear Financial for about one year. During this time employees were not reprimanded for screaming arguments regarding deals, potential deals and office politics. They were allowed to commonly use derogatory racial slurs and sexual vulgarity without consequence. Other important points- 29 of 32 brokers were male. 28 of 32 brokers were white. OPEN racial and sexual harassment. NO standard selling or business procedures. These are not financial brokers/advisors of any kind! There are no required or accredited industry certifications (ie. series 7, series 63 etc.) of any kind to be hired as an Account Manager/broker. When clients call, concerned about their coins, current coin evaluations or when attempting to sell they are given the run around. Salesmen misrepresent fees by quoting just a few percentage points when actual fees are about 45%. Salesmen misrepresent coin recommendations - numismatics is not bullion, though many customers think their buying bullion. Before purchasing from Lear Financial, aka Gold Central, aka Buy Gold at Cost DON'T! Former Employee Los Angeles, California U.S.A. The following excerpt of "a woman point of view" with more claims of wrongful businss practices of Kevin DeMeritt at Lear Financial, that can be found on the rip off report: [Excerpt "a woman point of view" 1. My experiences at Lear Financial was not the best experience as an employee, in how I was treated or how I viewed the clients getting treated. 2. Kevin DeMeritt is greatest man in the world in the eyes of the companies he advertises with, acting very well educated and proper around them. 3. But the longer I worked there I saw that in reality he was vocally intimidating to everyone in that office, using threating language or gestures that made people cower. 4. If they only knew that he has a very violent temper. 5. I have experienced that first hand. 6. He screamed at me and other women many times. 7. I cried at work many times, other women have as well, but there was no one to help us. 8. Kevin DeMeritt once screamed sexually vulgar profanities at a woman during dinner a company Christmas party, in front of maybe one hundred people. 9. As a woman you always felt tension in that office because it was mainly made up of men. 10. Men that you can't say anything to because if you say the wrong thing and it got back to Kevin DeMeritt you got reprimanded, wrongfully. 11. Many times other woman I knew came to visit and one of the brokers or Kevin DeMeritt would say something sexually inappropriate to them. 12. Kevin looks down on women, I don't know why. I remember talking to many other women who know Kevin, and we all share this same opinion. 13. The company in my opinion is based on a lot of deceit for both the client and employee. 14. Everyone in my personal life wanted me to quit or file my own lawsuit. 15. I bet many can sue them, if they wanted to. 16. I do know that the brokers recorded clients because I heard them practice after work while listening to tapes with the clients (often making jokes or planning sales scams)that they had already pitched. 17. Many of those tapes lingered around in the office. 18. As a matter of fact Kevin DeMeritt would use those tapes to train the new brokers. 19. I have heard Kevin DeMeritt tell the brokers to tape their pitches and take them home and practices his pitches. 20. They lied a lot. 21. The client got sold and then they are forgotten about. 22. In many instances the client will call the broker many times after they have been sold because they have a question in regards to their portfolio. 23. But many of the calls went unanswered. I witnessed brokers not wanting to deal with the aftermath of what they have done to the client. 24. I felt bad because many clients are older people that feel they are safe investing but reality they are not. 25. Those brokers were so greedy that they don't care what happens to the client's portfolios once they have already gotten paid their commissions. a woman point of view Los Angeles, California U.S.A. [End] Kevin DeMeritt has many other business enterprises including ReferNow and has several income producing real estate properties. Kevin DeMeritt's many business operations is currently using US radio, print, web and television sources to advertise his business's such as FOXNEWS Television, Rush Limbaugh Radio, AM Coast to Coast Radio and Web with George Norrey and Art Bell Advertiser, Michael Medved, Laura Ingraham, Dennis Prager, World Magazine and dozens of others. These multi-spot ads have aired dozens of times every day of the year, including weekends, for years. The advertisers include, but are not limited to; some of the largest and respected personalities in broadcasting, particularly from conservative, financial and religious radio, as many personally endorse Kevin Demeritt / Lear on air and FOXNEWS Television broadcasts several of Lear's national commercials each business day with an actor from Law and Order who comforts the viewers with the promise that Lear will protect their investments and treat them fair. In fact, according to many Lear Financial investors as well as former and current Kevin DeMeritt employees, for year's investors have been deceived. Once again, since the following letter was published several, citing similar and other wrongful experiences with Lear Financial and Kevin DeMeritt, have contacted Mr. Peter R. Dion-Kindem P.C. via phone & email: [Counsel's excerpt] Dear Lear Financial, Inc. Customer or Prospective Customer: We represent a former employee of Lear Financial, Inc., a company that sells gold coins, other metals to individuals for their personal accounts and also for their IRA and other retirement accounts. Our client has sued Lear and Kevin DeMeritt, its President, and other employees of Lear alleging that Lear and DeMeritt wrongfully terminated his employment in retaliation for his complaints about the widespread and systematic fraud and illegal tape recording of customers' phone calls perpetrated against Lear's customers, among other wrongful acts. In the lawsuit, our client contends that Lear systematically misled its customers about the amount of commissions they were paying and overcharged them. Our client also contends that Lear also systematically violated the California Penal Code by unlawfully recording and eavesdropping on conversations between Lear salesmen and Lear customers without the customer's knowing consent. Under California law, Lear is subject to a $5,000 civil penalty payable to the customer for each such violation. We have obtained a declaration from one Lear customer who has stated under oath that he was told that he was only being charged a 7% commission to purchase coins. The Lear documents we have obtained, however, reflect that he was charged 40%. We have obtained from Lear other documents reflecting that it charged another client 40%. We are investigating whether you had a similar experience at Lear and would greatly appreciate it if you could call us to so that we could determine if you also were subject to Lear's wrongful conduct alleged by our client. I look forward to hearing from you in this regard. Send email to this website - If Don Imus was kicked off the air for his statements, than how do you feel about Mr. Kevin DeMeritt and the allegations brought forth by those who have been hurt?
Kevin
Santa Monica,#5REBUTTAL Owner of company
Tue, April 10, 2007
Hello, my name is Kevin DeMeritt, and I am the owner of Lear Financial, the precious metals company referenced by "Del" in the attached post. So that there is no mistake, Del once worked at Lear, he was indeed terminated, and he is now suing my company. The rest of Del's allegations are simply untrue. Thus, for the last ten years, Lear Financial has been a leader in the precious metals industry, consistently getting the highest reviews for quality, integrity and customer service. I demand that my employees conduct themselves openly and honestly, and I apply the same standards to myself. We have had literally thousands of satisfied customers over the years, and the few complaints that invariably arise are handled swiftly, and always with the clients' needs in mind. I do not want to descend into a "mud-slinging" match with Del. We already have a forum for airing our differences - - there is an arbitration pending - - and a point-by-point rebuttal here would only give dignity to baseless allegations that deserve no further comment. If you are interested in learning more about my company, please visit our website, goldcental.com where, among other things, you can review Lear's standard contract, which fully discloses the "spread" applicable to each transaction. In fact, our contract contains disclosures above and beyond that required by law, because it is my belief that purchasing precious metals is too important a decision to be made blindly. If you still have additional questions about Lear's standards and practices or, indeed, have other issues that you wish to discuss, I would be happy to personally answer any questions you may have. In sum, I hope that you will give Lear Financial the benefit of the doubt, and not jump to quick conclusions before getting the full story. Lear Financial is a clean shop, and we do not tolerate any conduct by our employees that could bring disrepute to the company. I come from Montana, a place where business is conducted on a handshake. If you want to stop by, I will shake yours. Thanks for listening. Kevin DeMeritt, President Lear Financial