Telemarketing Pitch Checks Out A Telephone Promotion That

Sheriff’s Department fraud investigators initially thought was a scam is legitimate.

Telemarketers from KWIN, a radio broadcast network, have been calling Valley residents for about a month offering to sell them discount coupon books.

“It looks like it’s probably a legitimate business venture,” sheriff’s Lt. Danny O’Dell said Monday.

A Valley resident who questioned KWIN’s legitimacy called the Sheriff’s Department earlier this month when one of the company’s telemarketers refused to give him a call-back number or a name.

The telemarketer asked Phillip Cummings to name three living U.S. presidents and declared him the winner of $1,558 in certificates from Valley businesses, provided he pay a “nominal” couriers fee to have it delivered. Cummings hung up when the telemarketer offered to put the courier fee on his credit card.

Cummings reported the call to the Sheriff’s Department, which in turn issued a warning to Valley residents to beware of “what appears to be an attempted theft scheme.”

Other suspicious residents began flooding the Sheriff’s Department with reports that they had been called by KWIN after a story appeared in last Thursday’s Valley Voice.

“We’re getting stacks and stacks of these,” said O’Dell, who added Monday that detectives had determined the business is legitimate.

KWIN has been operating in the Spokane area on and off for seven years, said manager Jerry Foy. The company offers three area-specific books, and is currently targeting Valley consumers. Coupons range from a discount on a wheel alignment to a free slice of pizza.

Another company pushing coupon books that included coupons merchants had not OK’d may have created the confusion about KWIN’s legitimacy, Foy said. That business, which Foy said has since left town, was the one that asked Valley residents to name three living U.S. presidents before declaring them winners.

As a lead-in, KWIN operators ask potential customers to answer a trivia question about Disney’s seven dwarfs, Foy said. The question is not meant as a contest.

“We do it just to get them involved in a conversation,” Foy said.

The Better Business Bureau has received 10 inquires about KWIN, but does not have a record of any complaints, said Lisa Stephens, the consumer group’s Spokane president.

“Calls on coupon book promotions are very common,” Stephens said.

Residents should be wary of buying coupon books over the phone, and make sure to inspect them before handing over any money, Stephens said.

Among the things Stephens said consumers should check the coupons for are expiration dates, location limitations and use restrictions. Checking with merchants to make sure they are accepting the coupons also is a good idea, Stephens said.

“They really need to understand what they’re buying,” she said.

And, watch out for promotions that offer something as a prize, then charge a delivery fee.

“If you’re being told you have won the book and then have to purchase it, you really haven’t won anything,” Stephens said.

, DataTimes