14 replies
lets say a customer sent an email about his experience from the product,i used it as a textimonial..
now,what do I need if ftc comes to my house tomorrow and says they think the testimonial is fake?

How do i prove its not?
#ftc #testimonials
  • Profile picture of the author agmccall
    I would start with a copy of the email, so backup all your emails

    al
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  • Profile picture of the author lotsofsnow
    And then it would be good if you could get an explicit permission from your customer.

    Preferably in writing but an email should do as well.
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  • Profile picture of the author Joshua P
    well thats first to start with,I'll have emails and the permission ofcourse.
    But,what if they ask me for transaction details and I dont have them?
    also what else can you think of that they can ask?
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  • Profile picture of the author Joshua P
    i read some cases where they fined 250k for fake testimonials as such,but couldnt find how they found they were fake,
    which would have helped me here...
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  • Profile picture of the author GamerZag
    There is zero chance the FTC comes knocking at your door. Be a normal person and keep all your emails forever, like everybody else in the world does.
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    • Profile picture of the author Joshua P
      read this somewhere:

      From a practical position, one thing that all advertisers should do is to make sure that the individual providing the testimonial signs off on the testimonial and the advertiser's right to use it.

      so as long as the email has the name of the person Its fine isnt it?
      because online thats what a signature means if i'm not very wrong..


      Originally Posted by GamerZag View Post

      There is zero chance the FTC comes knocking at your door. Be a normal person and keep all your emails forever, like everybody else in the world does.
      well better safe than sorry right?
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      • Profile picture of the author onSubie
        Originally Posted by Joshua P View Post

        so as long as the email has the name of the person Its fine isnt it?

        That isn't the same as permission.

        If I wrote a letter to Johnson & Johnson thanking them for the effectiveness of their hemorrhoid cream, I would not necessarily want to see a bunch of print ads identifying me and stating that I love their hemorrhoid product.
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        • Profile picture of the author Joshua P
          Originally Posted by onSubie View Post

          That isn't the same as permission.

          If I wrote a letter to Johnson & Johnson thanking them for the effectiveness of their hemorrhoid cream, I would not necessarily want to see a bunch of print ads identifying me and stating that I love their hemorrhoid product.
          so should i just ask them whether i can put it up there?
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          • Profile picture of the author onSubie
            Originally Posted by Joshua P View Post

            so should i just ask them whether i can put it up there?
            That is safest and protects you, but as others said - the chance of the FTC or your customer noticing or complaining is minimal.

            What the FTC wants is a clear indication about whether a review is real. Many real reviews are portrayed in commercials by actors with a disclaimer: 'Actor portraying actual customer testimonial' or something.

            The FTC is not going to randomly crawl sales pages looking for testimonials to verify. They would need to be alerted by a complaint or because they have already started looking at you for other reasons.
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  • Profile picture of the author BradVert2013
    The chances of the FTC coming after you are very, very slim. Like others have said, keep the emails and contact info of the person giving you the testimonial. With all the sites out there that have testimonials, the FTC probably doesn't have the time or resources to scrutinize every single one.
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  • Profile picture of the author bluecoyotemedia
    If the FTC had the resources they would throw 75% of these warrior WSO vendors in jail . you surely have more violations occur just in this group than late night infomercials

    heck even paypal has acknowledged the problem this forum has

    its pretty amazing.. you have the same people come out with a software of product that topically looks fantastic.. then sell the hell out of it.. then after the refund honeymoon period ends.. supports dwindles to nothing and basically abandons the product..

    then people complain and bitch

    then many months later

    they come out with ver 2.0 LOL its hilarious actually.
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    • Profile picture of the author Joshua P
      Originally Posted by bluecoyotemedia View Post

      If the FTC had the resources they would throw 75% of these warrior WSO vendors in jail . you surely have more violations occur just in this group than late night infomercials

      heck even paypal has acknowledged the problem this forum has

      its pretty amazing.. you have the same people come out with a software of product that topically looks fantastic.. then sell the hell out of it.. then after the refund honeymoon period ends.. supports dwindles to nothing and basically abandons the product..

      then people complain and bitch

      then many months later

      they come out with ver 2.0 LOL its hilarious actually.
      lol thanks very much for the laugh
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      • Profile picture of the author bluecoyotemedia
        Originally Posted by Joshua P View Post

        lol thanks very much for the laugh
        am I wrong???

        and now to top it off you have everyone jumping on the bandwagon to promote this... leveraging the credibility of thier buyers list.. just to promote CRAP..

        even guys who i like and admire just promote crap.. pretty amazing..

        there should be a reality show about the warrior forum

        we will call it

        "The WSO"
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        Skunkworks: noun. informal.

        A clandestine group operating without any external intervention or oversight. Such groups achieve significant breakthroughs rarely discussed in public because they operate "outside the box".
        https://short-stuff.com/-Mjk0fDExOA==

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  • Profile picture of the author amalgam
    Bluecoytemedia is dead on. The advertising violations that occur are endless.

    It is true, first inline on the FTC's target list is usually but not always businesses with a larger presence. The FTC has become very efficient at filing and winning lawsuits. Furthermore, they do not necessarily have to sue you to damage your business.

    A simple letter requesting you to substantiate all of your claims, testimonials, etc., is enough to shut down most small business operations that cannot back up their claims.

    I would never use the fact that the FTC's resources are limited as a comforting thought if you are violating their regulations and the law.
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