Newspaper Page Text
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♦ SATURDAY, JUNE 23, 2007
888 alerts consumers to Blue Hippo
Special to the Journal
The Better Business
Bureau is cautioning con
sumers across the United
States regarding Blue Hippo
Funding, LLC (Blue Hippo),
a financial services company
offering computers, electron
ics and other merchandise
via a hybrid layaway and
installment financing plan
aimed at low income con
sumers and those with poor
credit ratings.
The 888 System has
logged more than 1,400 com
plaints from all 50 states
against Blue Hippo in the
past three years. Due to this
pattern of complaints and
Blue Hippo’s failure to cor
rect the underlying causes
for the complaints, the com
pany is rated “unsatisfac
tory” by the 888 System.
“More than 65 percent
of the complaints against
Blue Hippo fall into one of
three categories; high pres
sure sales practices, non
delivery of promised mer
chandise, and unwilling
ness to provide a refund
or exchange,” said, Kelvin
Collins, President/CEO of
the Better Business Bureau
of Central Georgia & the
CSRA. “Basically, consum
ers tell us they are being sold
on a product and payment
plan, aren’t getting what
they’ve paid for in a timely
manner, and have no way to
get their money back.”
Blue Hippo - a Maryland
based company advertising
nationally through televi
sion, direct mail and the
Internet - targets individu
als or families with fixed
or low incomes, as well as
people with little or no cred
it. It has been reported that
prime prospects appear to
be families, typically with
about a $25,000 per year
annual income.
Before any merchandise is
shipped, Blue Hippo requires
customers to establish a
record of nine consistent
payments - usually in the
form of an initial deposit fol
lowed by weekly payments
- all of which are debited
directly from consumers’
MGTC
names
Sorrell VP
From staff reports
Middle Georgia Technical
College named Dr. Gerri
Sorrell as their new vice pres
ident of academic affairs.
Sorrell will be replacing
the retiring Bob Beaver, a
14-year veteran of Middle
Georgia Technical College.
Sorrell will
be moving
up from her
current posi
tion as dean
of Academic
Affairs over
the Business
Services and
Information
Technology
programs at
MGTC.
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SORRELL
Dr. Sorrell has her
Doctorate and Masters from
the University of Georgia
and has served MGTC for
nearly twenty of her 27 years
in higher education.
“To accompany her excel
lent credentials, she has the
innate leadership qualities
that will help our College suc
ceed,” said MGTC President
Dr. Ivan H. Allen.
“I am thankful for the
opportunity to serve on the
College’s leadership team.
Middle Georgia Technical
College has a great faculty
and I look forward to work
ing with them in this new
role,” Sorrell said.
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checking accounts.
Along with what appear
to be affordable financ
ing offers for well-known
brand name computers and
other electronic equipment,
Blue Hippo also entices con
sumers with promises of
free televisions, printers, or
other home computer and
electronics merchandise.
The computers the company
finances are generally low
end models, and many con
sumers allege that due to
Blue Hippo’s financing pay
ment schedule, they gener
ally pay up to four times
more than the computer
would actually cost had they
bought it in-store.
Blue Hippo notes that
consumers may cancel at
any time within the initial
nine-week deposit payment
period. However, company
policy does not allow for
refunds, and instead gives
customers “credit” to pur
chase products available
on the company’s Wqb site.
As a result of this policy,
BBBs are now beginning
to receive additional com
plaints from consumers who
never received the merchan
dise they bought with their
store credit.
Many complaints to BBBs
allege problems in receiving
promised merchandise. As
an example, a Georgia man
reported that he paid the
company SI,BOO for what
he claims was a S6OO com
puter. Through electronic
debits from his checking
account, he paid Blue Hippo
an initial fee of $99 and then
$41.98 per week to establish
a credit history. Ultimately,
the computer was delivered,
but several months late, and
only after he contacted the
company numerous times.
Now, eight months after
making his final payment on
the computer, he has yet to
receive the free 20” plasma
television and printer prom
ised by Blue Hippo.
“While Blue Hippo has
attempted to address com
plaints, and has delivered
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some merchandise, overall
the company does not meet
888 standards for market
place behavior and is not
measuring up in terms of
trust with consumers,” said
Collins.
The 888 isn’t the only
organization scrutiniz
ing Blue Hippo’s business
practices. A recent settle
ment reached between
the Maryland Attorney
General’s office and
Blue Hippo requires the com
pany to offer restitution to
Maryland consumers.
Blue Hippo denied that it
engaged in any unfair or
deceptive trade practices or
otherwise violated the law,
but did agree to settle and
has since discontinued sell
ing to consumers in the state
COMPUTER
11 11 ])/7 s SERVICES
Specializing in:
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4501 Russell Pkwy Suite 2 Warner Robins 478-333-6515
Friendly, hometown service at affordable prices.
www.tdzcomputers.com
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LOCAL
of Maryland.
Several other attorney
general offices have now sub
poenaed 888 complaints,
with lawsuits having been
filed in a number of states.
As well, the Federal Trade
Commission reports that it
has accumulated 8,000 pages
of consumer complaints
about Blue Hippo.
For more information
about Blue Hippo, see its
888 Reliability Report
at: http://www.baltimore.
bbb.org/commonreport.
html?bid=23ol4ol3. To
file a complaint against
Blue Hippo, or to check out
one of the more than three
million other 888 Reliability
Reports on businesses, go to
www.bbb.org.
June 24 th
July 15 th
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2 LOCATIONS
999 Russell Pkwy.
Warner Robins
478-923-4400
900 Russell Pkwy.
Warner Robins
478-922-9131
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