European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 16, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Etc. Shoff Lei info fat a s a and Tenn Muett or m i Aije All yearly updates and pay for the refer ence service and prospects Are told the offer is Sor Ial it must be accepted the same where does misrepresentation end and fraud begin fix explained that misrepresentation is a lesser form of fraud. Fraud he said is knowingly telling lies and misleading customers in the Effort to sell. The Etc Taa taken a Tough minded View toward company responsibility. For example. If a salesperson Sayi he or she represents a particular company when Selling its product the firm s responsibility for the salesperson s actions is implied said fix. Another no no in Etc eyes is the fictitious endorsement which can Range from the parents Magazine warranty Seal bythe Columbia corp., one of the firms marketing in Europe to the use of a celebrity s name without permission As in the Case of comedian Sam la Vinson and to personal Ity Arlene Francis la Vinson denied allowing use of his name in connection with sales of the Amer ican Peoples encyclopedia a now defunct Grolier publication formerly sold in Europe by the Richards company establishment. Levenson said he would not permit my name to be used and added thou Shaft not Bear false  he said he never heard of the Richards company which had supplied the european sales firm. The ftps fix labelled As pure horse shit the statement printed in the script of books inc. That to be honest with youth Federal Trade commission states that no company is allowed to make a profit on an advertising  another practice defying Etc rules applies to the sales recruitment prac Tice of running a newspaper id in which a trainee is sought or a specific income figure is cited. Some companies Selling to the military have done this but in English newspapers while seeking . Prospects for sales jobs. The confusion of jurisdictions can readily be seen in an Etc requirement at pre sent of encyclopedia Britannica salespeople who must Wear badges in the . Clearly identifying them As sales reps of Britannica. This is not followed in Europe although sales or contacts Are initiated in the exchanges. However the Etc require ment does not extend to in store sates. This would appear to get the agents off the Hook in the exchanges but it leaves open to question the follow up in a Prospect s Home. As effective As the Etc has been in pressuring encyclopedia firms through the courts this watchdog or . Consumers apparently if Ham Strung where americans stationed overseas Are concerned. The product is american most of the contracts supposedly conform to . Law some of the salespeople Are american virtually All the customers arc american. But the marketplace is a no Man s  the consumer the Etc appears to be helpless overseas. Something he note read maybe you boys missed this on the associated press  was a six Page re lease in wire service teletype format praising the consumer mindedness of the direct Selling association and Field enterprises world Book  sender of this note and the claimed wire service release was John Rush euro Pean sales manager for world Book. The purported wire Story was met with some scepticism at the Start and Stripe because of the glowing Praise for a com Mercial firm allegedly by the a. If the wire service carried this information then All the Good things therein about Field enterprises must be True the line of reasoning seemed to be. \ Check with the a in new York revealed the release was not written by an a staffer. It had not run on an a wire. In Short they had never Beard Olit. Eventually we managed to Clear up the matter by checking directly with Fielden Ter Prises in Chicago. Source of the material was a Public relations writer representing Field enter Prises and the direct Selling association. Finally we understood Why you boys missed this on the associated press wire cafes. $9q6ommissiqnj�r f if you think you can save paying Salesman s commission by ordering your set of encyclopedias through Thea Afes Catalon forget  asking Price is identical to what you d pay when buying the encyclopaedia Britannica from a representative in the Exchange. But there is no sales representative to get the approximately $90 commission nor Mally going to the sales agent. So Why Don t Exchange customers get a 90 Price reduction an cafes spokesman in Dallas said it is my understanding that the Salesman covering that area gets the commission even when the set is ordered through the  however Britannica vice president for sales Fred Davis told the Start and stripes his company does t get the Money and he assumed cafes kept it. Contacted again the cafes spokesman said he was in error and to disregard his previous reply. He said he had leaned that cafes gets the commission Money on sales through the Catalon pointing out that All cafes earnings eventually Benefit the Serviceman and woman. It is our position that prices should be lowered whenever possible he said. But in this Case Britannica maintains its sell ing Price in order not to undercut the sales Man s commission. Britannica will not sell to us  but Davis said nothing about maintain ing sales commissions. He said that sales through the cafes Catalon Cost Britanni Ca More Money than sales by company agents in the exchanges. He said the company supplied the color separations for the Catalon display Page plus a percentage Cut plus be supposed the commission. One thing is certain the 90 in commis Sion does t go directly into the military consumer s pocket. Page a the stars and stripes thursday june 16, 1977