Matthews town officials, police warn of magnet company's scam

MATTHEWS, N.C.,None — The Town of Matthews is warning local businesses that a company is selling magnets and claiming a portion of the sales go the Matthews police, but the town said that is not true.

The town said it has received several complaints from businesses about Universal Ad Com falsely soliciting, but the company said Friday it has done nothing wrong.

"They lead you to believe in their language and in their conversation with you,  that it's a town partnership or that it's a town initiative, and that money will go back to help town of Matthews police," said Annette Privette-Keller, the communications director for the Town of Matthews.

She said money spent on the magnets is not going to the community.

However, a spokesperson from Universal Ad Com issued a statement Friday afternoon, saying, "Our company does not sell ad space to businesses, but we never say the proceeds go back to any town or organization. We simply state the magnets are being sent to the community free of charge."

But Tom Bartholomy with the Better Business Bureau said the complaints from town officials are not the first against Universal Ad Com.

"If you look at the background of this company they have history of doing this across the country with police departments, and chambers of commerce, and school districts," he said.

According to the BBB website, Universal Ad Com has an "F" rating with 393 complaints in the past three years. Several attorneys general investigated the company and issued cease and desist orders in the past.

Keller says she sent letters asking the company to stop using the town's name and to quit distributing products, but the company maintains it is not doing anything wrong.

"This is a great concern to us because we are here to protect our businesses," she said.

Matthews police said they received one complaint Thursday from a business, making a similar claim against Universal Ad Com. They said residents should call police if anyone else calls soliciting for the Matthews Police Department.

WSOC