by John Darer CLU ChFC CSSC RSP CLTC
Stone Street Capital proudly displays its ranking in TopConsumerReviews.com, a company which expressly states that it pays its reviewers and TopConsumerReview.com LLC is compensated for its reviews. [the "5-star" display appears to the right of the Facebook and Twitter buttons in the image below]
Download Structured Settlements 2014 – Top Consumer Reviews Paid Reviews of Cash Now Pushers
TopConsumerReviews.com states in its paid review of companies that conduct paid reviews:
"Many people have discovered a simple way to earn extra income while working from home. These people make money by completing surveys on the internet. While not a get-rich-quick scheme, you can still reasonably make $100, $200, even $1,000 or more each month by giving your opinion, trying new products, watching movie trailers, and more". Read more
The question is how honest is Stone Street Capital being in displaying its ranking in TopConsumer Reviews?
- Stone Street Capital HAS NOT disclosed that the reviews are paid reviews.
- One doesn't know whether those participating in the paid reviews are even past or present consumers of the services that Stone Street Capital and the other "structured settlement companies" listed provide.
- Exactly how does one create a scientifically valid review of a money service, from people seeking to have a "simple way to make money from home" by "trying new products, watching movie trailers, and more", when the product is liquidity for structured settlement payment rights? Is watching a commercial, just a review of a commercial? Wouldn't most concede that JG Wentworth has the most memorable and annoying commercials in the secondary structured settlement space. That just means they have effective advertising.
- In order to try Stone Street Capital's services one would already have to have a structured settlement. Then you have to add the overlay of the seller's personal mental state and financial state, family influencers, business opportunities, level of sophistication or whether or not they have received any monetary incentive to sell or the level of sales tactics. Not withstanding all THAT, how about the paid reviewer's state of mind. Was the survey the first or last of the day? Mental fatigue has an effect on paid reviewers.
Stone Street Capital is a member of the National Association of Settlement Purchasers (NASP), whose President is an executive of Stone Street Capital. Some have tried to promote NASP membership as a "Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval" of sorts. In one notable instance, Bethesda attorney Elyse Strickland of Offit Kurman, pounded away at Josue Benitez, in the July 2013 deposition of plaintiff Woodbridge Structured Funding's employee, attempting to insinuate something bad about Woodbridge not being a member of NASP, even though her client, defendant Sovereign Funding Group, was not then a member of NASP, according to the NASP website [see Woodbridge v Sovereign and Springer Deposition| "NASPy" Irony" September 9, 2013)
I have repeatedly questioned marketing hype that NASP membership alone, is a "good housekeeping seal of approval". I have demonstrated that some of the bad business practices highlighted in this blog and elsewhere involve NASP members.
See Factoring Company Bad Business Practices