Four states -- California, Arizona, Texas and Pennsylvania -- have sued the Hy-Cite Corp. or its distributors in recent years for tactics similar to the ones ConsumerAffairs.com uncovered.
Consider:
• Pennsylvania The Pennsylvania Attorney Generals Office accused Royal Prestige distributors of deceptive and illegal business practices, including making claims that aluminum cookware causes Alzheimers disease;
• California The California Attorney Generals Office sued the Hy Cite Corp. and two of its distributors, alleging they targeted the Hispanic community with high pressure door-to-door sales and scare tactics. One Royal Prestige salesperson allegedly posed as a health department worker -- and questioned consumers about their family's health -- to sell the products;
• Arizona The Arizona Attorney Generals Office sued two Royal Prestige distributors, citing 19 deceptive acts including: claims their salespeople were city water inspectors; claims that consumers had won a raffle or other prize; misrepresenting the amount of consumers down payments; misrepresenting the terms of the agreements to consumers who spoke little English; claims that a consumer would ruin their credit if they cancelled their orders; charging exorbitant prices; and requiring consumers to sign blank sales orders.
Hy Cites President, Erik Johnson, said his company terminated all the distributors named in these actions.
