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Heads You Lose, Tails You Lose: Lie, Puke and Say No

Coin brokers are taught that customers aren't trustworthy

By Todd Spivak

Published: July 19, 2007

Daniel Kramer

Houston-based plaintiffs' attorney Jason Gibson represents more than 50 disgruntled customers who claim they were defrauded out of millions of dollars.

Subject(s): coin salesmen's slang

Ever hear of banging a card? How about pitching heat? Or mind-screwing? According to depositions and interviews with former and current employees, several related Beaumont-based rare-coin companies have their own internal lingo. The terms and phrases suggest a contemptuous attitude toward the public, says Jason Gibson, a Houston-based plaintiffs' attorney who represents more than 50 former customers who claim they were defrauded out of millions of dollars. Below is a glossary of terms frequently used within the companies:

Banging Cards — Making unauthorized charges to a customer's credit card

Cancer — A name managers call salespeople who question the ethics or legality of certain sales tactics; anyone generally perceived as having a negative attitude

Lie, Puke and Say No — A saying taught to brokers meaning that customers lie about their finances, puke excuses and say no to making purchases

Mind-Screwing — Deliberately confusing customers by talking fast and misrepresenting the value and origin of a coin; the term is usually associated with Jason Whitney, a sales manager and son-in-law of Tyrrell Garth, a majority owner of all the companies

Pitching Heat — Using aggressive, high-pressure sales tactics; sometimes described by managers as being enthusiastic

Putting A Client Back Together — Resolving a customer's complaint; a likely consequence of banging cards

Switching Coins — Sending a customer different coins than the ones purchased

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News

Most Popular

It was the year 2000 and I was a young hungry reporter in Chicago covering a young hungry state legislator

Texas is the only state in the country where peyote is sold legally. Really.

For days after the storm, inmates in Beaumont lived without A/C, electricity or hot meals. Press releases kept saying everything inside was fine. Guards and prisoners agree — that was nothing but B.S.

"It's okay to be little bitty in the big city" is an apt slogan for this new burger joint, where sliders rule

Step back in time — to a spooky old carriage barn with a monster chicken-fried steak

It was the year 2000 and I was a young hungry reporter in Chicago covering a young hungry state legislator

Why? Because he's big and intimidating and because one family complained about him over and over again

For days after the storm, inmates in Beaumont lived without A/C, electricity or hot meals. Press releases kept saying everything inside was fine. Guards and prisoners agree — that was nothing but B.S.

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It was the year 2000 and I was a young hungry reporter in Chicago covering a young hungry state legislator

Texas is the only state in the country where peyote is sold legally. Really.

For days after the storm, inmates in Beaumont lived without A/C, electricity or hot meals. Press releases kept saying everything inside was fine. Guards and prisoners agree — that was nothing but B.S.

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Heads You Lose, Tails You Lose: Lie, Puke and Say No

Coin brokers are taught that customers aren't trustworthy

By Todd Spivak

Daniel Kramer

Houston-based plaintiffs' attorney Jason Gibson represents more than 50 disgruntled customers who claim they were defrauded out of millions of dollars.

Subject(s): coin salesmen's slang

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