Have you read the stories about an antique roadshow coming to Loveland this week?
Jeff Parsons’ “Treasure Hunters Roadshow” is in town this week and normally faces tough questions regarding a lawsuit for deceptive trade practices by PBS’ Antique Roadshow, bounced checks from Arizona to Michigan and an inquiry by the Illinois Attorney General where his company is based. Read the LovelandPolitics story
Parsons’ crew is described by one media outlet as,
” a band of traveling con artists, bamboozling the unsuspecting out of their gold and valuables”
In Loveland’s press, however, Parsons isn’t being asked tough questions as he lures hundreds of unsuspecting residents into his antique “Roadshow.” Instead, he is writing the stories about his controversial business.
Both Loveland newspapers ran false advertisements meant to look like real news stories with a reporter by-line and the words “Staff Report” at the beginning. The Loveland Connection failed to state anywhere on the entire page that is was an advertisement thus making it indistinguishable from other news stories.
The same story ran in both newspapers on Wednesday complete with fake interviews and claims that people attending the show were paid thousands of dollars for specific items they brought to the show. In fact, the identical article about a man getting thousands of dollars for an old guitar ran in an Ohio paper on August 10, an Arizona paper before that and so on.
Did you get fooled and attend the show expecting to have a keepsake appraised? Did someone you know attend? Please post your comments below.
If you haven’t been to the show, don’t bother. They don’t want your antiques and are looking mostly for jewelry they can melt down for the gold or silver value — but will not pay you the actual value of the gold or other precious metal.
We recommend Friendly Pawn on South Lincoln in Loveland if you want to pawn family treasures. They are a family operated business in Loveland that have been around for 36 years. You can also save your valued collectibles until the real “Antique Roadshow” comes to Loveland.
