The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "sales representative" ...
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Yelp and the Business of Extortion 2.0
Many local business owners began to believe something bizarre was happening when sales reps from Yelp.com offered to remove negative reviews off of the website. The only way the negative reviews could be removed was if the local businesses would advertise with Yelp. If the business owners refused the offer, they began noticing positive reviews disappearing.
Tags: local business owners; sales representatives; reviews; San Francisco; website; advertising; online; Internet; companies; businesses; Jeremy Stoppelman; Russel Simmons
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Peddling Pills
"'Peddling Pills' investigated the relationship between doctors and the country's 100,000 pharmaceutical sale representatives, exploring how drug reps have continued to influence doctors' prescribing habits despite a much-publicized earlier crackdown on their sales tactics."
Tags: pharmaceutical sales; medicine; Big Pharma; ethics; physicians; doctors; drug representatives; drug rep; pharmaceutical marketing
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Timeshares: No Matter How You Slice Them, Buyers Pay a Price
With major corporations now involved, timeshare buyers face "high-pressure sales tactics, expensive financing, convoluted reservation systems, volatile and steep annual fees and questionable management and a dismal resale market in which owners virtually must give away their units in order to get rid of them." Even as major lawsuits have been field in recent years on behalf of timeshare buyers, "most states do little to regulate the industry and ensure that timeshare units are accurately represented and that the reservation systems are fairly administered."
Tags: timeshares; housing market; timeshare financing; property loans; timeshare resale
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Misleading coding advice causes financial troubles, liabilities, for unsuspecting anesthesia, pain offices.
The authors investigated a claim that Medicare and insurance companies are paying for care they don't cover. Insurers are beginning to catch on and are seeking reimbursement. The ensuing chaos caused by misleading sales representatives means that medical offices are having to foot the bill.
Tags: Medicare; insurance; coding; medical device companies; sales representative; pain management; anesthesiologists; FOIA
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Firing Back
60 Minutes examined the contention that the gun industry's marketing and sales practices allow guns to fall into the hands of criminals. In an exclusive interview, they spoke with a former senior firearms industry executive and lawyer who spent much of his career defending gun manufacturers against critics who blame the industry for the violence caused by guns. Now, the man who was once a top lawyer for the National Rifle Association and then the chief spokesman representing the major gun manufacturers is firing back at the gun industry, calling it a "dirty little secret."
Tags: TAPE; National Rifle Association; NRA; guns; criminals; gun industry; firearms; gun manufacturer; distribution; retailer; whistleblower; handgun; revolver; Bureau of Alcohol; Tobacco; and Firearms
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Inside the happiness business
New York reports on the aggressive marketing of drugs, and antidepressants in particular. The story looks at the techniques used by drug sales representatives to attract doctors' attention to the new medications available on the market. The promotion strategies - including free lunches, vacations and gifts - have convinced many doctors to start prescribing a new drug despite some evidence of potential side effects, the investigation reveals. The article focuses on the sales of the newest antidepressant in the U.S.A., Celexa, originally developed by a small Danish company in 1972. The reporter points to the concerns of Dr. Robert Goodman who has started a 'no-free-lunch' campaign against the practices of the drug sales reps.
Tags: Prozac; Zoloft; Paxil; health; doctors; patients; psychiatry; corruption; Pfizer; FDA; depression; weight gain; American Psychiatric Association
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Meat Hook
KWTV-TV investigation uncovered illegal tactics used by door-to-door sales representatives. The representatives suckered consumers into paying outrageous prices for sub par steaks, seafood and chicken. The investigation found a pattern of abused by the industry throughout the Midwest.
Tags: TAPE; Heath department; City regulators
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Romancing the Stone
The story talks about the practice of filling jewels with plastic and resin to hide cracks. Wearing hidden cameras, Dateline went shopping for gemstones at five stores that represented the complete range of jewelry outlets. Sales clerks assured us there were no chemical fillers of any kind in the gems, but they discovered that every sales clerk was wrong.
Tags: TAPE.
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The Money Pit
Federal and local authorities are investigating widespread irregularities in the sale and mortgaging of homes built by New Century Homes and its founder John G. Berg. Berg denies wrongdoing, but many of the estimated 150 people who purchased homes from his company say they didn't get the bargain they were promised. Many are struggling to make payments that are as much as 30 percent higher than they were told to expect. The homes are factory built and of suspect quality. The Daily News investigation showed that Berg and his representatives allegedly: promised federal tax credits they couldn't deliver, funneled cash gifts to new Century buyers in excess of amounts allowed under FHA and conventional mortgage underwriting rules, circumvented state and local realty transfer taxes by filing deeds that did not reflect accurate sale prices, and priced their houses significantly higher than those in surrounding neighborhoods.
Tags: None
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The Real Pests
The reporters found that Sears sales representatives were selling termite and pest control services to customers who clearly did not need it. They talked to former employees who said the sales tactics came straight from management.
Tags: TAPE