3 Firms Agree to Modify Coupon, Cash Rebate Plans

Three California companies agreed Monday to modify coupon and cash rebate programs that federal regulators called “false and misleading.”

Bumble Bee Seafoods Inc., Memtek Products Inc. and UMAX Technologies reached agreements with the Federal Trade Commission to compensate some consumers and speed rebates to others.

None of the companies admitted any violations of law in agreeing to the settlements.

The deal with Bumble Bee addressed a special label on its tuna cans that asked consumers to buy the product with the promise of a 75-cent coupon for their next purchase. Additional details of the program--those requiring the consumer to buy five cans of tuna before redeeming the coupon--appeared inside the label.

San Diego-based Bumble Bee has agreed to start a new $200,000 coupon program.

Memtek Products, the Santa Fe Springs-based maker of Memorex brand products, promised purchasers of its 100-count package of computer diskettes that they would receive a $29.99 rebate within 12 weeks of a request. It also offered purchasers of their blank audio and videotapes a $10 gift check. The gift checks were supposed to arrive within eight weeks of the consumer’s request.

The FTC alleges that consumers received the rebates and gift checks several months later than promised.

UMAX Technologies, a Fremont-based maker of digital products, offered rebates up to $50 on certain models of computer scanners. They were supposed to be paid to consumers within 12 weeks. But the agency said it often took up to five months or longer for customers to get their rebates.