Can just anybody place an order for office supplies?

[nativesuntravel]

I've got a potentially serious problem... I work for a non-profit agency that assists women and minority businesses. An employee was on her way home when the phone rang on a Friday evening. The caller said that she was selling toner for copiers for three ninety eight. My employee agreed to purchase it and signed a faxed confirmation on the following Monday. The order arrived the next week along with an invoice for $450. which included the shipping of the toner. The employee panicked and didn't bring it to my attention right away. She told me about it today and showed me the invoive. It states that there are only 3 days in which to return the product. In viewing the faxed confirmation, I see a statement that screams SCAM (in addition to the outrageous price). The statement reads:

 

"Thank you for your order from XYZ company which is unaffiliated with any other supplier, manufacturer, authorized distributer or ny other seller, lessor or servicer of equipment. Prices may "be unrelated to any price previously paid or otherwise available.

 

I called to tell them that the price was outrageous, that we are a non-profit and I denied that we have an employee by the name that they described. (The mispelled it) Does anyone know what I can do? I have made it clear that I intend to return it, but I am concerned about the legalities of the whole thing.

 

Anyone have any ideas?

 

:8) ~Native~ :8)

[horsedr]

Threaten them with Federal Mail Fraud & call the postmster General in your state and report them. You will probably find that they accept the return. Also call your CC company or bank who issued the check and start the stop payment process.

[nativesuntravel]

No payment has been issued for it. The invoice that they sent was a Net 30.

 

:8) ~Native~ :8)

[TooMuchTooFast]

1. DO NOT PAY THE BILL. They won't do anything, so don't worry about any negative history, etc. being reported to anyone. The last thing these cockroaches want is for their scam to see the light of day.

 

2. Report them to the FTC and your AG. The FTC hates these kind of scams - and they are scams. Same with your AG.

 

3. If the toner was sent via USPS, report them to a postal inspector. (Money says it came via UPS or Airborne, as these scammers know the USPS cracks down aggressively on them.) If it did not come USPS, report them to the carrier.

 

4. Do not correspond with them in any way. Do not take a call from them; if they do call, hang up on them. If they send you mail, throw it away.

 

5. Keep the toner if they sent it to you, or send it back. Either way, you are under NO OBLIGATION to pay for it.

[BizCredit]

And most likely the toner is junk and will ruin your copier.. so dont use it

[nativesuntravel]

Thanks for the assistance. I will send it back and not attempt to use it and I will make sure to report them to the proper authorities. I just wanted to make sure that this couldn't come back to haunt our agency.

 

:8) ~Native~ :8)

[BizCredit]

how was it delievered?

 

dont you dare pay postage out of pocket to send them back tehir scum!

[breeze]

It's a well-known scam - they call and ask if you're near the copy machine, go look and see this and this, blah blah - then they say they have a special deal for your toner, order is ready, just confirm... I thought they had stopped these people a long time ago. This was going on back in the 80's!!! We all got regular memos not to accept any toner orders, just hang up.

[nativesuntravel]

At this point, we aren't sure as to who delivered it...UPS or Airborne. As far as the shipping to return it to them, I was planning to have the employee who did this pay out of her pocket to return this. We have an preapproved invoicing procedure that must be followed when placing orders for office supplies. Since she didn't follow the set procedure, I felt that she should share some of the blame in this, too.

 

:8) ~Native~ :8)

[breeze]

UPS and FedEx have fraud investigators - they will know about the scam. They might work with you to nail these guys.

[TooMuchTooFast]

Thanks for the assistance. I will send it back and not attempt to use it and I will make sure to report them to the proper authorities. I just wanted to make sure that this couldn't come back to haunt our agency.

 

:8) ~Native~ :8)

 

Don't send it back, don't call them, don't write them - nothing. If you don't want the toner, either throw it away or give it to someone who does. (If it's an OEM cartridge (HP, Canon, etc.), keep it and use it.) No need to exert any more effort or expense than needed. They don't care what happens to the toner and WILL NOT report you to any bureaus, agencies, etc.