I am an office manager for a small branch of a large non-profit company. I began my job about 6 months ago, moving into a new industry from construction and food service.in my first week I had a call from IDCSERVCO informing me that they were my copier supplier. A woman initially made the call and said that they had a deal on copier toner because distribution prices were going up. If I ordered now I could get it at a lower rate, they urged. I accepted one singular toner cartridge as I run a very small office, not one or two cases as some have reported on this company in the past. A man then took the line and finished the transaction.
While I suspected something may be up I thought nothing of it as I was so new and assumed this was standard practice - in fact, my boss was proud of me for getting a "bargain". I had a call back from another woman about a month or two later, informing me that they had the rest of my toner ready to ship. Outraged, I explained I had only ordered one cartridge. They explained that I ordered a case and I would have to accept the whole thing. I told them I simply could not do so and that running up such a huge tab to corporate would put my job in peril. She offered to send me only one cartridge and hold the rest for up to a year or until I'd need more.
Begrudgingly, I accepted, knowing that our other office has the same model copier and that I could pass it off as yet another thrifty money saving scheme. My boss agreed that it was good use of company resources, neither of us knowing the normal price of the toner.
I received a call this morning telling me essentially the same thing that I was told a month ago. Irate, I yelled at the scammer for about 15 minutes as he told me about the ludicrous markup that was involved with canceling the order.
First, I demanded to speak to his supervisor, to which I received the ubiquitous "I am the supervisor". I told him I wanted to speak to the woman I had spoken to when I made my second order, only to be told that "Denise" no longer worked there. Then I demanded that he produce paperwork showing where I signed to accept a case of toner at a discounted rate to pay within a month. I was told that he didn't have that in his office, to which I replied I have all the paperwork he sent and I never signed for this. He said he'd get back to me when he spoke to the man in charge (so much for being the supervisor!). I am waiting for him to call back so I can really let loose...
I went online to check toner prices, and boy, do I feel dumb. I can't believe I fell for this scam, even when I was suspicious from the get-go. I let my nervousness in a new job setting blind me from using the rational judgment that got me to the position I am in today.
I would be very interested in contributing to a class-action suit against this company as they not only misrepresented themselves and assured me that they were trying to get me the lowest price, but lied through their teeth to get me to sign their order forms.
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