Back in August I was called several times by a company offering a free ink-jet cartridge to try out, no obligation. I refused for a while and then finally said that wed try it. Since we dont use a lot of ink it sat on the shelf for a while.in March we began to use it but our cleaning crew threw out the box the cartridge came in.in April I got a call from the company asking how we liked the product. I told them we just started using it and it seemed fine. Then they did something that perked my curiosity, they asked me to look at the cartridge and tell them what the cartridge said. I thought that was strange since I had told them we were currently using it, why would they need to know what their own cartridge said. Imaging Excellence, I told the man. He responded by saying that this product is not theirs. They only supply cartridges that say Image Masters. We went three rounds on whether or not this product was actually their product, which it was 100%. Then man said a supervisor would call me shortly.
Two weeks later I got another call from the same man, Gene, and we did the same dance. I explained that due to some early experiences with bad cartridges from other companies I will now only buy HP products for our HP printers. Theirs was the only non-HP cartridge we had in the entire office for that printer. We are a small company of 30 people, but less than 10 in the office at any time and I am the only person who handles the supplies. But still he argued that it was not theirs, and because it was not theirs they would now invoice us for the cartridge which was sent to us as a free evaluation opportunity. I asked to speak to his supervisor. She would call me right back but never did.
Two more weeks later I get message from the same man AGAIN. This time he said he spoke with his supervisor who said, no, they didnt send us an Imaging Excellence cartridge, this product must have miraculously appeared out of thin air (sarcasm dripping at this point) and would be sending us an invoice. I called Gene and asked to actually speak to his supervisor directly. The supervisor, Heather, and I went another three rounds about how I must be mistaken, or someone in our office must have taken it by mistake, or some other excuse as to how their product disappeared while in the office and this other product appeared mysteriously in its place. I explained several times, for the now third time, that this product was exactly what they had sent me. After getting nowhere with the supervisor I asked for HER supervisor and went yet another 3 rounds with the same argument with a Victoria. While I was being as professional as possible the manager made some pretty nasty claims about my honesty and the honesty of my staff. I told the woman I would be happy to send the cartridge back to them and she responded that they would not accept it back since they insist it is not theirs.
So now they plan to invoice us. I told the woman that there would be no payment of the invoice since my original conversation with their employee was that I would receive the cartridge, try it out, and it was free of any obligation. Only now does there appear to be an obligation, and they claim (after telling them that the box was gone) that there was a packing slip inside the box that specifically said that they would want the cartridge back. Their claims all require the assumption that they are the ones being honest. Anyone can claim that their product says something on the cartridge itself. Its quite an ingenious scam. Send a product, but claim it isnt theirs... That way they never have to accept it back from you and can invoice you all they want. Its their word against yours. What I want to know is if they are such a large and professional company as they claim, where is their website for ordering more cartridges? If I enjoyed their cartridge and wanted to do business with them, how would I do it? Riddle me that!
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