"Jim Adams" called from TP Supply and asked to speak with someone in our accounting department, who then transferred the call to me.
"Jim" said that he spoke with our employee, and that she expressed interest in the products he told her about. He said his business was moving from California to Arizona, and that it would be cheaper if he sold all the items out of his California warehouse instead of paying to transport them to the new Arizona warehouse.
He mentioned office supplies that he had available, by the gross. Naturally, he quoted absolutely ridiculous rock-bottom prices on pens, post-it notes, and Scotch tape. He also said he was throwing in a Rolodex Palm Pilot, free of charge, to thank us for our order with the company.
Lo and behold, one week later we receive eight boxes filled to the brim with tens of thousands of sticky-note pads, thousands of paper and binder clips, hundreds of pens, dozens of boxes of Scotch tape, and 4 used tape dispensers. No invoice. And the items were not shipped from California; they came from Arizona.
I decided we wouldn't use any supplies until an invoice arrived. I called their phone number. Funny; you call their phone number and you won't get a live person, only a recording.
The next day, I received a voicemail message from "Patricia Nelson, " and she said she would fax over a sheet with prices and that we were "encouraged" to use the supplies. I left her another voicemail message, carefully crafted, saying no, and that if an invoice was not faxed within 24 hours, the items would be considered a gift.
Would you believe I got a message at 6:28 the next morning? She called and gave me her direct line. Well, I called her direct line and I get a male voice stating that "This is the line of Patricia Nelson." I left her my fax number again.
A sheet was faxed over to my office the next day. It was a beautifully written Microsoft Word document. No identifying fax number on it, of course. No totals. However, the prices were vastly different.
I called and left a voicemail message stating that these items were being refused and would be warehoused, unpacked and unused, till we received shipping labels for their return at TP Supply's expense.
The shipping labels finally came a week later, and the boxes are gone.
Nice try, TP Supply.
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