A representative called and spoke to the Controller of our company, asking what types of items we normally use. Then they called me to read that list of items and gave me the low prices per item that we'd get if we ordered from them.
I figured out what we wanted and submitted a purchase order to my manager for approval, then called back. You don't get a regular person when you call, you *must* leave a message and have them call back. I placed my order, being sure to say what we wanted. The lady taking the order then said we had to order a minimum of a gross of each product, and didn't say that some prices were based on per each (in the case of pens that normally come in units of 12) and some weren't. I had to revise my order and I ordered the minimum on a few items.
The order came, but we got a box of pens that we didn't order and we didn't get a box of markers that we did order. Also, some of the product that I had asked about to be sure it was what we wanted wasn't exactly what we wanted. I called, once again getting the message machine, and they called back and arranged for a return of the unwanted pens.
The invoice arrived, and it had terms on it that gave a discount if paid within 10 days. Unfortunately, the invoice arrived *two months* after that date. We had also been charged way more than expected, due to the tricky pricing schemes they had.
We got the invoice down in price after negotiation, but their slimy ways made us be very cautious of any phone calls like that ever again. They had told us that they had a bunch of surplus supplies that they had to get rid of right away, so it sounded like they had stolen these supplies from someone and were trying to get rid of them before they were caught.
I sent them a Form W9 when we sent in our payment, but they never returned it.
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