I received a call back in November (I am my company's office manager) from a woman claiming to be from our toner supply company, apologizing that the rates for our [she stated the type of copier we had] had been increased but their company messed up by not informing us at least 30 days in advance of the price increase. Therefore, as a result of their "error", the company was going to, in good faith, offer us 3 more toners at our earlier price before the increase. She fell all over herself apologizing and that this was basically the least they could do. She asked me if I would like to order at the discount. She implied that all 3 toners would be at the original price and it was not per toner.
Essentially what happened is that she painted me into a corner, causing me to believe that this was truly a mistake and if I didn't take advantage of it, we would be otherwise paying the new higher price. She had specific information about the type of machine we had, my name, my company name, and our address, and I was caught off guard at the call but nonetheless though it must be something I should do. I said okay, and she told me a man named (I don't recall so I'll just call him George) was going to follow up with me from their shipping warehouse later with a phone call to confirm the order and price and shipping information. She said to make sure he was quoting me the correct price of $439 plus shipping, "to make sure we are getting the 'discount'". I said okay and we hung up.
At first I didn't think anything of it, but then later that day I received the call from the guy "at the shipping warehouse" asking me a series of questions to basically re-confirm the information told to me earlier and that my address was correct and it would be shipped within a few days. At that point it started to seem odd, but I dismissed it and moved on.
Approximately a week later I received one (1) copier toner in the mail from UPS. A few days later, I received an invoice for $500.46 ($439 for the toner and $61.46 for the shipping). I sent the invoice to my CPA, and they paid it. I thought that was the end of it.
About a week later, I received another call from the girl who sold me the first toner apologizing that they didn't send the others but they would be coming and "George" would be calling me to confirm my recipient info again. I was confused and said I didn't want or need any additional toner and she just apologized again and said it was their mistake and they'd be shipped separately. She told me it was all a part of the original order, which I took to mean there were multiple toners coming for the one invoice I paid.
As expected, "George" at the shipping warehouse called me later that day, also apologizing that they failed to originally send all 3 toners out and they would be sent separately over the next week or two. At this point I knew something was fishy. I told "George" that I didn't want or need any more toners, that I already have 2 on hand, which included the one I received from Summit the week before, and we only go through about one toner per year so it's ridiculous for me to take on anymore.
He sounded stunned and began stammering and saying to me, "well, did you not confirm this order on the phone earlier?" I said I agreed to get a toner, which I already received, and already paid for, but not for additional toners. He seemed to me as if the wind had been taken out of his sails, and he told me he would have the rep call me back. He was very indignant. I said not to worry about it, just don't ship it to me because I do not want or need it and Im not going to pay for any more. About 20 minutes later I received call from the same girl who originally "sold" me the toner.
I told her in these exact words "do NOT ship me any more toner and do NOT send me any more invoices—I do not want any and I will not pay for more." She was talking very fast, as if to almost not let me get a word in, trying to tell me again that they were extending this special price to us and this was all part of the original order. I said, "Okay, so you are telling me you are sending these toners as part of the first order and no additional invoices will be coming?" She told me yes, that "it's all part of the order and I get them anyway." So once more before we hung up, I said, "okay, if this toner (s) coming are FREE or already paid for in the original order, then you may ship them, however I am NOT paying for anything more." She thanked me and hung up.
"George" called once more to confirm the address and order and I said to him, "Now George, just so we are straight, I DID NOT order more toner, but have been told that this was part of my original order that I have already been invoiced for and paid for, and I will not be receiving further invoices or charges. Is this correct?" He claimed to be the shipping person and that whatever I had discussed with the sales rep was the deal.
To end this saga, I received last week another toner from Summit, which I tossed into the copy room, inevitably to sit for a couple of years until I actually needed it. And sure enough, today I received ANOTHER invoice for $500.46 for an order allegedly placed by ME.
I was so incensed that I just scribbled on the invoice "I did NOT order this-I, in fact, said DO NOT send it and I am not paying for additional toners. I am going to report this to the California Attorney General. Additionally, if you would like your toner back, you may come pick it up. I am not incurring ANY expense to send it back." And I promptly mailed the invoice back.
It was at that point I got online and dug around... Sure enough, if it smells like a fish, looks like a fish, then it probably IS a fish. This is a total scam and I'm so mad at myself for even getting sucked into it in the first place.
Buyers beware... I am the person in charge of operational decisions in my office so this is something I should have been wiser to at the beginning but even me, the biggest skeptic I know, fell for it and I now hope they won't drag it on or make it any worse than it already was. Just be aware and dont let it happen to you.
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