I was contacted by a representative who claimed they wanted to introduce their office supplies to us as they were likely able to beat the prices we were currently experiencing. They said they would send a free gift, but in exchange for the free gift they would include a product for a nominal fee. Having just taken responsibility for ordering office supplies, I thought this might be a good opportunity, and we coudl use the free gift as a give away in our company.
I received a acll a few days later from someone who stated they were embarassed to admin, they were having a rough morning, had spilled coffee on my order and needed to verify my information and my order. She said she would be sending a couple of boxes of highligthers at the price of $1.59 each. When I received the items, there were 8 boxes of highlighters and the price was $1.59 per highlighter not per box!
I called to complain and no one answered the phone. I sent an email and the next day was contacted by a representative. He stated that because this was a promotional purchase, they refused to take the items back and insisted on full pyament. He further stated that this was not an unreasonable price for highlighters and that for some products they may be cheaper, but for others they may be more expensive. I don't know of anyone in business who would pay such an exhorbitant amount of money for highlighters.
I made the payment out of my personal bank account as I could see no way of making my employer pay for such a mistake. The total for the 8 boxes of highlighters was — wait for it — $178 (including a $25.94 s&h fee). As a point of reference, I pay $2.49 for a dozen highlighters from my local office supply store. Yes, that's Two Dollars and Forty-Nine Cents for Twelve; NOT $38.16 for Twelve like CompuServe Supply Corporation charged.
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