The BBB serving Central California is warning businesses about United Supply, an alleged business machine supply company.
The company appears to be using a foreign-based call center and has contacted businesses in Central California requesting information about business machines being used. They say they are a supply company but are soliciting the information to provide the businesses with technical updates on the machines. When asked why a supply company would be involved in technical updates, the callers become agitated and hang up.
Legitimate companies frequently use the telephone and the mail to solicit businesses. So do crafty swindlers. Some employ a "boiler room" full of phone salespeople to contact businesses with phony offers. Using carefully prepared scripts or "pitch sheets," these slick telephone solicitors try to sell businesses almost anything, most commonly office supplies which are inferior, such as copy machine paper or toner, and specialty items that turn out to be totally different from what you were told you would receive.
Even if you don't agree to buy anything, these phone calls are frequently followed by official looking invoices for the product or service. If the invoice is paid, the victim is branded a "sucker" and additional telephone sales pitches will be made to that same firm over and over again.
To prevent your business from being taken by these schemes, the BBB offers the following tips:
- Don't buy from new suppliers until you have verified their existence and reliability, particularly when contacted by phone.
- Ask for a sample of specialty items before you buy.
- Establish effective internal controls, channel all bills through one department, and verify all billing authorizations.
- Don't pay until all invoices are verified against goods or services received.
- Don't give out any information about your office machines over the telephone unless you're sure you know with whom you're talking. If you're not certain, ask for a call-back number you can verify. Alert your receptionist and staff to these precautions.
- If you do receive unordered merchandise you are not required to return it. If the company calls and requests the return, you are not responsible for return charges.
Beware of exaggerated claims for services or products. Deals that sound too good to be true usually are. Contact the BBB at 800-675-8118 or bbb.org to obtain a reliability report on the soliciting company before purchasing anything from a new or unknown supplier. If you have received merchandise that was not ordered, contact the U.S. Postal Inspection Service at 877-876-2455, option 4.
The bottom line is don’t buy from unknown suppliers and don’t put any supplies of unknown quality in your printers or copiers.