A Consumer Alert - Deceptive Telemarketing of Copier and Printer supplies is on the rise.
Telemarketers engaging in fraudulent or high pressure sales tactics have become a problem within the industry, and it is a problem that TonerMonkey would like the consumer to have all the facts about. How serious is it? The Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Postal Service, and the Better Business Bureaus nationwide have judged the problem serious enough to issue warnings about so called "toner pirates" and "toner phoners" practices, and in some cases, investigations have led to lawsuits and FBI raids against deceptive telemarketing companies.
TonerMonkey.com main concern is for the consumer who is just looking to get a fair deal on copier and printer supplies. Even though deceptive telemarketers say that the prices they offer are exceptionally low, in fact the opposite is usually true; the prices are often grossly inflated.
Here's what to watch for ( 1 ) The caller tries to avoid giving their phone number. ( 2 ) The sales pitch is high pressure, with a time element - if you don't act now the special price being offered will end. ( 3 ) These operations often get information about your equipment by pretending to be a Customer Service representative making a customer satisfaction survey. Once they know the machines you are using a salesman will call back with the pitch tailored to your specific equipment.
Here's What to do:
( 1 ) Always get information about any salesperson calling whom you are not familiar with including; company name, phone number, address, etc. Most deceptive telemarketers will not give out such information and just hang up.
( 2 ) Get the offer in writing including all carton contents and compare prices with TonerMonkey.com before you buy.
( 3 ) Establish an office policy that you do not give out the information on your equipment to a person calling regardless if they are from the store where you purchased the equipment from or not. Designate one person that is in charge of the equipment and supplies for your company.
( 4 ) Establish a policy for receiving deliveries from UPS, FedEx and other deliveries to count individual items of value when they are delivered not just the number of boxes.
( 5 ) If you come in contact with one of these deceptive telemarketers, report it to the Federal Trade Commission, the Postal Service or your local Better Business Bureau.
These deceptive telemarketing companies operate is such a way that it is hard for the consumer to recognize the inflated prices. The most common practice is to use what the industry calls "short cartons". A short carton may contain only half the number of toner cartridges that a standard carton from the manufacture would contain.
Example: Canon NP 1200 toner NPG-1 contains 4 cartridges to a carton and sells on our site for $ 49.95 and a Canon Suggested Retail Price on this product is $ 88.00 but these telemarketers will sell a carton of 2 cartridges for $ 80.00 claiming you save $ 8.00 a carton; but the special ends today. So if you want to get the bargain, you must act now !!!
This is how they catch the consumer off guard. Because they know that if they ship the product to a medium sized company . . . Joe in the warehouse will receive the product and sign for 5 cartons when UPS or FedEx Delivers. But Maryann in accounts payable gets an invoice for the 5 cartons of toner which matches what Joe in the warehouse received but since these cartons are short compared to Canon's packaging there is no way for Maryann to know that the cartons are short. She goes a head and pays the invoice from the telemarketing firm.
In fact the cost of the toner becomes $ 44.00 per cartridge compared to $ 49.95 for a carton of 4 on our web site at www.TonerMonkey.com. Now that's $ 176.00 per carton. That is $ 126.05 higher than our price and that's really being nice. Many of these companies actually go way beyond that inflating the price by several hundred percent of what the product normally sells for.
If you wish to submit a report of your experience, you may submit a complaint through the Better Business Bureau or writer to one of the following agencies to report your experience.
United States Postal Service PO BOX 4140 Burbank, CA 91503
Federal Trade Commission - Division of Marketing Practices 6th Street and Pennsylvania Ave. NW Washington D.C. 20580
( 1 ) Remember always get the telephone number of the person your talking to and address, if possible. If you have caller ID and the phone number is blocked tell the caller to hang up and redial once they have removed the block off of their phone number.
( 2 ) Get the offer in writing on their company letterhead including cost of shipping and handling, contents of each carton and Brand names of the products. Be careful of phrases on the quote like "for use in" or "compatible with" because these phrases indicate a generic product.
TonerMonkey.com hopes these tips will stop these fraudulent telemarketers in their tracks and saves you the consumer a ton of banana's not to mention all the headaches
About Author
Lee Alexander
Source: ArticleTrader.com