by
Carl Hampton
09/29/2006
Are you tired of getting charged or invoiced
for a directory listing you never placed?
What about those purchase orders for
supplies you never even ordered. Well guess
what? You are not alone.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the
nation’s consumer protection agency, says
that businesses, churches, fraternal and
charitable organizations are losing millions
of dollars a year to bogus firms that
mislead them into paying for unordered and
unwanted directory listings.
According to the FTC, con artists trick an
organization’s employees into providing a
name and address so a deceptive seller can
bill the organization for an unordered and
often useless business directory listing.
These scammers often pretend to verify or
renew a company’s “existing” directory
listing. Employees often provide the
information, because the scammers claim
they’ve done so in the past. The scammer
then send as many urgent invoices as it
takes to get paid, sometimes including a
useless “directory,” sometimes not. They
create confusion and count on an
organization paying to avoid their hounding.
If and when this happens to you refuse to
pay, the scam sellers may try to use
high-pressure tactics, like threatening you
with legal action. They will offer you a
phony discount and claim that it's a deal.
If you received a directory they may allow
you to return it (if you pay the shipping
costs) but insist that you pay for the
“listing”. These directories are usually
worthless and are rarely distributed as
promised. In any case if you pay for the
“listing,” you will then receive
additional invoices from the same scam
artists or from others who have bought your
organization’s contact information.
Do some research if you are considering a
listing in a legitimate business directory.
Call the Better Business Bureau in your
community or the publisher. Ask the company
for a previous edition of the directory (or
the web sited for the online directory) and
for documentation about distribution. It is
okay to ask advertisers in previous editions
about their experiences with the directory.
Finally, close the gaps in your purchasing
procedures and alert your staff to these
scams.
Train your staff in different ways to
respond to telemarketers. Remind your
employees that they cannot make the
decisions to order supplies. They should say
something along these lines, “I’m not
authorized to place orders. If you're
interested in selling us something, you must
speak to so-and-so and obtain a purchase
order.” There should be two teams
established: one that includes the employees
who buy and receive merchandise; the second
team pays the bills, and develops buying
procedures. You should be skeptical of
unsolicited calls. Let your staff know to
say no to sellers who use high-pressure
tactics. If you are mildly interested, ask
the suppliers to send a catalog.
If you receive merchandise verify that the
merchandise matches the shipper’s bill of
lading and your purchase order. Pay special
attention to brands and quantity, and refuse
any merchandise that doesn’t match up. If
everything is in order, send a copy of the
bill to the accounts payable department.
Don’t pay any supplier unless the invoice
has the correct purchase order number, and
the information on the invoice matches the
purchase order.
The FTC suggests some steps to cease paying
for services you didn't ordered. When
ordering services, make sure that purchase
orders are electronic or in written form, or
both. The suppliers name should be on the
purchase order and there should be a P.O.
number on the invoice. You can request for
the buyer to send a copy of every purchase
order to the accounts payable department.
Finally, you should know that you do have
rights. If you receive supplies or services
you didn’t order, you should not have to
pay but don’t return unordered merchandise
either. Treat any unordered merchandise as a
gift because it is illegal for companies to
ask you to send back the merchandise even if
they offer to pay for shipping. It could be
possible that the seller made a mistake, but
that is usually not the case. It is also
illegal for a seller to send you bills or
notices for merchandise you didn’t order.
When it comes to certain kinds of
business-to-business merchandise sales there
is protection. The FTC’s Telemarketing
Sales Rule regulates phone sales of
non-durable office or cleaning supplies to
businesses. Non-durable supplies are those
that you routinely order, for instance,
copier toner, or maintenance supplies.
According to the FTC, telemarketers must
tell you it’s a sales call as well as
who’s doing the selling before they make
their pitch. By law they must tell you the
cost of each item and then a total of the
order. They mustr also tell you if there are
restrictions, and if a sale is final or
non-refundable.
Have an opinion or a question you would like
me to answer, then write me!
http://www.CarlHampton.com
“Your” Money Matters By Carl Hampton
From the Author of “From
Credit Despair To Credit Millionaire”
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