Beware of Unwanted Sales Calls
Many public organizations receive unwanted sales calls from vendors pitching their products. Sometimes the caller is offering to sell supplies your jurisdiction needs at a competitive price. But beware: sometimes a sales call can lead to trouble.
Unscrupulous vendors may use these calls to send jurisdictions supplies that they never agreed to purchase. Unfortunately, many jurisdictions pay for these supplies and even accept additional shipments, not knowing how to make the vendor stop and fearing legal action.
Please remember that you are under no obligation to accept or pay for supplies you never ordered.
These telemarketing scams can target municipal departments, from fire departments and school food services, to public works and town libraries. This article describes common signs of this type of scam and provides tips about how you can prevent it.
How to Recognize a Scam Involving Unwanted Supplies
Vendors that attempt to manipulate public entities into paying for unordered supplies often employ some common tactics. First, the unexpected or “cold” telephone sales call will start with a vendor offering a “sample” or “trial” amount of a particular product, such as cleaning supplies, which the public organization will agree to accept. The vendor does not send anything in writing confirming the order, and the customer (here, the organization) never signs anything.
After the sample arrives, the customer will start to receive calls from the vendor stating that it is ready to ship the next part of the customer’s order, even though the customer never agreed to order anything more than the sample. The vendor may falsely claim that the customer agreed to buy more than just the sample amount of supplies in that initial sales call, and that the customer must accept and pay for a shipment of additional supplies to “complete” or “fulfill” that initial order.
If a customer pushes back, the vendor may insist that it only provided the low price of the sample or initial trial order because the customer agreed to order or accept future shipments. The vendor may also threaten legal action or a referral to a collection agency to force a customer to agree to pay for supplies they never ordered. These companies often escalate this scheme, shipping larger and more expensive orders, until the customer finally refuses to make any more payments.
Tips for Protecting Your Jurisdiction
You prevent this scam by taking some simple precautions. First, when you place an order, always get a written confirmation that shows what you ordered, the price and the terms of any agreement about pricing or future orders. This documentation can help protect your jurisdiction.
If you keep written records of all your orders, you will be prepared to push back if a vendor tries to trick or bully you.
Second, make sure that everyone in your organization who responds to a vendor inquiry or sales call is authorized to do so and is aware of these scams. Vendors may try to manipulate frontline staff into agreeing to accept a shipment by falsely claiming they did business with the organization in the past, or by saying that a supervisor already signed off on the shipment.
They may do some research into public records to “talk the talk,” meaning they know the names of other employees or officials in your organization. Encourage employees to check with others in the organization if they are not sure about something a vendor says.
Third, if you receive high-pressure or threatening calls from salespeople, tell them to put your organization on their company’s “do not call” list. If they keep calling, report them to the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office.
Finally, if you do get a shipment you did not order, you have no obligation to pay for it or even to return it.
No one, whether private person or public agency, has to pay for or return something they did not order but received in the mail. See M.G.L. c. 93, § 43.
Carefully review every invoice you receive. Do not pay for anything unless you are certain that someone in your organization ordered it.
If a vendor tries to charge your jurisdiction for something that you did not order and do not want, contact the Office of the Inspector General’s confidential fraud hotline at (800) 322-1323 or IGO-FightFraud@state.ma.us. All telephone calls and emails are treated confidentially, and individuals may choose to remain anonymous.