Phony sales pitches don't fool employees; editor duped
Tony Gonzalez
Issue date: 11/8/07 Section: News
The calls came unannounced. On the line was a pleasant but persistent female voice asking if the Hillsdale College or Hillsdale Academy employee would like to receive a shipment of discounted printer cartridges.
But the cold call sales pitches, complete with phony business names like Digitech and Laser Works, fell on deaf ears. At least four times this semester, employees rebuked suspicious offers and alerted Informational Technology Services.
Registrar Doug McArthur spoke to a "really persistent" representative.
"What they told me was they had another customer who had defaulted on an order, so this sales person was sitting on some toner cartridges and wanted to sell them at a discount," McArthur said. "The red flag for us was that we had just ordered cartridges."
In September, Bobbie Brown, aide to the executive director of ITS, posted a warning message to faculty and staff, advising that no printer information be given to callers.
"The caller may even get creative and say they are just 'verifying' the information they already have . . . They will probably end up hanging up on you," the notice said. "These people are either fishing for the types [of printers] that we use on campus or will send you toner that you did not order and a bill."
Brown said she told one caller that all toner purchases go through James Sarles, purchasing manager and inventory clerk for the college.
"The trouble is, especially as a new person at the college, I'm not familiar with the purchasing process," McArthur said.
At least one Hillsdale Academy employee, Secretary Pat Iszler, confirmed a similar sales call.
How The Collegian reported this story
I received not one but two sales calls inquiring about printers and promising big savings. Although Collegian policy prevents reporters from writing on topics of personal interest, editors agreed this article is a reasonable exception and prime for a behind-the-scenes reporting note.
The first cartridge call I received came unassuming into The Collegian office. With guard down, I volunteered information about our office printers.
Bewildered, I wondered if the caller was with a local business or in partnership with the college. The unnamed female caller seemed to know our equipment and she promised a substantial discount. Good thing we weren't low on ink that day. I turned down the offer but asked for a number to call back. The sales representative took mine instead and promised to call the next day.
"Next day" became two months when, sitting in my apartment, an unlisted phone number rang my cell phone. It was Rhonda with Laser Works, checking on our Xerox printer and curious if I had checked The Collegian budget.
Not to be hoodwinked again, I stalled and opened a document to take notes. Allegedly from Missouri, Laser Works was offering a $324.20 cartridge for just $297.
"You can't help with just one cartridge?" Rhonda asked, mentioning a 25 percent restock fee if she had to return the unsold cartridges.
But I don't buy the fee, didn't buy the cartridges and still haven't found a Laser Works listed in Missouri.
- Tony Gonzalez
Hillsdale College Collegian, 2007
But the cold call sales pitches, complete with phony business names like Digitech and Laser Works, fell on deaf ears. At least four times this semester, employees rebuked suspicious offers and alerted Informational Technology Services.
Registrar Doug McArthur spoke to a "really persistent" representative.
"What they told me was they had another customer who had defaulted on an order, so this sales person was sitting on some toner cartridges and wanted to sell them at a discount," McArthur said. "The red flag for us was that we had just ordered cartridges."
In September, Bobbie Brown, aide to the executive director of ITS, posted a warning message to faculty and staff, advising that no printer information be given to callers.
"The caller may even get creative and say they are just 'verifying' the information they already have . . . They will probably end up hanging up on you," the notice said. "These people are either fishing for the types [of printers] that we use on campus or will send you toner that you did not order and a bill."
Brown said she told one caller that all toner purchases go through James Sarles, purchasing manager and inventory clerk for the college.
"The trouble is, especially as a new person at the college, I'm not familiar with the purchasing process," McArthur said.
At least one Hillsdale Academy employee, Secretary Pat Iszler, confirmed a similar sales call.
How The Collegian reported this story
I received not one but two sales calls inquiring about printers and promising big savings. Although Collegian policy prevents reporters from writing on topics of personal interest, editors agreed this article is a reasonable exception and prime for a behind-the-scenes reporting note.
The first cartridge call I received came unassuming into The Collegian office. With guard down, I volunteered information about our office printers.
Bewildered, I wondered if the caller was with a local business or in partnership with the college. The unnamed female caller seemed to know our equipment and she promised a substantial discount. Good thing we weren't low on ink that day. I turned down the offer but asked for a number to call back. The sales representative took mine instead and promised to call the next day.
"Next day" became two months when, sitting in my apartment, an unlisted phone number rang my cell phone. It was Rhonda with Laser Works, checking on our Xerox printer and curious if I had checked The Collegian budget.
Not to be hoodwinked again, I stalled and opened a document to take notes. Allegedly from Missouri, Laser Works was offering a $324.20 cartridge for just $297.
"You can't help with just one cartridge?" Rhonda asked, mentioning a 25 percent restock fee if she had to return the unsold cartridges.
But I don't buy the fee, didn't buy the cartridges and still haven't found a Laser Works listed in Missouri.
- Tony Gonzalez
Hillsdale College Collegian, 2007
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 4
TJ Thompson
posted 2/04/09 @ 12:39 PM EST
I received one of these calls today (2-4-09)
there is a Laser Works in Missouri that I found:
High Performance Laser Works.... Wholly owned by MTEK, Inc. (Continued…)
Katie
posted 5/04/09 @ 12:51 PM EST
One of our staff was just recently duped by this same sales pitch. Not realizing what a toner cartridge cost agreed to purchase 1 cartridge. This was after a very intense sales pitch about purchasing 10 for $3,500+. (Continued…)
HGH
posted 12/26/09 @ 4:42 PM EST
Looks good!
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