OFFICE-SUPPLY SCAMS CONTINUE TO MOUNT

[Anonymous]

http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2009/may/29/office-supply-scam-complaints-continue-to-mount/
Office supply scam complaints continue to mount
A
Columbia office supply business accused of scamming or misleading
customers from coast to coast appears to be operating with impunity,
according to the Better Business Bureau.
In fact, according to
complaint reports, SVT Inc. has actually accelerated its
activity.“They’re just thumbing their nose at authorities, consumer
groups and, most of all, consumers,” said Bill Smith, an investigator
with the St. Louis-based BBB. “They’re basically saying, ‘We’re going
to do whatever we want, and it doesn’t matter what you think.’… It’s a
crying shame.”The BBB first issued a warning March 26 about the
company, which operates out of a warehouse off of Route E in northwest
Columbia. Customers had complained that SVT telemarketers were calling
with pitches that included deception. Typically, the complaints said,
an SVT telemarketer would call a company purchasing agent, claiming to
have already spoken to the company’s chief financial officer who, the
caller claimed, green-lighted the purchase of office supplies at a
discount. “We’re moving our business and need to unload inventory,” was
the typical sales claim.

The purchasing agent would agree to buy
a small quantity of office supplies at half off or more. But the buyer
was typically surprised later when large quantities of supplies were
delivered, with an invoice in the thousands of dollars.Since reports
from the BBB and the Tribune were published in March, SVT does not
appear to have changed its tactics. The BBB has received 17 complaints
from customers since March 28, including seven in May, bringing the
total to 31.“They just seem to be flaunting what they’re doing — their
bad business practices,” Smith said. “And they don’t seem to care. This
is what’s making them money, and they’re going to keep on doing it.”SVT
is linked to other mail-order office supply companies that previously
operated in Dardanelle, Ark., and Fort Mohave, Ariz. Both have
generated similar consumer complaints, according to the BBB. SVT owner
Michael O’Keefe, 34, of Jefferson City received a Columbia business
license in August.

At the SVT warehouse this morning, men were
taping up boxes of supplies including pens and paper clips. They
claimed to know nothing about the controversy and deferred questions to
O’Keefe. Attempts to reach O’Keefe on office, home and cell phones were
unsuccessful.All but three of the complaints against SVT have been
resolved, according to BBB records. Often this occurs by allowing the
unsatisfied customer to return supplies free of charge. Investigators
believe that SVT hopes invoices for the unwanted supplies will simply
be overlooked and paid by the accounting division of a company.Brenda
Hirsch, a buyer for an air-monitoring corporation in Santa Rosa,
Calif., is one of the latest to file a complaint. This month, Hirsch
said, an SVT representative called and mentioned her CFO’s name.

She
said she agreed to buy nine boxes of Sharpies and highlighters at $1.49
per box, plus Post-It notes and other supplies. Hirsch expected the
total to be less than $200 and was astounded when four huge boxes
arrived with an invoice of $3,280. She had been charged $1.49 per
pen.“I was shocked and pissed, to say the least,” she said. Hirsch
refused to pay and is awaiting a label to ship the goods back. “It
makes me not trust anybody,” she said.

Others complainants have
reported badgering sales tactics and promises of deal-sweeteners such
as free cameras.“It was just kind of shady,” said Stefanie Romagni, a
contract administrator with a landscaping company in Ohio. Romagni said
she was pressured into buying supplies by an SVT representative she
thought was a relative of her CFO. She canceled after reading about SVT
and confirming that the salesperson didn’t know her CFO.The Missouri
attorney general’s office has reported five complaints about SVT.

[Author]

June 9, 2009 at 10:22 AM