Well, we're off to just the most lovely start of a Wednesday morning.
Normally, Wednesday is the day that everybody loves because that's the day we get paid. Also, since it's the start of a new fiscal quarter, we all got our 401k statements. This last quarter was kind of slow. My net gain was under the total of my contribution and my employer's match, but I digress....
So, all is humming along nicely when in walk the local police. We think nothing of it since we actually had a visit just yesterday from another pair of police regarding the fact that one of the salespeople managed to put a customer number into the system in such a way that it dialed 911 when she tried to send a fax. I tracked that down, fixed it, then fixed the other 3 numbers that were the same (1 each from each of the people in the sales department).
However, when they get into the lobby, they ask for one of our salespeople. She gets called up, and it turns out that she, and thus the company, has been reported for theft of a rather expensive device that we are currently attempting to sell.
This isn't the first time something like this has happened.
And, no, the device is not stolen, regardless of what the original owners might like to claim.
Here's the basic timeline:
Manufacturer creates item.
Manufacturer ships item (either to another location, as a sale, or to a certification body).
Item is "lost" by the carrier.
Manufacturer files a claim (if they have the brains to do so) and gets paid for the item if they have any form of insurance. At this point, they technically are no longer the owners of the item.
Carrier finds the item and may or may not attempt to return the item to the shipper or receiver.
Carrier is unable to deliver item to either party and sends it to the department that sells off lost freight.
Carrier sells the item to the highest bidder, who is now the legal owner of the item.
In this particular case, that bidder was not us so there is an additional step where we purchase the item from the one who purchased it from the carrier.
We are now the current rightful owner of the item in question.
The manufacturer decided they didn't want to believe that and called the police to report it as stolen property, which prompted the police to come pay us a visit.
What usually happens is that either some moron with the factory or some moron with the carrier (it's usually not the carrier) screwed up the labeling for shipment and so it ended up as lost freight.
Now, the manufacturer wants it back, but rather than pay us a decent price to get it back (which would be a hell of a lot cheaper than making a new one and thus a whole hell of a lot cheaper than the price they will end up selling it for), they decide to try to do an end run around us and either cheat us out of it by using the police to steal it from us, or scare us into giving it back.
The US government tried the same trick.
And, like the US government, this company will fail.
^-.-^
Normally, Wednesday is the day that everybody loves because that's the day we get paid. Also, since it's the start of a new fiscal quarter, we all got our 401k statements. This last quarter was kind of slow. My net gain was under the total of my contribution and my employer's match, but I digress....
So, all is humming along nicely when in walk the local police. We think nothing of it since we actually had a visit just yesterday from another pair of police regarding the fact that one of the salespeople managed to put a customer number into the system in such a way that it dialed 911 when she tried to send a fax. I tracked that down, fixed it, then fixed the other 3 numbers that were the same (1 each from each of the people in the sales department).
However, when they get into the lobby, they ask for one of our salespeople. She gets called up, and it turns out that she, and thus the company, has been reported for theft of a rather expensive device that we are currently attempting to sell.
This isn't the first time something like this has happened.
And, no, the device is not stolen, regardless of what the original owners might like to claim.
Here's the basic timeline:
Manufacturer creates item.
Manufacturer ships item (either to another location, as a sale, or to a certification body).
Item is "lost" by the carrier.
Manufacturer files a claim (if they have the brains to do so) and gets paid for the item if they have any form of insurance. At this point, they technically are no longer the owners of the item.
Carrier finds the item and may or may not attempt to return the item to the shipper or receiver.
Carrier is unable to deliver item to either party and sends it to the department that sells off lost freight.
Carrier sells the item to the highest bidder, who is now the legal owner of the item.
In this particular case, that bidder was not us so there is an additional step where we purchase the item from the one who purchased it from the carrier.
We are now the current rightful owner of the item in question.
The manufacturer decided they didn't want to believe that and called the police to report it as stolen property, which prompted the police to come pay us a visit.
What usually happens is that either some moron with the factory or some moron with the carrier (it's usually not the carrier) screwed up the labeling for shipment and so it ended up as lost freight.
Now, the manufacturer wants it back, but rather than pay us a decent price to get it back (which would be a hell of a lot cheaper than making a new one and thus a whole hell of a lot cheaper than the price they will end up selling it for), they decide to try to do an end run around us and either cheat us out of it by using the police to steal it from us, or scare us into giving it back.
The US government tried the same trick.
And, like the US government, this company will fail.
^-.-^
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