And that will be $499.97, plus GST of course

[prb]

(Phone rings)
Me: _ _ _
Caller: Hi, may I please speak with _?
Me: She's not in the office at the moment, may I take a message?
Call: Well, actually, are you involved in the management of the business?
Me (thinking): Oh fuck, what happened this time
Me: I'm the office administrator at the moment, perhaps I can help you?
Call: Great, what was your name again?
Me: My name is Peter, and may I ask what yours is?
Call: My name's Jeff, I'm calling from _ [don't remember the business name], I'm calling to ensure that your phone directory listing is accurate for next year
Me: Alright, what information do you have?
Jeff: Company Name, Address, Unit Number, Phone, Fax, Website (saying this information as well)
Me: Yes, that's accurate. Thank you for calling, have a great day.
Jeff: Well, actually, we charge a fee for listing, it's $499.97, plus GST of course, and $20 for your portion of shipping the directories.
[hang up]
[pick up phone, call owner/boss/grandmother]
Me: Hi, someone named Jeff just called, to verify a phone book listing
Her: [sigh], I told them not to call after they asked for $250
Me: They asked for $519.97 plus GST this time.
Her: I spent half an hour with him the other day and was late for an appointment because he didn't mention the fee, I assumed it would be for the white pages, or yellow page
Me: Well, just thought I'd let you know in case they call back later, I'll probably see you later, kthxbye.

[LionMan]

Very common scam. Business gives them money and get nothing in return or get a listing in some phone book that nobody ever sees.

Definately be on the lookout for any purchase orders or bills that can suggest this. Many times they like to send those in hopes whoever sees it and pays without knowing what has been happening.

[prb]

Very common scam. Business gives them money and get nothing in return or get a listing in some phone book that nobody ever sees.

But they expect that in an 8 person office, which usually has 2 or 3 people in it at a time, and the owner's name is part of the company name, that people won't talk to each other and once they dont get us for $250, they can try for $400 :S

At least it isn't like the normal scams that I'm getting bored of, "yes, I have no ID, just moved to this country two months ago and have a job, and would like a mortgage" My response it to give them a blank application form and mention that for a Permanent Resident Mortgage they will need to provide their IMM1000 Record of Landing or IMM5292 Confirmation of Permanent Residence (for new immigrants) or Permanent Resident Card and that if they have lost it there's an immigration enforcement office across the road, they can probably give them the proper forms or give him the phone number for someone who can help. They usually say "um, thanks" they never return

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

I have ZERO patience with these people.

Person on other end of phone: "Who handles the yellow pages listing for your company?"
Me: *click!*

[Gerrinson]

Could be worse. Every 4 - 6 months or so our gift shop gets a call about 'we'll be sending out your invoice for $499.95 and just need to verify this info yadda yadda yadda'

Every freaking time the manager says 'Send us the invoice.'

She never questions that she's never heard of the business, nor does she remember ordering from them, etc.

They tried in April to collect, and I shot them down. Then they got sneaky in September and changed their business name. Not the address, just the name, and did it again. With the latest invoice, when I and the Director of Finance (my boss) shot them down, the guy we spoke to called our Gift Shop manager stupid (well, okay, I kind of see his point) and sent it to collections.

I spoke to the collections guy, told him why we challenged it, and he said he'd listen to the tape and call me back if he thought it was a legitimate charge. It's been over a month with no call back, so I'm guessing someone's scam got found out by his (very professional and legitimate) collection agency. Whoops!

[MyEccentricHell]

Very common scam. Business gives them money and get nothing in return or get a listing in some phone book that nobody ever sees.

Definately be on the lookout for any purchase orders or bills that can suggest this. Many times they like to send those in hopes whoever sees it and pays without knowing what has been happening.

In addition to that scam, there's also the scam where they call in & have you check the information on your copier. Then you receive a ton of cartridges & a bill stating you authorized it.

I get both scams several times daily while answering the Call Center lines. God I hate those people!!! *steps off soapbox*

[Horsetuna]

In addition to that scam, there's also the scam where they call in & have you check the information on your copier. Then you receive a ton of cartridges & a bill stating you authorized it.

I get both scams several times daily while answering the Call Center lines. God I hate those people!!! *steps off soapbox*

Mom got this once at her business... So she gave them the serial number off their machien and stuff.

Thing is, she worked at A&W and gave them the number off the Deep Fryer.

But yeah, stupid scammers. I keep getting stuff like that in the mail... at my residential.

[prb]

Mom got this once at her business... So she gave them the serial number off their machien and stuff.

Thing is, she worked at A&W and gave them the number off the Deep Fryer.

But yeah, stupid scammers. I keep getting stuff like that in the mail... at my residential.

Yes, please send me 10 toner cartridges for a Pitco Frialator 35C

[The Grim Shipper]

Also gotten the copier scam attempt a number of times.

Them: "Hi, I'm calling to verify your copier information!"
Me: "Who are you with again?"
Them: "ABC Company"
Me: "We don't get our copier or supplies through you."
Them: *click*

[draftermatt]

The copier people almost got me once. They called and asked for the printer name, I gave it to them not thinking.

A few days later they called back about our order, and asked to talk to me. Told me the price, and all that. I wrote it all down, and asked the office manager. She told me it was a scam.

So when they called again to verify the order I told them I'd never spoken to anyone at that company. Original guy called quite upset, where I again played dumb and told him it couldn't have been me since I was on vacation the week before, and we get our supplies from ***.

He hung up.

The office manager asks them "why do you need to know" and they typically hang up.

I wonder what kind of person you have to be to work for a company like that.

We get the yellow page listing update thing a lot too, but they've never attempted to send a bill for it.

[Qaeria]

Gah!!!

I had these guys too. but they wanted to make sure my contact info was correct, and they provided our address form over 10 years ago.

I had to ask the lady which part of "Fuck Off" did she not understand.

She sez something about me not needing to be rude, and I sez she didn't have to waste my time on an obviously bullshit scam.

[protege]

I've gotten the copier scam quite a few times. Nearly all of those calls start off with them trying to get either the model number or serial number on my copier. Today though, they got more creative. The guy said that there was a recall, and that they were going to mail me new software and owner's manuals. He got pissy when I said that I could download the info off the web, and insisted on trying to send me that crap. Needless to say, I hung up on him

[hopie144]

I get both of those calls all the time. Our company named changed about 5 years ago...so when someone calls using our old business name, I tell them that's not us.
The copier thing, I tell them we have about 4 or 5 copiers in our building (which is true) and I'm not sure what serial numbers they all have. Also tell them I'm not walking all over the building trying to get that info, and that we have our own copier supplier. As for the phone listing people, I just tell them we're not interested and hang up.

Oh and some people are very creative. They'll call for the owner of the company, sometimes asking for his name....and I'll say he's not in (he's really not, that's why he's the owner, duh! Plus he works out of a different office) so the guy callling will say, "Oh what's his cell number again? I had it but lost it," or "I have it but not at my desk right now." I just tell them I'm not supposed to give that info out.

C'mon pal. I'm not stupid. If you REALLY know the owner "Henry" then you already have his contact info and you know he doesn't work in this office...duh.

[Mark Healey]

In addition to that scam, there's also the scam where they call in & have you check the information on your copier. Then you receive a ton of cartridges & a bill stating you authorized it.

Hey, free stuff to try to ebay (we get a lot of our office type consubables there.). I don't know what country you're in but under U.S. law, if you are sent something you didn''t order, it's yours to keep or do whatever you want with (much to the chagrin of the cuecat people).

[Alpha Strike]

I'm obviously a bit slow today since I'm missing how the Copier scam works.

Are these people sending you parts/items you didn't order for your Copier and then billing you some outrageous sum? Or is there something else I'm not catching here?>