The other day at work, I got a phone call from some woman determining herself as ‘Robin’. She wanted to know what kind of printer we had inside our office. I immediately recognized she was endeavoring to pull the old toner rip-off on me, therefore I played along just a little to observe how she worked well.
First, She was asked by me why she wished to know very well what kind of printer we had. She said it was because her boss informed her that there are ‘some kind of mix-up’ and she needed to ensure she had the correct information. I asked her if it was regarding a bill, and she said no. Then I asked her how there may be any mix-up if we didn’t order anything from them. She replied by requesting me if there are other people there in my own department who may help her.
I informed her no and she hung up on me. What she really wished to know was if there was somebody else dumb enough to provide her our computer printer info. You observe, my father-in-law possesses the office-supply business that we buy all our toner. I would tell her that, but she hung up on me before a chance was got by me.
What this ‘Robin’ was looking to do can be an old scam that individuals still run today. They have various titles but is generally thought to be the ‘toner scam’ or ‘ink cartridge rip-off’ since it always involves laser printing device toner cartridges or inkjet computer printer cartridges. What sort of rip-off works is they find out what kind of printer you have and send you some printer ink for it, while you purchased anything never.
They let you keep the printer ink for a while in the hopes that you’ll use it, they send you the costs. Their prices are always a lot more than what you’d normally pay somewhere else. In the event that you call them to question the bill, they shall make an effort to guilt you into paying plus some of these even make threats. Many people pay the bill because of this, otherwise they might feel like these are stealing.
According to the FTC, you don’t have to pay for unordered products. The FTC says it is even unlawful to allow them to expenses you for something they delivered that you didn’t order. Don’t fall into the guilt capture and pay for this, because they are forcing their overpriced products onto you. If you are a victim of the scam, be certain to document a complaint with the FTC and Better Business Bureau. The best defense from this scam is to keep your employees informed about how to recognize it.
The pupil on the getting-end guesses if the handshake is French, American, British, etc. and comes back one of his own or her own. Or you may use the experience to gracefully end the lecture and transition into group work. Here, too, use examples to heighten students’ awareness that lots of factors of human relationships that they assume are universal (and therefore “normal”) aren’t. Time is one factor businesspeople need to comprehend.