Toner pirates are one of the dangers to small businesses that it's important to know about before they strike. The main idea they use is that good toner is expensive, and businesses are always having to buy it. They use a variety of tricks to try to separate small businesses from their money without delivering on exactly what was promised.
Elusive Phone Salespeople
When someone calls and claims to be a toner salesperson, it's perfectly acceptable to ask for some proof of what they claim. That's because calling and trying to make a deal from toner over the phone is one of the favorite ways that toner pirates operate. They may claim to be an independent dealer in toner, or they may give a business name that is hard to find anything about. The end result is generally that there is no toner after the money changes hands, but there are other tricks of the trade as well.
Bait and Switch
If you see toner arrive and assume that you haven't been taken by toner pirates, you still may be mistaken. One of their typical scams is to sell your company its toner brand, or, at least, a top brand, and then to deliver a sub-standard toner by a generic brand. The generic toner may have been used to refill a brand-name package, or the toner pirate may just substitute the generic equivalent without trying to hide it. Another version of this scam is to sell expired toner that is damaging when used in copiers.
Price Switching
Even if you do get the toner that you ordered and paid for, it may be that you'll be paying a lot more than you bargained for. It's common for the agreed-upon price to be forgotten as the company card is charged several times that amount. Or, the card may be charged again and again for a single delivery. Both of these scams can occur when you don't know who you're buying your company's toner from.
If you want toner that is high quality and costs what it should, contact us today to find out more, and stay well away from toner pirates.
