National Imaging Systems review: Toner Scam 30

Similar to other complaints filed against this company, this company calls and trys to get you to buy a toner cartridge from you. We told them we are not interested and they still sent the toner cartridge and charges 5 times the normal price for the toner cartridge even though you do not approve the purchase.

They do not pay to send it back so when we did not send it back, they continue to bug and threaten to send you to the collectors and charge finance charges if you do not pay. We refuse to pay scam companies such as this company.

To anyone who reads this, you probably got here the same way I did. You got a call, you gave a name (even only your first name) then you got some toner in the mail and not long after a bill for about 4 times what the toner was worth. All of this happens regardless of what you have said to them. If you did not immediately right REFUSE on the package and give it back to the postal service then read below.

Here is some information to help:

NATIONAL IMAGING SYSTEMS INC.
Corporation Number: C2153945
Date Filed: 1/6/2000
Status: active Jurisdiction: California
Address PO BOX 3395 VAN NUYS, CA 91407
Agent for Service of Process VINCENZO AUTIERO
1224 CORNING ST STE 5 LOS ANGELES, CA 90035

File complaints with the FTC and State of California Attorney General:

CA AG:
http://ag.ca.gov/contact/complaint_form.php?cmplt=CL

FTC:
https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/ (Click on big button on the right)

If enough people complain it will get some attention. These guys have been at it for a little while now, they are overdue to be shut down.

Same here, only they are trying to collect an invoice from 2/2/2009. (yes, 2 years ago). Called and spoke with Marie, asked her for all of her backup ie: packing slip, what our PO number was, etc. She assured she would fax it over.

The same happened to me. I was sent a toner cartridge back in 2009, which was suppose to be a FREE Trial. I specifically told the person who called that if there was going to be any charge anytime, that I did not want it. I also told them that I was not issuing a purchase order for the item because it was a FREE trial. They sent the cartridge and just like everyone else, I received an invoice for this cartridge. I called back and told them that it was suppose to be free and they told me to disregard the invoice that is was sent in error and they would have it taken care of. Later, about 2-3 months, I received a call saying that the invoice was late and I needed to pay it. I was told that I had to pay it because it was past the 30-day trial period and I had not returned the cartridge. They offered to send me their Terms (which were never discussed or sent before) staing that I only had a 30-day free trial. I gave them my email address and I never received the Terms. I received calls and invoices every month thereafter and told them that I was not suppose to pay for the toner and that I was performing a trial on it and would let them know how it worked. After several months (it takes that long for me to go through a toner cartridge), I reported to them exactly how many copies I printed from their cartridge and how many from HP. Their cartridge did not perform as well and the copies were not as clear. Now they are threatening me and saying they are going to call our Plant Manager and my boss at the Corporate office to get this paid for. They are also threatening to turn this in on my Personal Credit (which is illegal according to our corporate attorney). Victoria will call and she will talk over you and really knows how to push your buttons.
I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and she told me they had more complaints about them than National Imaging and they were not reputable. I reported this also to the Better Business Bureau and they told me that I could report to the Federal Trade Commission and the State Attorney General's office, which I intend on doing. Do not pay these people and do not accept their FREE Trials.

I just learned today about this scam that National Imaging Systems operates on. While I was waiting on hold to speak to someone, I looked them up on the Better Business Bureau website. They have the lowest possible grade rating of "F." The "Complaint Experience" section describes to a tee what I'm experiencing with these scammers. When I told her what I read about them on the BBB website, she had the nerve to tell me that the Better Business Bureau was NOT a reputable company. I literally laughed.

this person ryanak obvioulsy has way to much time on there hands. everything that was stated is so not true and how would a telemarketer know what "legal fines".

They just invoiced us again, after we informed them that we would not pay.. 10 mo. later, guess they thought we might change our minds..

Same thing here... They contacted me and offered to send a trial toner. I informed them our company does not accept trials... About 2 weeks later one showed up. We did try it but it was crap. I called them and informed them that is was not up to our standards. About a week later I received and invoice, so I contacted them and was told to ignore it. Low and behold... About 6 months later I was contacted by Jay and told I need to pay the invoice. I informed Jay that we would not be paying for a a trial toner and that I was informed to ignore the invoice. He said I should have sent the toner back but I also informed him that I was never told to return it... They won't be getting paid by us neither... I am sending all of this information to our corporate legal office... Let them deal with them...

Additionally the price of toner from telemarketers isn't 2-3 times higher than normal pricing it's 5-10 times higher. I'm in the industry and have been for the last 25 years. This company is giving us all a bad name.

Unfortunately the above comment is simply innacurate. That isn't how the pitch goes and the statement that the scam artist will threaten threaten with "legal fines", simply doesn't make sense. How could a telemarketer fine you?

Same crap here. These idiots have been trying to get money from my company for a while. Fortunately everyone in our company knows that they are completely fradulent, illegal company and they are seriously wasting their time. They even tried to call my dad, who runs our office, and warned him that it's going to be on our credit report. oooooooh.

What a bunch of dummies. They are obsessed with getting a toner back for a printer that we don't even have...I have ALL the information about their "company, " the attorney general, the BBB, the Van Nuys police department...any and every type of authority that could relate to them.

THERE IS NOOOOO WAY IN HELL THEY EEEVER ARE GETTING MONEY OR TONER OR ANYTHING FROM THIS COMPANY. What THEY are doing is illegal and NOBODY needs to respond to their BS unless it's through a BBB complaint or a complaint to the attorney general.

I sent a letter stating that we were not going to pay, all calls stopped.

Wow I could have written any of the comments above. This Danny fellow called claiming to be from a collection agency. When he told me to "man up" and pay my bills I must admit I lost it! Then he had the nerve to call my HR dept and say he felt threatened! Funny stuff there. California, what kind of laws do they have there?

Wow if your company will pay for something without followup or even an idea what it's for it's really no wonder these idiots are still around. Sad to hear these scam artists got another one.

The same for me. Some lady (didnt catch her name) from this scamming company called and offered me a free sample toner to try for 30 days. I told her that I was not interested but she insited that it was a free sample trial and in 30 days all I had to do was called and let them know if I was interested in purschaing the product. Within 30 days I called them back and told them that I was not interested. Mind you with the toner came a packing slip with no P.O. number or a price.This was on 9/2009. Then a month later I got a invoice with a price of 229.99. I called them back and talked to a guy named Danny and explained to him that I was told it was a sample toner and i would not be charged for it.
(He was going to check into and call me back) He never called me back and guess what I got another bill for 229.99 4 months later. I called them back and talked to this Danny character and was told that I do owe for the toner and he asked me how much we pay for the toners we are now using. I told him what we were paying and he said he would talk to his boss about lowing the price. (Even though the toner was a free sample) He called me back and said he could lower the price to 199.99 by the time we got done with the discustion about the money (that i didnt owe them) the price went down again to 169.99. Then I got a call from a Jay Kennedy wanting their money ( in the mean time I talked to my boss ) we didnt send them any money. I put the invoice away in a folder. I went on vacation and when I got back to work I got a call from our accounting department saying this Jay guy called every other day harrsing them about the bill for the toner. So they paid it. On 3/2/2010 i got a call from a Dave saying that they got their money and they would be sending out the other 3 toner that i agreed to buy. Then he hung up so fast I didnt have time to say anything to him. I called him back and he was out of the office the rest of the day. I asked to talk to a supervisor and the lady i talked to said she could help me so I told her about the phone call and i was informed that when i opened the sample toner there was a piece of paper telling me that i just agreeded to purchased 3 more toners. The only thing that came in the box was a packing slip and i told her that she was not helping me and i wanted to talk to a supervisor. Then some guy(NO) name came on the line and i told him i didnt want any of their gift cards or their catalogs didnt want them to call or send any thing to me. I told him if my company or I heard from them again i would turn them into the BBB he said he would take care of the situation. I have a feeling I have not heard the end of this problem. Pam Hartman-Illinois

Known Scam
16 Ways You Can be Phone Scammed

18 Nov 2008
http://800notes.com/articles/Article.aspx/LFRVNXyqwQBNrAjLF8wQyg
This one is # 10
Phone Toner Scam: The scam artist poses as a warehouse representative or vendor and makes contact with a targeted company. He will say "This is (first name), I need the model number off your copier". If the person who answers gives this info, the scammers will try to set up a shipment of toner. Of course, the deal is so good that the offer is based on a limited supply or limited time, pressuring the employee to act fast and get their money's worth. Upon delivery, both the employee and the company are usually in for a big surprise. The price of the invoiced toner is 2-3 times higher than expected, and the scam artist threatens with legal fines if the company fails to pay.

It is business as usual with these yahoos. I was contacted by one of their reps who offered a promotional toner cartridge "free of charge" . When I questioned them on how they expected to make anything by offering free product, she said it was simple: we would be so satisfied with their product that we would buy future toner from them. Wary, I said I was smelling a scam and was afraid we'd be billed later. Of course, I was assured there would be no bill. Surprise! 3 month later an invoice shows up. We refuse to pay (as a matter of fact, the product is still here, unopened). They would not take it back...some BS about not being able to issue return authorizations. HA! Total scam, we won't pay and I told her I'd be filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. Finally at the end of the conversation she hollered "Why don't you just tear that bill up"! I don't know what she really meant by that, I'm sure we'll get another call and she will deny saying it. I wish I'd have recorded the conversation. These are consummate scam artists, must make a fortune bilking the unwary.

Here is how it words! The first call from the scam artist says they are checking there records and can't read the model number of your copier. You say your brand and model number, they say "oh yes, that's it" and hang up on you. Later you receive one cartridge for that copier. A few weeks later your company receives an invoice for one 'case' of cartridges. There playing the odds and hoping that your accounts payable calls your receiving dept. and says "Did we get copier stuff from the XYZ company" and then go ahead and pay the bill.

When you call the scam company and say you did not order it, they want you to ship it back and pay a restocking fee.

Answer:
If anyone sends you anything you did not order, when it arrives ITS YOUR to keep and do with as you please.

If they want it back, they should have not sent it! Check with you Postmaster on these rules!

Don't be bullied by there debt collection efforts.

Danny is the same guy I spoke with and he tried to represent himself as an outside collector in my conversation with him as well. Of course when you see that his phone number is the same as the companies it's not hard to put two and two together. These people are sleaze artists.

Unfortunately after my run in with these scheisters we found one of our satellite offices actually paid them the $200 or whatever for a $50 toner.

I've read a lot of the complaints and my story is sadly the same. I talked to a "Danny" and he did try to represent himself as an outside collections agent and to a "Victoria" who talked over me and tried hard to explain to me that I agreed to pay for this toner. This company is a scam.

This company is ridiculous. I received a call a couple of weeks ago claiming I could receive a toner cartridge on a trial basis. I cleared stated that we do not purchase supplies from unknown businesses out of our state so I did not accept the terms. Here we are 4 weeks later and I received a bill for $150.00. The stupid customer service clerk only yelled at me and called me a liar. He supervisor was more patient but clearly stated he could do nothing to help me. What the hell is this all about? This can not be legal. I will be filing a complaint with BBB also.

Same tactics different victim. I've already put in a report on the BBB and on [redacted]s. With so many complaints, I don't know how they can still operate. Anyone contact the California Attorney General?

This is a common theme for this company and I have gone through the same thing. They sent me an "evaluation" toner to which they initially said there was no cost. Six months later I received an invoice asking why I was being charged for an item they offered to me for free. The response at the time was to ignore the invoice, it always goes through billing and that they would correct the error. Well just this week our AP rep got a call from someone in collections who wanted to know when they could expect payment. She came to me asking about it and I called in this morning and left a voice mail to have someone there return my call.

I received a call back from Danny Linares in collections and he said there was nothing he could do and that I would need to contact the company to have them reverse the charges. What is funny is that Danny in "collections" has the same exact phone number as the company. So he tried to represent himself as someone outside the company as a debt collector, a scare tactic no doubt.

I called the company back and spoke with some woman named Theresa. She was exactly what you would expect from one of their employees after reading the rest of these reports. She was aggressive, talked over me, and continually insisted I had agreed to pay for the toner. I told that was fine I was shipping it back and I would make sure we would never do business with such a disreputable firm. She said that they would give me a $20 credit for the cartridge, no more. Nevertheless I told her I would ship it back to her, which I did this morning on my own dime, and I have advised my AP rep to not pay the invoice, especially after showing her this report there and the other on [redacted].

I would echo the same statement a poster above made, I would advise anyone to never speak with anyone from this company and be do not accept anything from them, period. They apparently are not a legitimate business and prefer to deal in scams and scare tactics to collect. It's got to be bad when your company's first hits from Google search are about this toner scam.

What a bunch of scam artists! This is exactly what I wrote on their invoice that I included with the unused toner I told them to come pick up. They contacted me on April 1, 2009 (how appropriate) and told me our Central Procurement buyer gave my name, as I order the office supplies for the entire floor of our building. He said his name was Louis Gallows, and he knew my complete name and the complete name of our buyer. Mr. Gallows proceeded to offer me a "free toner for our printer at no obligation". He stated they could do this because their toner is superior to the remanufactured toner we are currently purchasing and after trying their toner, he was confident we would order office and computer supplies from National Imaging Systems. After I agreed to the "free toner", I contacted our buyer, who told me although he hoped not, he believed I had been scammed. He would have neither given my name to a vendor nor did he recall speaking to a Mr. Gallows. He told me when the toner arrived not to use it and wait to see if I am invoiced. If invoiced, I was to call the company and tell them to send their ground carrier to pick it up. Sure enough on May 11, I received an invoice for $249.99. I promptly called and the third person I spoke to kept me on the line so long asking questions, clarifying, etc. that my head was spinning! Throughout the entire conversation, I kept telling her the toner would be in our mail room for pick up, but she continued to talk over me. I finally told her the conversation was over, and hung up. If they send someone to pick up the toner, that's fine. If not, I'm sure my company will not pay or be intimidated by collection notices. Too bad these scam artists can't put their energy and talent into something good!

My suggestion to everyone is do not even speak to these individuals when they call. If they just send toner, do not open the inner package, and just wait for the invoice. Then tell them to send UPS (or whomever) to pick it up. I would also suggest contacting the Better Business Bureau. This is all so annoying, but just imagine how many companies actually pay their bill! It must be a very lucrative business.

Was offered a "Trial Toner" with free recycling and stupidly said yes. Soon after received an invoice for 3x the value of the toner. Now, calling wanting payment for "Trail" toner

Same thing to me, they sent a "free demo" however then sent an invoice. They claimed the company owner wanted this resolved, even though they had never spoken with him. Be aware, just hang up on them! Also, if you can record every call.

Happened to me too. I was sent 5 toner cartridge without ordering them and they sent me a bill for 6, charging 3 times the amount that I can get the toner elsewhere. They told me that if I can provide a competitor's invoice that would reduce their price, but still not as low as the competitor. And they said I couldn't even return them to get credit and I would be responsible for finance charges. Is there anything that anyone could suggest to combate this type of fraud?

They did the same thing with me. Finally I got them to send a return, and then I returned it. A month later they persisted in telling me it was never returned and I owed them and to pay them or they would contact the "Attorney General's" office.

They tried to sell the toner to us on the phone, I specifically told them not to send ANYTHING. They did anyway and sent an invoice of $180. ( that is 6 times higher than what we got from Internet). I asked them to provide their FedEX or UPS account number so that we could ship it back to them. I agree with Jackqi, we shouldn't spend a penny just to ship back something we never ordered. They never gave me the shipping account. Yet they never stop calling back for payment of the "past due invoice" in the last year.

Did the same to me. Keep vigilant records of EVERYTHING! They will continue to harass, continue to change story, I have been dealing with this since 8/07. Watch out or they will claim that the cartridge you have is not actually theirs.

Keep track of EVERYTHING!