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Beware of their "trial product" scam
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I sent back an air hose, which our company received from TARCO as an unsolicited delivery.
This was supposedly a “trial” product and someone was going to call us in 30 days to find out how we liked it. My mechanic who took the call was pretty confused by the whole thing and assumed it was some sort of free trial.
Then I got an invoice for this product, which we never ordered or agreed to purchase. The price of the air hose was $69—which is higher than other sources, but not utterly unreasonable—but we were also being billed for shipping, insurance and some mystery charge labeled “STC,” all of which added over $20 to the price.
Getting the return authorized was pretty easy—I’m assuming they know a bunch of these things they send out in this way will be coming back—but TARCO expected me to pay return shipping. The rep I complained to was polite but refused any solution. She claimed an email had been sent to us verifying the terms of this supposed “trial.” I could find no such email in our inbox, spam or trash folders. After first saying their offices had recently moved so she couldn't access any of the paperwork, she did eventually forward a copy, but as there is no server envelope information, I cannot verify that what she copied is legit. In any case, I never received this email, and relying on a non-verifiable email to set forth terms that are not discussed in a call with the business is highly sketchy and not a reliable “contract” by any means.
So, to sum up:
1. This company sends an item that I had neither ordered nor requested, under the guise that it is some sort of trial.
2. They then quickly send an invoice for this product, which includes a whole bunch of fees other than the item price and shipping.
3. If I don’t want to pay close to $100 for an air hose I don’t need and didn’t order, I need to send it back AND pay the shipping to do so.
4. They say they sent a non-verifiable email that set forth terms that were not discussed in a call with the business as their “contract” and proof that you will be responsible for paying to send their unsolicited stuff back to them.
It has cost me return postage (not to mention a bunch of my time) to NOT buy something from this company. If this is standard operating procedure, why on earth would anyone ever consider doing business with TARCO? A search online turned up negative reviews on other sites by people to whom this exact same thing has happened. What a sneaky, unethical way to foist expensive products on unsuspecting businesses!
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