Two Maryland janitorial supply companies might be using unscrupulous methods to obtain unauthorized payments from businesses, warned the Better Business Bureau of Greater Maryland.
According to BBB complaints, Midway Industries and Johnson Distributors have been cold-calling local businesses and others across the country to verify company addresses. Victims are asked whether they would be interested in receiving a catalog of the companies' products, the BBB said.
Weeks later, a package with light bulbs or cleaning supplies arrives along with an invoice. Invoices have been reported to be as much as $598.90, the BBB said. In addition, no street address has been identified for Midway, so returns and contacts have been impossible, the BBB said.
Businesses also complained of harassing collection tactics used by Midway and Johnson, including threats that accounts would be assigned to collection agencies, the BBB said.
"A good tip is to ask the person calling your business to e-mail or fax over what they are trying to sell to you," BBB President and chief executive Angie Barnett said. "That way you will have something in written form, and your business information is not mistakenly leaked."
