Daylight Robbery !!!!

Thanks Peter_J

I won't open the product, it can continue to collect dust on a shelf until they decide to come and collect it.

As for the Woolies voucher, they can forget about getting that back as it's gonna help pay for a nice italian dinner friday night :D

Thanks, I will lodge a complaint and take this matter further when I have some free time.

I urge anyone else who has been scammed like this to do the same and to private message me as well... I want some witnesses so we can bring these thieves down !!!
 
Hi guys,
Been scammed by the same guys, Sent them a letter telling them to collect the cartridges and went to the dti website mentioned earlier in this thread.
then followed the link to www.tip-offs.com waiting to hear what the response and outcome of this will be.

Would also like to know the outcome of quick's case

thanx for the advice
 
hkcks said:
Would also like to know the outcome of quick's case
Click to expand...
Hi hkcks

I havn't really had time to follow this up as I would have liked to. That rude woman from Dower phoned me some time last week asking if I had paid. I was in a tempered mood that morning and really gave her a piece of my mind.

She was absolutely speechless as I don't think she knew how much I actually know about their scam... She kept quiet for a while and then said she'd phone me back. That was the last I heard of them and I imagine I won't be hearing from them again.

I still want to go to the SAP and lay a claim of fraud, and I'll do it if I hear as much as a peep from them again... until then it's going to have to take lower priority as I'm still swamped with work.

Happy Holidays ;)
 
Dower Still In Business

Was also targeted in November last year and it took me almost a month to finally shake them off. Verbally sent them on an extended trip to somewhere VERY HOT and thought that was the last of them. Imagine my SURPRISE when I got another call from them only a few weeks ago! Invitation to to take a hike repeated and I'm afraid this time round I was not as polite as my mother would have liked me to be. I get the idea that they pick areas and then intensively target businesses in those areas and if the recent telephone call from them is anything to go by, it looks as if their turnaround cycle is about 12 months.

But here is an interesting follow-on on this one and I do suspect some more scamming. I received a visit today from a fellow from MARS C.P.F who claims to be a rep from Jetprint. According to him, Jetprint manufactures ALL the cartridges for ALL brands in SA. In an effort to curb the high prices, they are now selling the dinkum real thing but under the factory label of "Jetprint", or so he says. And the prices for these gems? About half of what you would pay anywhere else. What makes my hair stand on end is the fact that his business card has no address, no business telephone number, fax or e-mail address. There is a cell number (his private number, the man tells me) and the reason for that is that I will have an almost 24-hour "hot line" to him and my deliveries will be made by him in person within one day of ordering. If it's early enough in the morning, then same day delivery.

What makes it even more interesting is that immediately after relating my bad experience with Dower to him, he made a telephone call to "the factory" to find out if anybody there knew of their existence. Lo and behold the person he spoke to (Justin) immediately knew who they were and also advised that Jetprint had recently taken Dower to court over some shady deal.

Has anyone ever heard of this operation?
 
Cecile,

This is a scam. All you need to do is contact Epsom or HP and verify that someone is making their cartridges in SA.

If HP is using a local manufacturer, and I don't believe they are, why on earth would they allow that same manf. To sell product into their market and compete directly?

Stay well clear.
 
Cecile

Morebroadband, yes it is an absolute scam, but I'm wondering if there is a connection between Dower and MARS C.P.F? The fellow who visited was too quick on the phone to make a call and the so-called reply from that side too smooth. I have grave reservations whether he actually called anybody because the call was made very "discreetly". I am thinking that maybe Dower has given up and re-emerged with a different tactic and a different name? Going from horrendously expensive to ridiculously cheap?

Something stands out like a sore thumb. We're located off the beaten track and salesmen do not just walk in here. We have no signage on our building and no one from the outside would even know if there was life in here. This chap incidentally called me to make an appointment and when I asked him how he got to me he said that he was in the area calling on another client and decided to stop by and see if he could interest us in his products. That story will only go down with a good dose of laughing gas if you know where we are situated. Maybe he's got the Dower "shopping list"??????????

I stongly suspect a collaboration of some sorts between him and Dower. And you're right about the cartridges. The HP catridges are imported and not made locally. I pay approximately R 280-00 for my HP 131's (depends where I buy) and he was offering them to me at exactly half price.

I would like to see these guys taken out of the system.
 
hehe quik nice fax to them.......:D i hope you sue those punks if need be.........
 
Cecile

Yeah Hansa, if only I knew where to find these clowns! With only a cell number on the business card he (or they) could be anywhere. Somehow I do not expect to see the clown from MARS again. He hasn't answered the cell all afternoon - I checked. I'm thinking.............strange name for a business? Maybe he is from MARS and the aliens are invading us! Maybe MARS CPF (that's the name on the business card) is an acronym for something? There's a so-called holy man in the USA who has a company called GLY Financial Services - short for "God Loves You Financial Services" and he's taken plenty people for millions of dollars. Check out quatloos.com for the full story.
 
Hey guys...

Glad to see people are not taking this nonsense from these criminals, because that's what they are.

The package they delivered is still in my office, tucked away in a bag along with their BS invoice. I'll probably give it away when I clean out the place again.

The sad thing is that these low lifes probably make bucketloads off larger companies that do not investigate every invoice recieved.

As for this person stating that Jetprint or whoever manufacture all cartridges in SA, that's an absolute lie. All cartridges supplied by HP, Epson, Canon etc. are imported.
 
Lets seriously kick butt!

Hi Guys

Do us all a favour and warn your business contacts about this new scam. I sent e-mails to everyone on my e-mail address book and already one replied (friend who owns a large factory inRobertville) that Mr. Fick called on them yesterday. He seems to be active on the West Rand area, particularly Roodepoort, Florida and Robertville. Here are the only details I have:

Company name : MARS C.P.F
Rep's name: Marius Fick
Cell no: 083 2922626

This guy's a real smoothie and has answers to every question you throw at him. He tells you right from the outset that the "real" companies like HP, Canon, Epsom etc, will refute his story because they don't like the idea of competition from the "factory". I think he's caught a few people in our area but luckily I managed to stop the "sale" in Robertville.
 
Cecile,

I would not even let people like this onto your property. If they don't have a pre-arranged appointment, then all they are going to do is waste your time. It is also a lot safer this way!
 
Hi Morebroadband,

This is actually the weird part of it. This guy DID make an appointment with one of our secretaries the day before, wanting to see the MD and telling her that he was referred to us by someone else. In fact, he had one of our company brochures in his hand when he arrived. In our business (Research and Development) it is the norm for people to be referred to us so the situation in itself is not unusual at all. First timers however get to see me first so that I can determine what the exact nature of their business is and I then refer them to the appropriate division. Where he got the brochure from? Your guess is as good as mine but I strongly suspect that it was collected from our reception desk by the delivery man who came to deliver the Dower cartridges
 
The whole Jetprint story is not really a scam. The Jetprint cartridges are just refilled original cartridges. Used them a few times when I had an inkjet, till it stuffed the printer up. Now I have thinkfully gone to a laserjet, and 2000 pages down the line, still using the original toner... Go laser printers...
 
Mic Y

The point is, these guys are selling under false pretences. They should then come out and tell you they are refills, but the clown who came calling stressed that the cartridges are NOT refills, but the "real thing". And talking about stuffing up a printer with a refill or ripped-off cartridge! Been there, got the cigar and the T-Shirt!
 
I don't think they are actual JetPrint reps! JP cartridges are Ok for the money you pay for them, I've uses ±50 in our inkjet and 5+ in the laser with no problems at all.


I'm sure Jetprint would be very interested in this if you phone them directly.
 
The REAL story behind Mars/Jetprint

It took me some time to get answers, but eventually the sales manager of Jetprint called me this morning.:rolleyes:

Marius Fick (MARS CPF) is a dealer and does not work for Jetprint (Royce Imaging Industries). The Jetprint cartridges are re-manufactured out of the original casings but the components used are imported. It is as close to the real thing that you can get and yes, you do get the odd faulty cartridge, which they will replace with pleasure as their cartridges do carry a guarantee.

As for Mr. Fick; his sales pitch is one he clearly invented and apart from the fact that the cartridges he sells does come from Jetprint, ALL the rest is just gobbledeegook. Jetprint views this whole thing in a very serious light and will have a heart-to-heart with him a.s.a.p. They have been in business for something like 19 years and will not tolerate having their name brought into disrepute by someone who is clearly out their polishing a marble for his own benefit. Jetprint has given me the name of one of their reputable dealers on the West Rand where I can get their cartridges, if I'm at all interested.

As for Dower Business Systems, I got a piece of first-hand info from Jetprint. They apparantly change their name from time to time. When things get too hot under one name, they simply go to the next one. The cartridges they "sold" last year that should have lasted 5 times as long as other cartridges were mostly the Jetprint ones although they were also buying from other outlets. Jetprint has blacklisted them and will no longer supply them. :eek:

My view at the end of the day? Stick to the real thing and no problem!

Cheers for now.
:p
 
Rip off

Hi. This is a total scam. I have been in the cartridge business for over 5 years, I run my own business and I have never found an ink that can last any longer than the normal. I also know of people that are going through the same problem, in fact the company has sent more cartridges and are trying to charge for these aswell
 
At the end of tha day, if you don't stick with carts from the printer manufacturer, you void your warranty, and your service contract (If you have one)
 
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