Complaint Review: CMC Chemical

I have an apartment building in Oregon which is managed by an onsite manager, Sara. I myself live in California.

Several months  ago (March 2010) I received a cold call from a salesman (John Williams) from Commercial  Maintenance Chemical (CMC) Corp. trying to sell me a chemical for unplugging drain clogs. He had tried to sell it  earlier, unsuccessfully, to Sara (my manager) and he got my name and number somehow and called me. I told him I  wasn't interested since I had no idea whether it would work. He kept on pushing, so I told him I would be willing to try  it if he sent me a free sample. He agreed to do that. He said he would send a small sample to me at my California  home and also a sample to the apartment building in Oregon.

On april 17 (saturday) I received an invoice from them for $131.15 - I was surprised to say the least. I called them  first thing on monday (4/19) to resolve the issue, which to my mind would be to void the invoice and either return or  get rid of the product. They insisted that it was impossible for them to have sent a free product because it is not their  policy to send out free samples. In that case I said they have a very unethical salesman, and regardless I did not  order or want the product. They said I could return it, but they would have to charge me disposal fee which would  come to more than the bill. I told them that that was their problem - I would in no way pay anything for this. The  CMC manager (Tony) told me he would talk with the sales guy and see if they could resolve the matter and that he  would call me back in half an hour. I waited all day - there was no call back.

In the meantime, I called Sara my manager to check if the product had indeed arrived. She said that it had, and  signed for it thinking that I had ordered it, but she had not opened it. She told me how John Williams had tried to sell  it to her over the phone, but she told him that she wasn't authorized. He then asked her for my contact info, which  she said she refused to give.

After not hearing back from them, I called them back on tuesday (4/20) to find out if they had resolved it. Tony, their  manager, said that what they had resolved was that I owed them $99.80 - which is the original invoice minus the  shipping charge. I told them that that was not acceptable - that I didn't want to pay for anything since I had not  ordered the product. He kept saying that it was their view that I did order it. I asked him if they had a recording of  the my conversation with the salesman so they could prove to me that I had indeed ordered it. They said they did but  that it was their policy to not release that to customers. They would only do so if I got a lawyer or a court order, and  he pointed out that that would cost more than the invoice.

I then asked to talk to the president - Bill Walker. He was even more obstinate and downright threatening. He  claimed that Sara had ordered it and that the proof was that she had accepted the package when it was delivered and  that we owed him the money in the invoice. I told him that if that was his position I would be filing complaints with the  BBB, and any other agency, including the attorney general. He said he himself would file a complaint against my  apartments with the BBB for not paying his bill, as well as charge me late fees and possibly send it to collection.

Then I called "Call to Action" and filed a complaint with them. They contacted the company and basically got the  same rude treatment and runaround and no resolution. I hadn't heard from them again until yesterday (6/9/10) when  they left me a voice message about the outstanding invoice. I did not return the call but they keep on calling which I consider harassment.  Any help you can provide to help resolve this very unethical (at a  minimum) practice would be appreciated.   I plan to file this complaint with the Farmingdale BBB as well.