My grandfather received an unsolicited call from EPI Inc. at some point in the past few weeks, in which they were trying to sell him their septic product. In order to get them off the phone, he asked that they just send him information in the mail regarding their products. He very clearly asked for information and nothing more.
A little while later, a large, plain, white box arrives in our mailbox. Not knowing what's inside, he opened to find three tubs of some unknown material and a bill for roughly $140. Because the box was opened, it now cannot be automatically returned via Post Office.
After searching for the company's name, I see that they have multiple complaints against them with the FCC and BBB, notably for preying on the elderly and sending unsolicited products. I call the company and indicate I'd like a return label so I can mail this back; there was a misunderstanding, my grandfather asked for information, not $140 worth of junk.
The female representative on the phone indicates that they don't issue return labels, so I indicate that I'm well aware of these prior complaints regarding targeting the elderly. She insists that there's nothing we can do, this was ordered and too bad for us. I remind her that she does not have any information regarding how this is going to be paid for. My grandfather is astute enough to not give out his credit card information over the phone, so they can either have their product back or they can just take the loss. Either way, we're not spending money to send back unsolicited product.
After a moment talking with her supervisor, she comes back and tell me that they'll be mailing us a shipping label and the package can be returned via FedEx. I politely inform her that we'd appreciate it, and hang up. Time will tell if a shipping label actually arrives, but it should NEVER be this much of a hassle to return a product. Their initial knee-jerk reaction to not issuing a return label seems to indicate that they know what they're doing; they just didn't expect to get someone who they couldn't prey upon calling them back.