New Company getting invoices for nothing??

Finance, Taxes, Banking, Insurance and Retirement
1
Hi readers & Posters

Since registering the new company a few days ago we are receiving a lot of invoices for things we never ordered such as

Printing, office supplies, Advertising,furniture, ect........?

What to do, here is this normal?, sounds like a scam?

Most have a two weeks deadline for payment......

Is there a body we can report this to ?

Any input will help, last thing we need is to be blackball for not paying something we do not owe

2
As usual, I don't know Swiss law, hope someone can help you.

But general contract law for this kind of 'transaction' requires you to order something and them to agree to the service. You ordered nothing, it sounds to me like scammers go through the list of new companies and try it on - sometimes with scare tactics.

Forget the two-week deadline, that's part of the scam. I'd say it's highly unlikely that you need to order all of that as a condition of having a registered company but I'm not the person to say for sure (maybe you do need to have company letterheaded paper though the inclusion of furniture on that list does sound bogus).

Hope someone can help with telling you where to report it. (I'd try mentioning it to the place you registered the company for starters.)

*Besides, have you received anything yet? No. Well assume it's a scam. Mention it to the company registry place you can either report it if it's a scam (does sound like it) or find out for sure.

3
QUOTE=Lemanglaise;1739218]As usual, I don't know Swiss law, hope someone can help you.

But general contract law for this kind of 'transaction' requires you to order something and them to agree to the service. You ordered nothing, it sounds to me like scammers go through the list of new companies and try it on - sometimes with scare tactics.

Forget the two-week deadline, that's part of the scam. I'd say it's highly unlikely that you need to order all of that as a condition of having a registered company but I'm not the person to say for sure (maybe you do need to have company letterheaded paper though the inclusion of furniture on that list does sound bogus).

Hope someone can help with telling you where to report it. (I'd try mentioning it to the place you registered the company for starters.)

*Besides, have you received anything yet? No. Well assume it's a scam. Mention it to the company registry place you can either report it if it's a scam (does sound like it) or find out for sure.[/QUOTE]

I assume you registered your Company with the local Handelsregister & paid their bill? & amongst the paperwork you received from them there was one sheet warning you about the avalanche of bogus invoices you will receive.

Throw every invoice away.

You will also get invoices from people claiming to publish the official Handelsregister list that you have to join; these use as toilet paper before you throw them away

4
That's what usually happens when you register a new company.

Don't pay anything apart from the real "Handelsregister" bill.

But you may have done that by now anyway.

In future, you will get less "registering" bills and more stuff from office supplies with gifts like pens with your company name on it and so on. They can be useful if you need stuff like that.

I don't know where to report them but maybe directly at the Handelsregisteramt?

And of course the "Beobachter" and "Kassensturz" would be a place to go to if you want to make the effort.

5
If you want to have some fun with it, you could also sue these companies for not delivering the stuff

6
I assume you registered your Company with the local Handelsregister & paid their bill? & amongst the paperwork you received from them there was one sheet warning you about the avalanche of bogus invoices you will receive.

Throw every invoice away.

You will also get invoices from people claiming to publish the official Handelsregister list that you have to join; these use as toilet paper before you throw them away [/QUOTE]

NO! . Use them as toilet paper before posting them back

7
NO! . Use them as toilet paper before posting them back [/QUOTE]

Thank you all for your input, problem is my wife is away and my German is limited at best,

not so worried now

8
Are these invoices from companies in Switzerland or companies outside Switzerland? My husband said these scammers generally sit in Germany or Holland because the laws there are more relaxed. You can report these people/companies directly online here in Switzerland at: www.melani.admin.ch or report them to the police. Even if you are not in the right, the Swiss police will help you anyways. Good luck!

9
Well, no need to ask... invoices for things you know you have never ordered are of course perfectly legitimate.

10
post them back without a stamp...... let the company pay something.

11
may just do that, I am actually drowning under the sheer amount of mail we are getting here and sorting out the real stuff from the crap is really taxing at times, it all looks official

12
remember to remove your name or chances are post office will charge you for the pleasure...

13
I think I got about 3 directory offers with payment slip, and about a dozen ads for office stuff, insurance etc. No free pens.

Perhaps they think vegans are a softer touch?! ;-) I suspect they got it wrong this time.

14
The time is now, before you actually begin ordering goods/services, to get your system of accounting into place in order to quickly ascertain the legitimacy of any invoices received. Take care of the accounting "housekeeping" from day one to avoid being scammed.

15
I have discussed this on another thread, it will ease in time but think of it like a lottery for them, a 50rap stamp and the better scammers then have you locked into a 3 or 5year contact.

The time some of them must have spent on photoshop making an almost carbon copy of the official stuff is admirable though!! I used the phone directory in www.search.ch with the name of the company, most do not have a contactable phone number so this is a quick acid test if you are unsure. Do not pay anything unless you are 150% sure, there is very little consumer protection here.

16
and keep the 'invoices' safe. there have been cases where one was paid by accident by the spouse, only for this to have been taken as acceptance of a multi-year contract...

17
Presumably you had a professional legal advisor helping you to set up your company. If you are unsure about any piece of paper that comes in the post you should run it past them.

Our company lawyer - and the notary who signed our company papers - both advised us about these bogus registration firms. I hope your legal help is giving you similar advise. If not you need to think about hiring a new lawyer.

Cheers,

Nick

18
I so sympathise with this.

I did make the mistake of paying one of these which was indeed a 3 year contract & they took me to court to get the money.

Beware of the official looking letter telling you theres a license fee for sending fax's .. my wife flipped as she is swiss when she saw me shredding it...

I think in 2008 during the peak of the company ( i lost out in the end to price dumping germans) i was getting these things almost daily.

Good luck

Simon

19
Another word for scam is fraud, not spam. Consider it this way and you will likely be more discerning.

You may also get phone calls, spam, scam and fraud that can grow quite tenacious. If you learn to recognize them within the first ten seconds, say "No interest" and hang up, sooner or later they may give up...and maybe not.

20
Beware also of spam/scam-like letters and invoices from Pro-Litteris - the royalty collection agency of Switzerland. There is a much higher chance with these that you have to pay these, and if you don't they'll hit you with a fine. Which may possibly be why their letters are so unprofessionally produced...