What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NY
Hi, I use an order fulfillment company for my business. I send my inventory over to their warehouse, they ship my items for me and charge me per item they process for shipping.
In their last 2 invoices to me, there were significant discrepancies between the amount of shipments they charged for vs the amounts that I have on my books, to the tune of 75% off in December, and 25% off in January.
When I complained about this, they stopped shipping for me and were holding my inventory hostage until I paid them their inflated invoice. I spoke to them over the phone, but they refused to open their books and do an audit, which would be a simple activity of going through their emails to count my orders.
What is my legal recourse for this? My understanding is that charging fees for services not rendered is fraud, and holding my inventory hostage until I paid them is extortion. My understanding is that both fraud and extortion are criminal offenses, and are prosecuted by the county District Attorney.
What about the Better Business Bureau? What sort of authority do they have to handle cases like this? The case is quite open and shut. Once you go through the books, the truth will come out. The problem is that they refuse to do so. I know you can use them to go through arbitration with my shipper, but what if my shipper does not agree to arbitration? What then?
I run a small business, and cannot afford lawyers. The overcharging is only in the hundreds of dollars, but the blatant way that they are scamming me makes it more of a matter of principle than money for me.
I'm not sure how to proceed, or what l can do to get some justice here. Help!
Hi, I use an order fulfillment company for my business. I send my inventory over to their warehouse, they ship my items for me and charge me per item they process for shipping.
In their last 2 invoices to me, there were significant discrepancies between the amount of shipments they charged for vs the amounts that I have on my books, to the tune of 75% off in December, and 25% off in January.
When I complained about this, they stopped shipping for me and were holding my inventory hostage until I paid them their inflated invoice. I spoke to them over the phone, but they refused to open their books and do an audit, which would be a simple activity of going through their emails to count my orders.
What is my legal recourse for this? My understanding is that charging fees for services not rendered is fraud, and holding my inventory hostage until I paid them is extortion. My understanding is that both fraud and extortion are criminal offenses, and are prosecuted by the county District Attorney.
What about the Better Business Bureau? What sort of authority do they have to handle cases like this? The case is quite open and shut. Once you go through the books, the truth will come out. The problem is that they refuse to do so. I know you can use them to go through arbitration with my shipper, but what if my shipper does not agree to arbitration? What then?
I run a small business, and cannot afford lawyers. The overcharging is only in the hundreds of dollars, but the blatant way that they are scamming me makes it more of a matter of principle than money for me.
I'm not sure how to proceed, or what l can do to get some justice here. Help!