The state of Nebraska has joined California, North Carolina and Georgia in being the newest case of overcharging by Office Depot.
Nebraska state auditor Mike Foley said the state has been overcharged 400 percent on some items since entering into an exclusive $3 million contract with Office Depot in 2005.
The overcharges result from a variety of techniques including unauthorized price increases in violation of the terms of the state contract and the improper substitution of higher cost goods from those specified in the contract.
Unauthorized increases and substitutions have been issues before when talking about the big-box retailers like Staples and Office Depot. “Office Depot is playing fast and loose with the privilege of doing business with the State and they ought to be held accountable,” Foley said.
Nebraska said it began investigating the contract because of reported billing problems in Georgia, North Carolina and California. Georgia terminated its contract with Office Depot in February, citing pricing errors.
While large retailers are continually getting themselves in trouble, locally-owned office supply dealers are reaping the benefits by providing competitive prices on the same items and offering more services to attract new corporate contracts.
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