Ropho Sales, Inc.

Review: My church is nearing the end of a copier lease obtained and serviced through Ropho Copier of Salem, Va. When we contacted this company, multiple times, to pick up their leased machine, we were informed ( by the Salesman and the General Sales Manager) that the copier was not owned by Ropho but was in fact the property of the leasing company - this in spite of the fact that for the five year term of the lease, all service work and supplies for this copier were purchased from Ropho. During the initial sales presentation, we were told that at the end of our lease, we could turn in our existing copier - to Ropho - and lease a new machine. At no time were we told that at the end of our present lease, if we opted not to lease another machine from Ropho, that we would be responsible for shipping this copier back to a destination determined by the leasing company - at our expense ! During a lengthy conversation with Bob [redacted], Ropho's General Sales Manager, I was told that this arrangement was "the industry standard " and that I should review my lease contract. While I am probably remiss for not taking an hour at the initial sales presentation to carefully read every sentence of a lengthy lease agreement, I feel that the salesman should have been more forthcoming with his end of lease options. Making the assumption that "we would automatically renew our lease, as most customers do" during the presentation does not excuse the fact that an important and expensive option was not given to us. As I told Mr. [redacted], had we known upfront that we would be responsible for shipping this copier to a distant point at the end of our lease, we never would have leased a copier from Ropho !Desired Settlement: I feel that Ropho Copier misrepresented or intentionally omitted certain important lease facts during their initial sales presentation to our church and should send a service tech out to retrieve this copier.

Business

Response:

On October 28, 2008 the deacon and treasurer for the church both signed a

[redacted] Financial Services lease agreement for a new C20 Color Bizhub.

The lease agreement is with [redacted] Financial Services. (copy attached)

Under "Terms and Conditions" item 7 "End of Lease" b) return all the equipment in good working condition at your cost in a timely manner and to a location we designate.

Sincerely,

William Musselman

President

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

Sadly, this response by Mr. Musselman is merely a repetition of the same lame company line that I have heard from his sales staff. I refer you back to my original allegations concerning his company's sales tactics. This complaint has not been satisfactorily addressed. Rest assured, I will make every effort to insure that other area churches and small business's do not encounter what are in my view Ropho Sale's poor business practices.

Thank you for you assistance in this matter.

Regards,