Office Depot Inc (ODI), the number 2 office supplies provider in the U.S., is in hot water for a nagging issue that won't go away - accusations of consistently overcharging government clients for contracted items.
This issue is very familiar to the City of Berkeley, who discovered last year that they had been consistently overcharged by ODI, to the tune of $250,000 over the course of a three year contract. At the time, ODI claimed that the issue was tied to a "rogue" employee, who mislead company officials. Surprisingly, Berkeley stuck with ODI as their supply vendor (even though this issue was brought to the cities attention by Radstons Office Supplies, a local supply dealer who had vied for the city contract and lost to ODI).
Unfortunately for ODI, Berkeley isn't the only city that has recently discovered an overcharging problem. A recent article in Fortune Magazine highlighted several cities across the country (including San Francisco), that have discovered similar cases of overcharging. The article noted that San Francisco released an audit showing $5.75 million in overcharges. Unlike Berkeley, San Francisco terminated its agreement with ODI, selecting an alternate supplier.
To read the Fortune article, click (HERE).
This issue is very familiar to the City of Berkeley, who discovered last year that they had been consistently overcharged by ODI, to the tune of $250,000 over the course of a three year contract. At the time, ODI claimed that the issue was tied to a "rogue" employee, who mislead company officials. Surprisingly, Berkeley stuck with ODI as their supply vendor (even though this issue was brought to the cities attention by Radstons Office Supplies, a local supply dealer who had vied for the city contract and lost to ODI).
Unfortunately for ODI, Berkeley isn't the only city that has recently discovered an overcharging problem. A recent article in Fortune Magazine highlighted several cities across the country (including San Francisco), that have discovered similar cases of overcharging. The article noted that San Francisco released an audit showing $5.75 million in overcharges. Unlike Berkeley, San Francisco terminated its agreement with ODI, selecting an alternate supplier.
To read the Fortune article, click (HERE).
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