Hotels warned of ‘invitation to pay'

By Helen Conway

Hoteliers are warning their contemporaries not to inadvertently pay out for costly paper supplies they haven't ordered.

Caterer has been contacted by a number of angry and worried hoteliers in the past week who have been targeted by an Essex-based firm known as National Paper Supplies.

Each of them received a "Proforma Sales Invoice" from the company, assigning them an account number and detailing an order for 10 reams of quality white paper at a total cost of £293.63.

Though the small print makes it clear that the invoice is an "invitation" to purchase the paper and "not a demand for payment", hoteliers say that in a busy company, payment could easily be made in error.

Peter Hands, proprietor of the Bell at Tewkesbury, said he was shocked to receive one of the "invoices" and was keen for other hoteliers to be put on their guard.

And Evelyn Hawksley, owner of Powys hotel Edderton Hall, said: "I am the only person to do any ordering here, but I could just imagine that in a large hotel, this could be passed for payment automatically. I feel it should be drawn to people's attention," she said.

Manager of the Croft Hotel in Leicester, Mike Brearey, agreed. He added: "My overall feeling is that this is an extremely aggressive type of advertising, although it is quite legal."

Mr Brearey said that the price being asked for the paper was extremely high. "They charge £32.99 for a ream of premium quality paper. The maximum my supplier charges for that is £13.25."

The legality of the "invoices" was confirmed by the London Borough of Redbridge, which investigated National Paper Supplies last year following a spate of complaints from businesses in the area.

A spokesman for the local authority said Redbridge trading standards officers had a file of nearly 40 complaints against the company.

"The company operates within the law as it stands," he said. "There is no legislation to prevent people selling in this way. It's a question of let the buyer beware."

Caterer was unable to get a response from National Paper Supplies. Its telephone number is listed as ex-directory and there was no reply to the number listed on its headed paper.