Apogee Action Group
Apogee faces allegations of misleading and fraudulent selling practices. If you’re an Apogee customer, you may have overpaid. Get the facts now.
You could be affected
If you have entered into print, document and IT services with Apogee (an HP subsidiary), you may be eligible for compensation.
Milberg London is currently investigating serious allegations against Apogee Corp. Based on a detailed review of documents provided to us by existing Action Group members we have strong reason to believe that certain photocopier leasing agreements and accessories have been mis-sold or fraudulently sold by Apogee to business customers.
Where this happens, customers may:
- Over-pay for unnecessary equipment;
- Over-pay for a service which was represented to save them money;
- Not receive all or certain of the equipment they pay for even if the order appears complete on the face of the documents;
- Find agreements have been fraudulently executed or other documents forged; and
- Find their original photocopier supplier has been acquired by Apogee and they have been transferred to less favourable terms as a result.
In essence, we have seen evidence to suggest that Apogee deceives its customers by raising additional financing from leasing companies for photocopier accessories that are never delivered. The cost of the accessories and the level of the financing are hidden from the customer.
Join the Apogee Action Group to get back what you have overpaid
Whilst each customer’s claim value will depend on individual circumstances, based on what we have seen to date, each customer’s claims are likely to be worth many tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of pounds.
For larger operations, the overpayment could run into the millions. The Action Group has already seen overpayments of several million pounds on behalf of a single customer under multiple Apogee leases.
As part of our evaluation, we will help you to understand your options regarding any existing contracts with Apogee, including termination. We are not in the business of photocopiers; our sole focus is on the claim against Apogee. Therefore, if you do terminate contracts with Apogee, you would need to make your own arrangements to find a new supplier.
To check if you are eligible and receive a free and confidential legal assessment please get in touch.
We are aware of affected business customers in these industries:
Construction | Charity | Education | Film/Media | Professional Services and Consultancy | Retail
To find out more about our work in the Education sector, please check out James Winter’s interview with the Independent Schools’ Bursars Association on the ISBA BURSARCAST podcast. His interview starts at 20:03.
Confidential Case Study – Travel
An Apogee customer, X, leased several photocopier machines for their UK offices from Apogee. X became concerned with the substantial costs of these machines.
After investigating it became apparent there were a number of issues.
We believe the following issues occurred, over the lifecycle of various agreements:
- Apogee mis-sold or fraudulently sold leasing arrangements to X. Apogee encouraged X to restructure deals or enter into new agreements over time, as a means to help save X money. In reality it ended up costing X far more.
- Misleading and dishonest selling practices, where total costs and outstanding liabilities for earlier agreements were opaque or hidden.
- Services were not carried out as per the terms.
- Unnecessary photocopier & photocopier accessories charged to X but not delivered.
- Fraudulent variations to agreements.
Confidential Case Study - Healthcare
An Apogee customer in the healthcare industry, Y, has been leasing photocopier machines for their UK services for close to 10 years. Over that time and as their business needs changed, Y was encouraged by Apogee to enter into a succession of new agreements. After investigating their agreements with Apogee and the documents surrounding them, we believe the following issues occurred:
- Apogee mis-sold or fraudulently sold leasing arrangements to Y. Apogee falsely represented that Y had exceeded its applicable copy volume limits and that, as a result, material excess copy charges were immediately due. Apogee misled Y to enter into new agreements as a means to avoid the exaggerated excess charges. Available evidence suggests that the excess charges were overstated, and therefore there was no need to enter into the new agreements at all. The new agreements were more expensive that those which they replaced. The only party which benefitted from Y entering into the new arrangements was Apogee as it would have earned commission on this transaction.
- On some occasions, Apogee encouraged Y to restructure deals or enter into new agreements to accommodate relatively minor changes such as one additional copier or a slight increase in volumes. Repeatedly, the total costs incurred as a result of entering into the new agreement was far greater than the benefit of the minor adjustment to the service provided.
- Apogee would downplay or hide the fact that, by entering into the new agreement, a large “settlement sum” was being incurred under the old agreement and would be essentially added to the new agreement.
- Unnecessary services and accessories were charged to Y, but never actually provided.
The group's objectives
We think many customers have been affected, but may not yet be aware. In fast-paced businesses, often print and document service contracts are not front of mind.
Also, based on what we have seen so far, the financial manipulation takes place behind the scenes between Apogee and the Finance Company and is therefore very difficult for customers to detect.
The Apogee Action Group has been established to:
Raise awareness
Raise awareness amongst Apogee Customers of the potential harm and loss they have suffered.
Share Knowledge
Share knowledge and information about Apogee’s sharp practices so that people can avoid further harm.
Evaluate Situations
Use what we’ve learned from existing members’ situations to help customers evaluate whether they have been affected.
Legal Action
Support a legal claim against Apogee to recover compensation for our members.
Milberg London LLP, a leading claimant law firm, is assisting Apogee customers investigate and evaluate whether they may have a claim for compensation against Apogee. If they do, they will be able to participate in the Group Action that is being built against Apogee.
The Milberg team has an established track record of fighting tirelessly in complex cases and using every available legal option to hold wrongdoing corporations to account.
Milberg London are at the forefront of group action law and practice and are instructed in some of the most significant multiparty cases ever to be heard before the courts in this jurisdiction. Their current high-profile cases include:
- The Sony Playstation Campaign
- The Mercedes diesel emissions scandal
- The Vauxhall diesel emissions scandal
They are also currently acting for a group of Italian businesses all defrauded by the same Anglo-Swiss investment manager to the tune of £120m and are involved in a claim on behalf of 30 businesses with business interruption insurance claims against the same insurer worth over £150m.
Get in touch
To see whether you have been affected and are owed compensation, please get in touch.
