I agree that this should be taken up by ARMA.  I recently had an encounter with my records management vendor for reboxing.  They did for two months consecutive months, and on the second occasion I asked for an accounting of which containers were reboxed and the reason.  The rep could not tell me, nor was the warehousemen able to do so.  I informed the rep that if this happens again, I would be looking for another vendor.  And, at the moment, there are still records management facilities that do not carry out this outrageous practice.  I am an ARMA member and I will speak with my local president about this.

-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Hugh Smith
Sent: Wednesday, June 03, 2009 12:40 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Contract Management (Reboxing)

On Jun 3, 2009, at 12:00 AM, RECMGMT-L automatic digest system wrote:

> From: "Allen, Doug" <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: June 2, 2009 11:53:49 AM EDT
> Subject: Contract Management
>
>
> I've been following the discussions of re-boxing and transportation
> charges with great interest.  As one whose firm is a vendor, I pay
> fairly close attention to the contractual basis for services
> relationships between any vendor and its customers.


Doug,

This issue of reboxing should be addressed by ARMA or a committee of records managers as this is another issue that if left alone becomes standard practice.  Had ARMA addressed Hostage Fees right from the beginning this would not have become standard practice. Now there is a law firm in Philadelphia that specializes in defending companies threatened with these charges and has been successful in defeating them.  But had ARMA protested vigorously from the beginning this would have been stopped at its genesis.

ARMA could even protest directly to PRISM to have them discuss this practice; as many vendors have spoken out about these unethical actions.  Quite frankly, it places the vendor who fails to adopt this practice at a competitive disadvantage.  If one company can charge $9.00 per new box and other fees, that makes the account more profitable.

Could you make sure the ARMA Board has all these posts on this topic because I  believe we are all starting to see a pattern.  There have been several posts about boxes that were in good shape and totally inactive but still they are being charged for reboxing.  And worst of all the vendor can't even point to the boxes that were reboxed which totally voids your integrity on all boxes since you have no knowledge of what transpired.

Boxes that were carefully audited and packed and sent off are now being reboxed by a warehousemen. I would think a plaintiff in a future lawsuit could claim your records integrity is void since you cannot claim any real control and management of your records since others are making decisions for you.

These actions would seem to be a cause of breach of contract. If a vendor performs this without RM oversight then your company is in jeopardy should a lawsuit occur. ARMA should post a letter to this effect to vendors to cease and desist.

Hugh Smith
FIRELOCK Fireproof Modular Vaults
[log in to unmask]
(610)  756-4440    Fax (610)  756-4134
WWW.FIRELOCK.COM

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