Boss bought cheap 'printer' from a catalog and was left without a leg to stand on

An Italian reader named Marco shared his tale of woe with The Register's "Who, Me?" column. In the early 1990s, when big tech companies marketed their products through paper catalogs, Marco's company received one via a dial-up connection. Marco's boss, nicknamed a "wretch," frequently perused the catalog, coveting the items like a child awaiting Christmas.

One day, the boss spotted a laser printer that was significantly cheaper than the alternatives. He ordered two of these printers, believing they would catapult him from the tech team to management.

Marco's boss was persuasive, boasting about his cost-cutting prowess to anyone who would listen. However, the day the courier arrived with the two massive packages, Marco's boss's lofty claims unraveled. To his horror, the boxes contained two printer stands, not laser printers. The catalog had shown the stands with the printer perched on top, a misleading tactic used to entice buyers.

The company found itself in possession of two printer stands and no actual printers. Marco's boss's well-intentioned procurement decision had backfired spectacularly. In an attempt to rectify the situation, Marco and his colleagues hid the two useless stands in the depths of their obsolete hardware store, where they presumably remain to this day.

Marco suspects there may be other similarly ill-fated purchases lurking in the store, a testament to the company's dubious procurement practices. If you or a colleague have fallen victim to a similar procurement mistake, The Register invites you to share your story with their "Who, Me?" column, ensuring your misadventure finds the light of day rather than being buried in the company's storage.