I work for a small company, in the United States. Part of my duties is building out quotes for products and services our company sells. I'm trying to avoid being overly specific, but basically I have been asked to quote out a product we often sell, but to also include in the quote a feature which out company cannot actually provide. The customer has several of the item I am supposed to quote already and believes that they have the additional feature on all of the existing devices, so expects to see it on this quote for their new site.
I have brought up with my boss in the past that we have not implemented the additional feature and to the best of my knowledge we can't. He assured me he was looking at addressing that. Today, after receiving the request for this new quote, I asked my boss about it, he said he still hasn't come up with a plan to address the issue, but wants me to move forward with pricing it out anyway.
It would be a big hit to our company if the customer left us, but I struggle to see how what my company is doing here isn't fraud. I'm not really comfortable with doing this, but my relationship with management is already strained and I wasn't really looking to create any more waves at the moment.
Are there good resources I could look to to determine if this would constitute fraud from a legal perspective? Has anyone here ever been in a similar situation?
I'm looking for another job, but don't have anything lined up yet, so nervous about doing (or not doing) something that would get me fired, but Im not comfortable with what appears to me to be dishonest at best and fraudulent at worst.
Edit: wanted to add that to the best of my knowledge, we aren't selling that additional feature to anyone else at the moment. I think my boss is just afraid of this customer in particular finding out since they've already been sold the feature and they're a larger customer.
Edit 2: thanks everyone for the advice. It is much appreciated. I've got a lot of thinking to do tonight.
Can this additional part be obtained from a third party?
I think only if they went directly to the vendor we're partnered with for the product, but Im pretty sure that vendor requires customers to go through a partner like us.
Ok, I really can't understand the dynamics of this arrangement. Not with the info provided.
So you don't actually build this product or service, you're just a middle man? Why not just have the vendor include the missing piece?
I think crucial details are being lost in the vagaries.
Sorry. We configure the devices and provide ongoing support for them. To my understanding, the vendor doesn't even sell the extra feature any more. I think they've replaced it with something else. But I think the short answer to your question is that there would be no way to have the vendor implement the feature without the customer knowing and that would lead the customer to find out they didn't have it in the first place.
Well there's your ticket out "we're sorry the manufacture has discontinued this feature, here's a new solution".
Also its 100% better if the clients finds out the feature is missing via your company. A good company will make it right, ideally by adding the feature retroactively at no cost. If it can't be added, open the checkbooks and refund the difference or find a new solution at a reduced cost (quote the new stuff, but not the replacements).
Sounds like it's above your paygrade, if the company loses the client that's not on you (even though they can still blame you)