Action: Weary of calls about phone service

We signed up for the Family Plus Pooling plan with VoiceStream in January. The plan calls for 1,000 shared anytime minutes and 1,000 shared anywhere weekend minutes. Apparently it was never entered properly in VoiceStream's computer because we are charged every month, going on 11 months now, for long distance calls and tax. We make our long-distance calls only on the weekends.

I am on the phone with these people at least 25 minutes each month when I receive the bill. Yesterday was the last straw when my wife called and was on the phone for 45 minutes and was disconnected twice while waiting for a supervisor to talk to. Any help would be greatly appreciated. H. Kimbrell

Response: That's for letting us know you got a call from VoiceStream with assurances that everything would be taken care of. Let us know if this is not so.

No exchanges, please

Our son, visiting from out of state, purchased a portable telephone at an area chain store to give us as a Christmas gift. We didn't need another phone and went to the store to return it, expecting to be a given a store credit since we didn't have the receipt. Instead, we were told by store personnel that the phone could only be exchanged for another phone. I feel the public should be warned about this policy and this store. Alan Lowke

Response: We are not naming the store because we saw no reason to contact it. Stores are at liberty to set their own return policies, and most have tightened up the terms under which they will take merchandise back; having the receipt is becoming the norm.

We're sorry we couldn't help, but perhaps you can exchange the gift with someone who needs a phone and has something you could use. Or, you could give it as a gift yourself, preferably to someone who has not read this column.

Floor finally fixed

I bought a refrigerator at Sears on May 15. After three months it started leaking water on my floor. The water got under the vinyl, and when the refrigerator was moved it tore the flooring. I called Sears, which sent a man out to check out the fridge. He sent off for a valve and then replaced it.

However, although I had ice cubes, I could not get water to come out of the dispenser in the door. The technician came out again and diagnosed a bad pump. I told him I did not want this refrigerator, and it was replaced with a new model. This model also got the floor wet. I called and a woman was sent out to replace the ice maker. Now it's working fine.

My problem is that I can't get anybody to talk to me about the floor. Insurance adjusters came out and took pictures in November. When I call, all I get is a recording. I wish you could do something about this matter. J. Gerrity

Response: Thanks for letting us know your floor problem has been taken care of. We forwarded your complaint to Helmsman Management Services in Schaumburg, Ill., the third party administrator for Sears, Roebuck and Co. According to the letter you had received, it was passing along your claim to the manufacturer of your refrigerator, since its product had caused the damage. We're not sure where in the process your claim was stalled, since we never heard back from Helmsman. Your floor is fixed; at this point, that's all we care about.

Skip the hard sell

When I called to order an item I had seen advertised in Parade magazine, the order taker took my name, address and credit card number and then proceeded, for approximately 10 minutes, to coax me to buy airline tickets, magazines, gel grease, everything but the Gandy Bridge.

At the point where he insisted he was going to send me something to try for a month (I have no idea what it was) and I could keep it and cancel or otherwise it would cost me $8 a month, I asked him the name of his company. His reply was "We have no name; we are just a service."

Two days later, I thought it best to cancel, so I called and spoke with a supervisor, who told me he could not accept my cancellation but to call another number. This number has been busy for three days, 24 hours a day. I meanwhile have notified my credit card company. All this has led to distrust; if the item is shipped, how should I return it? Rick Martin

Response: You can always take a chance, mark it refused and hope it gets back to the company. Or, and this might be the more prudent course to follow, you can accept it and send it back yourself, merchandise return receipt requested. Your tale serves as a warning to readers to beware of high-pressure sales tactics, even when they make the initial contact themselves. The best thing to do when you feel that caving in is your only option is to give a polite, but firm, "I'm not interested, goodbye," and hang up the phone.

-- Action solves problems and gets answers for you. If you have a question, or your own attempts to resolve a consumer complaint have failed, write Times Action, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731, or call your Action number, (727) 893-8171, or, outside of Pinellas, toll-free 1-800-333-7505, ext. 8171, to leave a recorded request.

-- Requests will be accepted only by mail or voice mail; calls cannot be returned. We will not be responsible for personal documents, so please send only photocopies.

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