Action: A reminder of how Action works

On March 14, we moved from Phoenix to Holiday. Our furniture, moved by Bekins Van Lines, arrived March 31. There was furniture damage and some lost items. Following Bekins' procedures, we filed for losses. Subsequently, a person was sent to examine the damage and take pictures.

Based upon the completion of the investigation, Bekins sent us a letter of settlement for $2,034, dated July 16, stating that we should receive a check within 45 to 60 days. When that time passed, plus an extra month we allowed, we tried to contact the writer of the letter as well as the person in charge of problems with claims, his supervisor and even the president of the division by phone, then fax.

No one ever answered the phone, so we left many messages on phone mail but no one ever responded. We even tried phoning and faxing the president's secretary but received no response.

We really do not know what to do. Please help. Bill and Fran Kapner

Response: Thanks for your note that you "contacted Consumer Protection Division of Illinois, and they got the deadbeats off their behinds. Don't know what you did but if it was only a phone call, more than that was necessary." No, it wasn't a phone call, and we'd like use this situation to clear up some possible confusion about how Action operates.

We received your letter asking for Action's help on Dec. 4. Your complaint was clear and well documented, and you had already tried to resolve your problem without success. The requirements for Action's involvement were met, so that same day we forwarded your correspondence to Bekins Van Lines, along with a cover letter asking for a response. At the same time, we sent you a postcard informing you that we were working on your request and asking you to let us know if you had not been contacted by the business within 30 days.

The 30 days passed. Bekins did not respond to Action. You fared no better and alerted us of this on Jan. 10. We therefore started over again and resent everything to Bekins, this time by certified mail, return receipt requested. We also let you know, in another postcard, that we had done so and again asked that you contact us if you heard nothing from the company within the next 30 days.

Two weeks later, on Jan. 24, we received the U.S. Postal Service postcard signifying that our second letter had been signed for and received. In the same mail, we also got your note, quoted above. We had either succeeded or our help was no longer needed. Either way, your case was closed.

If this procedure seems slow and tedious in today's speeded-up, electronically driven world, consider the following: Complaints can be received and sent on only by mail because we need proof in the form of receipts, contracts, etc. We can't just pick up the phone and call businesses around the country to relay our readers' complaints against them. Only if our second attempt to contact the company had elicited no response would we have resorted to the phone.

As for the time it takes -- a frustrating amount for some of our readers -- allowing companies 30 days to respond gives them ample time to do so. Not all complaints can be resolved by simply writing a check, a procedure that for businesses can often take a considerable amount of time.

Had you been unable to supply proof of your complaint against Bekins, either in the form of the company's "promissory" letters, a copy of your inventory noting the damaged and missing items and signed by both you and the driver, or some other form of written proof, then we would not have been able to assist you. You would have read the dreaded words, "Unfortunately, we are unable to help . . .," in either the column or a letter from Action.

- 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. If your complaint concerns merchandise ordered by mail, we need copies of both sides of your canceled check.

We may require additional information or prefer to reply by mail; therefore, readers must provide a full mailing address, including ZIP code. Names of letter writers will not be omitted except in unusual circumstances. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

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