Action: Wireless remote car key was missed too late

I purchased a new Toyota Camry from a dealer Aug. 29. When I got home, I realized I had not received my wireless remote key. The following day I returned to the dealer to pick up my mother's wheelchair, which was left in the trunk of the car I traded.

I spoke to my salesman and told him he forgot to give me the remote key. He then told me it was not included with this car. He said I could purchase a remote for an additional $200. This was something I never discussed with my salesman, thinking the remote was included with this car.

I have made several phone calls to Toyota's corporate office and many more to the dealer. Its customer relations manager told me on Sept. 27 that if I wanted the remote the dealership would charge me $175, but I could get it cheaper elsewhere.

Within the past three months, my family has spent more than $75,000 at this dealership. Since I travel with a wheelchair and my 92-year-old mother, I do have a need for a remote key. I think a remote should have been included with this car, or at least offered to me free of charge. I would appreciate any help you can give me with this matter. Frances Novak

Response: The time to discuss what options are included when purchasing a new vehicle is before you sign the papers and drive it off the lot. As you have discovered, assuming that something such as a remote key is included is no guarantee that it is.

While we agree that it might be good customer relations to offer you a remote key free of charge, the dealership is under no obligation to do so, just as you are under no obligation to offer it your business the next time you buy a car.

On prize patrol

I have been a customer of Publishers Clearing House for more than two years. About seven months ago, I changed my address from my post office box to my home address because how else would the Prize Patrol be able to contact me?

To make a long story short, Publishers Clearing House has totally ignored my request to change my address. I have enclosed a certification form notifying me when the Prize Patrol will be coming. Just imagine the Prize Patrol coming to my previous post office box and knocking on its little door with a check and a balloon! That's not only hilarious, it's ridiculous. Perhaps Action will have better luck than I did trying to get my address changed. Mike Betts

Response: Alas, the eligibility certification form you received is simply a request for confirmation that you are a resident of Pinellas Park in the Tampa Bay TV area, where the prize patrol will award a $10,000 prize on Oct. 23. Although we certainly hope you are the lucky one, nowhere on the form does it state that you actually are.

In June 2001, the St. Petersburg Times reported that Publishers Clearing House had reached a $34-million settlement with Florida and 25 other states in lawsuits accusing the company of deceptive mailings. (Twenty-four other states and the District of Columbia had reached an $18-million settlement with the company a year earlier over similar allegations.)

As part of the agreement, the company can no longer use terms like "guaranteed winner," send phony checks or personalized letters, use fictional characters or make false statements to misrepresent the chances of winning. The form you received is certainly clearer on this point than those we have seen in the past. In addition, we don't believe you sent us the entire mailing, which would have contained disclosures about your odds of winning.

In the meantime, we have passed along your request to have your address changed and been assured it would be done. Mailings are often addressed long before they are sent, which could explain why you continued to receive mail at your post office box. If you are the winner, we were assured that the Prize Patrol can find your home. For any other questions or requests, call the company at toll-free 1-800-645-9242, or visit its Web site, www.pch.com, where lists of winners are available.

Here are some things to keep in mind about sweepstakes in general:

Requiring a sweepstakes contestant to make a purchase as a condition of entry is illegal in Florida. Ordering a magazine or buying a product won't increase your chances of winning. So enter as often as you wish, but never buy anything you don't want, pay for postage up front or give out your credit card number.

Consider that even a single entry can increase the amount of junk mail and sweepstakes announcements you receive. Sweepstakes are primarily an advertising tool, and advertisers sell their mailing lists. Do you really need more mail?

Be sure to read the fine print, since entering some sweepstakes automatically signs you up for a service or product you neither want nor need. If you can't read or understand the fine print, do yourself a favor and throw it away.

If discount coupons or checks to be used toward purchasing the merchandise being advertised are included, know that the U.S. Postal Service says most of these prizes are "throw-away" gifts. Junk. You can usually buy better stuff for less elsewhere.

Finally, remember that your chances of winning are slim to nonexistent.

- 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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