Action: Time-share talk turns into car-towing hassle

In June, my wife and I accepted an invitation to a presention on a time share in Daytona Beach to be held at Fairfield Daytona Beach at Ocean Walk Resort, and I sent in a $39 check as requested. When we arrived, we checked into an assigned hotel for our stay, and the next morning we drove to the public parking garage as instructed.

I drove into the garage and found only one other car there. I told my wife we must be early and walked to Fairfield. We met the presenter of the sales pitch and proceeded to listen to the wonderful world of time share for the first and last time. I mentioned to the presenter on two occasions that I was concerned, after seeing all the people at Fairfield, that there was only one other car in the garage. The presenter said she parked there all the time.

Three-and-a-half hours into the sales pitch I told my wife, "let's go." We walked to the garage to find our car no longer there. The security worker at the garage told us it had been towed. We returned to Fairfield and told the concierge what had happened. He called a Fairfield employee to the front desk; this person apologized and assured us that the towing charge would be paid by Fairfield. We then went with the other couple, whose car also had been towed, to pick up our cars and return to Fairfield.

The other couple was immediately compensated to cover the cost of towing. After a long period of time, we were informed that Fairfield would not refund the cost of towing to us. (Or the cost of repairing a flat tire that was incurred during the towing.) At this point we returned to the garage and saw signs posted 10 feet up on a column that said bus parking only. As we walked the area, we found that the entrance to the garage was on Earl Street, not on Ora Street as was printed on the directions we had been sent.

I sent a letter by certified mail in June to Fairfield's parent company, Cendant Corp., requesting reimbursement for the towing charges based on the fact that the directions for the parking garage were in error. Also, I mentioned that the other couple had been reimbursed. I sent follow-up letters in July and August. No response to any of them. I would like a refund of $100 for the towing charge, $8.90 to repair the flat tire, and $13.82 for the cost of three certified letters. Edward Sroka

Response: Adam Schwartz, director of Communications for Fairfield Resort in Orlando, thanked us for bringing your problem to his attention. After careful review, he said, Fairfield Resort has decided to reimburse you for the costs you incurred during your visit. A check for $122.70 is in the mail.

Water bill woes

My Pasco County water bill was for 21,000 gallons of water in July. My wife and I have never used more than 8,000 and that only happened once. You can see by the attached water usage chart I got from the utility that my average usage for the past 11 months was 5,545 gallons.

I called Pasco County utilities and questioned it about this discrepancy. I was told I might have a leak and to test this by reading the meter before going to bed. I did this for two nights and got the same reading in the morning. The next test I performed was to draw two 5-gallon buckets, which would be one revolution of the red hand on the meter. Both tests showed nothing wrong.

I talked to customer service again and it sent someone to our house to check the meter. He could not find anything wrong. No one at the utility company has an answer as to why the July bill was so much higher. Nonetheless, we are out the money. Can you help? Harry Sloan

Response: Anna Marie O'Dell, customer service manager for the Pasco County utilities services branch, said someone from the maintenance department went to your house Oct. 29 to check your meter and remove it for a calibration test. While there, he spoke to you, and upon mentioning that the meter seemed to be working fine, you told him not to remove it. O'Dell said she was under the impression that you are satisfied that it is working properly.

Many things can cause a high meter reading, she said, and whatever the circumstance was in your case, apparently it has resolved itself. Your last four readings show you used only 4,000 gallons per month.

We called the utility's customer service department to inquire what kinds of things can cause high readings. A stuck toilet valve, hairline crack in a pipe, a faucet that was not properly turned off and drips, or a problem in a water softener are some of the "minor" things that can cause water use to skyrocket. Note that some of these problems can indeed be "self-correcting." The toilet valve becomes unstuck, the faucet is properly turned off, and so on.

- 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.

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