Action: Son, not phone company, is at fault for hefty bill

I hope you can help me with a dispute I have with my former long-distance carrier over the amount of charges for a calling card. I made a mistake and lent the card to my son, who was having problems in West Virginia, where he lives. He was to use it only to call me, but in the fall he used it for about a month for several calls a day.

The card was attached to my home long-distance account, but I moved and stopped the long-distance service last summer. At the time I was told I could keep the calling card service. The fees at that time were reasonable, I think about 10 to 20 cents a minute. There was no mention of raising the rates.

When I got the bill for my son's use of the card in November, it was $686.62. That amount was charged automatically to my credit card. I had computer e-mail notices of the bill, as I had stopped receiving paper invoices a few years ago. I immediately stopped the calling card and notified the credit card company that I wanted the amount placed in dispute. On top of that, I just got a bill for $269.91, probably for another week of calls before I had the card stopped, after the billing cycle of the first invoice. That's a total of $956.53 for about five weeks of phone use.

I have spoken to and e-mailed the phone company, and it keeps saying it DID notify me of the large rate increase sometime last year. The most recent e-mail says the notification was on my April 3 invoice, and that it will mail me a duplicate (never received). I would appreciate any help you can give me. James Furdell

Response: We suspect you're not going to like our answer: Your problem is with your son, not the phone company. Since you gave us your user name, password and permission to log in to your account, we were able to quickly discover the notification on your April statement that effective May 1, your state-to-state calling card rate would change to 99 cents per minute plus a $1.50 surcharge. At that rate, the charges can mount up quickly, and your bill for $686.62 shows 181 calls were made between Nov. 2 and Dec. 2, of which 11 were to your number in St. Petersburg.

Although it may be convenient to receive electronic statements, it is your responsibility to look them over and check the details, just as we hope you would do with paper statements.

For those who have gone the electronic route, we offer the following advice: If you have a problem accessing your complete statement online or do not know how to do so, contact the company for instructions. If you still have problems, consider reverting to paper statements.

No refund for carpet cleaning

I made an appointment with Horizon Cleaning Services in Clearwater to clean my carpets on Dec. 27. The job took two hours, and I paid $52. After the technician left, I looked closely at my carpets and realized they did not seem cleaner. I called the office to complain and request that someone come reclean the carpets or issue me a refund. I was told the dispatcher would call me back shortly. After three hours, I called again and was told the dispatcher would call me later. No one ever did. I called the next day and asked to speak to the manager or owner and was told he was out of town for two weeks.

I called again Jan. 8 and gave all my information again, since no information or paperwork could be found on me. When I asked for the owner again, I was turned over to the dispatcher, who said someone would be sent out immediately to reclean my carpets. I informed him that I had since had another company come in and clean and I wanted my money back. He said the company does not give refunds. Can you help me get my $52 back? Catherine Battle

Response: We received an unsigned fax from Horizon Cleaning Services in Clearwater in response to your complaint. The fax stated the company had been willing to send a technician out to reclean your carpets at no charge, but you had already had them cleaned by another company. The company's policy, the fax continued, is that refunds are not issued, since it cannot get back its chemicals or the time for the services performed. When complaints are received, the paperwork is pulled and placed on the manager's desk for review. After the review, an appointment is set up for a free recleaning. This process sometimes takes several days. According to the fax, the company had every intention of recleaning your carpets, but you took the matter out of its hands by hiring another company. In good faith, Horizon is willing to offer you a free carpet cleaning within this year.

We will send you a copy of the faxed offer for your records.

- 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 record a 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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