Action: Allow enough time for mail order deliveries

We ordered and paid for a pasta pot from the Invention Channel on Jan. 6. We have not yet received it. We've written and called but have received no response. We would appreciate any effort you could make to get the pot or a refund. Charles Fazio

Response: Judith Adivari, customer service supervisor for Telebrands in Fairfield, N.J., said your order was shipped March 19 from the company's warehouse in California. She apologized for creating concern.

We do not know when delivery of your pasta pot was promised, but time frames of six to eight weeks or even longer are not uncommon for mail-order purchases. As a reminder, the Federal Trade Commission's mail or telephone merchandise rule states that merchandise must be shipped within 30 days of the order's receipt unless a longer time was clearly stated, and you must be notified if it is delayed and given the option of canceling and receiving a refund. If there is a second delay, the company must notify you and issue a refund unless you instruct it otherwise.

If you are having a problem with a mail order company, the FTC would like to hear from you. While it cannot intervene in individual disputes, it does look for patterns of complaints, which are vital to its law enforcement efforts. Call the FTC's Consumer Response Center toll-free at 1-877-382-4357. Complaints may also be filed through its Web site, www.ftc.gov, using the online complaint form.

Extra cost mainly sales tax

As far as I am concerned, I was sold a bill of goods by a salesman from Verizon Americast. I was promised a six-month rate of $45.95 and gave the cable man that sum. Now I have received a bill for $7.12, which I'm told is tax. This was not explained to me; my check for $45.95 was accepted. I feel that this is deceptive. Lois Ericson

Response: Taxes are so ubiquitous that most retailers do not include them in their advertised prices, or, as in this case, the rates they quote. This holds true for cars to clothing, taxable grocery items to restaurant meals. Psychologically, there's a benefit to advertising or quoting a price without the sales tax -- it makes the price seem lower. For accounting purposes doing so permits easier separation of an item's price from the sales tax. In addition, sales taxes can vary from one jurisdiction to another.

But you might not care about all that. The bottom line is that services, such as those of a cable provider, are taxable according to the Florida State Sales and Use Tax Rules 1.046, subsection (5). It is customary for taxes to be added to a flat monthly rate. The bill for $7.12 likely includes a fee or fees in addition to the sales tax, since it represents more than 7 percent of $45.95. We can pretty much guarantee, however, that whatever other fees you are being assessed are legal in this case as well.

Reasonable adjustment

Because of mechanical problems, our flight Dec. 3 was seven hours late leaving Tampa, causing us to miss our 8 p.m. connecting flight to Ireland. As a result, we arrived in Ireland Dec. 5 instead of Dec. 4. We asked the airline for credit for missing a day's vacation and reimbursement for car rental, the bed and breakfast that we had prepaid and our expenses from waiting in New York City for 24 hours. All we were given was 10,000 miles each, and we will have to fly the same airline again to be able to use them. Mathilda Schultz

Response: While we are certain there are many people who can empathize with you, airline schedules are not guaranteed. Flights can be delayed for a number of reasons, from bad weather to mechanical problems. In the latter case, we must say that we're always happy when they are discovered on the ground and not in the air. When mother nature's to blame, we also prefer our pilots' being cautious about taking off or landing in adverse weather conditions, regardless of any resulting delay. (Don't forget that weather conditions in other areas can affect flights originating where the weather is fine.)

Each airline has its own policy regarding delays. Some compensate passengers in various ways for delayed or canceled flights, but there is no federal law that requires they do so. Your airline has already given you 10,000 miles each and responded to you twice. We do not believe any further action on our part is warranted.

- 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.

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