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Action: Confusing offer? Go back to the source

By Suzanne Palmer, Action
Published January 28, 2008

Q: On Oct. 8, I applied for a Delta Sky Miles American Express card after receiving a solicitation in the mail. It said I would receive a certificate for one free domestic coach class companion ticket on Delta.

I've been using the card for about a month, but I have yet to receive the certificate.

Yesterday, I spent three hours on the phone talking with people from Delta and American Express. No one could help me, nor did anyone seem to know anything about the offer.

American Express tells me it's a Delta problem. Delta tells me it's an American Express problem.

The best I could do was to find out what number to call if I'd been a victim of fraud!

Is anyone willing to help me?

Mathilda Schultz

A: "Two weeks after I sent you this letter, I had my companion ticket," you wrote. "Thanks for the quick action!"

I'm glad to hear it.

Whenever you're confused about whom to contact about an offer you've received, take a look at the signature on the letter and the return address.

In your case, the offer was signed by Jeffrey W. Robertson, Delta Air Lines Skymiles program managing director. This lets you know the offer is administered through Delta.

Here's another clue. I read the terms and conditions of the offer on the back of the solicitation. It provides a toll-free number specifically related to the companion certificate. It's different from the number you circled on the letter, which is for the Delta Skymiles program in general.

That's no excuse for Delta employees not having information about the offers the company is sponsoring, but as consumers, we can often save ourselves time and frustration by being thorough.

Q: We called A-Robb Tree Service on Aug. 24 to get an estimate for tree trimming. We'd received a flier on our door.

Robb Curry provided a written estimate to trim and remove several trees and hedges.

Work started Sept. 15, but wasn't completed. A note was made on the receipt that he would return Sept. 17 to finish trimming the hedge and the remaining bamboo tree. We paid in full.

When we got home on the 17th, we noticed large portions of the bamboo tree hanging over our back neighbor's fence and debris on our deck and in our flower beds. We contacted Curry that evening to see when he would be back.

He explained he had no transportation. He had to depend on others to get him and his equipment around. He left a message that he would finish the job on Sept. 28, said again that he had no car, but was waiting on trust fund money.

On Oct. 16, we reached him by phone, but he hung up on us.

We realize we violated the cardinal rule by paying for a job in full when it wasn't completed, but we took him at his word.

After many messages, we finally reached Curry and agreed to accept a refund of $80 for the work he hadn't completed. He promised he would send it to us, but many weeks have passed with no refund in sight.

Becky and Chris Hockett

A: Hiring a tree trimmer is serious business, not just for the safety of your home, but for the health of the trees involved.

There is no regulation regarding who can trim a tree in Pinellas County or its cities, says Rodney Fischer, executive director of the Pinellas County Construction Licensing Board.

If you can pay for an occupational license and you own a chain saw, you can call yourself a tree trimmer.

Since he has no personal transportation, A-Robb Tree Service has ceased operations, according to its owner, Robb Curry.

In response to your complaint, Curry said, "In a nutshell, I'm disputing 80 percent of what's written." He especially stressed that he never hung up on you.

Curry said his partner cleaned up the debris you were unhappy with a week after the work was done on your yard. He described it as dust and "chopped" matter from the hedge trimming.

The bamboo stump removal you wanted done was indeed on the estimate, Curry said, but not on the final contract. That's why it wasn't done.

That's true. The contract specifies removal of "12-14 shoots," but the price you paid is the same as the estimate, which indicates stump removal is included.

Curry wasn't clear about why, but he was adamant that he performed exactly the work called for in the contract.

He never agreed to refund you $80, Curry said, but he conceded that perhaps the cleanup work wasn't up to snuff. He indicated he might be willing to send a refund for $15 based on this fact and you can call him to discuss it. It sounds as if you've been down that road before.

The only way to be sure you're getting a professional to care for your trees is to hire a certified arborist.

Arborists are specifically trained about tree health and maintenance. They're certified by the International Society of Arboriculture, a nonprofit scientific and educational organization "dedicated to the care and preservation of shade and ornamental trees." Visit its Web site at www.isa-arbor.com or call toll-free 1-888-472-8733.

Action solves problems and gets answers for you. Write Times Action, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731, or call, (727) 893-8171, or, outside of Pinellas, toll-free 1-800-333-7505, ext. 8171, to leave a recorded request. Complaints can only be accepted by mail. Send only photocopies of personal documents. Names of letter writers will not be omitted except in unusual circumstances. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

[Last modified January 28, 2008, 07:46:45]