Compensation still in question

By NANCY PARADIS

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 4, 2000

I am a tour coordinator for a retirement park in Hudson and on Feb. 10-12, I took 99 people to Key West, using Routemaster in Indian Rocks Beach. I was promised $200 for each busload. I never received a cent. I have called Nigel Duffett, the vice president of Routemaster, many times, and he always says he will put it in the mail tomorrow. He never does.

The check for $400 was supposed to be given to me the day we left. I also gave him more than $9,000 in checks to pay for this trip, and I never got the receipt he promised me. I am enclosing a copy of a letter from Routemaster stating what I was to receive. Since I had two busloads, I should get $400, as he told me. Ruth Wolf

Response: Nigel Duffett, vice president of Routemaster in Indian Rocks Beach, said that you arranged for 90-some people to take a three-day motorcoach tour to Key West and the Everglades in February. As an incentive to group leaders such as yourself, Routemaster offers two complimentary places for each 40 persons booked on a trip, plus a payment of $200. As you booked two buses, Duffett said you were entitled to four free places, plus $400. His fax to us states that a check for $400 was mailed to you on Feb. 24. His fax included a copy of the check stub as proof of payment.

Since a check stub is not proof of payment, and you say you still have not received the check, we made several additional attempts to contact Duffett to ask him for a copy of the front and back of the check made out to, and endorsed, by you. The company's voice mailbox was either full or our calls were not returned. Two requests sent to the company's fax number remain unanswered. We're sorry we were not able to help you.

Car sale is clear-cut

A few years ago I read that a woman bought a vacuum cleaner and paid cash. She brought it back the next day and got her money back, using the three-day cancellation law.

Does this apply to cars? I bought a car from a dealer on Saturday and brought it back on Sunday. I tried to use the three-day law and was refused. I was told I had already signed the papers.

We did not like the car and had to trade it in. I know I lost money doing this. My original trade in was $1,500 and the paperwork when I traded this one in only showed $500. Joseph Pierce

Response: The belief that there is a three-day cooling off period for car purchases gets a lot of folks in trouble. There is no three-day cancellation period for vehicle purchases. What you're thinking of is the three-day cooling off period that applies to home solicitation sales of more than $25. In the case of vehicles, however, once you sign the papers and drive it off the lot, it's yours, even if it immediately falls apart. This is why we always urge readers to do their homework before buying a car and if their car is used to have it checked over by an independent mechanic. While some dealerships may give customers several days to make up their minds, be sure to have something in writing to that effect.

Credit card minimum?

I routinely use credit cards for the purchase of items or services. Recently I have frequented several restaurants that advertise they have a "credit card minimum" charge. It is my understanding that there is a law stating that there should not be any minimum charge required for the use of a credit card. I would appreciate any clarification and, if I am correct, what is the specific law covering this situation. Robert Landis

Response: There is no law prohibiting merchants from requiring a minimum purchase amount for the use of credit cards, but that shouldn't matter, since the merchant regulations of MasterCard International and VisaUSA forbid this practice. You may report violations to MasterCard International at (800) 300-3069,

VisaUSA at (650) 432-1426 or your issuing bank.

There is a law, Florida Statute 501.0117, that prohibits merchants from adding a surcharge for using a credit card. (A similar federal ban against these surcharges expired in 1984.) Some merchants "reward" customers for cash payments by offering a 3 percent discount for such purchases, and this is legal. As reported in a 1994 Action column, credit card sales cost merchants around 3 percent, with that money going to the issuing bank, and some merchants pass their cash-sale savings on to customers who pay with cash.

Squirrel sighting

While visiting the Westin Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor recently, I noticed several squirrels that were an odd color. They had light tan bodies, with black heads, and were a lot larger than any other squirrel I've ever seen.

Were these squirrels imported from another country or another part of the United States? I have seen all black ones in Westfield, Mass., which are not native to that city, but I've never seen ones such as those I've described above. Any information on this would be appreciated. Mary Almquist

Response: They're fox squirrels, said Rob Giampietro, director of agronomy for golf courses at Westin Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor. As you noted, they are larger and lighter, with gray-reddish bodies, than the gray squirrel, another member of the tree squirrel family. Catch a quick glimpse of them and their black heads and white noses can make them look like little raccoons.

Giampietro estimated there are 10,000 of them on the 1,000-acre property at Innisbrook. They are friendly, domesticated and prone to jumping in the golf carts, looking for food, he said, although acorns are the mainstay of their diet. The 50,000 or so trees at Innisbrook include pine, maple, oak, pear, pepper and sycamore, and provide the ideal habitat for them. As for where these particular fox squirrels came from, Giampietro did not know. They are not uncommon in the eastern United States.

-- Action solves problems and gets answers for you. If you have a question, or your attempts to resolve a consumer complaint have failed, write: Times Action, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731, or call your Action number, 893-8171, or, outside of Pinellas, (800) 333-7505, ext. 8171, to leave a recorded request for Action. Names will not be omitted except in unusual circumstances. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

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