Refund check is finally on its way

By NANCY PARADIS

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 19, 2000

I purchased an OrbiTrek fitness machine on Dec. 30 and paid the $259.80 charge with a money order. I was dissatisfied with the machine and returned it by insured mail on Jan. 21, well within the 60-day trial period. The post office tells me the item was received and signed for on Feb. 1.

I have spoken to representatives at OrbiTrek on several occasions, and they keep telling me that there is no record of the item having been returned. I get a different person each time I call, and not one has been willing to help me solve this problem. I hope you will be able to help me get my money back. Remell Culbreth

Response: Done. Deanna Koller of OrbiTrek's customer response center in Reno, Nev., said your refund check for $199.80 was sent to you on May 22. We hope you have it by now.

Sorry, wrong office

Last August I sent copies of my DD Form 214 military discharge papers to the Marine Corps Reserve Support Command in Kansas City, Mo., requesting my Marine Corps service medals and an updated DD Form 214. To date I have had no word. Paul Weber

Response: The office of John L. Carver, acting assistant director for military records, National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, said that the office to which you sent your request maintains the military personnel records of Marines currently in the Marine Corps Reserve.

The National Personnel Records Center is the physical custodian of the military personnel records of former members of the U.S. Armed Forces, and it does not have the authority to issue Navy, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard service medals. Issuance of these medals is a function reserved by the Department of the Navy.

Your request has therefore been referred to Navy Personnel Command Liaison Office, Room 5409, PERS-313E, 9700 Page Ave., St. Louis, MO 63132. You should expect a response from that office.

Coffee grinder offer

In December I purchased a bottle of Tia Maria for the holidays. On an attached tag, there was an offer of an old-fashioned coffee grinder, made by M.J.M. Trading Co. I sent a money order to the address on the tag on Dec. 30.

I did not receive the coffee grinder in the four to six weeks stated in the offer. I wrote a letter of inquiry but got no response. Thereafter, I called three times and left messages, allowing two to three weeks between each call. Still nothing.

I would truly like this coffee grinder. Please help me get it. J. Tuckfield

Response: Robert Williams, customer service manager of M.J.M. Trading in Boca Raton, said the fulfillment company apparently did not mail out your grinder. He was planning on sending you one by United Parcel Service on Wednesday, so we hope you have it by now.

No more magazine

Enclosed is a bill I keep getting from the magazine Your Money. I have written to these people and my daughter has written to them. There is no phone number we can call. My husband passed away in October, and there is no way he or I would have ordered the magazine in question. I am not a reader and neither was he. There is no money to invest, so why order this magazine? Furthermore, no magazine has ever been received.

I would really appreciate if if you could help me out. Adeline Crisp

Response: Thanks for letting us know that Your Money magazine contacted you to let you know that you would get no further bills from it.

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 (727) 893-8171, or, outside of Pinellas, (800) 333-7505, ext. 8171, to leave a recorded request.

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