Family's insurance reinstated

By NANCY PARADIS

© St. Petersburg Times, published August 6, 2000

I am writing in regard to two outstanding claims that have not been paid by Foundation Health Insurance. I have been trying to rectify this for almost one year. Our company's policy was initially canceled due to non-payment of premium but was reinstated when the premium was paid. I have been assured that we had coverage for January, February and March 1999. Why these two claims are not being paid is a mystery, since other claims from that time period were. Please help! No one in claims will talk to me. I am forever being put on hold only to leave my name and number, but no one ever calls back. Elizabeth Robinson

Response: Michael Comerford, compliance manager of legal and regulatory affairs for Foundation Health in Sunrise, said the problem arose when you and your dependents were not identified by Foundation's system at the time your company's policy was reinstated. You and your three dependents have now manually been reinstated through March 31, 1999.

Comerford said he will review your unpaid claims with Foundation's claims director, and any claims that were previously denied for lack of eligibility will be adjusted accordingly. He apologized for the inconvenience this has caused.

Slow rebate

On Feb. 25, I purchased a Cannon printer with a $30 rebate. I sent in the rebate coupon with the receipt and UPC code as required. I phoned three times and got a recording saying my request had been approved and was in the mail.

After 31/2 months, I still do not have my rebate and wondered if you could be of any help to me. Molly Gable

Response: Thanks for letting us know that you finally got your rebate, quite a bit after the four to six weeks you were asked to allow. Given that rebate problems are near the top of Action's complaint list, here are some tips on handling rebate offers:

Read the offer carefully and note the expiration date. If you're buying the product because of the rebate, it won't do you any good if the offer has expired.

Make a copy of everything you send: receipt, proof of purchase, filled-out rebate form and anything else requested. Jot down the date you mail it. Save the box the product came in until you get your rebate.

If you don't receive your rebate within the time specified, send a copy of everything you originally sent, asking why you didn't get it. Write to the manufacturer (the address should be on the product), not the rebate company. Many rebate companies set up special post office box addresses that are then closed when the offer expires.

If you are unsuccessful in getting your rebate or a response from the company, we urge you to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. Although the FTC does not become involved in individual consumer problems, it does look for patterns of possible law violations, including those involving rebates.

Complaints may be made by writing to: Consumer Response Center, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20580; or by calling its toll-free number, (877) 382-4357. Complaints may also be filed online at the FTC's Web site, http://www.ftc.gov.

Junk mail overload

I hope you can tell me how to get rid of junk mail. I tried a Web site I read about in a Dear Abby column sometime between May and early June, but I could not get it to work. I had not realized, until then, the extent of my aunt's junk mail problem. Marsha McCoy

Response: Your best bet for eliminating a lot of junk mail is through the Direct Marketing Association. However, you cannot make a request on someone else's behalf unless you are that person's legal guardian. Get your aunt to drop a note to Mail Preference Service, Direct Marketing Association, P.O. Box 9008, Farmingdale, NY 11735-9008. The association takes such requests only by mail so it can verify, as much as possible, that the person submitting the request is the person whose name is being removed from marketing lists.

Once your aunt's request is received, the association will place her name on a "delete" file that is made available to marketers in January, April, July and October. Depending on when her request is received, it can take three months before a decrease in mail becomes apparent.

Note that she cannot request that her name be removed from specific lists. She will have to do that herself by writing to the individual company or companies.

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, 893-8171, or, outside of Pinellas, (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. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

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