Action: Dual enrollment kept fees coming

In April, I signed up for a health discount plan, Smart Health. On May 18, I called to cancel the plan. I sent a certified letter on June 8 requesting the same. The 30 days were supposed to be risk-free, yet the $14.95 fee was debited from my bank account in April. I was told an adjustment would be made the following month. This was not done, and I was charged instead. My account was also debited in June. Please see what you can do to stop this from continuing. My requests by phone and certified mail don't seem to matter. Etta Drake-Cuthbertson

Response: John Bagwell II, operations manager for Protective Marketing Enterprises in Birmingham, Ala., said he spoke to you recently to explain that you were enrolled in the Protective Smart Health plan twice. Protective Marketing contracts with providers to offer discounted services to members who pay an annual membership fee. He said you signed up by phone on April 5, and again by remitting the plan activation form that was included in a mailer you received. When you called on May 24, a credit of $14.95 was issued for your April dues and your membership terminated. Membership fees for your second enrollment were debited from your account in May, June and July. Bagwell said this duplicate membership has now been canceled and a credit of $44.85 will appear on your next statement.

Missing yearbooks

I am a 50-year subscriber to Funk and Wagnalls' annual yearbook and never encountered any problem until recently. Perhaps the problem began with my move from Massachusetts to Florida. I notified the publisher of my change of address, but for some unknown reason I failed to receive the 1997, 1998 and 1999 editions.

I called Funk and Wagnalls in the summer of 2000 and requested the missing yearbooks. I was told I would have to send $90 to receive them. I have written numerous times since then. It is very disturbing that I never received a proper reply. To add insult to injury, a collection agency sent a letter of demand for the 2000 yearbook that was published early this year but which I never received either. Thank you for any help you can give me. John Dupill

Response: It took two letters, the second sent certified, and one phone call before we were able to get an answer from the customer service department at Funk and Wagnalls in Delran, N.J. According to it, two sets of books were sent to your Holiday address. A supervisor will call you to see if you want a third set, in which case it will be sent by United Parcel Service.

Payment refunded

I was a DishNetwork subscriber, and about a week after I sent it a check for $59.34, I canceled my service and was told I would get a refund of $53.40. Two weeks later, I was called and told that I wouldn't be getting a refund after all. I asked why but was not given a reason. How can DishNetwork keep what's due me? It's not for service already rendered; it's for payment in advance. Christine McClelland

Response: Brian Tasler, manager of customer service support for Echostar Communications in Littleton, Colo., said you wrote DishNetwork a check on April 1 for $59.34, and while it was in the mail, you canceled your service, leaving a credit balance of $54.40. The DishNetwork residential customer agreement, which you signed, states in section 4, termination of service, that you have the right to cancel service at any time. Any charges for services, once charged to your account, are nonrefundable, and the same is true for any unused portions of a multimonth subscription that are paid in advance. However, Tasler said that since you canceled your account before your check posted to your account, you will be refunded the $54.40 after all.

DishNetwork must have sent out the refund quickly, since a day after we heard from Tasler, we got a note of thanks from you saying the check had arrived.

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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.

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