Hello, Mirko:
I am sorry you have had problems with your Internet purchase. It can
be so discouraging when something like that happens.
The problems with the misrepresentation of your purchase can be
difficult to solve, but since you reside in Florida, and the company
you purchased from is in New York. You can file complaints with the
Consumer Services divisions of both states.
I hope you are saving all the documentation, as the more you have
available to prove your assertion, the better your chance of
recovering the money you were overcharged.
In addition, if you haven't already done so, you should address a
letter to the company demanding a refund of your money. Send the
letter certified mail, return receipt requested so you have a record
of its having been received. And the contents of the letter should
clearly state:
1. What you understand you were buying, including their advertised
price on their website (did they send an acknowledgement of your
order?).
2. Your demand to make the matter right (a refund of the overcharge
and the materials you were supposed to receive but which were absent).
3. Give them a set amount of time in which to respond (ten days is
generally fair), and
4. If no response, tell them you are reporting the matter to the
Florida and New York State attorney general's office.
This demand strengthens your assertion of fraudulent business
practices and will help, too, when you go to your own credit card
issuer and ask for a reversal of the charges.
Florida:
Under Florida law, consumer complaints are administered by the state
Division of Consumer Services under the direction of the Department of
Agriculture's Division of Consumer Services.
This is from the Florida Attorney's website regarding unfair
practices.
"The Attorney General's Office is an enforcing authority of Florida's
Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, which is meant to protect
individual consumers and legitimate businesses from various types of
illegal conduct in trade or commerce. Pursuant to the Act, the
Attorney general investigates and files civil actions against persons
who engage in unfair methods of competition, unfair, unconscionable
or deceptive trade practices, including, but not limited to, pyramid
schemes, misleading franchise or business opportunities, travel scams,
fraudulent telemarketing, and false or misleading advertising."
The Florida Division of Consumer services has an online claim form and
the instructions for filing your claim. The URL of their complaint
form with information is:
http://www.800helpfla.com/~cs/ccform.html
Main office mailing address
Office of Attorney General Charlie Crist
State of Florida
The Capitol
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1050
Main office telephone numbers
Voice: 850-487-1963
Fax: 850-487-2564
http://legal.firn.edu/
Email to Attorney General: ag@oag.state.fl.us
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New York:
The New York Office of the Attorney General's Website is located here:
http://www.oag.state.ny.us/complaints/complaints.html
If you look under "general consumer complaints" ... the claim form is
at http://www.oag.state.ny.us/complaints/html/comp_consumer.html
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Keep copies of your complaint forms to both the Florida and New York
Attorneys General offices to file your claim with the credit card
company for a reversal of the fees there, if you do not receive a
timely answer.
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Search terms:
Florida consumer complaints
Florida internet consumer complaints
New York consumer complaints
New York internet consumer complaints
I hope this helps, and remember, not every merchant is fraudulent, nor
is every consumer problem or customer service problem so difficult to
fix. I hope this doesn't discourage you from other purchases on the
Internet.
Yours,
Serenata |
