Letter writing when phone calls don't work...

[dwreath]

Okay... I know I have to write this myself... but any help you guys can give me would go a long way.  I'm a numbers person and writing letters is definately not my strong suit.

The situation... We use a service that was now offered online and the saleperson said we could try it to see if we liked it and if not we could cancel.  This was all done via my boss (the owner of the company).  We installed it... tried it once and immediately knew we didn't want it.  We called to cancel, but repeatedly get bills.  I talk to the saleperson and he says we will cancel it... but never does.  I've talked to the collections department and they say by installing the software we agreed to paid for it and she uses that little blurb in the beginning as our agreement.  You know the blurb... by installing this software program you agree to the terms and conditions.... etc.  When I point out to her that our sales person said we could try one or two records and see if we like it first and if not we would be off the hook for it, she says she needs to check with him.  And it goes around and around and around, and we are still getting billed.  It was $300.00 for the software, $40.00 a month for the service and they billed us 20 bucks for the 2 records we pulled up to sample the program.  And this goes back to Dec 2001.  Now, after countless calls nothing is resolved, as a matter of fact we are still being billed every month.

My boss wants me to write a letter now and I'm clueless on what to say.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

D.

[dwreath]

Also... who's attention do I put it to.  Writing 'To whom it may concern' sounds routine.  Is that the type of address I use in this case?  

[chris68]

Sounds like maybe a call to the Fair Business Council (Better Business Bureau) would be in order as well?

Chris68
Deskdemon Forum Board Staff

[winkiebear]

I'd definitely write a letter to the salesman telling him if he does not take care of this problem by XX date, then you'll cancel the account with the COMPANY and take legal recourse!


winkiebear
Deskdemon Editorial Board Member

[dwreath]

I'll probably have to get strict with the letter... but as for cancelling the account with the company, we decided not to use them anymore at all back when we saw the software wouldn't suit our needs.  So, our account as far as we are concerned is cancelled.

[donnap99]

Did the salesman put the terms of the trial period in writing?  If not, you may not have a leg to stand on, from what I see.

On the other hand, you can threaten legal action if the harrassment don't stop, and see if that shuts them up.

DonnaP99

[chris68]

Yes but this company may not think that since you haven't paid the bill.  I would spell out everything you have said here and also place another call  to the salesperson you originally talked to or cc the salesperson with this letter.

Spell out the problem as clearly as you can.  Re-read it as if you were reading it for the first time.  That's what I try to do when trying to explain something to someone else.  Sart at the beginning, go thru it step by step and as Winkiebear stated, give them xxx date as drop dead date for final action and let them know what your intention is if it's not completed by xxx date.  As always, I would cc your bossie on this one as well so he/she knows what you are sending.  And maybe have him/her read it over before sending it out.  Another set of eyes never hurts.

Chris68
Deskdemon Forum Board Staff

[dwreath]

Nothings in writing about the free-trial.  But that is correct that we have never paid the bill.  And they have can tell if there has been activity on our account and it does show that there has been no activity for any month other than March when we tried it out.

[Jackie G]

Hmm, nothing in writing means not a leg to stand on.

On the other hand, your boss clearly also didn't sign anything!

How are you paying for this - is it through an electronic debit at the bank?  If so this MUST be stopped immediately.

You need to write to the salesman who spoke to your boss (you need his name) and you also need to find out his/her superior and also the CEO of the company.  The Fair Business Bureau or whatever it's called is also a good plan.

This sounds like some kind of scam - other companies could also have been sucked in . . .

Jackie
www.iqps.org
DeskDemon Forum Board Staff

[blufire21]

While having anything in writting is a very good thing,  If what the salesperson says is true (meaning your boss didn't missunderstand), then what you have is a verbal contract.  While it doesn't always stand up in court, documenting all the calls you are making and sending letter after letter does.  If for no other reason than they have been very slow to take care of the problem.  The first time you called to cancel the account is the actual cancelation day.  So you might be stuck with charges up to that day (this is why you document everything). I would send 2 letters, one to the sales guy's boss and one to the collections departmet. My letter would go something like this.


To the Collection Department:

Re: Cancelation of our account

On (insert date here), Boss A received a call from Salesperson B.  Mr. B todl Mr. A that he was selling your service C.  Mr. B told Mr. A that he could try this serice for free.  The agreement was that Mr. A would download( or subscribe or whatever the guy said) 2 records to see if your product was what we needed.  If the service was not to our satisfaction, our account wodl be canceled and we would not be charged for your service or the records.  On (insert date here) Mr. A downloaded 2 records.  They did not meet our needs.  On (insert date and time), we called  Mr. B and asked that he cancel our account.  He said that he would.  On (ID & T) we received another bill and a charge for the records we downloaded.  We called Ms. Collections A, and explaind what Mr. B had said.  She told us that was not their policy, would check with Mr. B, and would call us back.  We never heard back.  We continue to receive bills, and continue to make calls to yor company asking for the account to be closed and the charges recitified.  Below are the date, times, an persons we have spoken to:

D & T Ms. C
D& T Mr. D
D & T Mr. C

Please consider this a written notice to close our account and to recify all charges.  Unfortunately, if this problem is not recified by (I'd give them 2 weeks), we will be foreced to refer this to our lawyers and notify the BBB.  


Sincerly,

XYZ Company



Let me know if this helps.  We had the same problem with a phone company.  w caneled our service in october, continued to get bills, and called in every month to get it fix.  Then they file for bankrupcy (and this is not Worldcom).  Who ever took over did the same thing.  We kept asking them to send us a correct final bill, and the would not. Then we got a letter from their lawyers.  I called the company, and (using their records) pulled up the names and Disconnect order numbers.  My controler helped me write a similar letter to them (Thanks Tracy).  


Ellen (if companies would just do their work) in TX

[brooklyn]

If this has been going on since December 2001 and neither your salesman nor the billing dept has done anything about it, I wouldn't waste any more time and/or effort with either. (But I hope you've gotten the names of everyone you've spoken or written to.)

Go right for the top: the President or whoever the biggest wheel in the company is.
Lay out this history in clear, concise sentences--and keep to words of one syllable as much as possible.  

CC as many of these lunkheads as you can.  And send it by certified or registered mail to get their attention.

[mlm668]

I agree with Brooklyn.  You really shouldn't have let the situation go on this long, but what's done is done.  

Stop dealing with the salesman and the billing department.  The salesman is the one giving the company a bad rep.  Call and ask for the name of his supervisor and the name of the company's president and address the letter to the supervisor and copy the president.

Then you state in your letter exactly what you told us.  Keep to the facts.  Give dates, who was talked to and what was said.  If you have anything in writing, reference it and provide a copy.  After that you ask for an immediate response from them in getting this matter cleared.  I've even gone so far in some instances to state that based on the customer service received to date, we would no longer consider that company for future services nor recommend them to anyone else.

You cannot just ignore the bill.  Businesses have credit ratings just like individuals.

I have a talent for these kinds of letters so my boss is always letting me do the dirty work when we get into this kind of situation.  I also get to make all the nasty phone calls when something doesn't go right.  Fun, fun, fun.  

If you want to PM me with a draft, I'd be happy to look it over and make suggestion.  

Michelle

[dwreath]

Thanks for everyones advice.  I just mailed the letters.  I sent one to a manager and a cc to the sales rep.  I did still have all the names of the people I spoke with.

It is my fault for letting it sit this long.  We cancelled it in March and when we got an April bill I let it slide giving them the benefit of the doubt that it might take a while for the paper work.  When we got another month billed in May is when I made the second call to the sales rep and he again had said he would take care of it.  In June is when their collections department got involved.  They told me they would cancel the account and that I should call back in a month if we were billed again, which we were and I called back in July.  They said they would talk to the sales rep there.  We got billed again now in August, which is when my boss finally said send a letter.

Thanks again for all the advice.  It helped.

D.