Submitted on behalf of my wifesummary of my submission to the Chicago chapter of the Better Business Bureau:
LFG is billing for a credit card processor lease that has been paid in full as of December and the unit had been returned to them May. Not only do they refuse to discontinue billing, but they are making threats of default and falsely claiming that we have not responded to them.in fact it is they who refuse to acknowledge that I have twice faxed them the proof (copy of certified mail slip showing that I had sent them the package and a copy of the letter that I had faxed in 2006 stating that I was returning the unit).
They did discontinue automatic debits on my credit card as of 12/07—thus confirming that the lease had been paid off. However, they called in 2/08 requesting the unit be returned. I said that I had returned it nearly 2 yrs earlier, but they denied receiving it. They refused to believe me and demanded proof. They did say that if I could send proof they would be satisfied. I could not find the Certified Mail slip until early May 08 when I faxed it to them.
LFG started to bill for unit again in March 08 (with several months of phony back charges) as if the unit were still in our possession—and they still continue despite notifying them again and demanding that they discontinue billing us.By-the-way, I find it outragous that they kept no record of the returned unit—or maybe worse—perhaps they knew they had it but wanted to take advantage of me misplacing my record.
The reason that we sent the unit back mid-term was because my wife had become deathly ill and had to close her small restaurant. She had heart failure and cardiomyopathy. She closed November and went to the hospital in April. At that time I requested LFG to release us from the remainder of the lease because of the hardship. We had already paid them $600-$800 for a unit that could be purchased outright brand new for less than $300.
All they offered was about $50 off the remaining balance of about $500 if I paid it off in a lump sum. They specified that returning the unit would be required to get a hardship offer. I returned the unit but could not get a better offer, so I continued to pay off the lease—while they had the unit available to generate an additional income stream from some other poor victim.
LFG responded to the BBB with weasel words and their sanctimonious claim that we need to fulfil all of the provisions of the lease agreement. Now the fact that I had faxed them a letter explaining why we were returning the unit fulfills their notification requirement, but they just ignore this and the Certified Mail slip that proves I returned it to their address, and they just keep on billing and adding charges.
BBB is totally toothless and gutless because they just closed the case as administratively resolved after LFG send a second rebuttal that was an even greater pack of lies than their first rebuttal. If Usa Consumer Complaints.com will allow, I'll post LFG's rebuttals (minus the names) as rebuttals or updates to this post—and our replies. Come on, folks, let's pull together and bring these parasites down.
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