This is a copy of a letter I sent to the BBB in Florida to try and resolve my problem with U S Buildings
In July and again in August of this year myself and my wife were solicited by US Building to purchase a building at close out prices and thie special prices would not last very long. It was the same sales pitch each time. On August 16th I agreed to purchase a building from them and the details are on the invoice about the size and delivery place and time. I was asked for my VISA number to put up at deposit of 2000.00. At this time I was not told this was not refundable.
In a couple of days a courier showed up at my door with an envelope that contained my invoice/contract. Upon opening it I noticed the delivery place, time and amount were correct but my VISA number along with the expiry date and 3 digit safety code were all printed on the lower left corner of my invoice. I immediately called Mr. Degraziano who sold me the building about this and I was not going to sign the invoice with my Visa number attached.
I was told by him to cut off that portion that contained my visa number and sign the invoice and send a cheque along with the invoice to them. A courier would drop by and pick it up ASAP. I was assuming my VISA had not been charged yet. On or around august 16th I went online to check out my banking and I noticed that US Buildings had charges my Visa 2000.00 on Aug. 9 and they had credited this back to my account on Aug. 16 and again charged my account 2000.00 on Aug. 16 and all of this was done without my permission and it cost me around 119.99 in the exchange rate difference.
I immediately called Mr. Degraziano again and told him of the charges and he joked about it and said I was still getting a good deal' and apologized and told me that my cheque for the 2000.00 would be returned they were informed by their bank it would take at least 3 to 4 weeks before the cheque could be cashed and this would hold up construction of the building. I did not understand this and told him I did not like what he did with my Visa charges.
I was not contacted again until around the end of September and the shipping Lady called me and said We have your building ready for shipment. It is on the truck ready to go and we need the balance of payment before we can ship it. I told her this would take a few days because I had to go to my bank and get tellers cheque to send because this is what they required. She seemed very put off that I could not do this immediately but then told me to send her the tracking number as soon as I send the money so the building could be shipped. I happened to be off work the next day for a few hours so I went to the bank and got the cheque and sent it by Canada Post.
I tried calling her for he next 3 days with the tracking number and I left messages each time for her to call me but I was never called so that I could give her the tracking number. I sent and email to Mr. Degraziano about the matter and he told me that she was busy with personal problems and cold not return her calls.
The next day she called me and said she had received the cheque and that my building would be on its way. I had reduced the cheque by 100.00 because of the visa charges as told to do by her the shipper but she seemed not to remember telling me this.
I was called in a couple of days by some manager and I was told that the building could not be shipped to Halifax Nova Scotia because of border problems. I was asked if I would take 1000.00 from them to pick up the building at the border. I told him I would rather not but if this was the case I would do it.
Upon hanging up I called Border Customs to get the info I would need to cross the border and I asked them why US Buildings could not ship this item to Halifax NS. I was told there were no problems with them shipping the item into Canada. I immediately assumed it was costing them too much money to ship it to Halifax and they were just realizing this and put the shipment off on me and that 1000.00 was cheap for them.
At this time I was starting to wonder just what king of people I was dealing with. I was told when I agreed to buy the building that shipment to Halifax was no problem we do it all the time. As this was not true and I had the Visa problem and now they have all of the money for the building and I have nothing; I could smell at rat taking place. I did not like what I was hearing since they got full payment for the building now things were changing. But I knew they still had my Visa number and I was starting to worry.
I immediately called visa and instead of telling them my problem I lied and told them I had lost my Visa card and I needed a new one with a new number. This was done and I felt better that US Building now did not have my Visa number.
I sent them a fax outlining the information I needed for Customs at the border.in a few days I was called by the shipper and told that the building would be sent to Scarborough Maine. I looked up this place while talking to her on the phone and I told her the agreement was they would ship the building to the border either at Calais or Houlton Maine these are the two border crossings in Maine. I would not drive to this place because it is another 4 to 5 hours drive each way and it is close to the Maine / NH border not the Maine / Canada border as agreed..
My total driving to this point would then be 13 hours each way and I do not like driving a truck this far so I am refusing this delivery. We had an argument on the phone over this and I told her to cancel the whole deal and I was told that I would lose my deposit. I told her that the problem was on their end about shipment and not my fault. Why should I lose 2000.00 over this?
After hanging up with her I called customer relations and talked to a nice Lady called Elizabeth. I told her my problem about shipment and losing 2000.00 and I also apologized about arguing with the shipper. I was told that she would look into the matter.
Close to the end of October the shipper called me and I was told that I would have to find a place to pick up the building in Calais Maine because she was having a hard time finding a place. I told her that I lived in Canada and that I knew no one in this place and that I live in Canada not the USA and that she was the shipper and that finding a place for shipment was her problem not mine. I am getting sassy with her on the phone now because I am getting disgusted with the whole deal.
About I believe it was Thursday Nov. 2 the shipper again called me. She stated that she had found a place for delivery after a lot of contacting people in Calais. I asked her to give me the shipping information for pickup and I was told that she did not have the info at this time. I was also told that I had to be at the pick up point when the building arrived because of costs involved in holding the item. I then told her that this was probably not possible because I had a Job and I also needed to rent a truck and this cannot be done on a moments notice but if she could give me some time frame and I mentioned I am off next week I could possibly be there when it arrived.
I was then told that next week was not possible because they did not have a truck going that way until at least 3 weeks or so. I then got upset ant told her about the delivery agreement and that around the end of November was not possible because of the bad weather at that time of year. I was not a truck driver and I could not drive that far at this time of year because of snow storms etc. We argued a little more and I told her to cancel the whole deal and to return my money. I was again told they would keep my deposit of 2000.00 as per agreement. I did not argue with her anymore I immediately hung up and called Elizabeth again and told her of my problem. She told me that she would look into the situation of keeping my deposit.
The next day (Friday) about 6:15 PM I got a call while at work from a Manager and I think he called himself Mr. Rack. I was immediately accused of me giving his employees a difficult time and that the conversation was being recorded. I told him this was great and I hope all of my conversations were recorded. He seemed to immediately lose his cool and told me that I was a
*&*& idiot and that I would not be getting a cent of my money back because of the cancellation and the small print on the back of the contract. I told him I would have to get a lawyer and through his cursing and accusations I hung up on him.
The next day I got an email about them keeping all of my money and the reason why.
Since this time I have made no more contact them but my Lawyer has tried to call but they are not in and do not return his calls for about 2 weeks now.
I have contacted VISA about their using my number without permission and told them why I cancelled my card and I was given back 100.00 because of the fraudulent use of my number without my permission and I was told If I would have contacted before 75 days of the Visa use I could have gotten all of my 2000.00 back. They were also going to be in contact with US Buildings. I have recently sent a letter like this one to the BBB in Florida but have had no response yet.
Can anyone tell me what to do?
Gerry
Halifax, ns, Nova Scotia
Canada
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