Cook Portable Warehouses
Dishonest and fraudulent billing practices

I signed a contract in December for a storage shed from this company. This contract was a lease to buy for a total of $6021.18. Beginning in July of I asked for a pay-off for this shed. I was given the amount and sent a check to this company for $350.00.

In October, I was contacted by the company and told that I owed more money. I asked for a statement of all monies paid and was told that one would be sent. Going by my cancelled checks, I determined that I owed them an additional $390.00 to pay off the total amount due. I wrote on the check "Final payment" and it was cashed by the company.

In November, I received a letter from them stating that I owed another month's "rent" plus a $25.00 late fee. I callled them and once again requested a statement. I finally received a statement on 13 December dated 7 December. According to their own statement, I have paid a total of $6745.31. After subtracting the late fees (which most of them should not even had been added because my payment date was the 5th of each month and the checks cleared the bank within 2 days of that which meant they had the payments in time) and also subtracting the miscellaneous fees (they charged me $7.50 each time I requested a statement), I still have overpaid them by $159.13.

I contacted my local BBB and today I received the response the company sent to the BBB. Besides referring to me in a derogatory way, they also lied to the Complaints Liason for the BBB. They have stated in their reply that they "have repeatedly gone over the account with her and the only conclusion they can draw from this matter is that she simply decided she did not want to finish paying for our building". They also stated that they "did charge rent and late fees for the months of November and December, as constituted by her lease contract".

No where on my contract is this stated and from my understanding of contracts, as long as the total amount due is paid there should be no late fees or "rent" accruing.

I believe this company is acting in a dishonest manner and according to the BBB reports I have accessed, they have an unsatisfactory rating with the BBB. They want to attempt to use the contract against me, but they are unwilling to follow it themselves.

Company: Cook Portable Warehouses
Country: USA
State: Illinois
City: Anna
Address: P.O. Box 687
Phone: 6188931340

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