I received a call one night from "Premier Marketing" telling me about a coupon packet from Wal Mart valued at $200 which was redeemable for cash. Sounds good right? Well, I was a little wary (I didn't want to fall for a scam!) so I questioned the woman and also spoke with her supervisor (P.S... Both of these women had Indian accents) so that I could get clarification on when I could expect my account to be debited. (I'm a single mom and the money that I keep in my bank account is strictly to pay bills, etc.) They assured me that the shipping fee ($3.95) would not be taken from my account until 21 days after receiving the coupons. (I went over and over with them about this!!!) Finally, I agreed.
Then they told me that I would also be receiving other items; a calling card and a movie pass. I told them that I was not interested in those items. They told me that I needed to call to cancel those services upon receipt of the package and that nothing will be charged to my account unless I failed to cancel the services at the end of the trial period. (They told me that I would receive a phone call reminding me about this!)
The "supervisor" told me that I would be listening to a recording and that they would be recording my answers as well.
Then they had me listen to the recording which stated all the products and services that I would be receiving. When it got to the part about the fees and I did not agree with them, the supervisor got back on and said "Don't worry, because you are going to cancel those fees do not apply to you."
On Monday I checked my bank account and found that they had charged my account $119.90 for the "Buyer's Union", $3.95 for the Call One calling card, and another $3.95 for the Premier Movie Pass. I was FURIOUS! I immediately called them and got a woman with - Surprise! - an Indian accent! I explained the situation and demanded that they refund my account TODAY so that I did not bounce the checks I had already written for my bills. She then told me that they will send me a form to fill out in order to get a refund. The form takes 7 to 10 business days to receive.
I told her that wasn't fast enough and that if they were able to electronically debit my account they should be able to automatically credit it back. She continued to insist that this was the only way. When I asked to speak with her manager she told me that they would tell me the same thing. I continued asking for her supervisor and she still told me that they'd tell me the same thing. After a few minutes of this she told me "I am the only one in charge here."
I said "You are the supervisor?" and she then said "I am the one in charge of this call." WHAT!?!? I said "What is the problem??!! Just let me speak with your supervisor!!!" She finally got him and his name was "Tony Almaeda". (He also spoke with some sort of accent.)
I explained everything all over to him again and he refused to refund my account immediately. He told me to wait the 7 to 10 business days to get the form. (He refused my request to overnight it to me, stating that it was their policy to use only regular mail.) I then asked how long it would take after I send the form back to get it refunded back into my account and he told me 10 to 14 business days!!!
I asked to speak with HIS manager and he told me he was the only one I could speak with. When I asked for the name of the President of the company, he refused to give it to me. I don't know if I'll ever see that money again and it really hurts because I don't have a lot of money as a single mom.
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