This company charged me $609 USD on 2/23/09, on the pretext of removing charges from my criminal record circa 1998, and restoring my right to possess a firearm.
After waiting a month, I received an intro packet, basically a list of paperwork that they needed from me to begin the process. Criminal history, fingerprint card, disposition of the cases, etc. After spending $100 USD in fees, over $200 USD in expenses, and waiting another 12 weeks for said paperwork, I finally had everything together.
I was instructed to return the original documents, no copies, by mail. I was also told that I should not send them via any means requiring a signature, as they were, "too busy" to sign for everything they received. This disturbed me, but as I had already paid out nearly $1000 USD, I felt pretty committed.
So I sent everything to them at my expense, and waited the requisite '6-8 weeks'. When I got no updates or activity, I attempted to contact them, which turned out to be futile. The only means of contacting a live person was to call the inital 'new customer only' line.
I spoke with a David Jones, who after listening to my complaint gave me the names/ex.'s for a J Palmer (president) Nancy (vice) and Pam M (assistant), then told me to call him back if I didn't get a response.
J Palmer's ext lead to a voice mail that went to dead air and disconnected after 3 min 45 sec, Nancy has no working ext, Pam M went to voice mail each time, has not returned a single call of the 14 or so placed.
Today, 8/06/09, after attempting once again to contact 'management' I called David. He promised to try and have someone call me, but sounded very dis-interested. After hanging up, I called my bank to see how I should proceed with resolving the issue.
I was greeted with the unpleasant response, "You waited too long to do anything about it now" It is bank policy that fraud charges can only be disputed within the first 60 days. I had not even received the paperwork to send them by that point.
Now, I am out a grand, and being disabled, that's quite a hit. I was willing to pay the price if it meant I could clear my record, allowing new employment options, but this is unacceptable. It seems my only recourse is litigation, which I cannot afford.
0 comments