Hi,
I too was a victim of florida passport. I had gotten a call from a lady who said that I would receive 400 dollars in airline vouchers for a free trial of some service or other and i told her to call back later as i couldn't be bothered. I remember telling myself that i should talk to my wife before she goes ahead and authorizes them anything because i know my wife likes to try out these various trials and for some reason this one seemed kinda shady to me. Unfortunately i forgot to tell her and 3-4 days later they called, and my wife went ahead and gave them our bank routing number and account number and authorized them to take out $149 but only IF WE DID NOT cancel within our trial period.
Anyways we got the package after a couple of days and i immediately called the customer service number and cancelled. It all seemed too easy for some reason. About a week to ten days later as i was depositing some money into my account i just happened to ask for my balance and found out that i had been overdrawn due to the florida passport people taking money out of my account AFTER i had cancelled. Big surprise. Anyways after speaking with about two people and arguing i came across this website and was given some sound advice my several members.
When i called florida passport i got all angry and yelled and screamed but they said they could not put the money back into my account instead they said they would send me a check for 149. I was obviously skeptical (you know the phrase "the check's in the mail). However, i did receive a check for that amount and i received exactly when they said i would within one week. Then i called my bank and told them what happened they suggested that i change my checking account which i did immediately and they said that i go after Florida Passport for the overdraft fees which for me was about 120 dollars.
So i called back and spoke with the first person who was scott and he told me to fax a copy of my bank statement in order to prove the overdraft fees were as a result of Floria Passport debiting my account. Before i did that i went online to www.bbb.org and decided to file a complaint with the bureau of better businesses and wrote a detailed report of everything that happened to me including the exact amounts that i was due, overdraft fees and all. Two weeks later i got another check in the mail covering the amount of the overdraft fees with a letter addressed to the bureau of better businesses stating that if there were no further issues the matter would be considered closed.
So to summarize what everything i just said to get your money back quickly do the following:
1. CALL FLORIDA PASSPORT: talk to the first person who will say that you need to fax your bank statements and what not. You don't need to they have all the records if you cancelled before your trial period ended then they will have it in their records. So if the first person does not budge speak to the supervisor who is the highest person you can't get any higher. The highest person i spoke with was someone called Duran. Tell him/her what happened (no use getting loud it won't make a difference). Do not threaten to call BBB just file a complaint online.
2. CHANGE YOUR CHECKING ACCOUNT: i know this is frustrating but you need to change your checking account otherwise they have baby companies that will debit amounts of 59 or so per month from your account. It is a hassle but it is well worth the hassle.
3. FILE A COMPLAINT WITH BUREAU OF BETTER BUSINESSES: the website is www.bbb.org. File a complaint giving all details and the amounts that were taken from you. I told them about all the over draft fees and the initial 149 that was taken from my account.
4. FAX DOCUMENTS: to be on the safe side fax a copy of your bank statements indicating when the 149 was taken and also that that was the cause of your overdraft fees and don't forget to put your phone number on it because that's what they go by.
-good luck!
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