Anderson Tire & Auto, Salisbury, MD

It's been more than 20 years ago. We were on our way to Ocean City, MD for our annual week at the beach. Our station wagon was loaded with kids, beach paraphernalia, food, etc. Around noon (Saturday) we stopped in Salisbury, MD for lunch. When we came out the car battery was dead. PANIC!

Fortunately, a Good Samaritan gave me a jump. Now, the hard part--"Where can I go to get a new battery?" "Anderson Tire and Auto" was the reply. Off I went.

It was packed. I told the person at the window my story. They said "Have a seat--we'll squeeze you in".

Within an hour I was on my way; but, that isn't the best part. Before paying the bill, I thought to myself: "Tourist, car full of kids, loaded with junk, Saturday afternoon, the only place open in town, ... Brace yourself--this is going to be expensive."

When I got home I checked the price of the new battery and found that it was actually LESS from Anderson Tire and Auto than it would have been if I had bought it at home.

Thank you, Anderson Tire and Auto, Salisbury, MD. I'll NEVER forget you.

American Express gift card rip-off

If you’ve had an American Express gift card, then you’ve faced what to do with the unused balance. 

You can donate it to American Express, or you can donate it to charity. You can’t use it along with another credit card to make a purchase, despite the fact that restaurants will take more than one credit card, if your party is going “Dutch treat”.

New Jersey’s government has another idea for gift cards’ unused balances: claim it for themselves.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/05/nj_senate_likely_to_reverse_st.html

It’s worth noting that’s $17 million in forfeited gift card money in New Jersey alone.

Tell your family and friends that when it comes to American Express gift cards: forget it--that you’d rather see the unused balance going to them than to donate it to American Express or the government.

T-Mobile

BOTTOM FEEDERS: T-Mobile and their telephone harasser, Diversified Consultants Inc. ( http://www.dcicollect.com/ )

Note to Amanda w/ T-Mobile:

We don’t do business with T-Mobile over the telephone. T-Mobile tells us that they’ll look into our not being able to receive or send calls from our house and that “someone will get back to you”. T-Mobile doesn’t. One would think that when one has an on-line T-Mobile account that one would be able to communicate with T-Mobile IN WRITING via that account. Not so. When we tried to cancel our account on-line, we couldn’t. When we tried to email our letter 8/25/12 letter to T-Mobile, we got an autoreply that says that T-Mobile doesn’t respond to emails. So, we did EXACTLY what the back of the bill tells us to do—we snail-mail our 8/25/12 letter to the PO box in Albuquerque given on the back of the bill. Then, two months later, T-Mobile tells us that we owe T-Mobile two more months’ charges because we didn’t CALL and cancel the service. 

This is how T-Mobile treats its customers of more than 10 years.

Amanda, You can tell T-Mobile’s bill collection people that we don’t do business over the phone—that they might as well stop calling us multiple times each day, because we’re NOT going to answer. After all this time one would think that they would have figured out that we have caller ID and we’re NOT going to answer their calls and deal with this matter by phone. We’ve already answered your bill collector’s letters with our letters dated 10/16/12 and 11/18/12. As was the case with our 8/25/12 letter to T-Mobile, we have NOT received written responses to these two letters. ANSWER OUR LETTERS—IN KIND, BY LETTER. But then, we all know that crooks don’t do business in writing—only by phone where they can deny everything.

PS  Amanda, T-Mobile has our 8/25/12 letter with all the information that you asked for. If you can’t find it, then ask your bill-collectors—they have it too.

*****************************************************************************

T-Mobile,

When are you going to answer our 8/25/12 letter?

When are you going to reimburse us for the months of service that we paid for that you didn't provide?

************************************************************************

Koenig
Culpeper, VA 22701

August 25, 2012

T-Mobile Customer Relations
PO Box 37380
Albuquerque, NM  87176-7380

RE: Notification of Termination
       Account No. xxxxxxxxxxxxx

On February 14, 2012 we moved permanently from Bluffton, SC to Culpeper, VA. Since then we have been unable to make or receive cell phone calls from our location. When we are able to retrieve an occasional voicemail (most of which we never receive), it is so garbled that it is impossible to understand. 

On August 15 when I called T-Mobile about this problem (800 937-8997) the T-Mobile representative (couldn’t understand her name) told me “the problem will be reported to the engineering department and someone will get back to you”. No one did.

On August 23, Naomi in Customer Service said I have moderate coverage and T-Mobile was not responsible for any problems.  She transferred me to Tim in Technical Support.  His suggestion was for me to purchase 3G or 4G phones.  Jennifer in Cancellation said there was no way T-Mobile would not charge me a cancellation fee for terminating the contract.

T-Mobile failed to address the problem that we are unable to make or receive cell phone calls at our location.  Further, Tim’s suggestion that we purchase phones, ranging from $225 to $700 EACH, in the hope that our cell phone reception may be improved is unacceptable.  It is reasonable for us to expect to receive the same service in Culpeper that we received in Bluffton for the same cost (approximately $80/month).  

Prior to our move to Culpeper VA, our cell phone service in Bluffton SC was adequate. Since our move to Culpeper VA we have been unable to make or receive calls at our location. Needless to say, paying for a service that we are not getting is unacceptable.

We will no longer honor charges from T-Mobile. Furthermore, we feel that we are entitled to a refund of six months’ charges (approximately $500) for services that we did not receive.





Koenig

cc:  FCC

***********************************************************************

Koenig

Culpeper, VA 22701

October 16, 2012

EOS CCA

PO Box 556

Norwell, MA  02061-0556

RE:  Dispute

        Your letter dated October 10, 2012

        Agency Account # xxxxxxxx

        Client Reference # xxxxxxxxx

In my letter dated August 25, 2012 (attached) I advised T-Mobile that we would no longer honor charges from T-Mobile, because we couldn’t make or receive calls from our location in Culpeper, VA since February when we moved our household from Bluffton, SC.

On August 25 I attempted to advise T-Mobile using our on-line account at my.t-mobile.com, but I was unable to do so. I then tried emailing T-Mobile with my 8/25/12 letter attached (8/25/12, 10:30 am; attached). One minute later I received the attached reply from T-Mobile Customer Relations (8/25/12, 10:31 am).

Consistent with instructions on the back of T-Mobile’s bill (“Questions about your bill? … You can also write to T-Mobile Customer Relations, PO Box 37380, Albuquerque, NM 87176-7380”), I then mailed my 8/25/12 letter (attached) to T-Mobile Customer Relations in Albuquerque. For the record, I have not received a reply from T-Mobile to my 8/25/12 letter.

Our position is unchanged from my 8/25/12 letter to T-Mobile:

1.       On August 25, 2012 we advised T-Mobile, in writing, in accordance with instructions on the back of T-Mobile’s bill, that we will no longer honor charges from T-Mobile.

2.       In my August 25, letter, I explained that we had been unable to make or receive calls at our location in Culpeper since we moved here in February.

3.       In my August 25 letter, I documented conversations that I had with T-Mobile representatives on August 15 and 23, including the fact that I was told that someone at T-Mobile would get back to me, and that no one ever did.

4.       In my August 25 letter, I stated that it is our position that we are entitled to a refund of six months’ charges (approximately $500) for services that we did not receive.

5.       On August 25 we permanently disabled both phones (permanently removed the batteries).

Attachments

                8/25/12 letter to T-Mobile Customer Relations, Albuquerque, NM

                8/25/12 email to T-Mobile Customer Relations (10:30 am)

                8/25/12 email reply from T-Mobile Customer Relations (10:31 am)

******************************************************************************


Koenig
Culpeper, VA 22701

November 18, 2012

AMSHER COLLECTION SERVICES, INC.
600 Beacon Pkwy W., Ste 300
Birmingham, AL  35209-3120

RE:  Dispute of validity of debt
        Your letter dated November 9, 2012
        ACS  Account # ************
        Client Reference # ************

In my letter dated August 25, 2012 (attached) I advised T-Mobile that we would no longer honor charges from T-Mobile, because we couldn’t make or receive calls from our location in Culpeper, VA since February when we moved our household from Bluffton, SC. 

On August 25 I attempted to advise T-Mobile using our on-line account at my.t-mobile.com, but I was unable to do so. I then tried emailing T-Mobile with my 8/25/12 letter attached (8/25/12, 10:30 am; attached). One minute later I received the attached reply from T-Mobile Customer Relations (8/25/12, 10:31 am). 

Consistent with instructions on the back of T-Mobile’s bill (“Questions about your bill? … You can also write to T-Mobile Customer Relations, PO Box 37380, Albuquerque, NM 87176-7380”), I then mailed my 8/25/12 letter (attached) to T-Mobile Customer Relations in Albuquerque. For the record, I have not received a reply from T-Mobile to my 8/25/12 letter.

Our position is unchanged from my 8/25/12 letter to T-Mobile:
1. On August 25, 2012 we advised T-Mobile, in writing, in accordance with instructions on the back of T-Mobile’s bill, that we will no longer honor charges from T-Mobile. 
2. In my August 25, letter, I explained that we had been unable to make or receive calls at our location in Culpeper since we moved here in February.
3. In my August 25 letter, I documented conversations that I had with T-Mobile representatives on August 15 and 23, including the fact that I was told that someone at T-Mobile would get back to me, and that no one ever did.
4. In my August 25 letter, I stated that it is our position that we are entitled to a refund of six months’ charges (approximately $500) for services that we did not receive.
5. On August 25 we permanently disabled both phones (permanently removed batteries and sim cards). 




Attachments
8/25/12 letter to T-Mobile Customer Relations, Albuquerque, NM
8/25/12 email to T-Mobile Customer Relations (10:30 am)
8/25/12 email reply from T-Mobile Customer Relations (10:31 am)