|
Is there a valid legal basis for a company to charge you for a service, then
days later issue you a credit for that service, whether or not you actually
deserved the credit, because they felt they had missed their commitment to
total customer satisfaction. Then a month later decide they errored and
reissue the debit?
Their e-mail is listed below. I understand mistakes are made, and
ordinarily I wouldn't much mind about this, but I'm curious if this is even
legal. It isn't the same as a Bank making an account error in your favor
and correcting the error. Read the verbiage carefully. To me this is the
same as their just driving down the road and throwing money out the back of
a truck and stating it is okay to keep the money, then going after you later
to return it - all a big mistake. This kind of mistake I think the company
ought to have to just "eat".
In my case, it was another service I used, but they credited me anyway, and
I did have to wait longer than the stated wait time. At the time I thought
this gesture a very positive gesture - a strong enough gesture that I'd ride
out a lot of other issues would make me switch to a competing company. Then
they pull this stunt - and if it is "satisfied customers" they want, well,
I'm not very satisfied anymore.
It is the phrase "Whether or not you did..." that to me at least, implies
even if we made an error, that you should not even be offered this refund,
we don't care, we are refunding to you anyway. It seems to follow the rules
of a contract in they are offering me $19.95 as a credit whether I'm
specifically deserving or not, just to meet their goals of customer
satisfaction, and in return, they have added to their customer satisfaction
stock.
Now if an irate employee fraudulently sent this e-mail out - chances are
good, the credits would never have occurred. If they did, the email they
sent stating they were re-instating the original debit would have stated as
much instead of just saying we made and error and we want you to eat it.
From a product perspective, you can't buy this kind of free advertising.
Whether they have legal ground for this or not - they certainly won't make
another nickel off of me, and I might make them consume a buck or two worth
of 1st class stamps on this matter. This based upon the attitude of the
person I spoke to on this matter earlier. She wouldn't pass me on to legal.
And she wouldn't provide the address to their legal department, stating if I
intended to pursue the matter legally, my lawyers would know how to contact
their lawyers. What about me just filing a Small Claims action? I don't
want $1M, I want my $20. If I felt they had NO legal standing in this, I'd
enjoy initiating a class-action so everyone affected like me gets their
$19.95 credited back - which will probably turn into a $2 coupon after legal
fees paid.
I'd enjoy as many legal opinions as might be presented. If this is legal, a
brief "why". Oh I understand they have "fair" on their side. But "fair"
ain't always "legal".
Also, if their isn't any legal reason why I can't name the company (that
they would have no basis to come back after me for slander, libel, whatever)
I'd like to post their 2 e-mails on a few sites - you know - to pass around
that free advertising product publicity.
E-Mail from company they feel I'm entitled, no strings attached, to a
credit:
From: [removed]
Sent: [removed]
To: [removed]
Subject: Your Support Request
Dear [some company] Customer:
Thank you for choosing [somecompany] for preparing your tax return.
Our records show that you recently contacted [somecompany] Support and were
charged $19.95. Some customers have experienced difficulty reaching a
Technical Support agent due to high call volume and you may have experienced
this problem too. Whether or not you did, we have refunded your $19.95
service fee* simply because we failed to meet our service commitment to you.
This is consistent with our satisfaction guarantee. This credit will appear
on the credit card that we originally charged.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused and want you to know
that we are committed to improving the way we provide support for
[somecompany] products. If you should have any questions or comments, please
visit us at [somecompany].com
|
| |
| |
Wonderlust,
I'm not clear on the facts of your incident. As I understand it; you used
a service, you received a credit and an apology for a service that may not
have been good, the credit was discovered to be in error for some reason and
reversed.
You don't seem to dispute the use of a service or the cost of the service
for which you are billed. Did you use the service for which you were
credited? If not then it's reasonable to wonder why you didn't point out the
error. This would be a simple billing error in which you knew the money was
given to you in error. I don't think that you have a right to such money. On
the otherhand, if you did use the service for which you were credited then
there was no billing error. As a matter of policy they returned your money
for the possibility of poor service. They can not reverse such a policy and
expect the return of money. But either way, this is not enough money to
waste time on. Use it as a good story around the coffee pot at work
Good luck,
Dave M.
|
| |
| |
|
