ComplaintsforInformation Agent, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  12/04/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  By phone, we were contacted for this advertising service. We did not want advertising and we don't have anything to do with boats and nothing to do with CA!!! The man said he would send us this $100 check to review. "Free to us". They sent a packet. We didn't even open it. Suddenly there was a deduction from our bank account. How did they get our account numbers and how does a bank allow anyone to randomly take funds from our account! We disputed with the bank and the next month, another deduction was taken again!!! We did not authorize this and even if we did, we didn't get any advertisement because we didn't give them ANY of our information.

  

  Business response

  12/24/2023

  Here is a breakdown of the customers complaint:
  
  Customer states: By phone,we were contacted for this advertising service.
  
  It is nice to see that the customer acknowledges the sales conversation that took place.
  
  Customer states: We did not want advertising and we do not have anything to do with boats and nothing to do with CA!!! The man said he would send us this $100 check to review.
  
  So, customer doesnt wantbut customer then accepts when told of the $100 promotion we were offering    Hmmm Our salesperson did a good job apparently.
  
  Customer states: They sent a packet. We did not even open it.
  
  So, at this point the customer has admitted to ordering something he doesnt want and then after ordering did not even open.

  
  The customer also failed to mention the following.

  
  The initial conversation with the customer was August 2, 2023, at about 9:30 AM ********** time. Less than 30 minutes later the customer was emailed by us confirming the sales arrangement and the exact terms of the offer. We emailed the exact same address of the customer provided in this ******************** complaint and did a search of our outgoing emails to verify.

  
  Customer received the package on August 14th as verified by **** As per the phone conversation with customer on August 2, as per the email sent 30 minutes later on August 2, as per the large print terms in the unopened package, as per the terms attached to the $100 check we provided to customer the customer had 30 days to accept or reject offer and the $100 was free to customer regardless of customer decision.

  
  That set first bill date for September 14, 2023

  
  We extended the trial period to 60 days!

  
  On September 11 we sent the customer a letter by priority first class ***** a letter that extended the trial period for thirty days and explicitly laid out, again, exactly how we would collect, what account we would debit, and when we would debit and provided four easy ways to cancel if not wanted beyond the now extended 60 day trial period.

  
  We also imported reviews for the customer in mid-September and informed the customer of this work.

  
  We also created social media interest on ***************** (X), and Instagram in mid-September and, again,informed customers of this work.

  
  Customer, having kept our $100 check and not rejecting offer was finally billed on October 17, 2023

  
  Customer wonders how we got billing **********************

  Perhaps customer should review the terms in the unopenedpackage and the terms attached to the $100 check we provided customer?

  Perhaps customer also doesnt open important first-class priority mail addressed specifically to the customer?

  Here is the, to now,unmentioned special fact: This isnt the first time a customer has done business with us!

  Customer ordered from us in 2017 as well.

  Back then the promotion was only $30

  Customer provided payment ********************** in 2017.

  Customer cashed our $30 promotion check in 2017.

  The best part: Customer actually followed the terms of the offer in 2017 and cancelled prior to first billing.

  
  In short, the customer knew and knows exactly how the program works having taken our promotion payments twice.

  
  We are baffled as to what the problem for customer was, or is, in 2023.

  
  Customer did not contact us after they were billed first time (for the third month as first two months were a free trial)

   

  On the next subsequent month customer was billed again.

  
  We first heard from customer on December 4th. Based on the time the customer called us we were not the first contact.

  The customer filed his complaint with the ******************** prior to contacting us.

  
  When the customer contacted us on August 4 the customer did not mention the missile fired with the BBB complaint.
  
  The customer simply asked for a refund and a refund was issued immediately.

  The customer was in possession of a refund in less than 24 hours.
  
  There was another surpriseThe next day we received the first billing item back (Customer put a stop pay on the payment)

  
  I had our senior customer service representative call the customer to find out what the problem was and why we were dealing with a complaint to the BBB when we were and are readily available and provided a refund, no questions asked, the moment customer called and asked for one.
  
  Here are the notes from our senior customer service:
  
  Notes** - Called up customer as per managements request.Spoke to him about his billing issue and concerns. Was told a refund had been issued yesterday. He claimed he was billed x 2. (He did not mention the stop payment on the second charge) He was asked about the complaint filed and that bank charged him additional fees? What were they? He said there were not any additional bank charges. He then stated that what really concerned him was that this company called, said to check out some of their stuff, they got it and tossed it as they barely do any marine related stuff. A month later they are getting billed. UPDATE: As per management request customer was called again. He received his refund that was issued on 12/5/23 and his bank stopped payment 12/4/23 on the other billing. He agreed at that point that we were "square, even, whatever.
  
  EPILOGUE: The customer admits in complaint to conversation and the order and even details why he accepted the order ($100 promotion payment)

  
  Customer was fully and completely refunded, instantly, upon request.
  
  Customer kept our $100 check.
  
  We wish customers all the best and a prosperous 2024.
  
  
  
  

  
  

  Customer response

  01/02/2024

  I am rejecting this response because:  As long as we have our money back, we do not wish to pursue this further.  Their response said we gave them our banking information back in 2017?  Not in our recollection.  The agent who called us was quite pushy in getting us to accept the $100 for checking out material.  It was under the understanding that we would have the "free" $100 for looking through material.  We may have received the materials but did not cash their check nor did we review the materials.  There are all kinds of discrepancies in this response but I'm out of time.
  

  

  Business response

  01/02/2024

  The customer was fully refunded.
  The customer acknowledges being fully refunded.
  The customer provided payment ********************** on April 10, 2017, with customer check #****.
  Two (2) days after customer provided payment ********************** the customer cashed our promotion check on April 12, 2017.
  Two (2) additional days thereafter the customer followed the terms of the offer, contacted us, and cancelled.
   Thus, the customer was not billed in 2017.
  Customer seemed unable to follow the same procedure in 2023.
  All of this is moot:
  1) THE CUSTOMER WAS FULLY REFUNDED INSTANTLY. (2023 transactions)
  2) THE CUSTOMER has been put on a permanent do not contact list and will not need to worry about ever engaging in business with us again.

  Customer response

  01/04/2024

  I am rejecting this response because:  I disagree with this companies statements.  What happened in 2017 is moot for what happened in 2023.  We can end this as a disagreement.
  

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