PrePaid Legal Services Ripoff not authorized to charge me an annual charge-sales rep told over I won't go for an annual charge Ada Oklahoma
First off let me state that I have, nor do I forsee a need for any criminal legal assistance., but I have been the victim of idenity theft and thought maybe they could assist me with the letters/process to clear my name..I received a call from one of the sales reps, and was informed that yes, this service would be PERFECT for me. I stated over and over I would not enter into any annual contract or pay an annual fee...over and over the sales rep stated I would be charged monthly!, well on 4/19, I received a "welcome to our family" call. It was during this call I was informed I had already been charged for a year. At once I informed the company they were not authorized to charge that, nor did I ever receive any type of confirmation. Since this call was recorded I requested that the call not be erased. I fax and mailed a cancellation notice. I also sent an email. I received confirmation on all notices I sent. I then called again to find out when I would be receiving a credit...was told 15 days to decide "if" I would receive a refund. Well you guessed it...in 15 days, I called only to be told it would be at least 60 days before I know anyting. I asked for a supervior only to be told the same thing. I requested they listen to the last call, where I was told 15 days, since it was recorded as well. I was told it didn't matter what was said earlier. I have since filed a dispute with my credit card company for the full amount charged...BEWARE!
Donna
Northern California, California
U.S.A.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Aaron
Bremerton,Washington,
U.S.A.
Long Wait Not Uncommon
#2UPDATE Employee
Thu, June 01, 2006
First let me appologize for the inconvenience that you have suffered from this incident. Without being provided any documentation it's hard to say if this was a simple administrative error by PPL or perhaps your paper contract was written inproperly. If you applied online, it's possible a button was clicked incorrectly. Obviously if the first instance is the case you should get your money back otherwise you may be on the hook for it's your responsibility to ensure that the documentation you sign, online or paper, binds you to the agreement made.
What I will point out is that a lengthy wait is not uncommon with any agency. Like the IRS, when you owe money they want it NOW, when you are owed money they drag their feet. I've had such dealings with two agencies, one is the military and the other is a civilian retail chain, in which I was owed money and it anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months to get paid.
As to what you claim about not expecting Criminal Proceedings, that is a very minor part of what PPL does. Their main focus is with litigation of civil matters which most people encounter ofter but seldomly do anything about. It's often easier and cheaper to be ripped of by a neighbor or corporation then get an attorney involved. That's where PPL comes in. If you have cable tune into court television one day. Dozens of litigation based programs where people sue one another over simple things. The kicker, none of them ever thought they'd have to go to court.
The point? You never know when something may happen that will land you in court, criminal or civil. PPL exists to help keep you out of court but if you don't see value in their service then don't get it.
The idea where you are adament about not being involved in an annual contract only works if you can't attribute the finances to pay for it. Otherwise you imply that you intend to extort the system by paying for the plan when you feel you need it, drop it when you feel you don't, then re-activate when another situation arises. If this is the case then understand that this is a fraudulent abuse of the service and it does carry a "cooling off" period when you cancel. You ID theft program takes a year before you can restart it and many of your free PPL services don't apply to situations arising when you aren't covered.
I hope that my synopsis is wrong and you are simply someone who is the victim of an administrative error and you get properly reimbursed. If this is the case I ask for patience and wish you luck in the future.