Has a company ever billed you for something you didn’t want?
Kolbie Stonehocker: Once the library tried to charge me for a “lost” book that I’d never checked out in the first place. They said the fee would go to collections. Me yelling at them seemed to finally get my point across.
Pete Saltas: Verizon used to bill me with something they internally called “overages”—pshhh, I didn’t sign up for that!
Colin Wolf: Like Jerre’s MediaOne problem, this friend of mine in college came home from the bar wasted one night and subscribed to a DVD subscription from Girls Gone Wild. He tried to unsubscribe for years, but I think he stills gets ’em.
Susan Kruithof: Proactiv. I bought one kit and then all of a sudden, I’m signed up for a lifetime membership. They sent me another kit one month later. When I called to cancel, they said the kit included a return postage card, and to just mail it back. There was no postage included—another phone call and more waiting to get one mailed to me. Meanwhile, there was another ding on my checking account because the shipment they sent was a three-month supply that had three payments involved. I did eventually mail the damn thing back and received my credit, minus the postage that they promised I would not have to pay. Liars!
Scott Renshaw: You need to use cold hard logic and refuse to get off the phone with someone until you have the result you want. It’s amazing what you can accomplish if the person you’re talking to is even more eager to have the conversation end than you are.
Lindsay Fenton: The best way to deal with them is to call them up and go Fenton on their ass.