M
mel g
Guest
What is the name of your state? California
I have been a member of Columbia House for about 2 years. On March 10, I bought my last required DVD and payed for it with my debit card. I then called Columbia House to confirm that my membership was cancelled and that I would not receive anything from them in the future. On April 28th, Columbia House made a charge to my debit card, which as it was right before pay-day, overdrew my account. I was then charged fees which in turn caused me to bounce checks resulting in more fees. I had not deducted the charge from my balance as I was not aware of them at that time. Columbia House then proceed to charge my account two more times in May. I discovered all of this when I want to take $20 out at the ATM and was $250 overdrawn. When I contacted my bank to see what had happened, we reviewed it and discovered the charges. The bank contacted Columbia House about the charges and they verified that my account had been closed and "automatically" re-opened. They said that upon re-activation my debit card was set up for automatic payment. However, I was never notified of being "re-activated" and certainly did not authorize them to take money out of my bank account. The customer service rep from CH told me that they would re-close my account and refund the charges and my bank fees. They asked me to fax a copy of my bank statement so that they could review the charges and come up with a total the same day. A manager was to contact me that day. No one called me. The next day I called back and got the same story. Again no one called me. Third day same story. On Monday, I threatened to file a complaint with the Dept of Consumer Affairs if I was not helped. A manager contacted me that day and said that it was not their policy to refund charges or cover fees incurred (despite the fact that I never recieved any DVDs for these charges). Once again, I told them that I would file a complaint. An hour later another manager called and asked me to re-fax my bank statement along with balance history showing how the charges affected my account. I also broke down the balance history without the Columbia House charges and resulting fees to make is easier to see that the overdraft actually did result from thier error. After reviewing this, they offered me a gift certificate if I renew my membership and re-itterated that it is not their policy to re-imburse for fees or refund faulty charges. Is there anything I can do to get re-imbersed for all the money this cost me? How can I make sure that they don't "accidently" do this again?
I have been a member of Columbia House for about 2 years. On March 10, I bought my last required DVD and payed for it with my debit card. I then called Columbia House to confirm that my membership was cancelled and that I would not receive anything from them in the future. On April 28th, Columbia House made a charge to my debit card, which as it was right before pay-day, overdrew my account. I was then charged fees which in turn caused me to bounce checks resulting in more fees. I had not deducted the charge from my balance as I was not aware of them at that time. Columbia House then proceed to charge my account two more times in May. I discovered all of this when I want to take $20 out at the ATM and was $250 overdrawn. When I contacted my bank to see what had happened, we reviewed it and discovered the charges. The bank contacted Columbia House about the charges and they verified that my account had been closed and "automatically" re-opened. They said that upon re-activation my debit card was set up for automatic payment. However, I was never notified of being "re-activated" and certainly did not authorize them to take money out of my bank account. The customer service rep from CH told me that they would re-close my account and refund the charges and my bank fees. They asked me to fax a copy of my bank statement so that they could review the charges and come up with a total the same day. A manager was to contact me that day. No one called me. The next day I called back and got the same story. Again no one called me. Third day same story. On Monday, I threatened to file a complaint with the Dept of Consumer Affairs if I was not helped. A manager contacted me that day and said that it was not their policy to refund charges or cover fees incurred (despite the fact that I never recieved any DVDs for these charges). Once again, I told them that I would file a complaint. An hour later another manager called and asked me to re-fax my bank statement along with balance history showing how the charges affected my account. I also broke down the balance history without the Columbia House charges and resulting fees to make is easier to see that the overdraft actually did result from thier error. After reviewing this, they offered me a gift certificate if I renew my membership and re-itterated that it is not their policy to re-imburse for fees or refund faulty charges. Is there anything I can do to get re-imbersed for all the money this cost me? How can I make sure that they don't "accidently" do this again?