Kay Barker of Portland contacted Northeast COMBAT in regard to a problem she was having with Scent-A-Claus Inc., which is located in Los Angeles. This company specialized in perfumes for the holiday season such as Pine Cone, Holly Berry, Sweet Mistletoe and Christmas Glow.

Scent-A-Claus Inc. offered a special gift box of all four scents in decorated decanters for $39.95, plus $6.95 in postage.

Mrs. Barker found the idea novel and thought that the perfumes would be useful throughout the winter months. A check was mailed to Scent-A-Claus in the amount of $46.90 at the beginning of December.

When the perfumes did not arrive, Kay Barker wrote a letter to the business. After waiting two months for a reply and none arriving, Kay Barker contacted us.

A COMBAT caseworker wrote a letter to Scent-A-Claus on behalf of Kay Barker. We stated the problem Mrs. Barker was having with their business and that we strongly suggested Scent-A-Claus send either the perfume Mrs. Barker ordered, or a refund in the amount of $46.90, within the next 14 days with notification to Northeast COMBAT of the transaction. We cited the Federal Trade Commission’s 30-day mail order law and informed Scent-A-Claus that they were in direct violation of it.

Three weeks later we received a phone call from Kay Barker. She told us that neither the perfume nor a refund had arrived.

Her COMBAT caseworker wrote a second letter to the business. Again we quoted the Federal Trade Commission’s 30-day mail order law and went on to say that if Kay Barker did not receive the perfume or a refund within two weeks, we would be contacting California’s Attorney General, Postal Inspector, Federal Trade Commission, District Attorney of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Department of Consumer Affairs on her behalf.

A week later, Northeast COMBAT received a letter from Marva James, Consumer Resource Supervisor of Scent-A-Claus. She wrote, “Please accept our apology for the delay in our shipment of our holiday scents to Kay Barker. We sent a postcard to Ms. Barker in early February explaining that our warehouse had been depleted of the holiday scents but shipment would be possible in the near future. We asked that she be patient. Ms. Barker apparently did not receive this postcard. The holiday scents are on the way as you read this. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused Ms. Barker.”

A happy Kay Barker called us the following day. She told us that the perfume had arried and she was delighted with it. “Thank you so much for helping me. It was obvious that Scent-A-Claus, would not have ever contacted me again had it not been for COMBAT. My thanks to you and the other volunteers. I feel very lucky that you went to bat for me.”

Consumer Forum is a collaborative effort of the Bangor Daily News and Northeast COMBAT. Send your questions to Consumer Forum, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402-1329. COMBAT is a membership organization with basic dues of $10 a year. For membership information write to the above address. Please enclose a large, stamped, self-addressed envelope.