Missing blouses finally arrive> Northeast COMBAT helps woman solve mail-order problem

Northeast COMBAT received a letter from Gena Dubois of Lewiston who was having a problem in regard to an order she had placed with Plus Incorporated of New York.

Dubois sent an order to Plus Incorporated for two blouses, one pink and the other white, at the cost of $21 each. She enclosed a check in the amount of $46.95, which included postage and handling.

Within two weeks the blouses arrived. However, instead of being pink and white, they were blue and orchid. Dubois sent them back the next day with a letter explaining the problem. She insured the package in case it got lost.

Thirty days went by and Dubois did not receive the blouses, a letter of explanation or a refund.

She wrote a second letter, this time stating that if the blouses or a refund were not sent within the next 21 days, she would take further action.

Plus Incorporated responded: “Please send us a copy of the front and back of your [canceled] check along with your order. We cannot find an order placed under your name and address. As soon as we receive the requested information, we will fill your order.”

Dubois photocopied her canceled check and made out her order for the second time. She enclosed a letter telling Plus Incorporated that they had sent the wrong color blouses, which she had returned. She would accept the blouses if they arrived in pink and white. But if this could not be done, a refund in full was in order.

Four weeks later and still waiting for either the blouses or a refund, Dubois decided to contact Northeast COMBAT.

In explaining the situation while asking for our help, Dubois also wrote, “It is difficult for me to believe that a business such as Plus Incorporated could be so incompetent. … The ironic part of this is [that] my friends order blouses from Plus Incorporated and the quality of the blouses cannot be beat. They are lovely.”

A Northeast COMBAT caseworker wrote a letter to Plus Incorporated. We stated the details, explaining that they had sent the wrong colors for two blouses and that Gena Dubois had mailed them back by insured mail. We asked that they send either the two blouses in the correct style, size and colors or we expected that a refund of $46.95 would be sent within 14 days with notification to Northeast COMBAT of the transaction.

After this first letter from us, Plus Incorporated still did not send the merchandise or a refund to Gena nor did the company reply to us.

The Northeast COMBAT caseworker wrote a second letter, this time to the president of Plus Incorporated. We enclosed copies of our first letter to the business, the order and the canceled check. We stated that if Plus Incorporated did not send either the blouses or a refund within the next 14 days, we would have no alternative but to contact the New York attorney general, Federal Trade Commission and postal inspector in New York as well as the Better Business Bureau and chamber of commerce in their city.

Seven days later Gena Dubois contacted us to say, “Congratulations! Thanks to you I have finally received my blouses. Without you I’d still be waiting.”

Consumer Forum is a collaborative effort of the Bangor Daily News and Northeast COMBAT. Send questions to Consumer Forum, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402-1329. COMBAT is a nonprofit organization with annual dues of $10. For membership information write to the above address.