COMBAT aids Caribou woman’s Christmas plans

Barbara T. of Caribou was proud of herself for being so far ahead on her Christmas shopping when she ordered a custom aluminum shotgun case for her husband in August after noticing that he had circled an advertisement in one of his hunting magazines.

She sent her $179.95 personal check and the order form included with the ad to National Sport Outfitters of Chicago. Barbara also wisely kept a photocopy of the advertisement and the company’s address.

When mid-September rolled around and the gun case had not arrived, Barbara wrote the company asking when it expected to send the gun case. She included her home and office telephone numbers should the company choose to call her. Again being a smart consumer, she sent her letter with return receipt requested. Within a week, she received the post office confirmation that the letter had been accepted by National Sport Outfitters. But three weeks later, there was still no gun case or response from the company.

Then she tried calling the company and found there was no listing under the company’s name. She checked her bank statement and her check had been cashed, so she then contacted COMBAT.

A COMBAT mediation specialist asked the consumer to send us a copy of the ad and her canceled check. When the requested information arrived, we wrote the company on Barbara’s behalf requesting delivery of the gun case or a refund within 14 days. We enclosed a copy of her cancelled check and the advertisement. It was now early November and Christmas was fast approaching.

But two weeks later, there still was no response.

COMBAT immediately sent National Sport Outfitters a strongly worded letter reminding them of the Federal Trade Commission’s 30-day rule. We warned that if we did not receive an immediate response, we would contact the attorneys general of Illinois and Maine, the Chicago Chamber of Commerce, the U.S. Postal Inspector, the Federal Trade Commission and the Chicago Better Business Bureau. In addition, our mediator went online and found a Web site and e-mail address for the company. We duplicated the text of our letter and sent it as an e-mail.

This seemed to do the trick. Within three days, the company called our office claiming the gun case had been sent by UPS in late August and it had no idea what might have happened. The company, however, was unable to provide UPS tracking numbers. How strange!

We told the company the mystery of the missing gun case was their problem; all we wanted was for our client to receive either the merchandise or a full refund before Christmas, which was just two weeks away.

With the threat of notifying state and federal agencies, National Sport Outfitters found religion and, just three days later, Barbara T. received her shotgun case by priority shipping just in time for Christmas. Happy hunting, Mr. T, but the next time you probably would be better off writing Santa Claus, who appears more dependable than National Sport Outfitters.

Volunteers needed: COMBAT’s Maine Center for the Public Interest relies on volunteers willing to help their neighbors. We are especially in need of volunteer mediators who are local to Bangor (we will train), experienced secretarial help and skilled writers. If you think you might have time to volunteer after the holiday rush, please call 947-3331. Select option two and leave your name and number.

Our offices will be closed for the holidays, but we will be checking messages and handling mail. If you have a consumer problem, you will receive a faster response if you write to the address below. Our best wishes for happy and safe holidays!

Consumer Forum is a collaboration of the Bangor Daily News and Northeast COMBAT/The Maine Center for the Public Interest, Maine’s membership-funded nonprofit consumer organization. For help or to request individual or business membership information write: Consumer Forum, Bangor Daily News, PO Box 1329, Bangor 04402-1329.