Mary Silas from Windham contacted our office recently. She wrote, “Even though I have been a member of Northeast CONTACT for many years, I have never needed your services until now. I have come across a business which obviously chooses not to deal with me.

“In July 2005, I received a catalog from Sunset Products, out of Seattle, Washington, with assorted products for the home listed. My eyes fell upon a set of cast-iron fry pans. The three-piece set was priced at $34.90 plus $8.95 postage and handling for a total of $43.85. I sent the order for the fry pans enclosing a check for the full amount.

“When the fry pans had not arrived by the end of August, I decided to call the business. I spoke with a woman named ‘Maddie.’ I explained I was calling about an unfilled order. She told me she knew nothing about the business, as her job is to take orders over the phone. She asked, ‘Do you wish to place a second order?’ My reply was, ‘I think not, what I want is my first order. Please give me the number of customer service.’ This number she did have and I called it immediately.

“This time I spoke with ‘Jennifer C.’ and I explained my problem with Sunset Products. Jennifer C. told me that it appeared the fry pans were back ordered, but Sunset was to receive them in 10 days. My order would be mailed promptly after that. She stated that she did not know why I was not notified.

“I waited another full month. The fry pans did not arrive. I decided to write a letter to Jennifer C. from customer service:

“‘My order of a set of three cast-iron fry pans have not arrived. You told me a month ago that the fry pans would be sent to me as soon as shipment arrived at Sunset Products. If your firm cannot fill my order, then please sent me a refund in the amount of $43.85.'”

In her letter to Northeast Contact, Silas wrote, “I did not receive a reply. I cannot understand how a business can ignore a customer the way Sunset Products has done to me. Do you think Northeast CONTACT can help me get either the fry pans or my money back?”

We wrote back to Silas and asked that she mail us copies of both sides of her canceled check and a picture of the front of the catalog and the ad, if she had it. Silas mailed it right out to us. When we received these materials, we mailed a letter to the president and CEO of Sunset Products. We relayed the problem that Silas was having with his business and went on to say, “It has been months since Mary Silas sent Sunset Products an order for a set of three cast-iron fry pans. This is just not acceptable. If you have been out of stock, she should have been notified, as required by law, and given the choice of waiting for a specific amount of time longer or receiving her money back. Sunset Products has broken this law. Mary Silas is still willing to accept the fry pans.

“At this time we are requesting that either the fry pans or a full refund in the amount of $43.85 be sent within the next 14 days with notification to Northeast CONTACT of the transaction. We will then drop this matter.” We then wrote Mary Silas and enclosed a copy of the letter we sent to Sunset Products.

Northeast CONTACT received a telephone call from Steven Cummings, president and CEO of Sunset Products, two weeks later. He apologized for the delay. “We are a fairly new small business and if our contacts don’t ship the merchandise to us, in turn, we can’t ship it to the customer. The notification postcards we paid to have printed in case of something like this were back ordered as well. Please give us another chance and we will fill the order within the next two weeks,” Cummings requested.

We told Cummings that Silas really wants the fry pans but if he finds they can’t be shipped within the next two weeks, we expect a refund in full to be sent immediately. He agreed to comply.

Ten days later, Silas called to say that she received notification in the mail via a hand-written note saying the fry pans were on their way to Maine. We requested that she let us know when they arrived so we could close out her case as satisfactorily resolved.

Five days later, a very happy Silas called to say that the three fry pans had arrived. They were of good quality and at that very moment she was rendering out salt pork to make a gravy for dinner.

“Thank you so much. Without Northeast CONTACT’s help I wonder if I would have ever been contacted again.”

Consumer Forum is a collaboration of the Bangor Daily News and Northeast CONTACT for Better Business, Inc., Maine’s membership-funded, nonprofit organization. An individual annual membership is $25; business memberships start at $125. For consumer help and information write: Consumer Forum, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402-1329.