Early last fall we received a letter from CONTACT member Joan Wisneski, a resident of Aroostook County.

She wrote, “I wanted such a simple thing and now, five months later, I could scream.

“Last April, I ran out of address labels. … I remembered that there was an advertisement for labels in with some coupons I had received in the mail. The name of the business is Marvel Elite Labels, out of Houston, Texas. “I wrote a check for $7.63 after filling in the information for them and mailed it off to Texas. Two weeks later the labels arrived. When I looked at them, I saw the name ‘John’ Wisneski. Now I certainly could understand if my last name were misspelled, but my first name? I packaged up the labels along with a letter telling Marvel Elite that I was a woman, not a man named ‘John,’ and asked that they send me an order in the name of ‘Joan’ Wisneski ASAP.

“It was almost a month before I received the replacement labels. When I went to read them, all I could think of was, Oh, no! Not again! These labels were printed ‘Joanne Wisneski.’ My name is ‘Joan Elizabeth Wisneski.’

“I mailed the labels back to Marvel Elite again. … Another three weeks passed before a package from Marvel Elite arrived. I was almost afraid to open it, and my fears came to pass. They sent back the same labels that had the name ‘Joanne.’… At this point in time, I want my money back. …

“I have been a member of Northeast CONTACT for years and have never needed your services until now. I trust you will be able to get a refund for me from the label company.”

The CONTACT caseworker wrote a letter to Ms. Wisneski telling her we would be pleased to write to Marvel Elite on her behalf, but first, we would need a copy of both sides of her canceled check, the full address of the Marvel Elite company and copies of letters she had written them as well.

Within a week, we had the documentation. Our caseworker wrote a letter to the president of Marvel Elite Labels explaining the purpose of our organization and our purpose in contacting them.

“We can understand how a business can make a mistake one time, but three times is inexcusable. At this time we are requesting that you send a refund check in the amount of $7.63 to Joan Wisneski within the next 14 days with notification to Northeast CONTACT of the transaction. Ms. Wisneski does not want any more Marvel Elite labels.”

No reply came to the CONTACT offices in the timeframe outlined. Therefore, a more strongly worded letter was written. “Northeast CONTACT has not received a reply to our previous letter. We will be contacting your State of Texas Attorney General, the Federal Trade Commission, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, the Chief Postal Inspector in Houston, and the Chamber of Commerce, requesting the possibility of consumer fraud. … The amount of money is inconsequential. CONTACT works as hard for $7.63 as we would for $7,630.”

Northeast CONTACT received a telephone call from Joan Wisneski a little more than two weeks later. She said: “I received a package with a letter attached this morning from Marvel Elite Labels. … It was a letter of apology along with a check in the amount of $7.63. When I opened the package, enclosed was a roll of labels. I should have been happy, right? Wrong. They were in the name of John Wisneski.”

Consumer Forum is a collaboration of the Bangor Daily News and Northeast CONTACT, Maine’s membership-funded nonprofit consumer organization. Individual membership costs $25; business rates start at $125 (0-10 employees). For help and information write: Consumer Forum, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402-1329.