Does a consumer have any recourse when I company (or employee) errs, and "overcharges", then sends account to collection?
We called Sears to clean our carpets when they were running a special. When the three big men arrived they gave me a litany about what they would be doing. I specifically asked if this was extra stuff they were trying to sell because I categorically did NOT want it! No, No, No.
Anyway, when they were done they bring me the worksheet with the itemized services and how much each thing was, which totaled over $400, as opposed to the $125 that I had originally scheduled.
Well, I'm not the type to confront three burly guys in my home(with small children) and refuse to pay, so I wrote the check. Immediately, though, I called Sears and told them what happened. Well, they insist that the protocol is to have me initial BEFORE the services were provided. I insisted that I would have stopped them because I had no intention of paying $400 for carpet cleaning 2 rooms.
We talked to as many people at Sears as we could, but to no avail. We stopped payment on the check, offered to pay for what we intended for services, but they went ahead and sent it to collection.
Our credit is fine, so I don't know what effect one small thing from Sears would do, but I'm curious if anyone knows of any recourse for the consumer on such matters.
TIA
We called Sears to clean our carpets when they were running a special. When the three big men arrived they gave me a litany about what they would be doing. I specifically asked if this was extra stuff they were trying to sell because I categorically did NOT want it! No, No, No.
Anyway, when they were done they bring me the worksheet with the itemized services and how much each thing was, which totaled over $400, as opposed to the $125 that I had originally scheduled.
Well, I'm not the type to confront three burly guys in my home(with small children) and refuse to pay, so I wrote the check. Immediately, though, I called Sears and told them what happened. Well, they insist that the protocol is to have me initial BEFORE the services were provided. I insisted that I would have stopped them because I had no intention of paying $400 for carpet cleaning 2 rooms.
We talked to as many people at Sears as we could, but to no avail. We stopped payment on the check, offered to pay for what we intended for services, but they went ahead and sent it to collection.
Our credit is fine, so I don't know what effect one small thing from Sears would do, but I'm curious if anyone knows of any recourse for the consumer on such matters.
TIA
