Need legal advice

[Oddjob0226]

I'm having problems and need legal advice.

I dealt with a nationally known company recently that will remain nameless, but goes by the initials A.V.I.S. I was both mislead (accidently... I think) and outright lied to and due to many issues within this terribly run company, I have been charged $831 on an already maxed out credit card (throwing my credit into a tailspin...) I was charged for services I DID NOT agree to, and contrary to a deal I made with one of the A.V.I.S. reps (that's the lying part). I was supposed to incur one day of extra charges, and I would be billed, not have them charged.. and there are other issues as well. But that's the basics. I got bad service, was lied to and want the charges dropped or refunded; they were incurred by bad behavior, or bad faith, on the part of A.V.I.S.

I have written the president, David Salerno, spoken with & e-mailed (and faxed) Customer Service, and written and called Loss Prevention, and have gotten nowhere. I've also sent in a dispute claim to my credit card company, but they still want payment.

So I want to file criminal charges, like fraude or something. NOT civil charges ( sueing would be unreralistic). I want these peaople to realize that they have the worstcustomer service ever and it will cost them in the end so they need to look at their policies and how they deal with the public. Frankly, I don't really care if any charges stick - but I hope they do. I really just want this comapny to KNOW. All the usual and normal routes to dealing with a company's poor performance has gone nowhere.

So - What can I do? I rented in Albany NY but live in TX. I really truly want someone in law enforcement to look into this case - Ithios was not an accident, I was LIED to. And now thye are taking my money (via the credit card company), profiting from the lie. Do I notify the NY attourney general? Albany police? What steps do I take to press charges so they won't defraude people again?

 

[tickled_a_lot]

I think with most credit card companies, you can file a complaint and they will hold the charge until they do their own investigation (or something like that). It's not a legal investigation, but they determine if the disputed charges are fair.

 

[Texas_Tickle]

I'm having problems and need legal advice.

I dealt with a nationally known company recently that will remain nameless, but goes by the initials A.V.I.S. I was both mislead (accidently... I think) and outright lied to and due to many issues within this terribly run company, I have been charged $831 on an already maxed out credit card (throwing my credit into a tailspin...) I was charged for services I DID NOT agree to, and contrary to a deal I made with one of the A.V.I.S. reps (that's the lying part). I was supposed to incur one day of extra charges, and I would be billed, not have them charged.. and there are other issues as well. But that's the basics. I got bad service, was lied to and want the charges dropped or refunded; they were incurred by bad behavior, or bad faith, on the part of A.V.I.S.

I have written the president, David Salerno, spoken with & e-mailed (and faxed) Customer Service, and written and called Loss Prevention, and have gotten nowhere. I've also sent in a dispute claim to my credit card company, but they still want payment.

So I want to file criminal charges, like fraude or something. NOT civil charges ( sueing would be unreralistic). I want these peaople to realize that they have the worstcustomer service ever and it will cost them in the end so they need to look at their policies and how they deal with the public. Frankly, I don't really care if any charges stick - but I hope they do. I really just want this comapny to KNOW. All the usual and normal routes to dealing with a company's poor performance has gone nowhere.

So - What can I do? I rented in Albany NY but live in TX. I really truly want someone in law enforcement to look into this case - Ithios was not an accident, I was LIED to. And now thye are taking my money (via the credit card company), profiting from the lie. Do I notify the NY attourney general? Albany police? What steps do I take to press charges so they won't defraude people again?

If you think you were lied to, and dileberately mis-led, the best course of action would be to report it to your local Better Business Bearu or even your local Attorney General. Maybe others have had similar problems.

 

[asutickler]

I hate to say it (and yes, I found this out the hard way) but unless you have the "deal" you mentioned in writing, you are probably pretty much screwed. The rental agreement you sign to rent a vehicle authorizes the car rental agency to charge you for use of their vehicle, damage to their vehicle, incidental expenses, and other such items according to their company policy. In order to prove that your current bill is incorrect, you would need either:

1. A written contract which supercedes Avis's regular rental policy. (In the case of several rental agreements I've seen, it is explicitly stated that such a contract can be made only by the President or some other executive officer of the company.)

or

2. Proof that the charges on your bill are not in accordance with Avis's standard rental policies.


In any case, I'd ask an actual lawyer about potential recourse against the company, and seek compensation in civil court. Your odds of successfully suing a company in such an instance are, IMO, much better than your odds of successfully pressing criminal charges...

 

[guitman69]

I would also suggest filing a civil law suite. They would most likely settle, because fighting for such a small amount would cost them more in the long run. And since the amount is so low, you would file in small claims court, meaning you don't need a lawyer.

I would also file a clomplaint with the BBB. But they usually can't help you unless the company has had numerous complaints against them. But I wouldn't try contacting the atorny general or the police. They simply will not be able to help you. They most likely will not go after a company for such a small amount. They will probably just tell you to file a complaint with the BBB and escort you out of the office.

 

[TicklingDuo]

Two options...contact your attourney general to have them investigate the issue or file a civil suit. Often, the threat alone of either of these will back the jerks off. Good luck!

Ann

 

[Oddjob0226]

Thanks for the ideas..... still mulling what to do....

The credit card company - despite my sending in a dispute form, is still sending me notices to pay the outstanding balance. So I need to check on this status, but it doesn't look good.

I don't want to go through a civil suit if I can avoid it, becaue I know that it will be more time & money; financially, I can't really afford a lawyer, and since I live in another state, I shudder to think about how this could be drawn out. A friend of mine is going to law school and would represent me... but he has 3 1/2 years to go. Besides, I think they might take a crimial charge more seriously than some unhappy customer threatening to sue.


As I understand it, the BBB doesn't really do much - just collects facts and dissimenates them if people call to find out about a business. They don't have any real legal enforcement powers or pull.

The written agreement: this is the interesting part - as written, I was supposed to return a car to Atlantic City on the 4th. I got snowed in & took a train, but before I did this, I called the company to see if it would be okay to have a friend return the car in the city I was in instead (Albany) I was told it would be o.k., I have a witness to this call (NJJen, by the way) and the call is on my cell phone bill. After a lot af crap and calling back to sort this out, the company rep in Albany and I agreed to be charged an extra day and towing - a verbal agreement, aknowledging that I had not followed the written contract. Instead, there was a delay on the part of the company for 5 days, and they charged me all five days - which went against our agreement. AND I was charged on an already maxed out credit card when we agreed that I would be billed by A.V.I.S., not charged on the card. So they lied or purposely mislead me in two areas, and the serivce & response has been terrible. So it isn't just a simple case of me violating a written contract.

 

[guitman69]

You know OddJob, this sounds more like a communication breakdown between the Atlantic city office, the Albany office, and the billing office (wich could be anywere), instead of any actual fraud.

And I'm afraid to tell you, but the written contract supercedes any verbal agreement, even if the verbal agreement comes after because verbal agreements are so hard to prove.

 

[Texas_Tickle]

You know OddJob, this sounds more like a communication breakdown between the Atlantic city office, the Albany office, and the billing office (wich could be anywere), instead of any actual fraud.

And I'm afraid to tell you, but the written contract supercedes any verbal agreement, even if the verbal agreement comes after because verbal agreements are so hard to prove.

Sadly, your right. They can tell you anything, and then say they never said it. It's very hard to prove. It's your word against their's.

Next time, take a small pocket-sized voice recorder and record the whole damned conversation.....it's a shame that it's come down to this, but in this age of "screw the customer and take his money" what else **can** you do?

 

[luv2bt&tickled]

Oddjob,
I had a similar issue, all I had to do was call up the credit card company...dispute the charge they sent me a form to fill out saying that I was disputing this charge. And the issue was resolved.

I had also talked to the Attorney General in case they didn't resolve this problem. I hope you can get this resolved oddjob🙁