posted 06-03-2005 05:19               

The Last Resort Greg Dawson Greg Dawson
$499 fee for, well, nothing? Refund on way

Published June 3, 2005

Dear Greg: We are retired 70-year-olds on a fixed income with a $499 problem. We contacted Rii Stroman, a timeshare resale broker, to sell ours. We asked sales rep Rick Tutt to send us literature. In return, he asked for our credit-card number to facilitate a rapid listing as soon as we returned the necessary documents. We changed our minds and never signed or returned documents of any kind but were charged $499 anyway. Stroman refuses to issue a refund, contending the credit-card number is the same as a contract. Stroman claims we were advised the fee was nonrefundable. Never!

MR. & MRS. RICHARD NYE

LEESBURG

Dear Nyes: All I can say to Rii Stroman is: Tutt-Tutt! I contacted the Texas company and asked why de Nyes were denied a refund. After looking into the facts, customer-service manager Paul Deaton was impressively candid and contrite. "Apparently, the call Mrs. Nye made a couple of weeks ago never got to the manager it should have," he said. "We have decided to refund the fee." Finally, an aye for a Nye!