rosen@gypsy.UUCP (01/06/86)
Can someone tell how to go about filing a complain with the postal inspector for a company that advertises falsely? I suspect that there is some special form or application that I would need. Any insight into this matter would be greatly appreciated. ---------------- | Steve Rosen | Siemens Research and Technology Laboratories | Princeton, NJ USENET: adrvax\ ihnp4 | princeton |-->!siemens!gypsy!rosen topaz | vrdxhq/ ARPA: siemens!gypsy!rosen@TOPAZ
andrew@hammer.UUCP (Andrew Klossner) (01/10/86)
[]
"Can someone tell how to go about filing a complain with the
postal inspector for a company that advertises falsely? I
suspect that there is some special form or application that I
would need. Any insight into this matter would be greatly
appreciated."
Go to any post office and ask to speak with the postmaster. He or she
will take it from there. It's mail fraud if you paid for something and
didn't get it (or got something bogus) within thirty days from when
they took your money (cashed your check, charged your credit card), and
some aspect of the transaction went through the mail. Usually the
postmaster wants you to have exhausted the normal lines of inquiry
(follow up letters) before they will take official action.
Official action takes the form of ceasing to deliver any more mail to
the fraudulent company. This will shut down a mail order company in
jig time, but won't get your money back. Sometimes it's better to
*threaten* the company; for example, I have written to the postmaster
at the other end, with a copy to the company, asking for an
investigation, and subsequently received the ordered merchandise quite
quickly.
An example of fraud that is *not* mail fraud is seeing an ad in Byte
magazine, phoning in a credit card order, and never receiving the item.
The postal service can't help you there, but the FTC can, although
they're harder to get moving. Of course, the threatening tactic may
still work here.
-=- Andrew Klossner (decvax!tektronix!tekecs!andrew) [UUCP]
(tekecs!andrew.tektronix@csnet-relay) [ARPA]willcox@ccvaxa.UUCP (01/10/86)
Send the offending material, including the original envelope, to your
postmaster. He/She should forward it on to the relevant authorities.
David A. Willcox
Gould CSD-Urbana
1101 E. University Ave.
Urbana, IL 61801
217-384-8500
{decvax!pur-ee,ihnp4}!uiucdcs!ccvaxa!willcoxwex@milano.UUCP (01/16/86)
In article <1733@hammer.UUCP>, andrew@hammer.UUCP (Andrew Klossner) writes: > "Can someone tell how to go about filing a complain with the > postal inspector for a company that advertises falsely? Several people have given good answers to this, but did you know that you can complain *to the post office*, *about the post office*? There are official complaint forms that you can get at the post office. It's a very simple large-postcard kind of thing. One copy goes to the local office that you are complaining about, and the other goes to the postmaster general in DC. I have used these forms twice, with surprisingly good results. Each time the problem (which I suspected was due to the local post office) went away. Once, my mother got a form letter from the DC office saying, essentially, "lots of people have complained; we're working on it." --Alan Wexelblat -- ARPA: WEX@MCC.ARPA UUCP: ...ut-sally!im4u!milano!wex
larry@kitty.UUCP (Larry Lippman) (01/17/86)
> "Can someone tell how to go about filing a complain with the > postal inspector for a company that advertises falsely? I > suspect that there is some special form or application that I > would need. Any insight into this matter would be greatly > appreciated." > > An example of fraud that is *not* mail fraud is seeing an ad in Byte > magazine, phoning in a credit card order, and never receiving the item. > The postal service can't help you there, but the FTC can, although > they're harder to get moving. Of course, the threatening tactic may > still work here. Ah, but it is still ANOTHER kind of fraud, called "fraud by wire", which is a federal crime of violating U.S. Code Title 18 Section 1343. This law could be applied if the ad was part of a fraudulent scheme to obtain payment for merchandise, but with no intent of actually delivering the merchandise. From a legal standpoint, it is not easy to prove fraudulent "intent", but it is possible. Also, it is necessary that the telephone call be interstate in nature (which should still cover many cases). To bring a complaint of wire fraud, you should contact the closest office of the United States Attorney and/or the FBI. Quite frankly, neither agency is going to be very motivated if a small amount of money is involved, but if you persist, you may get results. At least, however, the company failing to deliver the merchanidse will know that they COULD be in serious trouble, and that COULD motivate them to send the merchandise. One word of caution: neither the U.S. Attorney nor the FBI want to be used as a "collection agency". If you are going to make a complaint, be serious about it, and stick with it - even if the merchandise is later shipped. If the U. S. Attorney or the FBI then suggest that you drop the matter, then that is fine. With respect to the Federal Trade Commission, the FTC is primarily concerned with manufacturers, distribution methods set up by manufacturers, and advertising/product claims of manufacturers; the FTC is not too interested in a independent mail order organization who simply fails to send merchandise, and the FTC may have no jurisdiction at all, depending upon circumstances. In any event, if you can't get 'em with the Postal Inspector, you can probably get 'em with the U.S. Attorney (FBI). ==> Larry Lippman @ Recognition Research Corp., Clarence, New York <== ==> UUCP {decvax|dual|rocksanne|rocksvax|watmath}!sunybcs!kitty!larry <== ==> VOICE 716/741-9185 {rice|shell}!baylor!/ <== ==> FAX 716/741-9635 {G1, G2, G3 modes} duke!ethos!/ <== ==> seismo!/ <== ==> "Have you hugged your cat today?" ihnp4!/ <==
mark@cbosgd.UUCP (Mark Horton) (01/20/86)
In article <457@milano.UUCP> wex@milano.UUCP writes: >Several people have given good answers to this, but did you know that you >can complain *to the post office*, *about the post office*? Big deal. Perhaps it's just Columbus, but we get the worst mail service I've ever seen here. Two years ago, my son received a package for his birthday, by mail. The mailman left it in the street, underneath the mailbox. It was raining, and the present was ruined. (It was one of those Fischer-Price wind-up plastic record players.) My wife filed the complaint form. Later that same day, she got a call from the mailman's boss. He claimed the mailman had rang the doorbell and knocked on the door, gotten no response, so he just left it. Normal policy is to leave a little pink slip, but the mailman deemed this "not necessary." My wife pointed out that she had been at home all day, and that there had been no doorbell rings or knocks. Also, the mailman could have left the package on the porch or in the garage (whose door was open) to shelter it from the rain. It was obvious that he hadn't gotten out of his truck, or he wouldn't have left it in the street. The boss essentially called my wife a liar and said "you're at fault." There was no evidence of anything going to DC, in fact, since the boss said "I'll handle it here", and since the form is sent to the local post office, you're depending on the complainee to forward his own complaint. There's something wrong with that system. I've gotten some excellent mail service from the USPS in other cities, including some amazingly wrongly addressed mail getting through, but Columbus mail takes the cake. I live in the city limits of Columbus, but I'm in zip code 43068, which is the Reynoldsburg post office. I've seen zip code boundaries cross city limits before with no problem, but not here. At closing on our house, they made a big point of telling us that our mailing address is Reynoldsburg, Ohio; not Columbus, Ohio. (We had to sign a fresh form to this effect.) But we asked if Columbus, Ohio would work for incoming mail, and they said "sure". So we started sending out our new address as Columbus, Ohio, 43068. After 6 months, my ACM mail stopped coming. Phoning ACM, my wife discovered that they had had publications returned to them "no such address" so they were holding everything. It seems that if mail is sent to 43068 (e.g. the Reynoldsburg PO) it gets delivered. But if they happen to send it to "Columbus, Ohio" (the downtown post office) it will get returned to the sender "No such address as Valcour Ct." All these morons have to do is send it to the proper post office for the zip code, or look up Valcour Ct in the street index in the phone book, but apparently that's asking too much. Needing reliable mail, we gave up and changed our address everywhere to Reynoldsburg, Ohio, 43068. (The feds have determined that Columbus went down in population from 1982 to 1984, when all the local statistics say it went up. Since 40% of the Columbus city limits are served by suburban school districts, a similar percentage of surburban post offices probably applies. Since they use federal tax forms to estimate population between censuses (censi?), my personal guess is that the post office is responsible for scaring people into listing their suburban city on their 1040.) And then there was 2 weeks ago when I got an express mail notice on Friday, saying I could pick it up at the post office Saturday. (Of course, we were home during the normal mail delivery time, but the guy came 2 hours early that day.) I went in shortly before noon Saturday to pick it up, and was told I couldn't have it because the mailman had it and would try to deliver it again Saturday! In this case, however, the postmaster went out in his car and found the mailman, and hand delivered it about an hour later; this seemed above and beyond the call of duty. Mark
mdf@osu-eddie.UUCP (Mark D. Freeman) (01/20/86)
In article <1781@cbosgd.UUCP> mark@cbosgd.UUCP (Mark Horton) writes: >Big deal. Perhaps it's just Columbus, but we get the worst mail service >I've ever seen here. > >[Various horror stories] I also live in Columbus and have noticed two things that bug me: 1) I have at least three different mail carrier delivering to my house, and they apparently follow different routes, so I almost never know when to expect my mail (I work at home -- imagine if your company could get it's daily mail delivery anytime between 10am and 4pm), so if I want to leave for lunch and there are things to sign for, I'm S.O.L. 2) I get lots and lots of mail everyday. My house has a rather standard, small residential type mailbox with two little arms underneath for magazines, etc. They generally cram all the mail into the box and skewer my magazine covers on the little arms, puncturing and tearing the covers. All the large envelopes are folded in half and stuffed in with the mail, not the magazines. (Maybe I'm compulsive, but I find folded and wrinkled literature and so forth very annoying.) I want to build a plywood box large enough to hold the largest mail I get, and deep enough to hold three or four days worth of the amount of mail I usually get. Friends tell me that it is illegal to deliver to a mailbox not certified by theGrand PooBah General in DC, so if I put up my own box, I would have to pick up my mail at the PO. Is this true? If I were to submit blueprints to DC for approval, I would probably have retired by the time I got a response. -- <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Mark D. Freeman Guest account at The Ohio State University StrongPoint Systems, Inc. mdf@osu-eddie.UUCP 209 Olentangy Street Mdf@Ohio-State.CSNET Columbus, OH 43202-2340 Mdf%Ohio-State@CSNET-RELAY.ARPA !cbosgd!osu-eddie!mdf I disclaim even my very existance. Acceptance without proof is the fundamental characteristic of Western religion, Rejection without proof is the fundamental characteristic of Western science. -- Gary Zukav from "The Dancing Wu Li Masters" <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
faunt@hplabs.UUCP (Doug Faunt) (01/22/86)
> > 2) I get lots and lots of mail everyday. My house has a rather standard, > small residential type mailbox with two little arms underneath for > magazines, etc. They generally cram all the mail into the box and > skewer my magazine covers on the little arms, puncturing and tearing > the covers. All the large envelopes are folded in half and stuffed in > with the mail, not the magazines. (Maybe I'm compulsive, but I find > folded and wrinkled literature and so forth very annoying.) > > I want to build a plywood box large enough to hold the largest mail > I get, and deep enough to hold three or four days worth of the amount > of mail I usually get. Friends tell me that it is illegal to deliver > to a mailbox not certified by theGrand PooBah General in DC, so if > I put up my own box, I would have to pick up my mail at the PO. > Is this true? If I were to submit blueprints to DC for approval, I > would probably have retired by the time I got a response. > I'd suggest not antagonizing the PO, but you should check out a #1 or #2 rural mailbox. They're pretty good sized, and approved. Also, you could certainly put a plywood box next to your normal mailbox, and hope they use it. Mail that's too big for the box usually gets left nearby, at least at my house, so a convenient receptacle would probably get used. You might also check with your delivery person about what they like. Apparently, being able to open the box with one hand, and then having it stay open until closed is highly desirable. -- ....!hplabs!faunt faunt@hplabs.ARPA 415-655-8604 HP is not responsible for anything I say here. In fact, what I say here may have been generated by a noisy telephone line.
strickln@ihlpa.UUCP (Stricklen) (01/23/86)
> In article <457@milano.UUCP> wex@milano.UUCP writes: > >Several people have given good answers to this, but did you know that you > >can complain *to the post office*, *about the post office*? > > Big deal. Perhaps it's just Columbus, but we get the worst mail service > I've ever seen here. > I have lived in a number of towns in Illinois, and always grumbled about my mail service -- until I moved to my present home, Oak Park. This particular post office appears to be run very well. One Christmas, my folks mailed a box containing gifts in about the second week of December from Tarpon Springs, Florida. When they told me this, I thought I would be lucky to see anything before the new year. I got a pink "tried to deliver" slip two days later! I have told my parents to forget UPS and send all packages Parcel Post, as the post office is much more convenient for me to reach than the local UPS office. Packages from Florida have never taken more than 3 days to reach me. Steve Stricklen AT&T Bell Laboratories ihnp4!ihlpa!strickln
ron@brl-smoke.ARPA (Ron Natalie <ron>) (01/28/86)
> that our mailing address is Reynoldsburg, Ohio; not Columbus, Ohio. (We > had to sign a fresh form to this effect.) But we asked if Columbus, Ohio > would work for incoming mail, and they said "sure". So we started sending > out our new address as Columbus, Ohio, 43068. > > After 6 months, my ACM mail stopped coming. Phoning ACM, my wife discovered > that they had had publications returned to them "no such address" so they > were holding everything. It seems that if mail is sent to 43068 (e.g. the > Reynoldsburg PO) it gets delivered. But if they happen to send it to > "Columbus, Ohio" (the downtown post office) it will get returned to the > sender "No such address as Valcour Ct." I have the same problem. All my mail has the correct zip code but if the letter says "BALTIMORE" rather than "PERRY HALL" (a two mile difference) the mail gets misdelivered. The telephone company even keeps correcting this by generating some bizarre nine-digit zip codes when the mail gets returned. What's even worse is that I live in White Marsh, MD. White Marsh is 21162. However, the city/zip I have to use on the mail is Perry Hall, 21128. The Perry Hall post office is in the middle of an area whose mail is delivered by BALTIMORE (PARKVILLE STATION) 21236. People who live next to the post office have to go over six miles to get to the post office that deals with their mail. -Ron