Linnit of New York, NY, writes:

On May 20, 1999, my husband and I purchased a pager.  The total cost of the pager was $194.85. This included one year pager service with voice mail.  

After a few days, I noticed that the pager was defective.  The vibrating feature did not work.  I brought the pager back for repair or exchange.  They could not repair it and they tried to replace it with another pager.  Unfortunately, each pager he showed me was defective in some way.  

I then asked for a refund but he refused because he said there was a no-refund policy.  He said that I would have to keep the defective pager.  I refused as this pager was just purchased.  He also told me that the store was no longer A& J Inc. but yet he had a stack of receipts with that store name.  

I then threatened to report him for fraud and he called a chain store located in Jamaica, NY.  He spoke to someone there and they agreed to give me a pager which was at least equal value to the pager I purchased.  

At this point, I either had to accept or lose the money I spent on the pager, so I accepted.  

About two weeks ago, I noticed that my pager was disconnected.  I then called the store on Nassau Street only to find that their phone had been disconnected.  I then called Big Daddy Electronics which is the store that rented out space to A& J Inc. and they gave me a number in Jamaica to call.   I asked for Al and he answered.  I told him my problem and he said they don't have the store on Nassau Street any more and refused to re-activate my pager which is paid for 1 year with voice mail.

He claims that he is not responsible.  He then explained that another store took it over and gave me a phone number to call.  

I called and they explained to me that A&J Inc. used to purchased pager numbers from them but A&J Inc. never paid for these numbers and my pager number was one of them.  He said that I could activate it again but I would have to pay them $100 which is ridiculous as this pager was fully paid for. 

I then called back Al and he argued with me on the phone and claims that he never sold me a pager and that he dealt with me.  I then told him that if I never dealt with him, why do I have a receipt with his name and telephone number on it.  

He couldn't answer and he said that if I wanted to sue or take any legal action that I would have to do what I have to do and then hung up on me.