What's On Your Mind? Suntrust Bank, Sunscape Travel, Discountbooksale.com

When dealing with a large institution, like a national bank, it's important to establish and maintain a paper trail. Michael, of North Carolina, found that's especially important when you're dealing with something serious like identity theft.

“In 2008 I was informed by the Stuart, Fla., police department that my identity was found in a sting operation,” Michael told ConsumerAffairs.com. “I worked with the Stuart police and Suntrust for months and in the end I was told that it was taken care of and my credit was clear. Yesterday I found that Suntrust never took their charges off my credit report! I just got off the phone with Suntrust and am having to do the process again!”

Had Michael insisted on something in writing from Suntrust when they told him he had been cleared, it would likely be easier to clear up this latest snafu.

Scam alert

February is a nice time to dream about a vacation to someplace warm, but don't be tempted by a deal that sounds too good to be true. Tenecia, of Naranaja, Fla., reports getting a call from someone, saying they were with Sunscape Travel, offering a fabulous vacation package.

He described the vacation package to include six cruises to the Caribbean & six different hotel stays including a rental car for $598,” Tenecia said.

Then Tenecia did some checking.

“I looked the company up on the Internet and it shows a website with different numbers from what I have. I called one and it is disconnected' the other goes to what sounds like a cell phone voice mail. I would like to find their address to file a complaint with the fraud department in Florida. If any one has the address please list it.”

Tenecia should address her concerns to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi at Office of Attorney General, State of Florida, The Capitol PL-01, Tallahassee, FL 32399-1050.

Unauthorized charge

John, of Manitou Springs, Colo., is very unhappy that his purchase of one book from Discountbooksale.com resulted in his enrollment in an on-going membership. It's an old story, unfortunately.

“I admit it's my fault for not checking my credit card statements more closely, but I purchased one book from them and discovered a year later they had been charging me $19.95 a month for a phony membership,” John said. “Not once in that year did I receive an email from them or a letter saying anything about my membership, and that's because they have nothing to offer for their fee. I was not aware when I purchased the book that they were enlisting me in a membership. They offered a two month refund.”

If John is not satisfied with the two month refund offer, he should contact his credit card company and talk to them about disputing the entire charge. They are accustomed to handling these sorts of things. And by the way, the Federal Trade Commission requires any negative option marketing sale have terms that are “clear and conspicuous.” If most consumers don't notice them, it's hard to see how an offer meets that test.