Well, The check Really Was in the Mail, But...
By anniepa
@anniepa (27955)
United States
January 31, 2008 10:06pm CST
What a huge let-down!! Here's my sad story...a few years ago I got involved with a company called Seasilver USA. You may have heard of it, it was a company that marketed a liquid supplement that contained many different vitamins and minerals. There were some pretty outrageous claims made by some but I never believed any of them - it would cure everything from cancer to diabetes, it would cause weight loss without any dieting, things like that - but it did seem to make me feel a little better and both my doctor and my chiropractor looked at the label and said it wouldn't hurt to take it and it may be advantageous. I had signed up to be a distributor and was on auto-ship for awhile, getting a case of 12 bottles per month. I never sold any because I really didn't have much time as I was working and didn't really have the time but I took it and gave it to family members and to some friends and acquaintances I thought might be interested in trying it. After a time I stopped my auto-ship order and they soon went out of business and I thought that was the last I'd ever hear of them. That is until November of 2006 when I received a letter from the Federal Trade Commission telling me that they had reached an agreement with the company and that according to their records I had purchases from Seasilver totaling over $1800. I had until Jan. 11, 2007 to sign the letter and return it to them to be included in the refund. My family and I have been going through some tough times financially lately as I await my disability retirement claim to come through so we were really happy to hear of this windfall. I repeatedly called the toll-free number of the FTC as well as visited their website to see the status of their refund process and it was the same old story, week after week, time after time - we're still in the process of evaluating the claims, it will take some time but call back any time. Finally, about three months ago I was finally told that my claim had been approved but the checks wouldn't start going out until the beginning of the year. OK, we're getting somewhere, right? I didn't call again until this Monday evening and I knew right away their recording had been changed and now it appeared the checks had indeed been at least started to be sent out...HOORAY!!! Did we ever need it! It did say that we may not have gotten the "full amount" off the purchase due to the larger than expected response but I still wasn't too worried. If I didn't get the full $1800 that wouldn't be bad, surely it would be at least $1000 or so, wouldn't it? I went through all the steps of getting to finally speak with a human being and when I finally did I gave my name and address and was told my check had been mailed out on Thursday and everyone got the same amount no matter what their purchase had been, which was a grand total of...drum-roll...seven fifty-seven!
Nope, I don't mean seven HUNDRED fifty-seven dollars; I mean seven DOLLARS and fifty-seven cents!!
OK, it was "found money" but would it ever have come in handy. But, I took it well and laughed hysterically, otherwise I would've been bawling my eyes out! And, yes, the check really WAS in the mail!
Has anything like this ever happened to you? If so, what was your reaction?
Annie
5 people like this
8 responses
@Adoniah (7513)
• United States
1 Feb 08
Oh Anniepa that is a wonderful story to end the evening on. I am so sorry that you did not get your windfall, but isn't it kind of like a reality check for all of us. Kind of like my reality check bounced actually. Sorry but it is funny! They make all of these promises and then send you seven dollars and fifty seven cents. I would frame the check. I would not cash it. It will probably bounce anyway.
Dear I worked in the Marine industry. I repaired boats. Who do you suppose gets paid last if at all when the bills are being written out. And how easy is it to slip a boat out of its slip without paying? Yeah no pun intended. For the first few years I kept a record of my loses. I finally stopped. It was just too depressing.
It was still worth it, because of the life I was able to lead and the places it allowed me to go.
Shalom~Adoniah
2 people like this
@anniepa (27955)
• United States
4 Feb 08
That was an awesome response - "my reality check bounced" - I LOVE it! I know it's funny, I said I laughed hysterically to keep from screaming at the top of my lungs or bawling my poor fool head off. I should have seen this coming but there was nothing in the letter I'd received or in any of the many telephone conversations I'd had with them from the time I'd returned the form and the time I found out the wonderful news to indicate the check would be any less than "most or all of the amount you spent on this product". Oh, well...I guess some may say $7.57 is close to $1800.00 - NOT...lol
Annie
1 person likes this
@Thoroughrob (11742)
• United States
1 Feb 08
Wow, why even bother. That is an insult. I bet you were insulted and disappointed at the same time. It cost more money dealing with this than what the results ended up being. I'm sorry that it was not more.
1 person likes this
@anniepa (27955)
• United States
3 Feb 08
At least I didn't spend any money and only the time it took to put the form into the mailbox to send it back and to make a few toll-free calls once I learned about the coming refund. I didn't expect to get anything back from them to begin with so it was like found money that got lost again.
Annie
@moneyandgc (3428)
• United States
2 Feb 08
Nothing like that has happened to me but when my dad's boat was stolen out of his yard the week after Halloween in 1997, they caught the guy(s) who stole it. My dad used to get checks from the jail or where ever from the guy, they were usually between $11 and $15 a month.
He got his money for the boat and most of the fishing equipment through the insurance (all his best stuff was in the baot because it was packed for a tourniment the next morning and some of it was irreplacable). He was in shock that day he went outside and his boat and all of his stuff was gone. Apparently there was a whole ring of these people stealing boats.
My mom is a part of a suit against Lowes. I guess it is some suit for employees who worked overtime and weren't paid the right way or something. I guess my mom had tons of hours logged. We'll see if she gets anything substantial, she seems to think she will but I highly doubt it.
@brothertuck (1257)
• United States
1 Feb 08
I did have a similar experience with a mail order company. The FTC investigated and made a deal and I got something like $12.50 back. I have no idea how much I put in.
Usually what they do is liquidate the assets and share what ever they can get, and usually they are only getting pennies on a dollar. After costs and lawyers fees you get less then one percent of what you spent.
1 person likes this
@petebaja (516)
• Mexico
14 Feb 08
Yes, it's happened to me. I bought some stock a friend recommended. I'm not a gambler and definitely don't buy penny stocks, they're very risky. This stock never moved and one day I checked it wasn't even worth one penny. I would have had to pay more for commission than the stock was worth. So, I didn't bother with it anymore.
Low and behold, two years later, I get a dividend check from that company. Don't get me wrong. This isn't Forrest Gump where he made millions investing in Apple computers. I did get a check from the company but it was only for $1.25. I got those dividends quarterly for a year, then the internet bubble burst. Bye bye money!
