European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 09, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Consumer watch by Mary Nett he fair credit Billing act eliminated credit Billing errors right wrong. Consider the experience of a Reader who has been working overseas for years and has a american express credit card. Last december for reasons Best known to them selves Amelco transferred the servicing of my account from England to Florida he writes. In the process they set up two new accounts instead of one and i have been trying to get it straightened out Ever  he has written four increasingly irate letters and each time he gets a Bland reply from a customer s representative assuring him the error will be corrected. Each time the replies came from different persons in the ., Britain or Germany. It s like dealing with an octopus he writes Only it seems to have a thousand arms instead of  finally he wrote to the president of american expression new York. Back came still another letter from an administrative assistant thanking him once More for bringing the matter to Amelco s attention. Two Days later you guessed it he got still another erroneous Billing statement noting that his account was overdue. He promptly fired it Back with a note that correction of the error by Amelco was nine months overdue. What can he do now the Federal truth in lending and fair credit Billing Laws were passed after Congress was swamped with complaints about credit company practices and errors. The fair credit Billing act puts the Burden for Correct ing errors on the credit company and provides for an elaborate dispute settlement procedure. To invoke the Law you have to notify the credit company in writing of the error within 60 Days after the first Bil Ling. If the company fails to Correct the error you can sue for any damages such As reporting you to a credit Agency As a Deadbeat. The act provides for minimum statutory dam Ages of $100 plus any reasonable attorney s fees that you May incur. You can also Send a summary of the problem to the Federal Trade commission which enforces the fair credit Billing act. The Etc does riot handle individual disputes but would like to hear Abrolat problems that arise under the act to determine whether further legislation or amendments Are needed. The address is Federal Trade commission fair credit Billing Washington . 20580. Hough at times placing a legitimate complaint seemingly gets you no where a runaround from one company spokesman to another Don t give , complaining can sometimes seem like an exercise in futility but what s the alternative to just continue to be ripped off or handled badly besides by complaining you might be alerting a company to a prob Lem and thereby benefiting  any Case to make an effective complaint you must be organized and logical and be Able to Back up your stand with hard facts. It is a Good practice to keep copies of All Docu ments relating to purchases of goods or services. This Way should you later have reason to complain the terms of your agreement Are available to prove time Date and place As Well As the itemized Cost of your purchases. In returning merchandise or filing a complaint mos firms will require one or More of these documents As proof of  it comes to warranties and guarantees read them carefully and ask for an explanation if something is not Clear to  the buyer and seller have responsibilities to fulfil the terms of the warranty or guarantee. Usually a cer Tain time period is covered or mileage or remaining tread in the Case of cars and tires. In some cases com plete satisfaction is guaranteed or your Money Back. In product guarantees some routine maintenance is usually required by the  you have a complaint which could be covered by such a plan it is important to be Able to prove you have fulfilled your Side of he bargain too. Back to that important Point of  a few moments to organize the important Points you want to make. Be sure you include All the following information your name address and credit card number if applicable the nature of your complaint poor service faulty product discourtesy credit related matters Etc All the de tails involved in the transaction time Date and place merchandise or service in question Cost invoice receipt Etc. And briefly what happened and what you wish done about it. T Friday september 9, 1977 above All Don t let your anger take Over and make it difficult for you to communicate your problem. Try to Cool Down before you write the company involved. Also remember that the person you voice your complaint to probably is not personally responsible for the problem. Now that you Are organized your first course of action should be to return to the Point of Sale and Register your complaint. Listen to the other Side of the Story too. Don t make unreasonable demands but seek a fair solution. Most complaints can be handled without loss of Goodwill on either Side. However if you find you Are getting nowhere wit your complaint Don t give up. Start going up the ladder. Local Post libraries often have  City Tele phone books that can help you in tracking Down an address. In taking your complaint to a higher level remember to include All the pertinent information and be organized in presenting it be concise be firm but reasonable and again suggest what action you d like to see taken. Many people address their complaints to the top executive of the company. Sometimes it is better though to address correspondence or phone Calls to customer relations or consumer affairs departments plus sending a the stars and stripes Page 19 " it s like dealing with an octopus Only it seems to have a thousand arms copy of the letter on to the executive. If All attempts to have the company consider you complaint have failed it s probably time to turn to outside sources. If you Are connected with the military in four Ope Don forget that you can obtain free Legal advice from local jag offices or direct a letter to capt. Peter Duffy at Usa eur jag Legal assistance division Apo 90403. In addition there s always Congress. W Ell documented Case of abuses May help get tighter consumer Protection Laws on the books. Robot tellers by Mario a. Milletti new York times Illie Tallulah buttons and George. Ginny Pat buddy and Sam. Harvey miss a ugly and it. Not to mention  form a strange Breed a race of cuddly robots like refugees from the Star wars. Tillie Tallulah buttons the whole crowd Are automated tellers. In increasing numbers these banking machines accept deposits dispense Cash move funds from one account to another and Tell you your balance almost everything a human Teller does except go out for lunch. According to peat Marwick Mitchell & co., a National accounting firm today s automatic tellers Are the and Vance guard of other sorts of electronic machinery that the banking Industry has its Eye on. Among them Are sys computer worries by Jeffrey Mills associated press  Study commission says computerized ways of transferring Money could provide major benefits to Consumers although con Sumers Are uneasy about the emerging tech  commission on electronic funds transfers said that electronic devices Are available that can Transfer Money Between accounts without any paper such As Cash or a Check changing  example a customer at a store could insert a Plas tic debit card into a machine and the amount of his Pur Chase would automatically be deducted from his Bank account and deposited in the store s account. Among conveniences to Consumers would be the need to carry less Cash Opportunity for greater use of credit and increased ability to Transfer Money from non interest bearing accounts to interest Bear ing accounts. The commission said it received about 6,000 letters an petitions from Consumers almost All of them expressing apprehension about the new technology. Consumers Are More concerned about the drawbacks of electronic funds transfers than about potential benefits the commission s report  commission recommended that All stores and Banks that want to offer debit card service be allowed to do so. It said that Competition Between companies will assure the convenience of Consumers is maintained. However the new payment system also make possible unprecedented invasions of individual Pri Vacy it said. This is possible through development of computer data Banks that can store data on All electronic transactions made by a consumer. Government investigators could reconstruct Many de tails of a person s private life through such records. Therefore the commission recommended Laws requiring Advance notification to the individual of any subpoena or summons by the government involving records of his transactions. Terns for automatic deposits of payrolls and banking terminals at retailers checkout counters. But for the automated tellers to take hold the Banks human customers must be willing to use them. Deep seated attitudes and habits must be altered. Trust must be fostered. What one banker called Man is. Machine confrontation must be defused. For Many Banks one Way to make automatic Tell ers less threatening has been to create Friendly machines like buttons and miss x. Not incidentally this also serves to differentiate one Bank s automatic tellers from the very similar ones that serve their competitors. Some Banks simply attach a name to their automated tellers. Others such As the first National Bank of Atlanta have gone  promoted her personality said a first National vice president Jack h. Salmon of the Bank s popular Tillie the Teller. She s a bubbly giggly kind of charac  Bank hired an actress to promote the machine and hired look alikes to Aid customers at branches. When till in s third birthday was recently celebrated in to commercials she toasted to the refrain of for she s a Jolly Good  Banks to be sure have also done quite Well with out personifying their automated tellers. New York s Citibank plans to simply rely on its human tellers to support its introduction and backing of hundreds of automated tellers in the metropolitan area. Banking does t have to be cold arid  a Citibank spokesman said but it does t have to be a trip to Disneyland  at the Atlantic ban corporation based in Jackson Ville fla., marketing tests showed that users would con Sider a personified machine silly unsophisticated and even insulting according to William m. Randle vice president marketing. Whatever marketing strategy they adopt Banks have to get a customer to try the machine at least once. The result has been during introduction periods at Many Banks a blizzard of coupons for hamburgers Strawberry pies the marketing slogan being easy As piece Cream and pizzas. Or a pass to the movies. Or a sweepstakes  Yazoo City miss., the Delta National Bank s promo Tion took an unusual  giveaways thermos jugs and electric Ham Burger cookers the Bank thought that its Lone autom ated Teller still was t being used enough. After some careful thought according to Charles a. Jordan jr., vice president the Bank began an advertising Campaign that proclaimed its machine a  customers were urged to help wipe out this  s president Miller p. Holmes was portrayed in a newspaper Adas bemoaning his Fate speculating on what the Bank s Board of directors might do to him. An other and showed supposed competitors guff awing at Delta s plight. Jordan reports that usage of the automated Teller jumped during the Campaign. Bankers talk a lot about customer convenience but there Are other reasons they install automated systems she says. Among them to eliminate congestion in branches. To postpone the need to expand branches. To avoid lengthening hours. To reduce the need for future human tellers