Linens N Things Failed to process a payment and charged fees for item returned within a 30 day period Clearwater Florida

In April 2008 I purchased an airbed at Linens n Things 2669 Gulf to Bay Blvd. Clearwater , FL 33759. I was told that if I opened a credit account with them that I would save 10% of the purchase price of the item.

The discounted price was $81.00. I paid the item online April 24. The item was returned on May 1. No correspondence via email that there was any sort of problem. I received a phonecall July 07. 2008 from GE credit that there was a problem with the account.

They were demanding payment of 85.00 as delinquent. In the course of discovery, I got three entirely different stories.
The first one was that there was no evidence that I returned the item.

The second instructed me to go to the bank and get documents that there were sufficient funds for the time period in question. I went to the branch and was told by the BofA Assistant Branch Manager that they could see no reason that the amount would not have cleared.

However, they could not generate anything on letterhead unless it went through legal. I called the creditor again.

The story now changed. The story became that the account entered at the time of the payment was somehow incorrect and they could not process.

They were singularly unwilling to back off of their demands. Understand that the goods were defective and returned within 30 days. Nevertheless, I have paid $85 in fees to attempt to protect my credit.

After this on the internet I see that step 1 on my side should have been to demand proof.

It is my understanding that this sort of behavior is becoming widespread in business.

The solution it would appear is not to use credit in order to avoid this kind of abuse. Certainly I no longer shop with Linens n Things.

It should also be noted that Linens n Things filed for Bankrupcy May 2, 2008 as affirmed by the attached link.

http://www.njlawblog.com/2008/05/articles/bankruptcy-creditors-rights/linensnthings-bankruptcy/

Red viking
Clearwater, Florida
U.S.A.