Hi John,

I have another good one to share with you.  

My car dealer called me today to let me know that my plates are ready to pick up for the new car.    The receptionist said, "the registration was $17. short, so you can pay that when you pick them up".   But when she said that, I remembered hearing her say that to another customer while I was there a week ago, and thought it was too much of a coincidence, so I asked her how much the DMV charges for registration were, and she said $289.00, I then said "well my truth-in-lending form shows that I was charged $360.00 for registration fees, so you owe me $71.00, no?   She choked, and put me on the phone with her boss and he didn't know what to say either so he said "I'm in a meeting, I will have to call you back later."

If they sell 10 cars per day, that racket adds up to $710.00 per day, or $21,300.00 per month for them.

Companies get away with so much because people are to busy to look at their forms in instances like this.    I guess he couldn't think of a good excuse, because he never called back.   But I'm not picking my plates up until they can explain that one.

Jane

I saw the segment last night and was shocked to hear it had happened to other people because it happened to me a few years ago... and I figured it was just a fluke. 

I was out of town on a business trip for 3 days and parked my car at EWR's long term parking. When I got back, I got a parking ticket from the City of Hoboken for the middle day of my trip... yup, the day my car was in EWR's lot for the full 24 hours.

I went to city hall to explain what happened and brought my receipt (with my license # on it!) from the EWR airport. But all I did was ask which line to get into for my situation and I was yelled at by the traffic violation office worker! He didn't even give me a chance to explain!

Long story short, I was sent from one office to another... I went to three offices by the time I looped back to the original line I was in. Each and every person was so accusatory that what started as a trip to the City Hall about a mistake that I was ready to laugh off, turned into tears and trauma. (At one point, they wouldn't even let me into the office they directed me to- and I had to CALL THEM from inside the building from my cell before they let me in!).

After all that, they still didn't realize their mistake! They just told me I had to come back at a court date! 

Ironically, when the date came, I went back... and was told the fine was paid off!

Obviously they had written down the wrong plate # (the make/model didn't match!), but what an emotionally exhausting experience, just because of a mistake!

Wow.....tough city this New York!  

The same thing happened to me in NJ a few years ago.  I got a letter for an unpaid ticket at the Jersey Shore in May of 05, and I called them and told them I was never there in May, and they asked me if my car was a green 2 door, and I said no, a gold 4 door, and they said "okay, no problem", and that was the end of the ticket.

Jane