The hassles of getting a refund

DANVILLE, CA

Lawrence Silverman of Danville says a deal he feared would be too good to be true turned out to be just that -- too good to be true.

Silverman needed an automatic document feeder along with a scanner. He found what he wanted at www.adorama.com out of New York.

The ad he saw promised both a scanner and document feeder for an after rebate price of $179.

"Theirs was a good price, not the best price. But since I had dealt with them before, I decided to go with them," said Silverman.

The shipment arrived a week later, but the scanner came without the document feeder.

Lawrence complained to Adorama Camera. They offered him a full refund, but said they could not get him the document feeder.

"I didn't think that was the appropriate way to handle this, especially being a previous good customer," said Silverman.

Lawrence called 7 On Your Side for help. He showed us this email confirmation of his order. It clearly said he was supposed to get both a photo scanner and automatic document feeder. He also had an e-mail confirming his credit card transaction.

Again it said he was to get both items for $229 before the $50 rebate.

ABC7's Legal Analyst Dean Johnson also looked over the documentation.

"The fact is they had a binding contract. If they are a good and viable and honest company, then they're going to honor that contract," said Johnson.

Adorama has a satisfactory record with the Better Business Bureau. Just hours after 7 On Your Side contacted the company, they agreed to send Lawrence his document feeder.

Adorama's Web site Says it is not responsible for typographical errors, and a spokesperson told us the company "acted very generously in this matter."

Johnson says the disclaimer on the Web Site is a legitimate one, but says once the company confirmed the order, they were obligated to honor it.

"The acceptance was documented. That's a contract. Even a basic contract law 101 would say we have a binding contract here," said Johnson.

Adorama Camera tells us it monitors various blogs and actively contacts dissatisfied customers to try to resolve the issue.

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