Denae and Betsy Ramos-Pachucki spent months planning their dream wedding so that everything would be perfect on their special day.
The brides-to-be had everything lined up and ready to go and were on their way to their rehearsal dinner the night before the ceremony when Betsy’s phone rang. It was the limousine company calling.
The general manager had some bad news, both of the limos they had reserved were broken down. Denae and Betsy were hours away from walking down the aisle. Now it looked like they’d be walking to their own wedding!
“At that moment, I had so much going on I was like, ‘You know what, I’ll figure it out. OK, you’re going to give me the money back, great, we’re good,'” Denae said.
After calling several different limousine companies, they finally found a replacement, but had to stretch their budget to pay for the last-minute limo rental. They were able to have their dream wedding after all.
But when Betsy and Denae tried to get their $861 back, they were once again left stranded.
“We’re waiting, and waiting, and waiting, and no check comes in the mail,” Betsy said.
Denae put some of the cost of the cars on her credit card, and her card company agreed to refund her that money.
But she used a check to pay the $260 deposit and was having trouble getting that back.
The newlyweds weren’t ready to give up. They contacted the Attorney General’s Office, Better Business Bureau and the local consumer affairs department. Nothing worked.
Frustrated and with nowhere else to turn, they contacted Solve It 7.
Robert Harnais is the president-elect of the Massachusetts Bar Association, and he says if it was him in this situation, he would bring claim against the company in court. “I’d get a judgment against them, and I’d chase them down,” Mr. Harnais says.
We helped Denae and Betsy chase them down with multiple phone calls and messages.
It worked! A few days later, Denae and Betsy finally received the check they’ve been waiting months for. Although happy this all worked out, the couple learned a valuable lesson along the way.
“If you pay with check or cash, you may never get that back, unless you call Channel 7!” Denae says.
The reason for that is because when you pay with a credit card, you get that added layer of protection from the credit card company that you simply don’t get when you pay with cash or check.
Is someone taking you for a ride? We’re here to help. Give us a call at (617) 367-7777 or send us an email at solveit7@whdh.com.