Dear Greg: On Mother's Day my fianc� bought me a wedding-ring set from Whitehall Jewelers in Brooksville. He paid over half with cash and put the remaining $1,500 on his Whitehall credit card -- or so he thought. We both were approved for Whitehall cards, but instead of putting it on his card they charged the purchase to me, which I didn't know until the bill came. The real problem is that they double-billed my card for $3,000, plus $30 for going over my credit limit. I went to the store and was told to call customer service, which I did, then they told me to call the corporate office, which I also did, only to be told to call customer service! I called the credit-card company but they say it's not their problem.

PATT GRIBBLE

SPRING HILL
Dear Patt: Lots of gems at Whitehall, but apparently none of them in customer service or billing. I contacted Whitehall corporate and told them that a one-ring set for the price of two was a proposal -- unlike you fianc�'s -- that you definitely could refuse. By the time you read this your account should ring true.

Related links

Dear Greg: One day about a year ago, my wife was having trouble breathing so I took her to the emergency room at Florida Hospital. I have Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Alabama and knew that Florida Hospital was part of my "in group" of providers. What I did not know -- and with my wife in distress did not ask about -- was that the doctor who treated her was not part of my "in group." And since he was not, Blue Cross will not cover the bill at the "in group" rate and I now have a bill for $861. I understand the need to use "in group" providers, but when a person has a medical emergency they should not have to worry if they have jumped through all the hoops set up by insurance companies to get covered.

DAVID COATS
ORLANDO
Dear David: Yeah, I get tired of the insurance companies treating us like sea lions in the Clyde & Seamore show at SeaWorld. Correction, worse than that. At least the sea lions are rewarded with raw fish for jumping through hoops. All we get are higher co-pays and red tape. Thanks to Florida Hospital intervening on your behalf, your bill has been reduced to $416 -- what it would have been if the ER doctor was part of the in crowd. But you still don't get any fish.

Dear Greg: I have not heard anything from you since the middle of May, so I wanted to check to see if you were going to do anything further with my case involving the defective laptop from Acer. If not, can you state in your column and on The Daily Buzz that Acer was not even willing to return your calls? I don't want others to be messed over by them like I was. I think I may file a lawsuit here in Wisconsin and see what happens. I know you are not a lawyer and can't give legal advice, but any lay-person advice you may have on the idea would be appreciated.

SARAH MANSAVAGE
MADISON, WIS.
Dear Sarah: My last communication with Acer was an e-mail April 25 from a PR person promising to "look into this with Acer customer support and service. I will follow up at the beginning of next week." That was more than two months ago. My recent e-mails to the PR person have gone unanswered. (Maybe I need to throw her a raw fish.) Personally, I would not waste time and money suing Acer in small-claims court. They've already lost in the court of public opinion.


Getting the runaround? E-mail Greg at gdawson@orlandosentinel.com; or call 407-420-5618; or write to Greg Dawson, Orlando Sentinel, 633 N. Orange Ave., MP-218, Orlando FL 32801. Greg doesn't mean to be rude (honest!), but due to volume he isn't able to answer most calls and letters. See Greg on The Daily Buzz at 10:20 a.m. Mondays on WRDQ-Channel 27 and read his blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/consumerfile.