Complaint on Pitney Bowes Postage by phone account

Dear complaints.com,

I am writing this complaint in regard to my postage by phone account =

with Pitney Bowes. Below is their address.

Pitney Bowes

2225 American Dr

Neenah, WI 54956

I cancelled my account back in Feb. 2006. When I contacted Pitney Bowes =

over the phone I told the customer service representitive specifically =

that I needed to cancel the account, which they agreed. Later on they =

sent me an invoice asking me to pay $50 for them to pick up the postage =

meter. There was nothing on the original lease about a pick up fee so I =

called them again. They told me that this is their company's policy and =

if I don't pay the pick up fee they can't process my cancellation. I had =

a credit of over $300 on the account so in order to get the credit back =

I paid the fees. Since they are a big name in the postal industry I =

assumed that they would credit me back the remaining balance after my =

return was processed. But I was wrong. On June 11th, 2007, 1 year and 4 =

month later, I received a statement from Pitney Bowes. It shows on the =

statement that I have a remaining balance of $315.49 on my account. Also =

they charged me an account maintenance fee of $50 for a CANCELLED =

account! Feeling furious I contacted the customer support and spoke to =

Josh. He said altough my account was cancelled they did not know whether =

I would need a new meter in the future or not so they kept the money in =

the account. I said I never asked for a new meter how could they make =

such an assumption. He said people do this all the time so to save =

trouble they kept my money! And since there is money in my account it is =

considered active and a maintenance fee is charged. I then asked him how =

I can get my money back. He said I have to submit a seperate refund =

request by fax or mail. He later send me a link to the request by email, =

but he did not refund me the account maintenance fee.

I can not believe that I have to send a sperate refund request to get my =

money back. If you cancel a credit card or return a merchandise to a =

store, do you ever need to send a seperate refund request? The equipment =

return fee is even more absurd. I need my money back including the =

account maintenance fee of $50. And I urge everybody who wants a postage =

meter to consider other alternatives.=20

Kaibo Hu

Playcom, Inc

Orlando, FL 32804