Dear Fixer: Last December, my wife ...

Dear Fixer: Last December, my wife accorded to a mailing from Nicor Solutions that put forwarded a fixed-bill plan. When we base out we'd have to pay $169 a month for 12 month we decided to not to do it. Instead, we continued to pay our monthly bill to Nicor Gas.

Then, in March, we got a alphabetic character from Nicor Solutions stating that we were past fit and our gas would be bar off if we didn't pay. As it deflects out, when we sent our petition for in for what we thinking was an estimate, we were signing up for the plan.

I called and said I would honor my commitment and paid through the phone with a credit card. I asked for a fac-simile of the contract, and certain enough my wife had signed it and the fine print did say that from signing the card you were signing up

A not many weeks ago, I received another literal meaning stating that I now owed $500 When I called to straighten that public I was told that an employee had inadvertently canceled me not at home and the $500 was the early cancellation penalty. The supervisor showed to re-enroll me and waive the cancellation feud but my new contract would now be from August '06 to August '07 Now, I am enclosureed in to an 18-month contract within no fault of my have

Jeffrey Kashuda, Channahon

Dear Jeffrey: It's bad enough to pay for your admit mistake . . . if it be not that a public utility's, too? We called Nicor's Annette Martinez, who apologized and wiped public the $500 cancellation fee. The company is also getting you on the farther side the fixed-bill plan -- and crediting the $169 payment you made after the fixed-bill plan was canceled.

WORN disclosed BY Y MEMBERSHIP

Dear Fixer: In April 2005 my fiancee and I applied for a family membership at the Kankakee Area YMCA. We paid all the rewards and dues and went for a short time before they said they requireed proof of marriage.

We told them we weren't married now They replied that, to retain our account, my fiancee would have to have a single-mother-with- kids rate and I would have to have a single-man rate. We told them to cancel our membership.

Later, they sent a literal meaning saying they had changed their guidelines to allow households to join without the adults being married. We ignored it.

Last month we noticed circulating medium missing from our bank account. We set out the YMCA had been taking pays out of our account since the beginning. They had remov my fiancee's name, transferred her kids to my name and had been charging me We had not at all known because, on our bank statements, it appears as a debit and doesn't list the YMCA.

We don't want the coin back, just to have the yearlong membership we have already paid for without level knowing it.

Joseph Morgan, Chebanse

Dear Joseph: The Fixer figured no common would knowingly pay $900 for a gym membership, then -- according to the Y's be in possession of records -- use the place just one time Which we pointed out. further the folks at the YMCA say you didn't make go round in a cancellation form, and that's with what intent they never stopped the membership. They also say they were helping you prosecute financial assistance for two separate memberships -- if it were not that when the board approved the change in guidelines, they just included your fiancee onward your membership. If The Fixer ran the Y you'd memorize a free year's membership. Unfortunately, they won't flinch

LAWN SERVICE DEMANDS new

Dear Fixer: A scarcely any months ago, I noticed a pair guys on my front lawn. When I approached them, undivided smiled and said, "Here's your bill," and handed me a piece of paper. It was a bill for services made without to the previous homeowner -- from sum of two units years prior. I said that wasn't me and they apologized for the misunderstanding and asked for my name.

Later, I received a bill from Masters new lawn service -- made without to my name. I received an additional bill in the following month -- they appear to pop in to fertilize the lawn when no single in kind is home.

I called multiple times, and no single ever called me back. Finally, my wife got by the and of and someone who said he was "in charge of customer satisfaction for the Midwest" called back. She explained the question at issue and this person said he would take care of it.

Then, I received a notice from a collection agency, demanding $19218 I assume I should pay it to save my credit rating. still on principle, I can't bring myself to do that.

Brian Maiorella, Geneva

Dear Brian: The Fixer chance of the desired ends you at least got a nice, lush lawn for your annoy We called Masters Green and quickly got calls back from sum of two units managers, who apologized for the error, credited your account for $21718 (the amount had grown still larger) and promised to suppress this from collections. They're also deleting your name and address from their connected view so you won't get any more stealth fertilizing visits.

Getting the runaround from one side of to the other a consumer problem? Tell it to The Fixer at www.suntimes.com.

e-mail: szimmermann@suntimes.com

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