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Residents of the state who can prove they paid for services from a number linked to ''Miss Cleo'' can apply to get their money refunded.
By SCOTT BARANCIK, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published November 26, 2002
Floridians who paid for "900 number" calls to Miss Cleo's psychic hotline may now be able to get a refund.
Under a settlement unveiled Monday, the Florida attorney general's office said operators of the $1-billion hotline have agreed to repay any Florida customer who can provide a canceled check or other proof of payment. Applications must be received by the attorney general's office within 60 days.
The deal goes beyond a nationwide settlement the Federal Trade Commission struck this month. Under that pact, Access Resource Services and Psychic Readers Network of Fort Lauderdale agreed to cancel $500-million in customer bills that remain unpaid, about half of what the company billed from its television marketing of the supposed psychic with the Jamaican accent.
The $500-million included roughly $44-million of fees incurred by Florida consumers, the largest amount of any state.
But the national pact did not offer refunds to those who had already paid for 900 number calls. Florida so far is the only state with such an agreement, officials in the attorney general's office said. Even callers who made payments as far back as the late 1990s are eligible.
"That is a unique aspect that we got out of this," interim Attorney General Richard Doran said in an interview Monday evening.
Excluded from the refund agreement are a small number of Florida customers who obtained prepaid subscriptions for bulk use of the psychic network services. Still, the state agreement prohibits the hotline operators from signing up any new prepaid subscribers.
The agreement also prohibits hotline operators from releasing information about their customers to other companies.
Florida and the FTC filed separate suits against the hotline operators in February. The Florida suit accused the companies, owners Steven Feder and Peter Stolz, and actress Youree Dell Harris -- also known as Miss Cleo -- of unfairand deceptive trade practices.
Among the accusations: that customers who saw the Miss Cleo ads on television were told they could make a free three-minute call, but were then put on hold and charged for their time at $4.99 per minute.
Harris was not part of the attorney general's settlement agreement. The suit against her has not been dropped.
Senior assistant attorney general Bob Buchner said Florida consumers do not need to prove they were deceived in order to get a refund.
To apply, they can mail a canceled check or other proof of payment, along with a letter, to: Office of the Attorney General, Economic Crimes Division, Attn: Robert Julian, 110 SE Sixth St., 10th Floor, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301. For information, call (954) 712-4600.
-- Information from Times wires was used in this report.