Problem with refund, please help!

[Thelonsomeranger]

hi, i'm new, and have not had to deal with a problem like this before.

I purchased some items from Toys N' Joys. They have been a good store in the past so i trusted them. however this time i had problems from the start. after the recieved my money order they said they should ship within the week. then, after a long wait of no emails, i emailed and finally got a response claiming all of the items were on backorder and offered me a refund. i asked if i could wait a bit longer for something i really wanted. they agreed. after another long while i got tired of waiting and they said they would send a refund, and another email said it was sent. it never arrived and they stopped replying to my emails.

from here i decided to give them a call. and i found out the refund was never sent and i had to ask for the refund again. a week later i called and asked how long it would take and they said a week. so dispite it being a second week to wait i did. then i called to make sure and was told that it had been sent.

it's been about 3 weeks since that call, i don't believe they ever sent a refund. and i don't know what are the steps i need to take in order to get my money back. can anyone help me out here?

[elroy]

First of all, next time use a credit card.
Contact the place you got the money order and see if it has been cashed. If it hasn't ask them to issue a stop payment. If it has been cashed send a registered letter to Toys N' Joys telling them if you do not receive a refund within 10 days you intend to contact the US Postal Inspector and ask them to initiate an investigation for mail fraud. Then after 10 days contact your nearest postal inspector's office, ask your local post office for the phone number and address. If you pay for something via US mail and the seller doesn't send it or issue a refund it is mail fraud. Be patient and persistant and keep copies of everything.