Here's the ethical/legal question of the week:
Q: "My wife and I recently purchased an awning for our home from a local business. We paid a deposit of $1,571.37 at the time of the order and the balance remaining on the invoice was $4,000.
"The company installed the awning a few weeks later and we paid the remaining balance of $4,000 at that time (and the installer marked the invoice as 'paid in full').
"A few days later, the company left a voicemail (and then sent an invoice) saying that we owed an additional $1,000. The voicemail said that there was an subtraction error on the original invoice. Upon reviewing the invoice again, there indeed was a subtraction error by the company's salesman.
"The total price is listed as $6,571.37, but when he subtracted the deposit of $1571.37, he wrote down a remaining balance of $4,000 (instead of the correct subtraction of $5,000). At the time of purchase, neither I or the salesman noticed this error.
"What we are wondering is that since the subtraction error was the salesman's fault, AND the installer marked 'paid in full,' are we obligated to pay the $1,000 we are currently billed?"
Doug and Angie Banach, South Windsor
A: Let's judge this one together. The salesperson made an honest mistake. Does anyone think the Banachs do not have an ethical obligation to pay the $1,000 to the local business? No?. OK, that was an easy one.
What about legally? The Banachs agreed to the $6,571.37 cost of the awning installation but paid $1,000 less. Does the business, by law, have the right to demand payment of that $1,000.
The Bottom Line says the business would win this fight. Who says the Banachs paid what was asked, even if it wasn't the agreed amount, and should owe nothing more?
This one shocked TBL: The Banachs didn't have to pay, says lawyer Morton Katz of Avon.
"As a matter of legality," he says, "if they paid by check and they marked the check in full payment or final payment, that's the ballgame. It's accordance and satisfaction [a legal term for release of debt obligation]. I just heard a case like that two weeks ago."
So the Banachs, indeed, could have kept the $1,000 difference. But they didn't. They paid the $1,000. They did what was right instead of exercising their legal right.
Q: "My daughter has an iTunes account, which she has forgotten the answers to the security questions. We both have tried contacting Apple via their website with the same results. There is nothing they can do to reset the answers.
"I was able to contact a person and they stated that the problem has been around for a few weeks and that there is nothing they can do. Meanwhile, my daughter can not purchase anything from iTunes, even though she has money in her account.
" I know that this problem is widespread as I've read dozens of posts asking how to reset these questions. I've yet to see any solutions."
Charlie Varca, Wethersfield
A: The Bottom Line sent Varca a link leading to Apple Support (expresslane.apple.com). Apple later emailed the same information. Varca's daughter is now spending freely at the iTunes Store. For anything seemingly unresolvable related to iOS (that's the Apple operating-system universe), try Apple Support. For security-answer problems, you'll likely end up speaking to an Apple representative.
