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It’s funny but at the end of the day what youre talking about is the realization of idiocracy through our implementation of shitty “automation” using software.

It’s funny but at the end of the day what youre talking about is the realization of idiocracy through our implementation of shitty “automation” using software. I mean basically you have a computer system where the court system, law enforcement and DMV are all saying your license is expired for failure to pay...when you actually paid. Now you are getting more tickets and basically stuck in an infinite loop of hell. I’m currently going through the same thing with my Bank (BOA), where my car window was smashed my wallet (credit and debit card stolen) and cards were used by the 2 theives at footlocker for ~$500. The bank software even caught the fraud first and texted me about suspicious activity on the cards before I knew what happened, the cards were reported stolen, I have a police report, but Bank of America keeps denying my claim saying they investigated and the purchase was legit because my “chip was present” even though they know the card was stolen and used by the theives. When I talk to a person it’s always “oh let me reinitiate a new claim and I’ll make detailed notes, you should definitely get your money back, that makes no sense.” Automated claim comes back “denied. Valid transaction, chip present.” Like you I will probably have to take legal action to sort this out, at least in my case I’m a lawyer and can file a small claims case without paying a lawyer, but i will have to front the filing fees out of pocket and it will still cost me time/effort.

esotericn 8y ago
Pretty much. The same exists in the UK in all sorts of fields. My preferred strategy is repeated escalation mixed with what I'd call some variant of baby language. "You owe me X, please send me X, your internal processes are broken, please send me X". "No, I don't care about your internal processes, you owe me X, please send me X." "You haven't sent me X yet; can you send me X or do I need to initiate legal action?" So far this has always resulted in me actually getting the X I'm rightfully owed. One day it probably won't. Sigh. Amazon in particular have been amusing WRT this. "Our internal procedure takes X days..." At that point I usually cut them off and remind them that it's none of my business how they run things internally; what I want is resolution for the issue I'm facing.
- QasimK 8y ago
  I’ve always had excellent, and prompt customer service from Amazon. I’m curious to know what kinds of issues have you encountered where you were unhappy with how they dealt with it?
  - 113 8y ago
    It's weird how someone like this always pops up when someone complains about customer service.
  - esotericn 8y ago
    I recently ordered over £1000 worth of items which on arrival had been replaced (or incorrectly packed) as random household items of low value. It took almost a month to get a refund whilst Amazon 'investigated'. Yes, it was eventually fixed, but not without a huge amount of 'process says this and that' warbling.
markdown 8y ago
> can file a small claims case > it will still cost me time/effort . In my country, costs can be added to the claim. Is it not the same in the US?
- will_brown 8y ago
  In the US we separate attorneys fees from other “court costs”. Typically a winning party in my county would win their costs (in a hypothetical case like mine that would be the initial filing and maybe the cost to serve the court filing on the Bank). Attorneys fees are more complicated and the general rule is actually that each party bears it’s own attorneys fees, but there are many execrations from statutes authorizing them in certain types of cases and situations or if a contract includes a provision providing for them. It’s possible one or more contracts I have with the bank includes such a provision, I’d have to look at my credit card agreement (it may even require mediation, but that’s part of the small claims process in my jurisdiction anyway). Also It’s typically not allowed that a lawyer representing themselves can be awarded fees.
  - markdown 8y ago
    In my country, there are no lawyers in small claims court, so there'd be no attorney fees. The only cost other than time is usually the amount of money charged by the bailiff you hire to deliver the Summons or whatever the document is called. So if a client refused to pay you $3000, you take them to small claims court for $3500 or whatever (you have to convince the court that these extra charges for the bailiff fees, your transport to and from court, etc, are just).
jayd16 8y ago
Isn't human error more likely the cause of the bad records?
scabarott 8y ago
I would never think of banking with BOA after all their shenanigans during the financial crises. A couple years ago I moved all my accounts from another major bank (one that rhymes with 'shittybank') to an online-only bank to avoid just this kind of nonsense. I miss a few conveniences but haven't had any cause to regret it.

esotericn 8y ago

Pretty much. The same exists in the UK in all sorts of fields. My preferred strategy is repeated escalation mixed with what I'd call some variant of baby language. "You owe me X, please send me X, your internal processes are broken, please send me X". "No, I don't care about your internal processes, you owe me X, please send me X." "You haven't sent me X yet; can you send me X or do I need to initiate legal action?" So far this has always resulted in me actually getting the X I'm rightfully owed. One day it probably won't. Sigh. Amazon in particular have been amusing WRT this. "Our internal procedure takes X days..." At that point I usually cut them off and remind them that it's none of my business how they run things internally; what I want is resolution for the issue I'm facing.

QasimK 8y ago
I’ve always had excellent, and prompt customer service from Amazon. I’m curious to know what kinds of issues have you encountered where you were unhappy with how they dealt with it?
- 113 8y ago
  It's weird how someone like this always pops up when someone complains about customer service.
- esotericn 8y ago
  I recently ordered over £1000 worth of items which on arrival had been replaced (or incorrectly packed) as random household items of low value. It took almost a month to get a refund whilst Amazon 'investigated'. Yes, it was eventually fixed, but not without a huge amount of 'process says this and that' warbling.

markdown 8y ago

> can file a small claims case > it will still cost me time/effort . In my country, costs can be added to the claim. Is it not the same in the US?

will_brown 8y ago
In the US we separate attorneys fees from other “court costs”. Typically a winning party in my county would win their costs (in a hypothetical case like mine that would be the initial filing and maybe the cost to serve the court filing on the Bank). Attorneys fees are more complicated and the general rule is actually that each party bears it’s own attorneys fees, but there are many execrations from statutes authorizing them in certain types of cases and situations or if a contract includes a provision providing for them. It’s possible one or more contracts I have with the bank includes such a provision, I’d have to look at my credit card agreement (it may even require mediation, but that’s part of the small claims process in my jurisdiction anyway). Also It’s typically not allowed that a lawyer representing themselves can be awarded fees.
- markdown 8y ago
  In my country, there are no lawyers in small claims court, so there'd be no attorney fees. The only cost other than time is usually the amount of money charged by the bailiff you hire to deliver the Summons or whatever the document is called. So if a client refused to pay you $3000, you take them to small claims court for $3500 or whatever (you have to convince the court that these extra charges for the bailiff fees, your transport to and from court, etc, are just).

jayd16 8y ago

Isn't human error more likely the cause of the bad records?

scabarott 8y ago

I would never think of banking with BOA after all their shenanigans during the financial crises. A couple years ago I moved all my accounts from another major bank (one that rhymes with 'shittybank') to an online-only bank to avoid just this kind of nonsense. I miss a few conveniences but haven't had any cause to regret it.