4 ms·

My next steps are to file a complaint with the NY State Attorney General's office. This is a right approach. I wish more people know about this.

by aynyc 5y ago

toomuchtodo 5y ago
Also file a complaint with the CFPB. https://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/ https://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/
- meee 5y ago
  Has anyone had luck with this route? I went through the process and was unsatisfied. CFPB sends the complaint and then the company self reports that they didn't do anything wrong and then the complainer has a chance to say they disagree. I don't think they intend to resolve specific issues. They seem more like a trendspotter than solutionist. It's a circuitous path to the solution of get a lawyer. With CFPB, you are basically doing volunteer work for the government, which is fine and possibly noble, but not what you probably set out to accomplish.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - morpheuskafka 5y ago
    Every time I have used it I have gotten a proper response from the company (one case was a clear mistake). But yeah if they don't, there isn't any immediate action from the CFPB. For a bank, you can complain to the actual regulator (OCC for a national bank, Federal Reserve or FDIC for a state bank).
  - jayofdoom 5y ago
    A cfpb complaint got an issue resolved I had where my credit card issuing bank was refusing to accept that a charge was fraud. I issued the complaint with the exact same information I had given the bank support: that the supposed evidence that it wasn't fraud didn't include my signature and had an incorrect address, and as soon as the cfpb complaint came through the issue was resolved.
  - rowborg 5y ago
    I had a major issue with Bank of America that I could not get any support on. I filed a CFPB complaint and was directly contacted by a representative the next day who solved my problem. Complaints are a big deal for these banks and fintechs; if the complaint level gets high, the auditors show up and plant themselves in the office and start digging. And when they start digging, they find things... things that end in public fines and damaging press releases.
    - diordiderot 5y ago
      More like fines for 1/10% of profits made from the illegal behavior.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
simulate-me 5y ago
Filing a complaint is nice, but you’re basically at the mercy of the AG to care enough to do something.
- hampelm 5y ago
  Anecdotally it seems like the NY AG and CFPB are often pretty responsive. It at least creates a paper trail.
- aynyc 5y ago
  I don't have a comparison to other states or agencies. I have file 2 complaints to NY AG in my life and I got responds in about a week from the people I complained against. One was my very first landlord after college decades ago, the other was a tow truck company about 10 years ago.
  - simulate-me 5y ago
    That's nice that they cared, but they were under no obligation to respond. To me, this is an issue. We should have systems in place where people are guaranteed to have their issues remedied.
    - JumpCrisscross 5y ago
      > they were under no obligation to respond Mileage varies by state. The New York AG tends to make not responding very costly, sometimes debilitatingly so, for companies. A letter copying e.g. the Alabama AG is likely to be ignored.
      - dtparr 5y ago
        Do you have experience with the Alabama AG office not responding to a consumer complaint? A quick google indicates both an online form and a phone number specifically for contacting Alabama AG Office Consumer Specialists: https://www.alabamaag.gov/consumercomplaint https://www.alabamaag.gov/consumercomplaint
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
dan-robertson 5y ago
Yeah I certainly think that OP should have given up on customer service sooner and figured out a way to get through to the department of not-fobbing-people-off. This feels like that kind of complaint that, if it arrived in an appropriate format on the desk of some lawyer working for the company, would be quickly forwarded to the relevant department with some note saying ‘Please fix this and let me know when it’s done’.

My next steps are to file a complaint with the NY State Attorney General's office. This is a right approach. I wish more people know about this.

by aynyc 5y ago

My next steps are to file a complaint with the NY State Attorney General's office. This is a right approach. I wish more people know about this.

toomuchtodo 5y ago

Also file a complaint with the CFPB. https://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/ https://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/

meee 5y ago
Has anyone had luck with this route? I went through the process and was unsatisfied. CFPB sends the complaint and then the company self reports that they didn't do anything wrong and then the complainer has a chance to say they disagree. I don't think they intend to resolve specific issues. They seem more like a trendspotter than solutionist. It's a circuitous path to the solution of get a lawyer. With CFPB, you are basically doing volunteer work for the government, which is fine and possibly noble, but not what you probably set out to accomplish.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- morpheuskafka 5y ago
  Every time I have used it I have gotten a proper response from the company (one case was a clear mistake). But yeah if they don't, there isn't any immediate action from the CFPB. For a bank, you can complain to the actual regulator (OCC for a national bank, Federal Reserve or FDIC for a state bank).
- jayofdoom 5y ago
  A cfpb complaint got an issue resolved I had where my credit card issuing bank was refusing to accept that a charge was fraud. I issued the complaint with the exact same information I had given the bank support: that the supposed evidence that it wasn't fraud didn't include my signature and had an incorrect address, and as soon as the cfpb complaint came through the issue was resolved.
- rowborg 5y ago
  I had a major issue with Bank of America that I could not get any support on. I filed a CFPB complaint and was directly contacted by a representative the next day who solved my problem. Complaints are a big deal for these banks and fintechs; if the complaint level gets high, the auditors show up and plant themselves in the office and start digging. And when they start digging, they find things... things that end in public fines and damaging press releases.
  - diordiderot 5y ago
    More like fines for 1/10% of profits made from the illegal behavior.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

simulate-me 5y ago

Filing a complaint is nice, but you’re basically at the mercy of the AG to care enough to do something.

hampelm 5y ago
Anecdotally it seems like the NY AG and CFPB are often pretty responsive. It at least creates a paper trail.
aynyc 5y ago
I don't have a comparison to other states or agencies. I have file 2 complaints to NY AG in my life and I got responds in about a week from the people I complained against. One was my very first landlord after college decades ago, the other was a tow truck company about 10 years ago.
- simulate-me 5y ago
  That's nice that they cared, but they were under no obligation to respond. To me, this is an issue. We should have systems in place where people are guaranteed to have their issues remedied.
  - JumpCrisscross 5y ago
    > they were under no obligation to respond Mileage varies by state. The New York AG tends to make not responding very costly, sometimes debilitatingly so, for companies. A letter copying e.g. the Alabama AG is likely to be ignored.
    - dtparr 5y ago
      Do you have experience with the Alabama AG office not responding to a consumer complaint? A quick google indicates both an online form and a phone number specifically for contacting Alabama AG Office Consumer Specialists: https://www.alabamaag.gov/consumercomplaint https://www.alabamaag.gov/consumercomplaint

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

dan-robertson 5y ago

Yeah I certainly think that OP should have given up on customer service sooner and figured out a way to get through to the department of not-fobbing-people-off. This feels like that kind of complaint that, if it arrived in an appropriate format on the desk of some lawyer working for the company, would be quickly forwarded to the relevant department with some note saying ‘Please fix this and let me know when it’s done’.