7 ms·
It's a coordination problem. Everyone -- and I mean everyone -- should just send a letter and go directly to your Attorney General's office if the letter isn't
by thwayunion 4y ago
It's a coordination problem.
Everyone -- and I mean everyone -- should just send a letter and go directly to your Attorney General's office if the letter isn't acknowledged with the issue resolved within 30 days. It takes about two minutes, almost never fails, and creates a much larger burden for the corporation.
I never sit on hold, and the letter takes about 2 minutes to write.
- BigRedDog1669 4y agoI understand you mean well, but does this really create a larger burden for the company or change anything in the future? I've never had a letter result in anything.
- thwayunion 4y agoThey ignore the letter and spring to action when the AG comes knocking. The engagement with the AG's office does fire off internal processes that scale linearly, involve expensive labor, and are treated as urgent. If even 10% of customers did this it would result in some exec's attention.
- BigRedDog1669 4y agoCan you give an example of something that was resolved for you by this? I can send a letter if it will do something but I can't convince 10% of the population to send a letter. I've sent messages to government offices and never got anything but a canned response and no action.
- thwayunion 4y agoA fee for parking in a private lot during a period when they weren't supposed to be charging fees (free holiday parking sponsored by the local shops). Verizon bill for unreturned equipment (didn't ask for it, told them I was leaving it on my doorstep and not taking delivery, it disappeared, heard back a year later with a fee). TMobile bill. An incorrect water bill. A car dealership lying to me. Issues with one of those "order for ipad" airport places mentioned in the article (same issue: never received my food). Medical bill from an urgent care for some trivial thing that they told me they wouldn't charge me for. Some interest on a student loan that accrued because their billing system messed up. A bunch of other stuff I'm not remembering. I always just send a written letter and if I don't get a check in 30 days go to the AG. Works every time. Fixing their petty crime is not my problem.
- throwanem 4y agoIs there some kind of state-by-state explainer that describes the process, what the letter has to include, etc?
- thwayunion 4y agoHere's my form letter: Dear _, I am writing regarding [describe problem]. The appropriate resolution to this issue is [describe solution]. [Usually the solution is cash; if it is cash:] You may credit this to the form of payment you have on file, or by sending me a check at [address]. If you have any questions, you may call me at [phone number] at [time when I'm always free on a weekday during working hours in all us timezones]. I will contact my AG's office if I do not hear back from you in 30 days. Thanks, [Name] Mail it. All state AG offices have a form for consumer complaints on their website. Usually it's very easy to find. Don't overthink it. Mention the letter in your AG complaint, include a copy and the date that you sent it. They will contact the business and start a resolution process. Usually you'll hear back in a week or so.
- dredmorbius 4y agoExcellent and useful, thanks.
- dredmorbius 4y agoAFAIK, every state's attorney general's office will have an online site and/or form for filing complaint(s), as well as a postal address you can use. You can free-form your own letter, though that might delay things somewhat from the AG's office, though the business / countereparty will typically get on their game quickly. DDG "consumer complaint" + <YOUR_STATE_HERE> should work. E.g., top ten states by population, covering over half the US population, first result is the corresponding state's AG consumer affairs office: CA: <https://duckduckgo.com/?q=consumert+complain+california https://duckduckgo.com/?q=consumert+complain+california> gives <https://www.dca.ca.gov/consumers/complaints/index.shtml https://www.dca.ca.gov/consumers/complaints/index.shtml> TX: <https://duckduckgo.com/?q=consumer+complaint+texas https://duckduckgo.com/?q=consumer+complaint+texas> <https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/consumer-protection https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/consumer-protection> FL: <https://duckduckgo.com/?q=consumer+complaint+florida https://duckduckgo.com/?q=consumer+complaint+florida> <https://www.stateofflorida.com/consumer-complaints/ https://www.stateofflorida.com/consumer-complaints/> NY: <https://duckduckgo.com/?q=consumer+complaint+new+york https://duckduckgo.com/?q=consumer+complaint+new+york> <https://dos.ny.gov/file-consumer-complaint https://dos.ny.gov/file-consumer-complaint> PA: <https://duckduckgo.com/?q=consumer+complaint+pennsylvania https://duckduckgo.com/?q=consumer+complaint+pennsylvania> <https://www.attorneygeneral.gov/submit-a-complaint/consumer-complaint/ https://www.attorneygeneral.gov/submit-a-complaint/consumer-...> IL: <https://duckduckgo.com/?q=consumer+complaint+illinois https://duckduckgo.com/?q=consumer+complaint+illinois> <http://www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/consumers/filecomplaint.html http://www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/consumers/filecomplai...> OH: <https://duckduckgo.com/?q=consumer+complaint+ohio https://duckduckgo.com/?q=consumer+complaint+ohio> <https://www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/Individuals-and-Families/Consumers/File-A-Complaint.aspx https://www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/Individuals-and-Families...> GA: <https://duckduckgo.com/?q=consumer+complaint+georgia https://duckduckgo.com/?q=consumer+complaint+georgia> <https://consumer.georgia.gov/ https://consumer.georgia.gov/> NC: <https://duckduckgo.com/?q=consumer+complaint+north+carolina https://duckduckgo.com/?q=consumer+complaint+north+carolina> <https://ncdoj.gov/file-a-complaint/consumer-complaint/ https://ncdoj.gov/file-a-complaint/consumer-complaint/> MI: <https://duckduckgo.com/?q=consumer+complaint+michigan https://duckduckgo.com/?q=consumer+complaint+michigan> <https://www.michigan.gov/ag/complaints https://www.michigan.gov/ag/complaints>
- factsarelolz 4y ago[dead]
- mxuribe 4y agoYou are my hero!
- PenguinCoder 4y agoWhat does your letter generally say? How do you find the right person and address to send it to in order to get it read or maybe get a response, not just insta chucked?
- thwayunion 4y agoI included a form letter in a sibling thread. Don't overthink it! Just state the facts and make a clear and reasonable demand with a timeframe for them to meet your demand. > How do you find the right person and address to send it to in order to get it read or maybe get a response, not just insta chucked? Meh. They almost always ignore the first letter. The important point is that the AG's letter makes it to the right audience. If there's a legal dept send it there. Otherwise just whatever address you can find.
- jmholla 4y agoFor convenience, here's a link to that comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34618901 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34618901
- TurkishPoptart 4y agoThis is a fantastic idea. Silly question but do you send it via email or snail mail?
- thwayunion 4y agoSnail mail. Emails will immediately become helpdesk tickets and the onus is thrown right back onto you. There is no way to turn a snail mail letter into a helpdesk ticket. (Or at least not one that you're forced to interact with via email)
- doetoe 4y agoThis sounds great, even a moral obligation! Does anyone know if a similar course of action exists in Spain?
- chatmasta 4y agoIf everyone did this, it would shift the burden from overwhelmed customer service reps, to overwhelmed paralegals in the AG's office. And those people are paid with our tax dollars, which would mean the taxpayer is paying a penalty for poor customer service from every company. Of course, if everyone did this, then hopefully it would also cause the company to fix their issues before it got to the point of overwhelming the AG's office. But doesn't it sound a little... centrally planned? communist? ... to need to tattle to the AG for every minor complaint you have with a company? I mean, great that it works, but it seems like a broken and unsustainable system.
- thwayunion 4y agoAn AGs office can fuck you up big time. Ruin execs lives. Wipe out LPs and their progeny. Destroy family names that go back to the revolutionary war. You are correct. Capital adapts. Class war is a dialectic. This is just a micro tactic. Draw blood, retreat, regroup.
- chatmasta 4y agoThat sounds like exactly the kind of place I don't want to send a bunch of petty complaints with a return address.
- thwayunion 4y agoAGOs handle consumer complaints. It's literally in their mandate in most states. I've had nothing but friendly and helpful interactions with two different AGOs. > petty complaints Petty crime is still crime.
- alexose 4y agoI wonder if there's a startup here. Briefly: You upload your bills, we resolve disputes for you. Common problems get collectivized/turned into class action suits. I've used things like Rocket Money, but their approach is to renegotiate bills and skim a little off the top. This could be more of a feeder for law firms that specialize in class action. Or, maybe it would have an in-house legal team.
- saulpw 4y agoI mentioned this very idea to a financially-savvy friend, and his answer was that credit-card companies already provide this service in the form of chargebacks.
- alexose 4y agoThat's true. Maybe this idea would appeal to people's sense of moral righteousness, though. Looking out for their fellow consumers :)
- dredmorbius 4y agoAbsolutely this. If the hold queue is more than a few minutes, you can't get the issue resolved, etc.: 1. Put it in writing. 2. Write your government's consumer advocate (usually the state AG's office in the US). It's possible to escalate above and beyond this, but these two steps alone are often startlingly effective.