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Definitely do chargebacks on the card. And don't mess with lawyers. Anyone telling you to contact one has never contacted one. Why would anyone spend $800 to ge

Definitely do chargebacks on the card. And don't mess with lawyers. Anyone telling you to contact one has never contacted one. Why would anyone spend $800 to get $300 back? Small claims is definitely a legit way to go if you cannot recover the funds. Facebook likely won't even send a representative and you'll win by default. Collecting from them is another issue in itself, but you'll at least have a judgement against them. I have taken people to small claims and it's fairly simple.

bluGill 3y ago
He has a small business, he should have a lawyer on retainer anyway. As such there may be no cost for a conversation (of course check with the contract - generally there is a cost). Even if there is a cost, one conversation with a lawyer is not $800. The costs add up quick if he goes to court, but odds are good he only needs one conversation and so the costs are minimal. A bit of legal advice can go a long way. If he does go to court with a lawyer the costs will be a lot more than $800, but he can sue for legal fees as well as the loss. If Meta is being unreasonable enough that it has to go to court he will get those fees. A judge will not like seeing this trivial cost go to trail, if it gets that far the judge will be looking to see who is not reasonable and slapping them with as many fees and costs as he can.
- joshuamorton 3y ago
  > generally there is a cost For a lot of small-claims style things, lawyers will give you 15-30 minute consultations for free (YMMV on how useful these are, by nature its often the lawyer giving you a bunch of information you may already have, will only a couple of minutes for actual questions that they may not be ready to answer), even if you don't have a preexisting relationship. I've seen this a lot in tenancy cases, where basically they filter out "bad landlord withholding rent" small claims style cases from "bad landlord doing illegal renovations or owner-move in evictions" that can be larger and more complicated, and want you to hire them for the second, but will give you some time for the first, in hopes that you remember that help when you run into the second case.
  - pc86 3y ago
    Exactly, law is very much a relationship business. 15 minutes of free time for them to hear your problem and give you a template letter (or better yet, put one on their letterhead and mail it for you) is absolutely a price they're willing to pay for you to say to your friends and family how great they were and how they fixed your problem for free. And let's not forget that some lawyers are people too - sticking it to someone who is taking advantage of others illegally is a not-often-discussed perk of the job.
- treis 3y ago
  Retainer doesn't mean work for free. Retainer means you give them money in advance so they can charge you for their time. Maybe some will give out freebies but generally speaking those that like to do things like eat food and live indoors will charge you for their time.
- TrueSlacker0 3y ago
  "He has a small business, he should have a lawyer on retainer anyway." Not all small businesses have lawyers. I would guess 90%+ don't need them and the other 90% cannot afford them. I've founded and operated a small business for 9 years and have only hired a lawyer 1 time for contractual negotiation. For what it's worth I am in a heavily regulated industry and I have no legal background.
  - connordoner 3y ago
    180%? Nice.
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]

bluGill 3y ago

He has a small business, he should have a lawyer on retainer anyway. As such there may be no cost for a conversation (of course check with the contract - generally there is a cost). Even if there is a cost, one conversation with a lawyer is not $800. The costs add up quick if he goes to court, but odds are good he only needs one conversation and so the costs are minimal. A bit of legal advice can go a long way. If he does go to court with a lawyer the costs will be a lot more than $800, but he can sue for legal fees as well as the loss. If Meta is being unreasonable enough that it has to go to court he will get those fees. A judge will not like seeing this trivial cost go to trail, if it gets that far the judge will be looking to see who is not reasonable and slapping them with as many fees and costs as he can.

joshuamorton 3y ago
> generally there is a cost For a lot of small-claims style things, lawyers will give you 15-30 minute consultations for free (YMMV on how useful these are, by nature its often the lawyer giving you a bunch of information you may already have, will only a couple of minutes for actual questions that they may not be ready to answer), even if you don't have a preexisting relationship. I've seen this a lot in tenancy cases, where basically they filter out "bad landlord withholding rent" small claims style cases from "bad landlord doing illegal renovations or owner-move in evictions" that can be larger and more complicated, and want you to hire them for the second, but will give you some time for the first, in hopes that you remember that help when you run into the second case.
- pc86 3y ago
  Exactly, law is very much a relationship business. 15 minutes of free time for them to hear your problem and give you a template letter (or better yet, put one on their letterhead and mail it for you) is absolutely a price they're willing to pay for you to say to your friends and family how great they were and how they fixed your problem for free. And let's not forget that some lawyers are people too - sticking it to someone who is taking advantage of others illegally is a not-often-discussed perk of the job.
treis 3y ago
Retainer doesn't mean work for free. Retainer means you give them money in advance so they can charge you for their time. Maybe some will give out freebies but generally speaking those that like to do things like eat food and live indoors will charge you for their time.
TrueSlacker0 3y ago
"He has a small business, he should have a lawyer on retainer anyway." Not all small businesses have lawyers. I would guess 90%+ don't need them and the other 90% cannot afford them. I've founded and operated a small business for 9 years and have only hired a lawyer 1 time for contractual negotiation. For what it's worth I am in a heavily regulated industry and I have no legal background.
- connordoner 3y ago
  180%? Nice.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]