3 ms·

>I eventually had to involve my senator You say that the way a teacher might say "I'm going to have to involve your parents". How does one get a senator involv

by rfrey 3y ago

>I eventually had to involve my senator You say that the way a teacher might say "I'm going to have to involve your parents". How does one get a senator involved in a payment dispute?

toomuchtodo 3y ago
> How does one get a senator involved in a payment dispute? You call your senator's office and speak to constituent services. https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R44726.pdf https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R44726.pdf (Congressional Research Service: Constituent Services: Overview and Resources)
kstrauser 3y ago
You write them a polite and direct letter (or email or webform or...). A couple of things to remember: 1) They literally work for you. You (collectively) elected them, and they get a salary to represent you. That's their job. 2) YMMV, of course, but by and large representatives love helping their constituents. It's the official reason they ran for office in the first place, and a lot of them take that seriously. And cynically, it also looks great come re-election time. My letter looked like: "Senator Schmuckatelli: Please get ${federal_organization} off my back for a debt I already paid to them. # <- "BLUF", or Bottom Line Up Front ${federal_organization} claims that I owe them $X. However, I have receipts proving that I already paid that amount in full. (See enclosures A through J.) They have threatened to garnish my tax returns and wages (encl. K, notice of garnishment), and as a hard-working plebe, I can't afford that. I have written (encl. L through P, copies of my letters) and called them multiple times (encl. Q: call log) multiple times without receiving a reply. As my senator and beloved Protector Of The Little People, could you please contact them and ask them to stop trying to collect this invalid debt? Many thanks, and see you at the polls! - Me" Tell them at the start of the letter what you'd like them to do. That helps them sort your mail quickly into the right bucket. Then make your case clearly and concisely, including all the evidence you might have. You don't want them to have to look at a wall of text with a phone book's worth of unlabeled paperwork. In short, make it easy for them to help you.

by rfrey 3y ago

>I eventually had to involve my senator You say that the way a teacher might say "I'm going to have to involve your parents". How does one get a senator involved in a payment dispute?

toomuchtodo 3y ago

> How does one get a senator involved in a payment dispute? You call your senator's office and speak to constituent services. https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R44726.pdf https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R44726.pdf (Congressional Research Service: Constituent Services: Overview and Resources)

kstrauser 3y ago

You write them a polite and direct letter (or email or webform or...). A couple of things to remember: 1) They literally work for you. You (collectively) elected them, and they get a salary to represent you. That's their job. 2) YMMV, of course, but by and large representatives love helping their constituents. It's the official reason they ran for office in the first place, and a lot of them take that seriously. And cynically, it also looks great come re-election time. My letter looked like: "Senator Schmuckatelli: Please get ${federal_organization} off my back for a debt I already paid to them. # <- "BLUF", or Bottom Line Up Front ${federal_organization} claims that I owe them $X. However, I have receipts proving that I already paid that amount in full. (See enclosures A through J.) They have threatened to garnish my tax returns and wages (encl. K, notice of garnishment), and as a hard-working plebe, I can't afford that. I have written (encl. L through P, copies of my letters) and called them multiple times (encl. Q: call log) multiple times without receiving a reply. As my senator and beloved Protector Of The Little People, could you please contact them and ask them to stop trying to collect this invalid debt? Many thanks, and see you at the polls! - Me" Tell them at the start of the letter what you'd like them to do. That helps them sort your mail quickly into the right bucket. Then make your case clearly and concisely, including all the evidence you might have. You don't want them to have to look at a wall of text with a phone book's worth of unlabeled paperwork. In short, make it easy for them to help you.