4 ms·

Binding arbitration, it certainly feels like a rigged system. I just went through it and lost. Never thought I would lose against this clearly shady contractor

Binding arbitration, it certainly feels like a rigged system. I just went through it and lost. Never thought I would lose against this clearly shady contractor. I had inspection reports, emails and texts from them committing to fix my house, and 400+ pages of photos. The contractor had walked off my job over a year before we ever made it to arbitration… I still don’t have my house back. The mediator, who the contractor got to pick, basically started off saying, “We have to give the benefit of the doubt to these hardworking contractors who came to your aid in your hour of need…” That was a taste of how the whole day would go. Still feels raw. Here’s a little more on my story with binding arbitration. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/anyone-have-connections-usaa-damen-gilland-rq2uc/ https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/anyone-have-connections-usaa-...

JumpCrisscross 3y ago
> mediator, who the contractor got to pick Mediation is not binding. Arbitrators are picked by both sides.
- pauldenton 3y ago
  So then why didn't the contractors listen to his suggestion for the Mediator?
  - JumpCrisscross 3y ago
    > why didn't the contractors listen to his suggestion for the Mediator? They don’t have to and they’re in a dispute. In arbitration, they have to.
- dbg31415 3y ago
  I may be using the wrong words. They picked 2 mediators, we got to pick a mediator from the 2 they originally picked. At the end of the day we were at an impasse... and I was told it was 18+ months to get in front of a judge for a trial, and it would cost me another $100k. So the mediator said she could help with a arbitrators decision, but I had to agree to it before she would pitch it to the other side -- to be clear, I had to agree to it before I knew the terms of it. And I figured she'd just factor in where we were at that point in the negotiations and split it down the middle. But that's not how it played out. It was painful.
  - JumpCrisscross 3y ago
    > I was told it was 18+ months to get in front of a judge for a trial, and it would cost me another $100k So as the alternative you’d prefer only having the latter? > I had to agree to it before I knew the terms of it I strongly doubt you did, though I do not suspect that this was the suggested. Did your attorney confirm this?

JumpCrisscross 3y ago

> mediator, who the contractor got to pick Mediation is not binding. Arbitrators are picked by both sides.

pauldenton 3y ago
So then why didn't the contractors listen to his suggestion for the Mediator?
- JumpCrisscross 3y ago
  > why didn't the contractors listen to his suggestion for the Mediator? They don’t have to and they’re in a dispute. In arbitration, they have to.
dbg31415 3y ago
I may be using the wrong words. They picked 2 mediators, we got to pick a mediator from the 2 they originally picked. At the end of the day we were at an impasse... and I was told it was 18+ months to get in front of a judge for a trial, and it would cost me another $100k. So the mediator said she could help with a arbitrators decision, but I had to agree to it before she would pitch it to the other side -- to be clear, I had to agree to it before I knew the terms of it. And I figured she'd just factor in where we were at that point in the negotiations and split it down the middle. But that's not how it played out. It was painful.
- JumpCrisscross 3y ago
  > I was told it was 18+ months to get in front of a judge for a trial, and it would cost me another $100k So as the alternative you’d prefer only having the latter? > I had to agree to it before I knew the terms of it I strongly doubt you did, though I do not suspect that this was the suggested. Did your attorney confirm this?