Just remember, jot down everyone's name and operator ID (if available) that you speak with. Also the time and number called and call center (if known) are helpful. Otherwise their records will become unavailable or lost when YOU need them. Biggest thing is to keep organized.

As this forum frequently shows, you have recourse if you are unable to come to a reasonable agreement with an offending party. That doesn't mean that you should be cocky when dealing with them simply in order to iritate them and force escalation. By all means, by being decent, you have a greater chance of reaching your goal/resolution. In conflicts with businesses, I tend to be as polite as possible at first and escalate things little by little as the situation warrants. Although it is a bit tedious, it usually works out in the end.

Keep all your documents provided by the company in a safe place. Terms of service are frequently helpful in determining what possible recourse you have. Don't lose them, as they may be amended in the future.

~ Poodleman

P.S.: I should remind everyone that I am NOT a lawyer. I have gotten quite a few PM's from folks. I appreciate the votes of confidence. While I enjoy reading them and offering suggestions that I feel might be helpful; please do not rely too heavily on my words. They are simply my opinions based on the life experiences that I have had. That said, by all means, feel free to PM me with this understood.

chocula said:You go Poodleman. I am so happy you won.

I have Verizon messing with me now about a screw up they did. I will see how it goes.

Edit: fixed one line of text

My hats off to you OP!!

I frequently recommend consumers seek recourse via small claims suit if they are in the right and a company refuses to take them seriously.

I hope this post is an inspiration to others and motivates other readers not to be scared of the legal system. Accumulate your evidence and obtain satisfaction!

Small claims court is easily accessible to the public, does not require detailed knowledge of the law, and filing fees are minimal. Many courts offer free assistance clinics to help you file your suit and prepare (they dont want ill-informed people coming in so they have resources to help).

In most jurisdictions, a company is not allowed to send a lawyer to battle against you in small claims, they must send a company rep. That costs them $$.

Your "time, inconvenience, etc" is almost never recoverable. Filing fees are.

I didn't even attempt to get money for time/inconvenience. However, I did indicate that the consumer protection statutes are designed to prevent this type of harm and that they should be liable for the legal maximum damages, partially as a result of the inconvenience that I experienced. However, I did not request money specifically for this item. Thanks for the post.

SUCKISSTAPLES said:My hats off to you OP!!

I frequently recommend consumers seek recourse via small claims suit if they are in the right and a company refuses to take them seriously.

I hope this post is an inspiration to others and motivates other readers not to be scared of the legal system. Accumulate your evidence and obtain satisfaction!

Small claims court is easily accessible to the public, does not require detailed knowledge of the law, and filing fees are minimal. Many courts offer free assistance clinics to help you file your suit and prepare (they dont want ill-informed people coming in so they have resources to help).

In most jurisdictions, a company is not allowed to send a lawyer to battle against you in small claims, they must send a company rep. That costs them $$.

Your "time, inconvenience, etc" is almost never recoverable. Filing fees are.

Thanks! Much love!

~ Poodleman

thecpa said:Poodleman, they should call you Pitbull man! You got one bit bite!!!

How else can I say that you're our hero.

I was screwed by T Mobile and had to continue paying on the account. In the future, I will do what you did.

Way to go Poodleman! (ruff!)

One note too on going to small claims and why you better be ready to deal in Federal: a standard MO for many companies is that they will remove a case to Federal and then make an offer for judgment to cap their losses.

They can do this if you have filed under a Federal statute, which is what most consumer protection laws are, so don't think that you always will be able to just proceed in small claims.

Just saying it is an options some companies like to exercise.

people like to complain about too much litigation
but an explosion of litigation on the bottom end --- the regular working folks who are getting screwed actually fighting back --- might not be such a bad thing

I really love when people don't understand big companies.

This problem should have never occured in the first place.

This was your fault from the beginning.

I was clicking through lifehacker and I ran across this.

Consumerist

Sorry codename. Didn't read your post until after I posted the last one. You are right. At least in my case, everything was fine with it going to corporate.

codename47 said:This was your fault from the beginning.
You are joking, right?

Also, the registered agent for the company doesn't have to be notified, per se. I generally send a copy via certified mail to the corp headquarters for the CEO or legal office, and they typically know what to do with it.

The real shame is that Verizon does, in fact, have some of the best coverage. However, that comes at the cost of horrible customer service and expensive rates. I suppose one can't win on all fronts.