How to get complaints resolved without using customer service

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BPT

Have you ever received an unfair bill and dreaded the typical fight with customer service to get it resolved? It might be a surprise charge from your cellphone provider, a bill from the cable company that just keeps increasing, or confusing contracts from your internet provider that renew inexplicably.

You finally call customer service to get answers and your money back, but they give you the runaround. You might even try calling again a different day to see if you have better success, only to fail again. If you know this frustration, you’re not alone.

Cynthia Sedano from West Sacramento, California, understands the nightmare of customer service. She was having trouble with her cable equipment and had questionable charges on her account. She called the company to dispute the charges and to get help with the equipment problems. On the call she was promised that she could exchange the equipment, get $40 off her monthly bill and a free premium channel for a year. What she wasn’t told is that agreeing to this in turn signed her up for a new 2-year contract. After realizing this she spent hours seeking resolution through customer service. Ultimately her unpaid debts were sent to collections.

Consumer arbitration options

Most people are unaware that when you buy a product or service, the seller usually makes you sign away your right to sue them in the public court system. This is usually in the fine print you sign when you contract with a provider or click through terms of service digitally. This means you must use a private dispute resolution system called arbitration.

Arbitration can be confusing and difficult to navigate for the average consumer, including hours of legal research, document creation, mailing and filing. An easy no-risk way of simplifying this process and filing a claim is through an organization developed by legal experts and consumer rights professionals called FairShake.How does it work? Start by visiting fairshake.com to create a claim by providing basic information about your dispute and how you would like it resolved. Your information is then reviewed and an official legal demand is sent on your behalf. As your claim proceeds, a resolutions specialist checks in throughout the process, arming you with data, AI-generated legal research and personalized advice.

Often you work with organizations to settle so both sides are content and the matter can be resolved permanently. Sometimes you may go to an independent hearing to resolve the dispute. Successful FairShake claims recover an average of $700 and many people get back even more. There’s no risk because you only pay a portion of your award if you receive one.

Results that matter

Each year, millions of consumer disputes go unresolved. Sedano didn’t want to become a statistic, and that’s when she learned about FairShake through a friend. She went through the process and was granted reimbursement from the company for the fraudulent charges and early termination fee after sending the company a notice of dispute through FairShake. She was happy she was finally taken seriously and was able to resolve her problems without additional headaches or negative marks on her financial report from an unnecessary collection.

A financial settlement or correction of unfair services makes a big difference to people who feel large companies take advantage of the individual consumer. Beyond the tangible benefits, the reduction in stress and satisfaction of resolving a problem can help close a difficult chapter so you can move on feeling good about the outcome.

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