*** OFFICIAL *** Ask the Jew about your customer service issues thread

[Dan Druff]

I have made no secret about my willingness to stand up for my rights as a consumer against large companies, in an environment that is increasingly customer-unfriendly.

I am batting almost 1.000 in getting matters resolved for both myself and friends/family.

I'm sure a lot of you have run into annoying problems with your phone service, landlord, cable provider, supermarket, chain restaurants, airlines, hotels, banks, etc.

Tell me your problem and I will give you my take on the best way to solve them in your favor.

[Beebs9Dizzle]

Ordered product labels online, just received them the other day and my name is spelled incorrectly. Called, no answer, emailed, haven't heard back. Any suggestions to get a refund?

[Dan Druff]

Ordered product labels online, just received them the other day and my name is spelled incorrectly. Called, no answer, emailed, haven't heard back. Any suggestions to get a refund?

Did you order them directly from the company, or from a third-party website?

Did you pay with a credit card?

I would forget about the e-mail. Contacting companies by e-mail is rarely successful. In most cases, they ignore you. When you do get a response, it's typically a form letter or a denial of what you're asking. This goes along with human nature, where it's easier to tell someone "no" through impersonal contact -- in this case, an e-mail.

Always try to get someone on the phone. If they just won't answer the phone, you need to charge this back. If you ordered through a third-party company, complain to them.

If you ordered directly from this company and can't reach them, charge it back on your credit card. You will probably get auto-credited because the amount is so low. This is always annoying because your credit card company eats the loss, and the shady company gets away with the sale that they don't deserve. But that might be your only choice at this point.

If you do manage to get someone on the phone, try to angle for some extra labels for your time and trouble. Make up some story as to why you really needed those labels on time, and how this has caused you inconvenience. Ask for a manager or supervisor if necessary. Make it sound like you will order again in the future (because you like the labels) if they make this right for you. Don't feel guilty about trying to angle for extra stuff here, because they legitimately caused you inconvenience, and ethically (though not legally) they should throw in something extra or give you a discount.

[SpewArtist]

Hey Druff,

Long-time DD lurker, first-time poster. My friend and I got into a discussion the other day about whether or not to tip the Sonic drivein carhops. I think I heard somewhere that the menu prices at Sonic already included tips, but I'm not sure if that's true or not.

Curious as to your opinion on this.

Thanks,
Spew Artist

[Pooh]

Small business owner in service business. How would you recommend collecting from deadbeats? I provide a great monthly reoccurring service and have around a 0.25% deadbeat rate. It doesn't seem like a high percentage but there are several thousand dollars uncollected.

Naturally, service is cut off but how would you proceed to collect? Each case is a relatively small amount which makes it impractical to put a lien on their house.

Thanks

[Dan Druff]

Hey Druff,

Long-time DD lurker, first-time poster. My friend and I got into a discussion the other day about whether or not to tip the Sonic drivein carhops. I think I heard somewhere that the menu prices at Sonic already included tips, but I'm not sure if that's true or not.

Curious as to your opinion on this.

Thanks,
Spew Artist

I actually really like the Sonic popcorn chicken, but I never use the carhops. Always seems to take an eternity when I use those. I just go through the drive-thru lane.

Regarding tipping carhops, I don't know. Not sure what the proper thing to do is there. Maybe someone else who actually uses them can chime in.

I doubt the tips are included in the price, since I believe the prices are the same in the carhop areas as in the drive-through and the counter.

[Dan Druff]

Small business owner in service business. How would you recommend collecting from deadbeats? I provide a great monthly reoccurring service and have around a 0.25% deadbeat rate. It doesn't seem like a high percentage but there are several thousand dollars uncollected.

Naturally, service is cut off but how would you proceed to collect? Each case is a relatively small amount which makes it impractical to put a lien on their house.

Thanks

Most of these deadbeats are probably never going to pay, so it's probably not worth your time pursuing it.

If it's the principle of the matter (which I can respect), you can call up each of these delinquent account holders and threaten to put it on their credit. You don't have to follow through on the threat, but that freaks a lot of people out and scares them into paying.

[Beebs9Dizzle]

Did you order them directly from the company, or from a third-party website?

Did you pay with a credit card?

I would forget about the e-mail. Contacting companies by e-mail is rarely successful. In most cases, they ignore you. When you do get a response, it's typically a form letter or a denial of what you're asking. This goes along with human nature, where it's easier to tell someone "no" through impersonal contact -- in this case, an e-mail.

Always try to get someone on the phone. If they just won't answer the phone, you need to charge this back. If you ordered through a third-party company, complain to them.

If you ordered directly from this company and can't reach them, charge it back on your credit card. You will probably get auto-credited because the amount is so low. This is always annoying because your credit card company eats the loss, and the shady company gets away with the sale that they don't deserve. But that might be your only choice at this point.

If you do manage to get someone on the phone, try to angle for some extra labels for your time and trouble. Make up some story as to why you really needed those labels on time, and how this has caused you inconvenience. Ask for a manager or supervisor if necessary. Make it sound like you will order again in the future (because you like the labels) if they make this right for you. Don't feel guilty about trying to angle for extra stuff here, because they legitimately caused you inconvenience, and ethically (though not legally) they should throw in something extra or give you a discount.

Thank you Mr. Druff - problem resolved, replacements sent free of charge. It was a direct order to a smaller company, so they were more willing to work with me.

[Pooh]

Druff,

I haven't received my Barron's in 3 weeks. I'm furious about this. I received a credit for each missed paper....it arrives each Sat morning.

I've had this subscription for over 3 yrs and never have had a problem.

It's possible somebody is stealing it but I live in a million dollar plus average home price neighborhood so I think that is very unlikely.

Personally, I think its because I didn't give the delivery person a holiday tip. He left me an envelope but I forgot to send him his tip.

My two questions:

What would you do in my shoes?

Would you have given this guy a tip for Xmas?

[shortbuspoker]

I actually really like the Sonic popcorn chicken, but I never use the carhops. Always seems to take an eternity when I use those. I just go through the drive-thru lane.

Regarding tipping carhops, I don't know. Not sure what the proper thing to do is there. Maybe someone else who actually uses them can chime in.

I doubt the tips are included in the price, since I believe the prices are the same in the carhop areas as in the drive-through and the counter.

Definitely tip unless they do a shitty job. I used to date a chick that worked there and they work for around $2.15 plus tips just like indoor servers.

[unchainedghost]

I actually really like the Sonic popcorn chicken, but I never use the carhops. Always seems to take an eternity when I use those. I just go through the drive-thru lane.

Regarding tipping carhops, I don't know. Not sure what the proper thing to do is there. Maybe someone else who actually uses them can chime in.

I doubt the tips are included in the price, since I believe the prices are the same in the carhop areas as in the drive-through and the counter.

Definitely tip unless they do a shitty job. I used to date a chick that worked there and they work for around $2.15 plus tips just like indoor servers.

Never been to a sonic but I would definitely tip those roller skating bitches a buck or two. I also always tip a few bucks when picking up food from a sit down restaurant.

[Dan Druff]

Druff,

I haven't received my Barron's in 3 weeks. I'm furious about this. I received a credit for each missed paper....it arrives each Sat morning.

I've had this subscription for over 3 yrs and never have had a problem.

It's possible somebody is stealing it but I live in a million dollar plus average home price neighborhood so I think that is very unlikely.

Personally, I think its because I didn't give the delivery person a holiday tip. He left me an envelope but I forgot to send him his tip.

My two questions:

What would you do in my shoes?

Would you have given this guy a tip for Xmas?

I'd probably have left this guy a tip, yes.

However, if you're convinced he is not delivering the paper because you forgot to tip, you should be glad you never tipped him, and shouldn't do so again.

Why not just call and complain about this?

[DJ_Chaps]

Hi Druff,

I was, and still am a member of an online poker forum that, 2 years ago, ran a special NCAA pickem/bracket contest. Long story short, I won this contest. The grand prize was to be a 3 night stay in "ANY" Vegas suite as well as a voucher for 500 in meals. Second-forth place recieved a cash award thru paypal iirc.

My prize was never honoured and I have offered to settle up for a much smaller cash sum (250 vs the 150 or so that was awarded to 2nd place).

I have advised the lone proprietor of said forum that the amount is negotiable, and that I just want what is right.....to be awarded for winning the contest, much like 2-4th won prizes.

I have received no response from said site owner.

Should I lower my demand to 200? SHould I commence defiling threads on that site?


regards,

Corey

[shortbuspoker]

Hi Druff,

I was, and still am a member of an online poker forum that, 2 years ago, ran a special NCAA pickem/bracket contest. Long story short, I won this contest. The grand prize was to be a 3 night stay in "ANY" Vegas suite as well as a voucher for 500 in meals. Second-forth place recieved a cash award thru paypal iirc.

My prize was never honoured and I have offered to settle up for a much smaller cash sum (250 vs the 150 or so that was awarded to 2nd place).

I have advised the lone proprietor of said forum that the amount is negotiable, and that I just want what is right.....to be awarded for winning the contest, much like 2-4th won prizes.

I have received no response from said site owner.

Should I lower my demand to 200? SHould I commence defiling threads on that site?


regards,

Corey

[BetCheckBet]

Hi Druff,

I was, and still am a member of an online poker forum that, 2 years ago, ran a special NCAA pickem/bracket contest. Long story short, I won this contest. The grand prize was to be a 3 night stay in "ANY" Vegas suite as well as a voucher for 500 in meals. Second-forth place recieved a cash award thru paypal iirc.

My prize was never honoured and I have offered to settle up for a much smaller cash sum (250 vs the 150 or so that was awarded to 2nd place).

I have advised the lone proprietor of said forum that the amount is negotiable, and that I just want what is right.....to be awarded for winning the contest, much like 2-4th won prizes.

I have received no response from said site owner.

Should I lower my demand to 200? SHould I commence defiling threads on that site?


regards,

Corey

Definitely no way. If anything the website should be responsible for compensating you interest.

If the website paid out lower positions but not the top they are pretty much screwed and will have a really hard time justifying not paying you.

Theaten to post them on pokerfraudalert.com

[DJ_Chaps]

Hi Druff,

I was, and still am a member of an online poker forum that, 2 years ago, ran a special NCAA pickem/bracket contest. Long story short, I won this contest. The grand prize was to be a 3 night stay in "ANY" Vegas suite as well as a voucher for 500 in meals. Second-forth place recieved a cash award thru paypal iirc.

My prize was never honoured and I have offered to settle up for a much smaller cash sum (250 vs the 150 or so that was awarded to 2nd place).

I have advised the lone proprietor of said forum that the amount is negotiable, and that I just want what is right.....to be awarded for winning the contest, much like 2-4th won prizes.

I have received no response from said site owner.

Should I lower my demand to 200? SHould I commence defiling threads on that site?


regards,

Corey

Definitely no way. If anything the website should be responsible for compensating you interest.

If the website paid out lower positions but not the top they are pretty much screwed and will have a really hard time justifying not paying you.

Theaten to post them on pokerfraudalert.com

Good call.

[Vwls]

OK I've got one for you. After a multi-year battle with Bank of America, in which they refused to rewrite my home loan, systematically disqualified me for every government program that was rolled out to help homeowners, and refused my offer to buy the house for a reasonable amount after the value crashed by over $150,000, I gave up and put the house up for shortsale. The realty company that handled the sale for me told me they had found a buyer that was willing to rent to me after the sale closed for a reasonable amount, and even do some of the repairs that were needed on the house. But as soon as the sale closed, the new owner revealed that he had no intention of renting to me, and only wanted to rehab the house as cheaply as possible and flip it, which entailed me getting the F out ASAP. Because I had no place to move lined up, I begged him to please rent to me for at least two months to give me time to find another place and get all the moving done.

He agreed that I could stay for one month only, but at a ridiculous monthly amount, as he said he would be losing too much money every week I was in the house and he could not complete the interior rehab. He showed me emails from the realty company that handled this, telling him that I would be leaving, and I showed him the emails they had sent ME, telling me they were lobbying with the new owner for me to stay till May, minimum. So we were both lied to. But that's water under the bridge at this point - I doubt there is anything I can do to the realty company for their underhanded BS.

What I need advice on is this: I gave the new owner a grand so that I could be here till the end of March (mind you, the rental amount should have been under $700 going by the current condition of the property and the empty promises of the realty company who handled this fiasco). Now he is already sending out workmen to rehab the exterior, including the roof, repainting, etc. The workmen showed up on Wednesday and completed their first two assignments, but left huge piles of trash in the front, side and back of the house, dust everywhere, nails in the grass, blah blah blah.

Since I was gouged into paying to be here this month, shouldn't he wait till I am out before sending his crews in and making the place unliveable? How can I stand up for my rights in this situation?

[Dan Druff]

I am a bit confused..

When the new owner agreed to let you stay for a month, did he agree to postpone exterior work, or just the interior work?

Normally the landlord is not allowed to do work on the property that makes it uninhabitable or interferes with your quiet enjoyment of the premises, but this is a different situation, since he stated his intention to do work, and you asked him to let you live there, anyway. However, if he agreed to stop working and rent it to you for an above-market rate in exchange, then you would have a good case against him in small claims court. Please explain what you agreed with him, and if the rental agreement says anything either way regarding the work. Also tell me if there are any e-mails between you two where either he or you agrees to do or not do the work.

You do have a claim against the realty company. If I were you, I would get a copy of both e-mails, demand some form of compensation from them,. and if they refuse, sue them in small claims.

[Avon Barksdale]

Yeah, that's totally fucked up Angel.

You should definitely have some type of legal recourse available to you.

[neveragain39]

if the rental agreement says anything either way regarding the work.

My blind read is that there is no signed lease agreement.
If there is no lease it's really a tough spot you've put yourself in.

If you sell your house always make sure you can manage with the closing date. Also, I would not advise making any deals to stay in a property after closing that do not include having a written lease agreement.
Honestly, I would much prefer a longer closing as opposed to a deal where you stay and lease after closing.

If do you have a lease, then threaten to sue his dumb ass, obv. if he doesn't stop with the messy repairs immediately.
GL.