Consumer Tips

Mandatory arbitration is a consumer fraud of epic proportions. Unscrupulous businesses have discovered this powerful secret to legally defraud consumers. Car dealers, credit repair organizations, medical providers, and credit card companies are perhaps the worst abusers of mandatory arbitration of consumer claims but many other companies are jumping on board.

The worst part of the mandatory arbitration consumer fraud is that the courts, including our beloved Supreme Court, have overwhelmingly supported the fraud. Thousands of court decisions have held that mandatory arbitration is cheaper, faster, and easier and therefore better for consumers than litigation. Those decisions are lies. Arbitration is demonstrably more expensive for consumers, less favorable to consumers, and far more likely to crush a consumer’s claims than to redress them. Indeed, why else would companies who defraud consumers use arbitration agreements if not to continue the fraud?

Cost of Arbitration

One of the main concerns about mandatory arbitration is the cost. For example, filing a federal lawsuit costs less than $500.00 but the cost just to file an arbitration claim can run upwards of $3000.00 or more. Because arbitrators are paid hourly, the costs to arbitrate can quickly exceed five figures even in small value consumer cases.

No Right to Trial by Jury

Another problem with mandatory arbitration is that it deprives a consumer of his constitutional right to a trial by jury. Since most cases settle prior to trial this is not a problem for many consumers but for those who do end up litigating their cases, having one or more arbitrators hearing their claims instead of a jury can be a serious problem. Arbitrators are mostly former attorneys and judges with pronounced biases toward business interests and look on consumer claims as nuisances and barriers to conducting business.

Arbitrators Stake in Outcomes

More importantly however, is that businesses are the driving force behind arbitration. Indeed, arbitrators are typically selected and paid by the businesses that ripped you off. That places the arbitrators in the untenable position of potentially preventing them from hearing future cases they rule in the consumer’s favor. The bias in these situations is obvious. The simple fact of life is that it is better to litigate consumer claims to an unbiased jury of other consumers rather than to an arbitrator whose living depends on the company that abused you hiring him in the future.

Lack of a Public Record

Another reason mandatory arbitration is a consumer fraud is that generally arbitration is privately conducted. There is no public record of the proceedings or outcome making it very difficult to determine the extent of abuse a company is perpetrating on consumers. In court, there is typically a public record of the claims, defenses, and even discovery documents making it relatively easy to assess whether or not a company is consumer friendly.

Discovery Limitations in Arbitration

Arbitration also strictly limits the consumer’s ability to obtain documentation and other information to support his claims. In court on the other hand, businesses are required to disclose information to assist in assessing the truth and strength of the consumers’ claims. This discovery process is required in courts and generally runs in favor of the consumer and makes it far harder for businesses to hide information. In arbitration, the discovery process is easily limited or even thwarted altogether by unscrupulous companies seeking to conceal their wrongdoing.

Conclusion

Arbitration has grown into a powerful alternative to litigating cases in the court system; for businesses. Consumers, on the other hand, quickly find that mandatory arbitration is expensive, complicated, and decidedly consumer-unfriendly. Losing your right to a jury, having your claims heard by an arbitrator who is paid by the opposing side, and limiting discovery of important documents are just a few reasons why consumers should avoid the mandatory arbitration fraud like a plague. The simple fact is that businesses have been forcing the mandatory arbitration fraud on consumers for decades because it favors businesses. Why else would so many businesses force arbitration on consumers, if not to gain an advantage?

Negative Digis Reviews and Complaints

Digis reviews and complaints are taking a nasty turn since the company took over for Wireless Beehive in Tooele County a few months ago. I can attest from personal experience that the service frequently goes completely down and is extremely slow; especially when compared to when Wireless Beehive was operating the wireless service.

Digis Service Outages and Slow Speeds

Frankly, it initially seemed inconceivable to me that the wireless network would be somehow slower when Digis took over from Wireless Beehive but that is exactly what happened. I have noticed a slowdown and several of my neighbors have expressed negative Digis reviews and complaints based on slower speeds and frequent outages since the transition. Indeed, many of us have left this company or are currently seeking an alternative company as a result of the poor performance.

The problem is not just anecdotal, however. The company has confirmed to me that the service is slower now than what customers were receiving under Wireless Beehive. The reason is simple. According to one of its customer service agents, Wireless Beehive was feeding its wireless transmission towers with fiber optic cable and when they transitioned to the new company stopped doing so. That change slowed speeds considerably. According to Digis the loss of the fiber optic feeds combined with outdated towers are the reasons for the slower speeds. He said the company now has only half the available bandwidth that Wireless Beehive had available. Digis is trying to replace the towers now which accounts for the frequent outages but that is little consolation for customers who need service now. Indeed, I had to write this blog entry offline and post it later since the service was down when I wrote this consumer article.

Digis Customer Service

The most astounding thing to me however, is the attitude the company has toward its customers. The service went down today and when I called to find out when service would be restored the response I got was quite surprising. The customer service agents I spoke with simply did not care that I wanted to use the service for which I pay nor did they care that I was planning to cancel and go to another provider. They did not offer me a refund or even bother to encourage me to stay with Digis. Even more astounding than their apathy, however, was their admission that they were not providing the service for which I was paying. One agent even stated that once the new towers are up their customers will “start getting the speeds they are paying for.” Seriously, he actually confirmed that Digis customers have been paying for bandwidth that the company was not even capable of providing. It should surprise no one for such poor customer service to give rise to a negative Digis review and complaint from me.

Cancelling Digis

The bottom line for me is that I am cancelling my service with this company. Frequent outages and half the speeds for which I pay equals a rip off. Digis wants to blame these problems on equipment failures but, in my book, such problems are simply poor management. The transition from Wireless Beehive was poorly executed and grossly mismanaged. Digis executives should have foreseen and planned for the loss of bandwidth before ever making the transition and should have negotiated with Wireless Beehive to keep the fiber feeds open for at least a few months while they replace the towers. Moreover, if Digis reviews are to improve, they should be offering refunds to their customers that have been charged for service they have not received.

Conclusion

If you are a former customer of Wireless Beehive in Tooele County with service now performed by Digis and have been plagued by the frequent outages and slowdowns, please contact me immediately. I can help you resolve your Digis complaint in a favorable and reasonable manner.

What are the top consumer complaints I get each year? The answer may surprise you — or maybe it won’t. The top consumer complaints I receive are as follows:

Unfair Debt Collection

Abusive debt collections are easily the number one consumer complaint I get each year. Indeed, as the economy worsens abusive debt collections increase in both frequency and intensity. You don’t have to be a victim however. A good consumer protection attorney can stop debt collectors from abusing you and can even make them pay you and your attorney’s fees. This is one area where consumers should not hesitate to call an attorney for help.

Harassing Telemarketing Calls

Every year more consumers are getting harassed by annoying calls from telemarketers. Whether it is robo-calls to cell phones or calls to telephone numbers listed in the do-not-call registry a good consumer rights attorney can stop the calls and make the caller pay you for the harassment. The possible awards to consumers for unlawful telemarketing practices can be substantial so keep good records of the calls and call a consumer rights attorney immediately if you are a victim.

Car Purchase Disputes

Consumers make numerous mistakes when purchasing a car. These mistakes cost them thousands of dollars and force many consumers to own a car they hate. Some of these disputes are over the price of the car while other complaints arise about deceptive representations made by the salesmen. Perhaps the biggest complaint I hear from consumers is that the car they bought was defective in some way. Simply having a competent mechanic thoroughly examine the car before you buy it is the best way to assure you won’t buy a lemon.

False Credit Reporting

The credit bureaus often report information inaccurately. This ranks high among the top consumer complaints I receive each year. Most consumers don’t know how to properly correct false reporting and the Internet is full of incorrect information on the issue. Although consumers can dispute credit report inaccuracies on their own it is often easier and more effective to hire a consumer rights attorney to help you. The simple fact is that a good attorney can often get results consumers cannot get on the own.

Identity Theft

I am never surprised by the amount of consumer complaints I receive from consumers that are victims of identity theft. There are large numbers of victims every year. I am often surprised by how many don’t take proper action to restore their identity or to lock down their credit to prevent future identity theft. Most have no idea how to restore their identity and don’t even consider calling an attorney. Bad move. A consumer rights attorney can help restore your identity in as little as a week or less. Call me if that sounds too good to be true and I will prove it.

Cell Phone Contracts

Cell phone companies are relentless in trying to keep consumers locked into bad and lengthy contracts. Most of those contracts are valid and enforceable but a lot of consumers complain that they were lied to in the formation of the contract or received a phone that failed to work as intended. In many of these cases consumers can get out of cell phone contracts without paying the oppressively high cancellation fees so common in the industry.

Conclusion

That’s it for my list of the most common consumer complaints I get each year. There are certainly others but these are the most common. In each of these cases consumers can represent themselves but will usually get better results by hiring a consumer protection attorney. In any event, don’t be a victim of any of these consumer complaints.

One frustration I have with being a consumer protection attorney is that many consumers don’t get help from me when they could do so easily. No, my frustration doesn’t come because of money; it out of wanting to help people get justice but being unable to for one reason or another.

Many consumers don’t let me help because they think they can’t afford me. That is absolutely false. Indeed, I serve most of my clients on a pro bono basis; or in other words, for free. Anyone can afford a free attorney.

Another reason people don’t call is because they don’t think it is possible to get the help they need. In many cases that is simply not true. For example, one of my clients wanted out of a cell phone contract she was sold deceptively and she tried on her own for weeks on her own to no avail. The cell phone company was stubborn and would not budge. Once she hired me I was able to immediately get her out of the contract without having to pay the $600.00 penalty the cell phone company originally threatened to charge and without any negative information reporting in her credit reports. I charged her nothing.

Some consumers don’t ask me for help is because many don’t want to sue. This is unfortunate because in most cases we don’t have to sue the wrongdoer to get the consumer a refund or other compensation. In other cases I can understand the hesitation and desire to avoid a lawsuit. It can be stressful to sue someone and some people even consider it wrong to ask the courts to award them money. One way to view the situation is to consider that other than an award of money, there is no other way for a consumer to hold a company accountable for its abuse. As for stress, my clients quickly learn that any stress caused by litigation is far less than the stress of being abused or harassed by an unethical company.

Another reason people who are scammed don’t seek my help is that they think they don’t have time to deal with the problem. In some cases that is true but I do everything I can to make legal representation easy for my clients. I can receive documents by email or fax and can talk to my clients by telephone to simplify the process. In one case I had years ago I represented a consumer who lived in North Carolina. I handled his case by email, fax, and telephone for over two years before ever meeting him in person when I flew him out to Utah for his deposition. The case went very smoothly and ended well. The distance was not a problem for either of us.

Consumers also often try to handle consumer protection issues on their own without an attorney. While commendable it is often not the best way to get adequate relief. Experienced consumer protection attorneys understand the laws, regulations, and court decisions that govern your case. That knowledge can get consumers higher rewards than consumers acting on their own. For these consumers, I created several blog posts to educate them in handling their own case. As I said I want to help people, whether they pay me or not.

In the end most consumers don’t hire an attorney when they often should. Even a quick consultation can help guide you to the best path for the fastest and most efficient resolution. The inescapable fact in that you are more likely to get a refund or other compensation if you have proper legal representation. Don’t assume you can’t afford to hire an attorney. Call one. There are numerous options available to help you get a refund or other compensation.