Reef Central Online Community - View Single Post - OT: Anyone have an extra modem fs for comcast? also any opinions on surewest?

fishwood · 03/05/2009, 06:42 PM

The whole BBB thing is weird (albeit helpful).

I had an issue with Sprint a couple of years ago. Their website said that my contract had expired, so I cancelled service because I wanted to switch carriers. They then tried to come back and say that I was still under contract, and they levied the early termination fee. I had a print screen of the web page that told me the contract was up (it actually probably wasn't, but I relied on it being accurate so it's kind of irrelevant). We went round and round about it, they refused to take off the early termination fee. Finally I said I'm filing a BBB report. They said 'do what you have to do.'

So I did, and two weeks later some uber-nice lady calls me up, I tell her what happens, she apologizes profusely and takes the fee off immediately.

They really can turn on a dime when you actually go through with the report.

Not to deviate too much from the topic, but one thing that I've found is extremely useful when dealing with the service depts of big companies is strategically dropping the term "fraud" in to the conversation.

I'm no lawyer, and any lawyer would easily see that I'm no lawyer. The thing is though, most people aren't lawyers, and customer service reps are less of a lawyer than I am. Ergo, they can't necessarily call my bluff when I start loosely throwing about legalese that I really am not qualified to explain.

That's where the whole 'fraud' thing comes up. I highly recommend to everyone that you have some pseudo-sophisticated definition memorized that you can spit out when the moment arrives. Like if I'm in a heated conversation with a service rep about something that I know was their fault, sometimes I'll just stop whatever I'm saying and ask "Do you know what fraud is?" This usually grinds the existing argument to a halt. Usually they'll say either "no" or they'll throw it back and say "do you know what it is?"

And that's when you use your ace in the hole. "Fraud is the deliberate misrepresentation of fact for personal gain." Which may or may not be a close proxy of what it actually is, but they don't know that. Then you proceed to explain A) What the fact was, B) How it was misrepresented, and C) How they financially profited from it. And say it all really fast...speed is key.

I've gotten loads of shady billing, random fees, etc fixed that way.

03/05/2009, 06:42 PM	#18
fishwood Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Napa, CA Posts: 190	The whole BBB thing is weird (albeit helpful). I had an issue with Sprint a couple of years ago. Their website said that my contract had expired, so I cancelled service because I wanted to switch carriers. They then tried to come back and say that I was still under contract, and they levied the early termination fee. I had a print screen of the web page that told me the contract was up (it actually probably wasn't, but I relied on it being accurate so it's kind of irrelevant). We went round and round about it, they refused to take off the early termination fee. Finally I said I'm filing a BBB report. They said 'do what you have to do.' So I did, and two weeks later some uber-nice lady calls me up, I tell her what happens, she apologizes profusely and takes the fee off immediately. They really can turn on a dime when you actually go through with the report. Not to deviate too much from the topic, but one thing that I've found is extremely useful when dealing with the service depts of big companies is strategically dropping the term "fraud" in to the conversation. I'm no lawyer, and any lawyer would easily see that I'm no lawyer. The thing is though, most people aren't lawyers, and customer service reps are less of a lawyer than I am. Ergo, they can't necessarily call my bluff when I start loosely throwing about legalese that I really am not qualified to explain. That's where the whole 'fraud' thing comes up. I highly recommend to everyone that you have some pseudo-sophisticated definition memorized that you can spit out when the moment arrives. Like if I'm in a heated conversation with a service rep about something that I know was their fault, sometimes I'll just stop whatever I'm saying and ask "Do you know what fraud is?" This usually grinds the existing argument to a halt. Usually they'll say either "no" or they'll throw it back and say "do you know what it is?" And that's when you use your ace in the hole. "Fraud is the deliberate misrepresentation of fact for personal gain." Which may or may not be a close proxy of what it actually is, but they don't know that. Then you proceed to explain A) What the fact was, B) How it was misrepresented, and C) How they financially profited from it. And say it all really fast...speed is key. I've gotten loads of shady billing, random fees, etc fixed that way.