NEW YORK, 5:26 AM, SAT JUL 19 | 19 POSTS IN THE LAST 24 HOURS | tips@consumerist.com | RSS
Posts Tagged “

Court

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ripoffs

Travel Agency Charges For Airline Tickets, Cancel Tickets, Can't Be Reached For Refund

Dhanushka is having some trouble getting money back from his travel agent. He writes,

Last January I purchased two tickets from Kansas to Sri Lanka from a travel agent to go on a vacation in May to June. When I went to the airport with two paper tickets in hand I was informed that my tickets were canceled by the Travel Agent. This was due to the negligence of the travel agent. So I had to spend two nights in a hotel while they book me on another flight which was a much difficult route than the route that I was intended to fly.

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2:19 PM on Mon Jul 14 2008
By Ben Popken
8,614 views, 46 comments

small claims court

Man Threatens To Sue Extortionist HVAC Company In Small Claims, Wins

Last winter, David's old furnace broke down. But things got really heated up when the incompetent HVAC repairmen he hired threatened to report him to collection agencies and put a lien on his condo when they wanted him to pay up for a repair they never finished. Just to give a little atmosphere, this takes place in Chicago, famed for its merciless winters. David's story, and how fought back, inside... More »

10:18 AM on Mon Jul 14 2008
By Ben Popken
12,267 views, 32 comments

Life Insurance

Spherion Corp. Steals $426,000 From Widow

Thomas Amschwand knew he was dying and did everything in his power to make sure his wife would be able to collect his $426,000 life insurance policy. Yet when the 30-year-old succumbed to heart cancer, his employer, Spherion, a temporary staffing company, told his widow Melissa that she would receive nothing. More »

1:30 PM on Sun Jul 6 2008
By Carey
18,326 views, 80 comments

Hypocrites

Procter & Gamble: Pringles Are Not Potato Chips

Seeking to evade a 17.5% sales tax, lawyers for Procter & Gamble successfully argued that Pringles aren't actually potato chips. Even though all Pringles containers are clearly marked "Potato Crisps," Procter & Gamble's lawyers argued that "Pringles don't look like a chip, don't feel like a chip, and don't taste like a chip." More »

9:15 AM on Sat Jul 5 2008
By Carey
17,382 views, 97 comments

utilities

Energy Companies Win Permission To Steal $3 Billion From Customers

Westerners are stuck paying $3 billion to energy companies that colluded to gang-rape the free market. California, Washington, and Nevada were planning to return the money to customers, but the Supreme Court recently ruled that the industry manipulated the market, fair and square. More »

10:45 AM on Sat Jun 28 2008
By Carey
7,492 views, 48 comments

The Supreme Court rejected T-Mobile's appeal in 3 cases yesterday, which means an earlier federal ruling that says states "can refuse to enforce arbitration clauses if they include bans on class actions" will stand. Now T-Mobile has to go back to state courts to deal with the class action lawsuits against it. [Associated Press]

9 comments

A California court has upheld the scrawny Netflix "throttling" settlement from 2006. That was when Netflix settled a class-action lawsuit that alleged they intentionally slowed down the rental rates of high-renting customers. The settlement only really benefited lawyers and Netflix, but it stands. [Reuters]

13 comments

ignored

Warranties: "It's Been 3 Weeks. I Don't Have Hot Water, And Sears Doesn't Care"

Reader Christina has a (broken) water heater from Sears. It's covered under a warranty, but Sears isn't willing to replace it. She's been without hot water for 3 weeks and Sears just doesn't care. More »

2:24 PM on Wed Apr 16 2008
By Meg Marco
10,098 views, 66 comments

The US Isn't the only wacky lawsuit country. In China, KFC won a defamation lawsuit filed by an elderly gentleman who accused the fast food chain of damaging his social standing, because he felt their "teadog set meal" implied that he and his grandson had become "dog friends." [China Daily]

20 comments

A 9-page look at how big business has been scoring big wins in the Supreme Court over the past 30 years [NYT].

6 comments

complaints

Mugger Used Our Credit Card, Now CapitalOne Sued Us Without Us Knowing For $1200 And Won

Andrew's wife got mugged, the thief rand up purchases on her credit card, and now CapitalOne has sued them for $1200 and won. How can this be? Andrew writes:
In May of 2005 my wife was mugged at one of the elevated train stations in Chicago. After calling the police and filing a police report, she started calling each credit card company to cancel each account. Except she forgot about one card, her CapitalOne card. A card hardly ever used and only had a $500.00 limit...
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9:26 AM on Thu Mar 20 2008
By Ben Popken
30,174 views, 135 comments

Latest by n/a: @ADismalScience: No point in paying up if the damage to their credit has already occurred. Of course this seems to make the credit card company's actions pointless, "The mugger even signed my wife's last name wrong and the clerk who checked more »

bad salesmen

Nissan Dealership Won't Refund Deposit

Jay writes in with a question: how do you get back your deposit from a car dealership when a deal goes sour? The salesman jacked up the price after an initial negotiation, and now won't refund the deposit: "He said we'd be surprised at what he can make up to keep the deposit."
More »

9:57 AM on Mon Mar 3 2008
By Chris Walters
14,896 views, 65 comments

law

Exxon May Have Its Punitive Damages For Valdez Spill Cut In Half By Supreme Court

The Supreme Court is currently considering whether to halve the punitive damages levied against Exxon for its massive 1989 oil spill from the Exxon Valdez tanker, from the current $2.5 billion to something more like $1 billion. Exxon claims the higher number amounts to excessive punishment. According to the New York Times, the decision may come down to a tie with four justices on either side; Justice Alito is not participating because he owns Exxon Mobile stock. The Exxon Valdez disaster "caused a 3,000-square-mile oil slick and still affects Alaska's fisheries after nearly 19 years." More »

12:34 PM on Thu Feb 28 2008
By Chris Walters
4,374 views, 87 comments

Latest by n/a: Of course EXXON can't afford it now...they have to send that money to help pay for John McCain's campaign. You don't think a Republican Supreme Court would short change a Republican politician's chances of election ?? more »

justice

Librarian Takes Sprint Nextel & Wells-Fargo To Small Claims Court And Wins

Last December, Theodore Karantsalis received a letter from Sprint, where he was a customer, telling him that someone who banks with Wells-Fargo—where he's not a customer—was presented with his invoice and personal data when they logged into their Wells-Fargo Checkfree account. The customer contacted Sprint, and Sprint contacted Karantsalis. Karantsalis decided that he'd deal with the issue on his own instead of bringing a lawyer into it or throwing his hands up in frustration, so he took both companies to small claims court. More »

8:46 PM on Thu Feb 21 2008
By Chris Walters
10,598 views, 23 comments

Latest by n/a: He's cute!!! [www.flickr.com] more »

arbitration

Supreme Court Sends "Judge Alex" Back To Arbitration

TV's "Judge Alex" is probably less a fan of arbitration that you'd think, according to CNN. He's been handed a Supreme Court decision that forces him back into the waiting arms of the American Arbitration Association.
The 8-1 decision came in a lawsuit by Alex E. Ferrer, a former Florida Circuit Court judge who decides minor civil disputes as a form of TV entertainment.
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10:08 AM on Thu Feb 21 2008
By Meg Marco
6,707 views, 26 comments

success stories

Reader Sues Subcontractor In Small Claims Court, Wins Settlement

Companies routinely take advantage of customers because they think they can get away with it. But the small claims court offers an avenue of recourse that gives you a relatively swift and easy way of settling disputes, and getting the money you deserve. Here's reader Jason's true story, from start to finish, of how he was able to get a subcontractor to live up to their agreement to fix a receiver the subcontractor's work had shorted out:

"In February of 2007 my wife and I moved into our newly built home. We had issues with one of the subcontractors. The issue is really a moot point here but if you really want to know the low-voltage company messed up the wiring of our in-the-ceiling speakers and it shorted out my surround sound receiver."

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12:30 PM on Wed Jan 30 2008
By Ben Popken
8,052 views, 34 comments

Latest by FilthyHarry: My uncle had a house built in a rural area recently and when it was done there were some problems that were blatantly due to the contractor not living up to contractual obligations. I asked my uncle (who is a more »

small claims court

Suing Big Companies In Small Claims Court Is Fun And Easy

Taking a big company to small claims court sounds like a big hassle but reader Bill has done it successfully three times. He says the time and effort spent on taking a company to small claims court is far less then how it long it takes to get companies to fix above-average in complexity problems.

Here's his typical expenditure for a small claims suit: $24 and 45 minutes. The $24 is the cost to file a claim. The 45 minutes includes his total time of driving to and from court to file, as well as the time spent on the phone with the company when they call to settle.

See, in all cases, he hasn't even had to go to court: the company calls him up the day before the court date and gives him a settlement. It seems they prefer to do that then pay to fly a company representative who isn't fully versed on all the facts to court. Here's his true story of how he got what he deserved from Tmobile and Washington Mutual, without breaking a sweat.

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10:32 AM on Mon Jan 21 2008
By Ben Popken
37,837 views, 84 comments

tv

Judge Judy's TV Court Isn't Real

We were operating under the misunderstanding that Judge Judy was a broadcast of an actual small claims court somewhere, but then our legal beagle intern Alex informed us that it's really just arbitration dressed up to look like small claims court. More »

1:46 PM on Mon Dec 17 2007
By Ben Popken
18,370 views, 80 comments

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