Marcus is rightfully bragging about how he was incorrectly billed by Time Warner Cable, then fought the long, steady fight and came out victorious. It was of course a tougher, longer and more annoying struggle than it should have been. But hey, all’s well that ends well. [More]
victories
Senate Protects Employee Rights With Forced Arbitration Ban
Yesterday, the Senate adopted an amendment that will prevent federal funding from going to any contractor that requires its employees to use mandatory binding arbitration, instead of court, for sexual assault and civil rights claims against the company.
Credit Card Arbitration Cabal Implodes
The arbitration rollback continues apace! Last Thursday, JPMorgan Chase announced it won’t send disputes to arbitration and is rethinking putting the clauses in its consumer contracts. Coming on the heels of news that NAF and AAA will stop arbitrating consumer credit card disputes, Creditcards.com wrote, “Two more supporting beams have crumbled and now, with astonishing speed, the entire edifice of the mandatory credit card arbitration system is collapsing.”
Federal Judge Shuts Down Car Warranty Robocallers
“Oh hell no!” Federal District Judge John F. Grady told a marauding group of car warranty robocallers who managed to annoy pretty much everyone over the past few months. The judge slapped two Florida companies with an immediate restraining order and froze their assets, which should be enough to finally end those maddening robocalls.
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Last Wednesday, a US Judge rejected airlines efforts to overturn a New York state law that says airlines have to provide, “fresh air and lights, waste removal services and adequate food and drinking water” if passengers are stuck on the tarmac for over three hours. [ATA vs CUOMO (PDF)]
Sprint Will Allow Departing Customers To Unlock Their Phones
Sprint will relinquish unlock codes to departing customers in good standing as part of proposed class action settlement.The class was formed last year by California consumers who argued that the locked phones bound them to Sprint by making it more expensive to switch carriers. Sprint claimed that releasing the codes was unnecessary since the service contract clearly informed consumers that phones would only work on Sprint’s network.
Medicare Won't Pay Hospitals For Preventable Errors
Medicare No Longer to Pay for Preventable Hospital Errors, Injuries or Infections [Washington Post]
Cingular's Class Arbitration Waiver Ruled "Unconscionable" By 9th Circuit Court Of Appeals
Like many many companies, Cingular has a little thing in their contracts saying that if you use their service, you void your right to a class action lawsuit and instead have to go through “mandatory binding arbitration,” which is basically an extra-judicial corporate court exempt from many of the basic rules and laws and procedures and rights of real court. Well, today, that clause was ruled “unconscionable” by the 9th Circuit Court Of Appeals. Therefore, lawsuits can proceed against Cingular and go to real court, not monkey court. Hooray!
Man Sues Dell And Wins… By Serving Court Papers To The Mall Kiosk
A NJ man successfully sued Dell in small claims court using a unique approach. He had the court papers delivered to a Dell kiosk in the local mall. [More]