Verdorrterpunkt@feddit.org 6 days ago
It needs to be as easy to go after companies doing this shit as it is to collect dept from individuals (at least how it works here). No courts, just a government office where you can make your claim and the company needs to put effort in to dispute that. Anything else and they can just drag their feet.
Paranoidfactoid@lemmy.world 4 days ago
That’s what arbitration is and the companies rigged it.
unwarlikeExtortion@lemmy.ml 4 days ago
What OP explained isn’t arbitration. When you don’t pay off your bills, they go through a shortened court process in which you haven’t got any representation.
The claimant merely submits their records of the claimee owing them. Then the case is either upheld and the claimee gets 10 days to fight the case or pay before their accounts get impounded, or the case gets thrown out.
The claimee doesn’t have any say in the entire process - they can only raise issues after they get the stern letter to pay.
Since there’s no representation for one side, it’s not arbitration.
Verdorrterpunkt@feddit.org 4 days ago
Exactly. Companies shouldn’t get better treatment when they behave worse.
unwarlikeExtortion@lemmy.ml 4 days ago
Why lax the timelines? Companies have an army of employees. They can deal with the consequences, unlike individuals.
Someone comes home dwad feom work. Someone’s close family passed away. Someone went to vacation and didn’t get the (snail) mail in time.
A lot of things make the 10-ish day window of “raise issue now” impossible to honour.
However, not companies - if people are overworked - hire more. If someone’s family member died - there’s everyone else in the section to take care of stuff until they return.
While the reasons companies raise sound PR-friendly, they’re really not good juatifications - just mere excuses.
A company is a system, and if it fails a 10-day deadline of providing the most basic customer service (or dealing with their financial obligations), it’s a failing system. The only one whose fault it is is the company itself and its (clearly sub-par) management.
Individuals can have the excuse of “life happened”. Companies cannot, as they’re not living beings. Especially since sooner or later, everyone is replaceable in their eyes.
But I agree, the deadlines should be longer. People can’t afford food or a lawyer - how are they supposed to fight the heating bill? The system requires representation, especially because it’s the underrepresented and those not well-versed in legalese who are getting their food funds impounded.