When everyday people have disputes with big companies, it can feel hopeless. FairShake has helped thousands of consumers bring their complaints and disputes against some of the biggest companies in the world to justice.
The following are some of the most common complaints FairShake has received against internet providers, phone companies, cable providers, banks, credit card companies, vacation rentals, rideshare companies, and gyms.
Unexpected Charges
Getting unexpected charges is perhaps the #1 type of complaint resolved through FairShake against telecommunications companies. There are a few different kinds of unexpected charges our customers have faced:
Many claims submitted through FairShake say that a company refused to prorate their monthly fee for customers that cancelled before a full month was up. For example, this Charter Spectrum customer was expected to pay their full bill for only 2 days of service.
Sometimes, people have come to FairShake with companies continuing to charge them even months (or years!) after cancelling. This DISH Network customer says they have been hounded by collections years after cancelling their subscription and trying to return their equipment.
One common problem many telecommunication customers experience is being charged full price for services that are not delivered as promised. For example, AT&T continued to charge this customer for poor internet connection.
Fees and extra charges are a common tactic for telecommunication companies to get an extra buck. A Boost Mobile customer wrote in to tell FairShake that they had been charged fees for device insurance without their knowledge.
Poor Service or Coverage
Poor internet connection or phone service coverage are among the most common complaints FairShake customers have against their telecommunications company.
One Charter Spectrum customer claims they have been dealing with a spotty connection, preventing them from doing their job.
FairShake customers in rural areas often have no other options other than the one company in their location. This exacerbates the problem when that network is inconsistent. For example, one HughesNet customer in a rural area has not been able to their use hotspot or on demand service, but because they have no other options of provider, they have to go in circles with customer support.
Misled by the Company
Another common complaint FairShake customers have is being misled by a company, through their sales or customer service teams.
There are many sales tactics telecommunications companies use to get customers to sign up for long-term contracts. Sales tactics may include buy-one-get-one deals (or BOGO deals), discount pricing after being a customer for a set amount of time, or account credit for loyal customers.
When these offers are honored, it can be great! But, FairShake receives many complaints about companies not honoring these sales promises. Like this Google Fi customer who was promised credits to their account for their new device, but were never compensated.
Unfortunately, many telecommunications companies train their support teams to actually up-sell customers instead of helping them. When trying to cancel or solve an issue with service, many people say customer service instead would try and get them to sign a new contract to solve their problem.
This HughesNet customer called customer service to debug their poor service. Instead, they were sold an upgraded modem plus a booster, neither of which solved the problem.
How to Take Action
Submit your claim through FairShake against any of the below companies:
Locked Accounts
Many FairShake customers rely on services like PayPal to both pay for goods and services and also to make a living as independent sellers.
A common complaint for many is having their PayPal accounts locked for supposedly breaching the company’s terms. Sometimes, PayPal has done this in error, but it still takes the company weeks to months to resolve the issue, costing many people losses for their small business.
To make matters worse, some people also have experienced PayPal draining their accounts, so they are left with nothing.
Poor Response to Fraud
One common problem FairShake customers face with financial services like PayPal is poor or slow reactions to accusations of fraud.
For example, this PayPal customer filed a dispute against a seller through the company, but was met with no resolution.
Another PayPal customer had fraudulent accounts opened with their email address, and cannot get PayPal to resolve the issue.
Hidden Fees and Overcharging
Financial institutions like credit card companies, banks, and lenders often tack on additional fees and charges in the fine print of customer contracts. Additionally, some companies will misallocate payments on loans, paying interest first instead of the primary amount, and then wrongly charging customers late fees.
For example, this Santander Consumer USA customer made a payment on their loan, but the company used it to pay interest rather than the primary without talking to the customer. Because of this, the company then said the customer missed a payment and charged them for it.
Collections & Credit Report Damages
Everyone makes mistakes, but when banks and lenders make a mistake sending a customer to collections or incorrectly marring someone’s credit, it can cause life-long damage.
Charles Schwab accidentally withdrew money from this customer’s account, leading to bounced checks and credit damage.
How to Take Action
Submit your claim through FairShake against any of the below companies:
Refused to Issue Refunds
One of the most common complaints FairShake receives against vacation rental companies like Airbnb is from customers who want refunds for cancelled reservations.
During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic in particular, Airbnb customers were often denied full refunds for reservations that had to be cancelled for health reasons.
How to Take Action
Submit your claim through FairShake against any of the below companies:
Difficult to Cancel
A common complaint against big gyms like 24 Hour Fitness and others is they make it difficult to cancel memberships. Big gym chains will sometimes force their customers to either cancel in person or print out, sign, and mail a cancellation request. Although some states have made it illegal for companies to deny cancellations online, this is still a big problem for many consumers in the US.
How to Take Action
Submit your claim through FairShake against any of the below companies:
Take your complaint beyond customer service and get a real resolution.
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Allie, real FairShake customer
They got more done in a few weeks than I did in over two years.
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Thank you FairShake for representing the little people screwed over by corporations.
Amanda, real FairShake customer
I was having problems with the company for months. That you could make it resolved in a few days is wonderful.
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It's not right what Big Business can get away with if we let them. People need to know someone is out there to help!
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