How to File a Claim Against Viasat

We’ve all had issues with large companies from time to time where there was an unexpected service charge, fraudulent activity on the account, an overcharge or some sort of oversight that ended up costing us money. The problem with service providers like this is that you usually have to pay regardless of who was at fault for the issue. If you can’t get Viasat to listen to you and fix the problem you might be wondering how to sue Viasat. We can help.

Viasat Customer Service

When there is an issue you are meant to contact them directly through the site. You can phone them, use an instant chat, or use social media. However, they do not give a lot of information about when or if a real person will get in touch with you and they encourage you to sign in to your account before submitting an issue to customer service. 

But that doesn’t mean the problem gets solved. There’s still plenty of situations where customer service just doesn’t have the authority or the qualification to fix the problem or the issue just gets ignored for what feels like forever. So what can you do now that the company hasn’t solved your problem?

Now you go to small claims court.

Arbitration Clauses

Why is small claims court your next step? Because your contract with them usually limits your ability to exercise other lawsuits. In your user agreement you will likely find a section about arbitration. This arbitration clause means you cannot join a class action lawsuit against them. However, it also means you can still take them to small claims court or use consumer arbitration. 

Is Small Claims Court Best?

Before you make your way to your nearest courthouse, you have to make sure your case qualifies for small claims court. Not every case is suitable. 

There are two types of compensation:

1. Equitable
2. Monetary

A small claims court handles monetary compensation only. This means you cannot get compensation for physical things, only money. This isn’t normally an issue here, because your problem with Viasat is not likely to do with physical property. 

So, you pass the first test. 

The second is the monetary limits. All state courthouses have minimum and maximum limits on what qualifies as a “small claim” and that is usually between $5,000 and $10,000–though for some states it’s as low as $2,500. 

If you passed the second test, then you can use small claims court.

How to Sue Viasat in Small Claims Court

If you pass both tests, the first thing you have to do is send a demand letter.  This is a formal contact with Viasat informing them that you’re preparing for small claims court, but they have the chance to fix the problem once more. 

In many cases, companies will offer a settlement at this point in exchange for dropping the case, if they believe you will really go to court. 

What do you put in the letter?

Keep it simple. Explain who you are, include your account number if applicable, what the problem is, how you’ve tried to fix it, and how you want them to fix it now. 

Send the hard copy via certified mail to their official address at: 

Viasat Inc.

6155 El Camino Real

Carlsbad, California 92009*

*Note: The address you should use will be listed in your individual agreement.

If you don’t get a response or the response you get is not suitable, then you:

1. Fill out your state required forms. Every state (and some counties) have specific paperwork which you can find on your state court website. Make sure you have the right number of copies, too, because county clerks will send you home if you don’t.  
2. Formally file your complaint with the court. Bring all of your forms to the courthouse, pay the small claims court fee, and the county clerk will take your paperwork, give you a stamped copy back, and inform you of your upcoming court date.
3. Legally “serve” Viasat.  You have to legally notify Viasat that you have taken action. Check your state court website for information on how to do this the right way. If you do it the wrong way, they will throw out your case.
4. On the day of your hearing, go to the courthouse with copies of your filed forms and any evidence you have to indicate what steps you’ve taken with Viasat or how you’ve tried to reach out. Be advised that they may or may not send a representative to court, but you still need to show up and present your side to the judge. 

Use Consumer Arbitration

But what if you didn’t pass the first and second test, meaning, you don’t qualify for small claims court? Or what if you did, but you still don’t want to tackle all that work on your own? 

Then there is consumer arbitration. The steps are pretty similar, but you can do it from home, with our help. 

Steps to File a Claim Against Viasat with Consumer Arbitration 

1. Submit your complaint to Viasat. This is an official, legal notice that you are going to pursue legal action if they don’t fix the problem, just like with small claims. You can tell us what they did, what you’ve tried, and how you want it fixed with our online interface.  We generate the legal notice for you and submit on your behalf. 
2. We also create the hard-copy demand letter in which is a time frame. They aren’t just asked to fix it whenever they please, but rather, by a specific date. If they don’t meet that date, you will go on to consumer arbitration. 
3. Viasat might settle at this point in the process, admit the oversight, and give you the compensation you want. But if they don’t, file your arbitration documents from the American Arbitration Association. We file on your behalf with a “documents only” arbitration process so you don’t have to leave your home, instead everything is done with document exchange. 
4. The documents are filed with the American Arbitration Association on your behalf. They appoint a case administrator to collect information from you and from Viasat, coordinate appointments between you, then an arbitrator is assigned. The arbitrator sets a hearing date just like a judge, which you can also choose to do “documents only”.