Consumer Lawyer in GTA?

shanekingsley

shanekingsley

Curry - so nice it burns you twice
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Posting for someone else.

Anyone here recommend a good consumer lawyer?

Without going into many details - a product was bought because a company and salespersons lied about a product and then the product didn't do what it was claimed to do. The company refuses to refund the product and has evaded communication with the customer. The company was later in the news for misleading other customers in a similar pattern. Customer has already reached out to the BBB and will be touching base with the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, but would also like to touch base with a consumer lawyer for additional info.

Thanks!
 
Without a lot of details, there are a couple of courses of action.

1) If you purchased by credit card, reach out to your credit card provider and initiate a chargeback - item not as described.
2) Small Claims Court. You don't need a lawyer, it's pretty much DIY -- if you need help look for a paralegal, it will be $1000-2000, a lawyer will be at least double.
3) If it's over $25K, then you need a lawyer.

Depending on the full cost, it might not be worthwhile. Small claims cost between $100 and $200 to file/process. You may or may not win, you may get a judgement however the court doesn't collect for you.

BBB is toothless, don't wast time with them. Consumer Affairs can do things but they are more likely to protect the next potential victim, not to much help once the deal is done.


Good luck!
 
#1 above in Mike's post is what I was going to recommend. Sheisters don’t really like having what they sheisted removed from them and the CC companies have a lot more power and influence than the individual customer does.
 
Mad Mike said:
Without a lot of details, there are a couple of courses of action.

1) If you purchased by credit card, reach out to your credit card provider and initiate a chargeback - item not as described.
2) Small Claims Court. You don't need a lawyer, it's pretty much DIY -- if you need help look for a paralegal, it will be $1000-2000, a lawyer will be at least double.
3) If it's over $25K, then you need a lawyer.

Depending on the full cost, it might not be worthwhile. Small claims cost between $100 and $200 to file/process. You may or may not win, you may get a judgement however the court doesn't collect for you.

BBB is toothless, don't wast time with them. Consumer Affairs can do things but they are more likely to protect the next potential victim, not to much help once the deal is done.


Good luck!
Click to expand...
I thought the chargeback route didn't work if you got something? If you got nothing I know people have great success with it, but I though CC companies wouldn't do a chargeback if you got something as that would make them arbiters of whether the thing was as described. If chargeback works for "different than described" that is a great option. Fast, easy and you get someone else with clout on your team for free.
 
Credit Card disputes are generally not processed for buyer remorse (i.e. I don't really need this, I could have got this cheaper), deceptive marketing that includes a full disclosure (Facebook ad: Teeth Whitening samples for $5! followed by a perpetual subscription for $100 month), or for items that have been used more than 60 days from when they show on a credit card statement.

You can file a dispute if the product delivered does not perform as advertised, fails and the merchant refuses a replacement, if a service was not completely fulfilled or was unacceptable.

Nobody likes disputes. Most merchants will react under the threat of dispute -- they know they have no clout and the process is timeconsuming and expensive for them.
 
For what it's worth, my very limited experience with credit card disputes has shown that if you authorize payment, they won't do anything. Rented a car a few years ago in Mexico. Declined insurance, contract says I declined insurance. Paid when I returned the car, and they charged me insurance, about $200, which I didn't realize due to being in a rush and not calculating the exchange properly. Couldn't get a hold of the rental agency in Mexico (Hertz, or Budget, I forget), credit card refused a charge back as I paid by pin which counts the charge as authorized and unfightable.

BBB is not a regulating agency and not much different than leaving a review on google.

You could do small claims court, I have zero idea if there's any success in that.

My personal advice is if it's not a life changing amount, just leave it and move on.
 
Thanks. It's not a credit card dispute, but for what it's worth, many years ago I had a cc dispute which I asked Visa to look into. They said they would investigate and promptly got back to me saying my money was being refunded. I can't recall the details now, but might have been for services not rendered and charged anyways...

I will pass on the info about the paralegal and Ministry of Consumer Affairs. I think this is more about protecting other people from this sort of thing.
 
BBB helper a co worker avoid a scam like enterprise. He called them but they wouldn't give him details over the phone and he was annoyed. When he got the very specifically worded documents he understood. Exactly the facts. No interpretations that could lead to a slander suit.

After the money has changed hands BBB can't do much. Adding to it they were once the only game in town so a bad report hurt. Now there are too many reviews and you might miss the one that affects you.

Small claims is a system with fees and different stages. If the amount is small it's a token victory at best. If you're doing it all the time it could work but for a one off maybe not.
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