Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Small claims court became Meta's customer service hotline

engadget.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

211–220 of 314 posts

Re: Small claims court became Meta's customer service hotline

#211

Post by hrisng »

atum47 wrote: post #28

Instagram is full of scam ads. If you report them, they answer you telling that they aren't violating the terms so there's nothing they can do about it. Scammers be selling fake starlink equipment and plans left and right. They are clever about it, they clone the website and offer a realistic good deal (not too good that would make you doubt it).

I will always bring this up because I'm bitter.

They blocked my ads account before I had the chance to run my first ads with no provided reason and no actual way to dispute with a human being. It's houseplants, not drugs. And what's worse is that you can clearly see all kinds of scams and gambling ads running amok in the wild. Their detection and support systems are both abysmal.

Re: Small claims court became Meta's customer service hotline

#212

Post by chris_wot »

renonce wrote: post #206
jjmarr wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even though it's much more expensive to lose a lawsuit over an issue than it is to resolve it through customer service, most people choose not to sue. Facebook can fulfill all of their current legal requirements by simply not showing up to any court hearings, losing by default, and paying whatever someone won. If that is cheaper than providing real customer service, they will do it. And real lawyers cost $100s/hour s…

Not showing up is an arbitrage opportunity which means everyone can sue Facebook and get a win for free, which would not be sustainable.

Pity the people who are not U.S. citizens. Meta is the worst.

Re: Small claims court became Meta's customer service hotline

#213

Post by mcmcmc »

hot_gril wrote: post #177
int_19h wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the contrary, ensuring fair trading practices is precisely the area where government needs to be most actively involved in economic matters. What is the downside of clamping down on borderline fraud, exactly?

If this is the way things go, the govt had better follow its own rules first with the IRS support systems.

If only the GOP would quit gutting their funding every time they gain an ounce of power.

Re: Small claims court became Meta's customer service hotline

#214

Post by chris_wot »

exe34 wrote: post #85
mathgradthrow wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the idea is that you need to buy something to figure out if it works most of the time. What you are saying us that your preferred society is one in which you are not allowed to determine if something works before you buy it.

no, I'm saying I believe in the free market. buy a product that meets your requirements. if you find it doesn't, return it for a refund. do a chargeback if they won't do a refund. you are entitled to a refund within 14 days. https://www.termsfeed.com/blog/return-refund-laws-eu/#:~:tex...

An absolute free market is a dangerous illusion.

Re: Small claims court became Meta's customer service hotline

#215

Post by 1vuio0pswjnm7 »

bmitc wrote: post #135
c-linkage wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To me this appears as a way to outsource customer service to an external entity funded by a cash flow to which Meta does not need to contribute. The courts are always going to exist, Meta is always paying its lawyers, so why bother hiring extra people to staff a support line? And by making support have to go through the legal system you've already cut out 90% of the support calls you would normally take. Financially,…

That's exactly it. These corporations are leeches on society.

The economy will continue to improve the more this leeching can be minimised and ultimately eliminated. Interest rates have effectively forced Silicon Valley VC to stop funding more leeches, but society is still left with some truly gigantic ones to deal with; they have embedded themselves into the system. Their removal will take time, and patience. Lots of work to do.

Re: Small claims court became Meta's customer service hotline

#216

Post by chris_wot »

photonthug wrote: post #99
titanomachy wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think it's really true that they've outsourced the costs. Meta sending one of their lawyers to defend the company in small claims court a single time would be hundreds of thousands of times the cost of resolving the case using a customer service rep. Of course, this approach also generates costs for the taxpayer, which sucks for everyone.

But their lawyers are probably staff or have retainers anyway, so I doubt it costs them anything extra. Meanwhile if the legal system has to staff up and/or ignore other work then that cost is real

If enough different people sued Meta their legal department would be snowed under, and they'd have to increase the number of lawyers they employ. For every lawyer you employ to do what is in essence customer service, you could be employing several customer service employees.

It would, however, be funny if Meta was sued into oblivion by millions of Facebook users. Poetic justice.

Re: Small claims court became Meta's customer service hotline

#217

Post by BonoboIO »

jjav wrote: post #139
Animats wrote: post #23

Small claims court does get a company's attention. They either have to show up or lose. Not that showing up means a win. I'm surprised that someone had trouble serving a subpoena on Facebook. Looking up "Meta" in California Corporation Search brings up everything with "Metal" in it, which is a hassle. Their actual company name is "Meta Platforms, Incorporated". Search for "Meta Platforms" here.[1] California company…

> Small claims court does get a company's attention. Different topic, but I find not enough people are aware of the CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) complaint process. If some financial-related company wrongs you and you can't get through to support, file a complaint. Suddenly they listen and contact you back. https://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/

Why do the companies care? Huge fines?

Re: Small claims court became Meta's customer service hotline

#218

Post by latency-guy2 »

renonce wrote: post #206
jjmarr wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even though it's much more expensive to lose a lawsuit over an issue than it is to resolve it through customer service, most people choose not to sue. Facebook can fulfill all of their current legal requirements by simply not showing up to any court hearings, losing by default, and paying whatever someone won. If that is cheaper than providing real customer service, they will do it. And real lawyers cost $100s/hour s…

Not showing up is an arbitrage opportunity which means everyone can sue Facebook and get a win for free, which would not be sustainable.

Is the arbitrage opportunity worth it? It doesn't seem like it is considering the limiting factor being the court system, and you can't really arbitrage off cheaply off miniscule enough violations to profit more than a few one off cases. Damages must also be present, so maybe a service to service offering where one party disparages you online and then you take Meta to court for not suspending that party would work, but thats fraud, and if found out you risk quite a bit for sums that seem to not really exceed more than $15,000 across the US (from the article).

Re: Small claims court became Meta's customer service hotline

#219

Post by qingcharles »

netsharc wrote: post #104
c-linkage wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To me this appears as a way to outsource customer service to an external entity funded by a cash flow to which Meta does not need to contribute. The courts are always going to exist, Meta is always paying its lawyers, so why bother hiring extra people to staff a support line? And by making support have to go through the legal system you've already cut out 90% of the support calls you would normally take. Financially,…

> overwhelming the publicly funded small claims court I'm guessing there's no court fees that the losing party has to pay? It would seem fair to tell the troublemaker to pay for the judge's and other court employees hours...

Court costs are HEAVILY subsidized by the government that has jurisdiction over them. I would guess nobody is paying more than around $400 to sue Meta in Small Claims, and if the case drags on for months or years with continuances and (if the court allows it) discovery, then it is going to burn a ton of time from the various court staff, building upkeep, web site maintenance and all the other things that keep the courts running.

I've had Small Claims cases that have run to thousands of hours of court time over multiple years.

Re: Small claims court became Meta's customer service hotline

#220

Post by qingcharles »

robotnikman wrote: post #21
wmf wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, the only semi-secure way to do account resets is in person and courts are one way to do that.

Probably a very secure way if it requires you to appear in person at court and provide documents proving you are who you say you are. For requests of account ownership transfer or resets, I would say this is probably the best way to go about it, as it basically prevents people operating in other countries from having a chance at taking over your account remotely by playing customer service reps, and greatly raises th…

In all my years of litigating I have never once been asked to prove I am who I say I am.

I've also never once seen the court actually check the license of any attorney that gives his name and number, either.

Post reply on HN