Nickled and Dimed to Death

Everyday Americans are about to be nickled and dimed to death, and no one seems to care.

Would you mind if AT&T over-charged you by $1.75 every month on your cell phone bill?

Or if your cable provider added an unidentified fee of $3.00 to every cable subscriber's bill without telling you?

How about if your employer started secretly deducting $5 bucks out of every Alabama fan's paycheck, just because your boss is an Auburn fan?

Or how about if your mortgage company or credit card issuer adds an extra day of interest to your debt every year?

Guess what? It doesn't matter if you mind or not, because the U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that your best weapon against corporate thievery like that - a class action - can be taken away from you in the fine print of every contract you sign, so long as it hides behind the skirt of an arbitration clause.

Is the Better Business Bureau Operating a Pay to Play Scam?

I recently handled an arbitration for a homeowner who was horribly mistreated by a local service company. As a result of their mishandling the cleaning of her house after a water leak in her kitchen, all of the flooring and drywall in the home had to be replaced. The company refused to pay for the damage they caused, so we filed a claim with the Better Business Bureau ("BBB") to arbitrate the dispute, just as her contract with the company required.

The good news? The arbitration was free. The bad news? The arbitration resulted in her getting only a fraction of her damages paid by this company. I guess you get what you pay for.

In fact, that seems to be the way the BBB does business these days, according to this disturbing report from ABC News.

Welcome to my blog, One Rock, a resource for individual consumers, employees and homeowners fighting to preserve their rights and protect their property.

I am an attorney who has represented thousands of homeowners and consumers over the last ten years in Alabama and California, and I have been amazed at some of the tactics that unethical and just plain greedy companies employ to protect their bottom line, often at the expense of the individual consumer or customer. 

From insurance companies who practice "deny first, justify later" customer service, to manufacturers and retailers who sell products with false or misleading labels, to companies who force their customers into expensive and unfair arbitration forums to resolve even the smallest dispute, to employers who refuse to treat all employees fairly, to companies who slip unauthorized charges onto your bill, to termite companies who promise protection but don't inspect fully or treat properly, the range of unethical business practices can sometimes seem never-ending. I hope to shine some light onto these practices and help you find ways to fight back.

In any battle with an individual, big companies have lots of advantages: size, money, resources, advertising, an army of employees and lawyers. But they are not unbeatable -- not by a long shot. It only takes one rock to bring down a giant, and this blog is meant to help you find that one shiny stone you need to fight the giants in your life.

This blog, powered by one voice but inspired by the voices of many, is my rock heaved against the mighty giants.

-B