There is a valid reason why people are "cutting the cord" and getting rid of their cable subscriptions. Some cable companies don't have a clue about customer service. In a very troubling report, Canadian cable company Senga Services has been publicly shaming on Facebook its customers who are in arrears.
Senga Services' behavior was deemed so troubling that Canada's Office of the Privacy Commissioner asked the company to delete its customer shaming Facebook posts. Do any of the publicly shamed customers have potential legal claims under Canadian law? What if some of the customers that Senga publicly shamed had a bona fide billing dispute that Senga refused to addressed? What if some customers were not properly notified of the billing issue due to a move?
Earlier this year, I switched my cable company because I had a major billing dispute. My now former cable company had lied to me for years and over charged me hundreds of dollars. Only after I wrote multiple letters to the company and threatened to file FTC and state attorney general complaints was I finally refunded several hundred dollars.
My matter was most likely only settled by the cable company because I am an attorney who has the knowledge and means to easily utilize the proper judicial or regulatory process to obtain the money I was owed. Most people don't have this luxury.
Companies should tread very carefully when utilizing social media to reach their goals. Too often organizations empower employees and/or agents to act on their behalf online who don't understand that their digital actions may have legal repercussions. The bottom line is that its imperative to think before you post.
Copyright 2015 by The Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC All rights reserved.
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