A legal option that can get Venmo to listen — and get you compensated.
This is particularly true when the one that made the mistake in the first place, a mistake you end up paying for. What’s worse, if you use Venmo regularly, you might not be able to risk losing their financial services or an account closure, so you have to pay before additional action is taken, even if it wasn’t your fault.
You can make phone calls to the help center and the customer service desk all you want but these people usually don’t have the authority to fix your problem so it’s a waste of time. Trying to email your complaints to someone higher up usually comes with no evidence of anyone even reading your complaint let alone responding to it. A request to speak with someone at the corporate office who has the power to fix the problem usually gets ignored or it simply takes too long to process. What’s worse is when the company says that they’re going to fix the issue but then they never do and you’re left waiting, and waiting, and waiting.
So what can you do when you feel like the company humiliated you?
Doing business with E-wallet services like Venmo brings with it a lot of flexibility and online options but it can also leave you feeling very powerless because of how large the company is. Not being able to get a hold of an actual person or get your issue solved can make you feel frustrated at best. Most companies like this have a forced arbitration clause in your contract with them which means that as soon as you start using their services you can’t take them to court when something goes wrong.
However, arbitration is a great way for you to get a satisfactory solution for your issue with Venmo without having to sue them or go to court. When you request arbitration, an independent arbitrator is assigned to your case and they fulfill the role very similar to what a judge would do. They are an impartial third party that is familiar with the situation involved, they look at all the facts and then they make a binding decision.
Arbitrations handled by the American Arbitration Association® is an option that complies with the Statement of Principles of the Consumer Due Process Protocol which means:
Arbitration gives you the Leverage you need to really get the company’s attention. They might not have listened to before but now they are notified that you are going to pursue arbitration which means they’re going to have to pay more money out of pocket than they were expecting. Not only are they going to have to pay what you’re asking but on top of that they’re going to have to deal with the additional cost of an arbitration process. When companies become aware that it’s going to cost them more money, they become much more willing to meet your demands.
If they aren’t yet willing to meet your demands, you can still pursue a reasonable, just, and fair hearing without spending any extra money. Our FairShake process is here to help you file for arbitration. It won’t cost you anything unless you win.
The company loses its advantage as soon as you start the arbitration process. They aren’t the ones in control anymore. You are both equal at this point and a neutral arbitrator examines your situations and weighs them the same.
This gives you more leverage and you capitalize upon that leverage by formally raising the issue with the company. At FairShake we help you do this. We send a demand letter to the corporate office to start the process of resolving your case and we give the company usually 30 days to offer a resolution before you exercise your option for arbitration. This just means we’re asking them nicely to solve the problem before you take it to the next step. Sometimes we have to give more time for them to solve the problem but that’s based on the arbitration clause in your contract.
About 50% of cases receive an acceptable settlement from the headquarters as soon as they’re notified and that means your problem gets solved very quickly. But if they don’t solve it, the next step is simply file the appropriate paperwork with the American Arbitration Association. FairShake will put together all the official arbitration paperwork for you and guide you through the next steps.
If your case goes to arbitration you might consider hiring an attorney. In legal terms, if you don’t have an attorney with you that means you are bringing your claim “pro se”. If you decide that you want to go forward without an attorney, check out some information from The American Arbitration Association’s Pro Se Case Administration Team.
When deciding whether to have an attorney or not you have to look at the claim you are presenting. If your complaint is something that’s quite common and it falls under very specific laws, it will be much easier for you to get high compensation all on your own. But if it has to do with something more serious, something on a federal level like improper debt collection attempts or robocalls, having an attorney to assist you might help you maximize the value of your claim.
Tell us what the problem is with Venmo and we will get things started for you. With FairShake, we take you through the steps and get rid of any stress associated with trying to tackle such a large financial institution. We only get paid if you do. With our 100% satisfaction guarantee, you don’t owe us anything if you aren’t one hundred percent satisfied with your service.
Get justice when a business lets you down:
FairShake’s Ultimate Guide to Consumer Complaints
Learn More
