How to Keep Track of Your Disputes

In a perfect world, we’d all live in harmony. We’d take care of each other, help out when things go wrong, and clear up misunderstandings over clotted cream and scones. Unfortunately, we live in the real world, a dog-eat-dog world. And let’s be honest—it’s the dog with the laser-targeted rifle and metal-tipped teeth filed to razor-sharp points who gets to eat the dog who’s sitting on a park bench playing the guitar and holding a peace sign.

My friend Bernice used to have a guitar, but then she started planning her wedding. She’s discovered that the words “customer service” are often a lie, and she’s had to fight tooth and nail to get vendors to listen to her. Fortunately, she learns fast. She’s traded her guitar for a laser-targeted rifle. We chatted recently as she was polishing her body armor, and she shared her thoughts on handling disputes. Here are 7 tips for getting your way:

Tip #1: Create a Dedicated Email Account For Disputes

Set up an email account that you will use exclusively for disputes. This email account will become your filing system. Your ISP may allow you to create several different email accounts. You can also get free accounts on Yahoo or Google or Hotmail. If you’re an exhibitionist, I highly recommend choosing a service that’s ad-supported, so you can sleep soundly at night, knowing that a huge corporation is scanning and analyzing your email every night. Use this email account as your master filing system for the disputes.

Tip #2: Email Yourself After Every Interaction With the Company

Bernice bought a handmade fountain pen to inscribe her invitations. While she was dotting the “i” with a smiley face, the pen exploded in a shower of ink and glitter. (Wait a second Bernice, you know fountain pens can’t write with glittered ink…) It was time for that customer service call. 

This is the time for your disputes email account to spring into action. Using your cell phone, smartphone, tablet, laptop computer, desktop computer, triply-redundant home server, or toaster, email yourself notes on the call. 

Now the company you’re battling is not the only one with a record of the dispute. When they don’t follow through on their promise to help you, you have your entire correspondence in one place—your disputes account. Since you sent the email when the interaction happened, you even have a record of the exact dates and times of each call.

Tip #3: Record the Dispute in the Subject Line

Just in case you’re involved in multiple disputes, make sure every email sent to your disputes inbox contains something in the subject line that will make it easy to find all the messages related to a single dispute.  

Tip #4: Record the Contact Information for Everyone You Talk To

The company’s 1,000-person call center is in another country, but they are trained to call themselves names like “Courtney” so you’ll feel more comfortable (even if their real name is in fact Najiib). Ask the support representative for their name and operator number. Add it to your record of the conversation.

Let’s say Courtney promises to send you a quart of glitter, if you can name the exact color you need. When you call back with the glitter designation, the person who answers asks, “Who exactly promised to send you glitter? This is a fountain pen company.” You just say, “Courtney did. He is operator 9346.” Then you can give Courtney 2 the glitter information, secure in the knowledge that he’s taking care of you.

Also, ask for a phone number where you can reach them if you get disconnected. Of course, this is also the phone number where you can reach them if things go wrong. Jot down the number you called and the number they give you in your email message. Next time you need to call to follow up, you know the number’s safely stored in your disputes account.

If either of you makes any promises on next steps, put that in the message as well. I like to collect the action promises in a list at the end of the dispute email, so it’s easy to find.

Tip #5: Record All Actions You Take

When you take any action related to the dispute, send yourself a quick email record of it. If you sign and fax a form, email a note to yourself. If you talk to a lawyer, record the notes from the conversation. If you’re sending back the damaged fountain pen, note when the overnight delivery person picks up the package. If you go to the local art store to find the right shade of glitter, put it in email: “Vishna at Bob Slate Stationers 617-547-7181 color-matched the glitter still stuck in my hair and said it looked like a burnt ochre.” Next time your Courtney claims there’s no replacement because you gave a color name that doesn’t exist, a quick conference call gets Vishna on the line and the two of them can duke it out. 

Tip #6: Scan and Save All Correspondence

When the local health department sends you a cease-and-desist letter, claiming your homemade glitter ink caused some people to break out in hives, scan that official notice into a PDF file and email it to your disputes address. If you need to refer to it in your court defense, you’ll be able to pull it up directly from the disputes box.

Tip #7: Follow Up

You have the name and phone number of the people who helped you. If your dispute works out well, you can call their supervisor and praise them. If they give you bad advice, you can call their supervisor and helpfully recommend continuing education classes that will improve their ability to provide quality service in the future.

Being a much better negotiator than I, Bernice got Courtney at the pen company to send her replacement glitter so her invitations look extra sparkly. I don’t know how she does it. But I know she keeps careful records, and uses her extra disputes account to take detailed notes effortlessly. You can too.

Work Less, Do More, and have a Great Life!

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