Suppose that a small, local store has been extremely unfair to you. Suppose they have been very quick to take a lot of your money, but then the item they supplied turned out to be a complete crock and they just refuse to deal with your complaints. Suppose you have done all the nice, polite, reasonable things, but they just ignore you because they can. Suppose you have contacted the various legal and Trading Standards authorities, and for various reasons nobody can actually take any action.
Please go with this, rather than offer the ‘Have you tried…’ advice. I promise it’s an accurate assessment.
Finally, suppose you do not want to break the law, even though these people have screwed you badly and they know it.
You try not to give in to the desire for revenge. You try to rise above it, and put it down to experience, but it’s not easy. Is there any legal way to give these people some of the hassle and grief that they have given you? Is there ever any legal and ethically acceptable way to express at least part of the revenge instinct?
Most cities seem to have a local TV news team that will investigate such claims. If you even mention that you’re thinking of going to the station, the store will likely be willing to work things out, IF you have a legitimate beef.
But be sure it’s legit. I used to work for a clothing store that dind’t give cash refunds, or put a refund on your credit card. If you bought something from us, we’d give store credit, but would not return cash. Quite a few people threatened to tell the local news team about us. We said to go right ahead. We knew that the law was on our side. We also knew that a lot of the clothes had actually been worn at least once or twice before they were brought back to be exchanged.
I’d like to know more about the item you bought and what you expected it to do and how it failed to live up to your expectations. Then I can give better ideas for revenge.
No “revenge”. If you do not accept that it is the Lords job, then accept that it is bad for your karma. Or that it is almost always illegal.
Print flyers, explaining why you were rippped-off. Put them on all the poles and all the cars in their lot. Buy an ad in the paper.
Sue them- small claims court.
Do a few walk thrus, look for health or other code violations- drop a dime.
Lie down across their doorway, with a protest sign, singing 'we shall overcome". When the police arrive, and ask you to leave- do so graciously. Return again - until they pay a lawyer some $1000 to get a restraining order. You could get arrested here, but it comes under “civil disobedience”, and you will very likely not be convicted. No violence. IF they (the store) touch you- have them arrested for assault.
Go to a bank of payphones- call them- explain your grievance at extreme length- if they put you on hold, call them on another line.
See the difference? No anon “revenge”- but legit complaints & protests.
I was in a similar situation almost exactly a year ago. I won’t go into details, but suffice it to say that I was grieving a death, I had gone to this (small, local) company for service relating to that death, and they treated me with extreme disrespect (shouting at me to “get the hell out of here” when I was obviously near tears, along with other crude actions that I won’t describe).
In my already shaken state, I was livid. I wanted them out of the business of dealing with grieving people, if this was how they treated them. Were their business of a slightly different nature, I could have had their heads on a plate. But there was no direct licensing body to regulate their behavior, only the actual physical service they provided, which had been completed. After much letter writing and many phone calls, about the only options I had were (1) leaving a complaint on file (for three years) with a state consumer agency, which will be accessed only if someone asked for information about that company (extremely unlikely), and (2) a (very neutral, vetted by my lawyer) letter to the editor of all the area papers, outlining generically tips for finding a service provider in that business, without directly mentioning my bad experience. (The jerk/owner who verbally abused me had threatened me with a defamation suit. Probably just hot air, but I was in no shape to take him on, and with no witnesses to the incident other than his own employees/family . . . )
It’s been nearly a year (yes, we lost a dear one a week before Christmas, and then two days later this incident occurred) and I still get upset just thinking about it. I’m still working on letting it go. I keep telling myself that karma will catch up to this guy. And I’m a firm believer in the idea that resentment is like letting the person you hate live rent-free in your head.
Mind you, I’m no passive goody two-shoes. But when there’s nothing you can do, I’ve found that it’s best to let it go.