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Informal Dispute Resolution: Arbitration
Some lemon laws may require you to go through an informal arbitration process before you can file a lemon lawsuit. Others may not. However, if you call the customer hotline from one of those states, they may still tell you that you have to go through arbitration before you can seek any other remedy.
Arbitration is rarely helpful, even if you win. For example, the arbitrator may issue an eloquently worded opinion finding that your defect exists, but that "in all fairness" it looks as if it could be repaired. So, instead of awarding you the refund or replacement that the law requires, you are "awarded" just another repair attempt. But you were already entitled to further repairs under your warranty. The arbitration award gives you nothing you didn’t already have. |
Worse yet, the arbitrator may decide that the manu-facturer must repair only one of your vehicle’s minor problems, rather than your major concern. For example, Mr. and Mrs. Jones’s vehicle repeatedly stalled in traffic, but the arbitrator ordered the manufacturer to fix only their air conditioning. They wasted months on arbitration, and they were left right where they started, with a vehicle that repeatedly stalled in traffic.
Gauntlet Summary
The gauntlet is not an accident of fate. It is a deliberate policy. It begins with top management at the manufacturer. It’s not personal: the manufacturers do not know who you are, or care. They just want those irritating consumers to give up and go away.
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