How to Do It Alone: The Art of Solving Merchandise and Service Problems and Navigating the Judicial System

By Grace Anzalone

Products and services cost money, but they often dont work as well as advertised if they work at all.

When youre wronged, you shouldnt just accept it: You should fight back! This guidebook gives you the tools and information you need to:

get media attention to help solve the problem; decide whether to pursue legal action; determine if you need to hire a lawyer or if you can represent yourself; understand and navigate the legal process in various courts.

Youll also learn the golden rule of negotiation: Go to the head and not the tail. If you do that, and then follow up on your complaint, you have a much better chance of getting your problem resolved.

Whether its a dispute with a car dealer, retail chain, independent store or some other type of business, youll learn how to be heard. Even those in charge of government agencies will listen to you if you learn How to Do it Alone.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Oct 22, 2014
• ISBN: 9781491746042

Grace Anzalone

Grace Anzalone was born and raised in New York City. She owned a retail business and volunteered at the Whitney Museum. She was also a motivational speaker for abused women. She was inducted into the Presidential Achievers Honor Roll in Queens College, New York. She lives in Hollywood, Florida.

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Copyright © 2014 Grace Anzalone.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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ISBN: 978-1-4917-4605-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4917-4604-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014916405

iUniverse rev. date: 10/15/2014

Contents

Introduction    The Golden Rule of Negotiation

Chapter 1        Merchandise Problems and Disputes

Retail Chain Stores

Retail Independently Owned Stores

Chapter 2        Buying or Leasing an Automobile

Chapter 3        Telephones and Cell Phones

Chapter 4        Retail Service Stores

Chain Stores

Independently Owned Stores

Chapter 5        Government Agencies

Chapter 6        Navigating the Judicial System

Chapter 7        Small-Claims Court

Chapter 8        Civil Court or Superior Court

Chapter 9        The Supreme Court

Chapter 10      Probate Court

Chapter 11      Conclusion

To my children, my relatives, and my friends who encouraged me to share my knowledge. Their confidence in my abilities encouraged me to share my methods and write this book, How to Do It Alone.

Introduction

THE GOLDEN RULE OF NEGOTIATION

The Golden Rule for all consumer negotiation is Go to the head, not to the tail.

With the proper procedures, every dispute that you encounter in life can be resolved to your satisfaction. I will explain step by step with tried and proven methods how to achieve a completely satisfactory conclusion to all your problems and disputes.

Always remember the Golden Rule of negotiation: Go to the head, not to the tail. If you come away with only this one concept, you can navigate life’s problems successfully.

In disputes concerning goods and services, the way to the top is simply going up to the head. Start with the manager of the department and then work your way up through the manager of the entire store, the regional manager, and the CEO of the corporate headquarters. In disputes concerning independent stores, start with the manager and proceed to the owner. By going up the chain of command, you will get the result you desire. I will discuss in detail how easily each problem or dispute can be brought to a satisfactory conclusion. You will be given easy-to-follow step-by-step directions separately for each kind of problem or dispute.

Getting to the top or the head will sometimes involve some detective work on your part. In some cases, the name and address of the corporate offices, the president, or the CEO will not be given to you. But do not get discouraged. This information is available to everyone. It can be found by calling information on the phone, or if a computer is available, go to the company’s website. Either way will get you the names of the corporate officers or the CEO, as well as the information you need to contact the executive offices. It is very important to use a name when you contact the corporation.

For problems or disputes concerning government, taxes, schools, power, and all medical facilities, I will give you other avenues to follow to solve your problems. Another method for solving such problems is to use elected officials. When an individual is voted into public office, he or she becomes what is called a public servant. In plain terms, voters put them into office, and they work for the voters. Most of these problems can be settled easily and quickly by using their conveniently located offices. Assemblymen and councilmen all have offices that are staffed for the purpose of helping their constituents. A phone call or visit to these offices will afford you a guaranteed answer to your problem or dispute.

For many other problems or disputes, you can use the media. I will