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A comment on A new weapon in arbitration: sheer volume. Parent comment

Re:A new weapon in arbitration: sheer volume by cosmotic on Monday April 06, 2020 @10:38PM (#22799884)
I took State Farm to small claims court. They paid to upgrade it to general division at the last possible moment, which significantly increases the logistics and complexity of the case. I think they did it as an intimidation tactic. Corporations are horrible.
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Re:A new weapon in arbitration: sheer volume by koolba on Monday April 06, 2020 @11:28PM (#22800110)
What was the result?
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Re:A new weapon in arbitration: sheer volume by cosmotic on Tuesday April 07, 2020 @01:07AM (#22800476)
They settled the morning of the hearing for exactly as much money as I asked for before I took them to court. They admitted that the attorney alone cost much more than the settlement. Not to mention the court fees they had to pay.
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Re:A new weapon in arbitration: sheer volume by yrro on Wednesday April 08, 2020 @05:57AM (#22811537)
Did it increase your expenses or did the court order them to pay costs for wasting the time of both the plaintiff and the court?
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Re:A new weapon in arbitration: sheer volume by cosmotic on Wednesday April 08, 2020 @12:01AM (#22809919)
They also lost me as a customer, and I found a cheaper rate for better coverage with someone else.
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Re:A new weapon in arbitration: sheer volume by 300bps on Monday April 06, 2020 @11:30PM (#22800115)
State Farm is a mutual company. That means that the policyholders (i.e. you) actually own it.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Farm

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Re:A new weapon in arbitration: sheer volume by parkovski on Tuesday April 07, 2020 @12:07AM (#22800276)
And accordingly, I could give orders to their lawyers and their likelihood of doing what I say is about the same as the percentage of the company that I own.
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Re:A new weapon in arbitration: sheer volume by cma on Tuesday April 07, 2020 @02:36AM (#22800854)
Why do the policyholders pay for so much TV advertising to get new policyholders? Increase in volume lowers overheads and spreads the risk pool, but surely not to the extent of the TV spending.
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Re:A new weapon in arbitration: sheer volume by mooreds on Saturday April 11, 2020 @12:34PM (#22842507)
The principal agent problem:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principal%E2%80%93agent_prob...

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Re:A new weapon in arbitration: sheer volume by freepor on Tuesday April 07, 2020 @12:00AM (#22800244)
That’s like saying we choose the government. It’s true in theory, but in practice the top management uses the “owners” like Soylent Green.
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Re:A new weapon in arbitration: sheer volume by someguyorother on Tuesday April 07, 2020 @05:59AM (#22801832)
It's a matter of feedback, really. It doesn't matter if a government is selected by the people if the government can control the people more effectively than the people can control the government.

If the company holds very infrequent general meetings and the owners can't schedule extra ones, then the managers are going to rule, irrespective of who "formally" governs the company.

It's like a people's democratic republic: even if the election is fair, the political bureau sets the rules 99% of the time and the congress of deputies only meets once a year - and soon enough the elections end up no longer being fair.

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