As I mentioned in another post, I’m Alex Darr, one of the lawyers who writes over at Doctor of Credit. I thought it was time to post a thread about my experience as an attorney arbitrating against big banks in the realm of points, miles, and credit cards. At the end of this first post, I’m going to do the “cover my backside” routine. Please read it. You can read a bit more about me on my website as well.
I started getting involved in consumer arbitration in 2015 and 2016. I did some half-hearted representation of my own claims with mild success. In February 2017 I started reading about this guy who stole my first name, so I call him Bachuwa. He writes “The Fine Print” columns over at Frequent Miler.
I gave him a call, and we’ve been collaborating in this area ever since. His raw enthusiasm married to my legal brain is an excellent combo! (Make no mistake, I too am enthusiastic, and Alex is plenty smart). We still manage our own, independent firms, but we enjoy sharing notes and working together when it makes sense. Given that we share the same name, we’ve taken to calling ourselves Alex & Darr, which sort of merges into “Alexander” (I know, it’s cute–it was Alex’s idea).
Alex still writes over at Frequent Miler, and I’ve been writing articles over at Doctor of Credit. Alex is more of a points enthusiast who enjoys juicing the miles for exotic travel. I prefer reading about the world of intense MS/churn/whatever you want to call it. I just think it’s fascinating what some folks do with credit cards, even if I don’t do it. (I’m boring and put all of my spend on an Amex Gold Card. The business card is a Starwood Amex).
Together, Alex and I have filed lots and lots of consumer arbitrations. Most of the claims I handle are federal consumer protections claims like the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Equal Credit Reporting Act, and Truth In Lending Act.
It’s surprising to me, but these gigantic financial institutions are failing to follow basic, clear federal law. One violation that we see a lot is when a bank closes a client’s credit account and doesn’t provide a reason for the closure.
In the next few weeks I’m planning on writing another article for DoC about rights under the Electronic Funds Transfer Act and claims that are prevalent there.
I’ll end this first post here, but look forward to talking about some of this stuff with all of you and maybe answering a question or two.
I’m not your lawyer. If I post something here, it’s not intended to be legal advice. If you send me a PM or email and I respond, that doesn’t create an attorney-client privilege. Some states may consider this attorney advertising. If I provide an example of a previous case, that doesn’t guarantee a similar outcome in a future case. I may use examples or hypotheticals–any similarities between them and a real case are purely coincidence. I have a full disclaimer available on my website.