What to Do After a Consumer Dispute

Preserve Everything

Preserve complete copies of contracts, advertisements, estimates, proposals, invoices, receipts, financing documents, payment records, account statements, warranties, work orders, inspection reports, repair records, lease documents, addenda, notices, collection letters, emails, text messages, voicemails, photographs, videos, screenshots, envelopes, business cards, brochures, and court or arbitration papers.

Do not write on original documents, discard envelopes or attachments, or alter the original files. Preserve the materials in the condition in which you received them.

Save Digital Evidence Before It Changes

• Full-page screenshots showing the business, date, price, description, and terms
• Save webpages as PDFs
• Preserve the complete web address
• Download account statements and transaction histories
• Export complete message threads
• Save emails with attachments
• Preserve voicemail
• Keep original electronic files
• Back up information in more than one secure location

Write a Timeline

Create a chronological account beginning with the first advertisement, conversation, estimate, application, showing, sales presentation, or contract and continuing through each payment, problem, complaint, response, and attempted resolution.

Each entry should identify:

• Date and approximate time
• Location or communication method
• Names and roles of participants
• What was said or represented
• What was signed or received
• What payment was made
• What happened next
• Supporting document, message, photograph, or witness

Separate what you personally saw or heard from what someone else later told you. Use quotation marks only when you are confident the wording is exact.

Identify the People and Businesses Involved

Preserve the legal and trade names of the business, dealer, contractor, landlord, property manager, finance company, warranty company, payment processor, insurer, salesperson, manager, owner, employee, witness, repair facility, collection agency, lawyer, law firm, or agency already involved.

The name used in an advertisement may differ from the name on a contract, payment record, or court filing.

Document Verbal Conversations

Write a prompt factual note after calls or meetings, including the date and time, participants, location or method, substance of what was said, promises, explanations, refusals, or proposed resolutions, and any requested follow-up.

Write the note as soon as reasonably possible. Do not exaggerate, speculate, or add a legal conclusion.

Before recording any conversation, determine whether recording is permitted in the circumstances. This website does not provide advice concerning recording laws.

Communicate Carefully

Use accurate, concise, non-threatening communications. Do not use insults, threats, profanity, exaggeration, false statements, fabricated documents, misleadingly edited screenshots, impersonation, or public disclosure of confidential settlement communications.

State what happened, identify the resolution you are requesting, and preserve the response. Emotional or exaggerated communications may distract from the underlying facts.

Preserve the Product or Property When Practical

Photographs, packaging, labels, serial numbers, removed parts, damaged items, building materials, and the physical product may matter.

When reasonably practical, photograph the item and preserve it in its existing condition before it is repaired, discarded, returned, altered, or replaced. Safety comes first. Do not retain an item that creates a hazard.

Track Payments and Expenses

Keep a record containing:

• Date
• Amount
• Recipient
• Payment method
• Purpose
• Supporting receipt or statement
• Refund or credit
• Remaining disputed amount

Keeping a record of an expense does not mean that the expense is legally recoverable. It allows the facts to be evaluated accurately.

Organize the File

• A folder for original records
• A folder for working copies
• Subfolders for contracts, payments, communications, photographs, notices, and court papers
• File names beginning with YYYY-MM-DD
• A master timeline
• A master document list

Do Not Destroy or Alter Evidence

Once a dispute has developed or appears likely, do not delete, destroy, conceal, alter, fabricate, or selectively edit relevant information. This applies to text messages, emails, devices, contracts, receipts, photographs, screenshots, notes, and instructions to others.

Prepare for an Attorney Intake

Be prepared to provide:

• Contact information
• Names of all involved parties
• Type and date of transaction
• Amount paid or disputed
• Brief chronological description
• Most important representation or promise
• What happened afterward
• Current status
• Known court dates or deadlines
• Whether another lawyer is involved
• Whether the same practice may affect others
• Key supporting documents

You do not need to identify the correct law or legal claim. Describe the facts, identify the people and businesses involved, and provide the documents that best show what happened.

Frequently Asked Questions