Case Style Guide

From Phantom

This site is supposed to be a serious resource to try and help people involved in disputes as well as researchers trying to gain a better understanding of the magnitude and details of the problem. For this reason, when you write up the case or modify the site, you need to take a bit of care to be fair and honest in what you write. Here are some simple do's and dont's:

Do's

• Do include details, and be exact. For instance, you should definitely know the exact amount. A vague account is no good for anyone to refer to in future research.
• Do use your surname and year in the case title: for the accounts to be credible there must clearly be a real person behind it
• Do be brief and try to stick to the facts of what happened, not how you felt. If you are annoyed, and want to say how upset you are with customer service, use the Discussion Forums instead.
• Do include your contact details if you want to be contactable by researchers (for instance from consumer television programmes). Just add an email address to your entry. If you are worried about spam, disguise the address in a way which is obvious to a human. e.g. if your address is fred@hotmail.com, write fred-NOSPAM@hotmail.com instead.

Dont's

• Don't include your credit card number or your PIN in the report. If for one reason or another your account hasn't been properly cancelled, this could cause even more trouble for you!
• Don't use this site for insults or common abuse no matter how angry or frustrated you are. You may even be banned from the site.
• Don't defame anyone, other people, suspected criminals or banks. Stick to the truth, and stick to the facts.
• Don't include more contact information than email or telephone numbers at the most. Otherwise you are putting yourself at risk from identity theft. You can always contact the site maintainer directly, on the Contact Information page.

Get your case information to hand

What you will need to have at a minimum:

• Your surname and the year the case started (this will make the case title)
• The amount that was disputed
• The name of the bank that issued your card
• the sort of card you held (e.g. credit/debit/current account)
• how long it was before you discovered the theft
• The level of action that you took (e.g. phone call, written compliant, court action)
• The outcome of the case (put "Unresolved" if you are still in dispute).

Ideally you should also try and record:

• the number of disputed withdrawals
• the locations (approximate or exact) where the disputed withdrawals took place
• the names of the "acquiring banks" (these are the banks that own the cash machine where the dispute took place)
• the approximate dates and times of the withdrawals, and of other key events in the dispute
• the history of your PIN (e.g. did you keep your original issued PIN, or change it when you opened your account?)