I think we both agree that complaining in public is cathartic. However, it isn't always the most productive nor protective (of your own emotional state) option available. If that is realized at all, it typically is only with hindsight.
Just from personal experience, on more than one occasion, I've spent hours on hold with a company getting nowhere, fired off a couple of quick tweets, and the issue has been fixed in 10 minutes. I have about 300 followers.
Is it a guarantee? Absolutely not. But it can work, and if the amount of money involved is too small to make involving lawyers worthwhile, it's often your only remaining option.
How else would you suggest handling the situation of needing to recover $7000 that a company owes you but they refuse to acknowledge your existence?
From several cases we’ve seen here on HN so far, it seems to be a quite effective strategy for finally getting through to somebody at that tech behemoth and having your problem swiftly resolved (even if you may say that “theoretically” this shouldn’t be how it works in a society perfectly based on contracts and on the rule of law, depending on your viewpoint). Much better than directly starting a lawsuit, no?
