--- description: Find out why FairShake is one of the best inventions of 2020. title: FairShake: The 100 Best Inventions of 2020 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd14b064c8409542a/698a143409208f3c174175c1/best-inventions-of-2020-FairShake-7.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 19, 2020 # A Virtual Advocate FairShake by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  Courtesy For many people, the process of seeking restitution after a big company rips them off or mistreats them is arduous and confusing. Some may choose not to submit their complaint. [FairShake](https://fairshake.com/ "undefined") makes battling the big guys easy, with a free service that automates the process of filing an arbitration claim. Consumers fill out a questionnaire about their grievances and then track the status of their claims on FairShake’s dashboard. If the matter isn’t settled within the notice period (usually 30 days), FairShake, which has battled companies such as AT&T and PayPal and takes a 10% to 20% cut of successful claims, can initiate a legal ­complaint—with a real attorney if need be. _—Paulina Cachero_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2020/5911369/fairshake/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2020/5911369/fairshake/"},"headline":"A Virtual Advocate","datePublished":"2020-11-19T13:54:46.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:46:18.659Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2020/5911369/fairshake/","keywords":["list","franchise","best inventions","Best Inventions 2020"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd14b064c8409542a/698a143409208f3c174175c1/best-inventions-of-2020-FairShake-7.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd14b064c8409542a/698a143409208f3c174175c1/best-inventions-of-2020-FairShake-7.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2020/5911369/fairshake/","name":"A Virtual Advocate"}}]}] ```