The Trap Chain: 3 Prompts That Catch Every Fee Hiding in Your Fine Print
Fine print works because nobody reads it. Landlords, gyms, carriers, and hospitals bury fees deep in the document and bet you never check. Claude reads every line, flags the clauses costing you money, and calls out the ones that might not even be enforceable. Then it writes the messages to fight back. Three prompts, one chat, run them in order. Each step builds on what the last one found.
Step 1. Find the traps
Open a fresh Claude chat and paste the full document, or upload the PDF. Every page, including the boring parts. That is where the fees hide. Swap the brackets for whatever you are auditing.
Claude hands back a ranked list of every clause working against you, with a plain-English read on why it is a problem and what it could cost. Treat the enforceability calls as a strong starting point, not a verdict from a lawyer.
You are a consumer-rights and contracts expert. Here is my [lease / bill / contract]: [paste it]. Find every clause, fee, or term that is NOT in my favor or could cost me money. Rank them by how much they could cost me, and for each, explain in plain English why it's a problem and whether it's actually enforceable or legal.Step 2. Write the fight-back
Run this in the same chat. It builds directly on the trap list Claude just found.
You get a firm, polite, copy-paste message for each of the three worst offenders, quoting the protections that actually apply to you. Polite plus specific is what gets fees waived. Rage emails get ignored.
For the top 3, write me a firm, polite message I can send to get each one removed, waived, or corrected. Quote the relevant tenant or consumer protections that apply to me. Make each message copy-paste ready.Step 3. Handle the pushback
If step 2 works, you are done. If they refuse, run this.
It writes the escalation that fits the situation, whether that is a manager, a regulator, a chargeback, or a public review. Notice the constraint baked in: no threats you cannot back up. Hollow threats kill your leverage. Real escalation paths do not.
Now write the follow-up to send if they refuse. Escalate the right way for the situation (manager, regulator, chargeback, or public review). Keep it firm, but make no threats I can't actually back up.Run it right
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Same chat, in order. Steps 2 and 3 only work because Claude already has the trap list in context.
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Redact before you paste. Strip account numbers, your SSN, and anything you would not put in an email. Claude needs the clauses and the fees, not your identity.
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Works on leases, medical bills, gym and phone contracts, subscriptions, internet bills, anything with fine print.
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For big-money disputes, use Claude's output as your prep, then confirm with a real lawyer or your local tenant board before you escalate.
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Frequently asked questions
Every fee stacked against you in a lease, bill, or contract. Paste it into Claude and it ranks them, then writes the message to fight the worst three.
Strip names and account numbers first. The prompts work on the terms, not your identity.
It writes the firm, specific message that gets a human to look, with the company's own policy quoted back. Whether they waive it is on them, but you go in prepared.