diff --git a/fbchat/client.py b/fbchat/client.py
index 9dcd1ea..729c764 100644
--- a/fbchat/client.py
+++ b/fbchat/client.py
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ class Client(object):
     See https://fbchat.readthedocs.io for complete documentation of the API.
     """
 
+    ssl_verify = True
+    """Verify ssl certificate, set to False to allow debugging with Fiddler"""
     listening = False
     """Whether the client is listening. Used when creating an external event loop to determine when to stop listening"""
     uid = None
@@ -105,7 +107,7 @@ class Client(object):
 
     def _get(self, url, query=None, timeout=30, fix_request=False, as_json=False, error_retries=3):
         payload = self._generatePayload(query)
-        r = self._session.get(url, headers=self._header, params=payload, timeout=timeout)
+        r = self._session.get(url, headers=self._header, params=encode_params(payload), timeout=timeout, verify=self.ssl_verify)
         if not fix_request:
             return r
         try:
@@ -117,7 +119,7 @@ class Client(object):
 
     def _post(self, url, query=None, timeout=30, fix_request=False, as_json=False, error_retries=3):
         payload = self._generatePayload(query)
-        r = self._session.post(url, headers=self._header, data=payload, timeout=timeout)
+        r = self._session.post(url, headers=self._header, data=encode_params(payload), timeout=timeout, verify=self.ssl_verify)
         if not fix_request:
             return r
         try:
@@ -137,11 +139,11 @@ class Client(object):
             raise e
 
     def _cleanGet(self, url, query=None, timeout=30):
-        return self._session.get(url, headers=self._header, params=query, timeout=timeout)
+        return self._session.get(url, headers=self._header, params=encode_params(query), timeout=timeout, verify=self.ssl_verify)
 
     def _cleanPost(self, url, query=None, timeout=30):
         self.req_counter += 1
-        return self._session.post(url, headers=self._header, data=query, timeout=timeout)
+        return self._session.post(url, headers=self._header, data=encode_params(query), timeout=timeout, verify=self.ssl_verify)
 
     def _postFile(self, url, files=None, query=None, timeout=30, fix_request=False, as_json=False, error_retries=3):
         payload=self._generatePayload(query)
@@ -805,9 +807,7 @@ class Client(object):
 
         j = self._post(self.req_url.UNREAD_THREADS, form, fix_request=True, as_json=True)
 
-        return {
-            "unread_threads": j['payload']['unread_thread_fbids']
-        }
+        return j['payload']['unread_thread_fbids'][0]['other_user_fbids']
 
     def fetchUnseen(self):
         """
@@ -816,13 +816,9 @@ class Client(object):
 
         :raises: FBchatException if request failed
         """
-        form = {}
+        j = self._post(self.req_url.UNSEEN_THREADS, None, fix_request=True, as_json=True)
 
-        j = self._post(self.req_url.UNSEEN_THREADS, form, fix_request=True, as_json=True)
-
-        return {
-            "unseen_threads": j['payload']['unseen_thread_fbids']
-        }
+        return j['payload']['unseen_thread_fbids'][0]['other_user_fbids']
 
     def fetchImageUrl(self, image_id):
         """Fetches the url to the original image from an image attachment ID
@@ -1266,7 +1262,6 @@ class Client(object):
             "ids[%s]" % threadID: True,
             "watermarkTimestamp": now(),
             "shouldSendReadReceipt": True,
-            "commerce_last_message_type": "",
         }
 
         r = self._post(self.req_url.READ_STATUS, data)
diff --git a/fbchat/utils.py b/fbchat/utils.py
index b26bf47..72bbcfe 100644
--- a/fbchat/utils.py
+++ b/fbchat/utils.py
@@ -9,6 +9,11 @@ import warnings
 import logging
 from .models import *
 
+try:
+    from urllib.parse import urlencode
+except ImportError:
+    from urllib import urlencode
+
 # Python 2's `input` executes the input, whereas `raw_input` just returns the input
 try:
     input = raw_input
@@ -226,3 +231,35 @@ def get_emojisize_from_tags(tags):
         except (KeyError, IndexError):
             log.exception('Could not determine emoji size from {} - {}'.format(tags, tmp))
     return None
+
+def encode_params(data):
+    """Encode parameters in a piece of data.
+
+    Will successfully encode parameters when passed as a dict or a list of
+    2-tuples. Order is retained if data is a list of 2-tuples but arbitrary
+    if parameters are supplied as a dict.
+    """
+
+    if isinstance(data, (str, bytes)):
+        return data
+    elif hasattr(data, 'read'):
+        return data
+    elif hasattr(data, '__iter__'):
+        result = []
+        for k, vs in list(data.items()):
+            if isinstance(vs, basestring) or not hasattr(vs, '__iter__'):
+                vs = [vs]
+            for v in vs:
+                if v is not None:
+                    if isinstance(v, bool):
+                        result.append(
+                            (k.encode('utf-8') if isinstance(k, str) else k,
+                             str(v).lower()))
+                    else:
+                        result.append(
+                            (k.encode('utf-8') if isinstance(k, str) else k,
+                             v.encode('utf-8') if isinstance(v, str) else v))
+        return urlencode(result, doseq=True)
+    else:
+        return data
+