Any one ever taken a company to small claims court? How much time and money does it take? The amount I am going to try to fight over is 10 bucks, but I am willing to spend a few hundred dollars to take them on. I am tired of being pushed around by these companies.
Here's some basic help to get you started. http://www.peopleslawyer.net/legal-topics/small-claims-court.html
You have the perfect legal right to sue someone for $10. The judge will most likely chastise you for wasting everybody's time and clogging up the courts.
You can file a small claims and shouldnt be more than $100 depending on what state. As for the amount you can sue them for any amount up to $5000 (max amount depends on state I believe ) yet you will need to show damage or loss of some sort associated with the $10. So it can't just be $10 because you are annoyed. You have to show how you were damaged by $10. If you are suing for $10 they may look at it as waste of time but you could perhaps sue them, subpoena them and make it annoying for them then when they show to court settle with them or go all the way through with it and argue the $10 damage. You could win and then they appeal and you could then have option of attorney or not (usually about $1k for trial attorney) and then that attorney could represent you. That would be the 2nd hearing assuming you had won the first judgment and they had appealed. Some courts offer free attorney advice about your case and are onsite at the small claims court. The clerk can direct you to them and since there are no attorneys in first hearing it makes sense to talk to one without having to hire one. There are no attorneys at first hearing so they wont have one either and you will only need an attorney if you win and they appeal. Even then if they appeal you don't necessarily need an attorney but they might bring one and you might then be at a disadvantage. In my experience the small claims process they want you to try to settle and ask was a 'reasonable effort made to resolve' so that is where the $10 thing might be tricky. I was involved in a small claims case with my business and won. It was great vindication and mine was close to $5k so it was more than just a principle matter. Collecting on them after the f-ed me was the most fun I have ever had. I'm not an attorney just saying go through the process if it means anything to you and at least take them to court and have them acknowledge your beef. What is your obsession with money and how poor or not poor someone is? It's weird. So many people with more money than you it's laughable.Sitting here in san diego, I feel sorry for you that you think river oaks is living large or that rice is the be all end all. It brings me down sometimes how misguided you are.
I took Southwest Airlines to small claims court after they lost my luggage. I settled with them for $1500 (the small claims court maximum back then...in 1989...don't know if it has increased since then). You'll have a filing fee and you will have to spend a day in court. Seems like more hassle than it is worth for just ten bucks.
"Seems like more hassle than it is worth for just ten bucks." That seems to be the point. To hassle the company and he's willing to take the relatively low price and time to make a point.
