Hi people,
I'm going to lodge a claim through small claims court and was just interested to see what your experiences were.
Small Claims Court Experiences (Positive and Negative)
follow on 18/02/2017 - 20:27
Comments
Just interested in peoples experiences.
What state are you in? I believe it is all done through QCAT in Qld these days
In WA
What for?
Ouch :/
My girlfriend went through VCAT to claim back over $1600 in bootcamp fees (a group fitness thing).
Essentially her mother paid for the first 2 months and she never re-signed a contract yet her mother was charged for the next 11 months and she didnt notice (no point in grumbling about 'HOW COULD SHE NOT NOTICE', she has too much money to notice such a small amount leaving her account) - their contract was fairly flawed and we had other emails asking if she wanted to re-sign and continue but she didnt respond and yeah.Essentially it started with sending a letter of demand for the money, which they denied, a court date was then set (in a really awkward location for the person being sued..) at which point they backed off and paid the money in full.
Short answer - it varies.
My Sister went to small claims for fare evasion years ago when they had the paper tickets that were hand collected. She got caught with an out of date ticket she had just picked up on the ground at the station. Long story short she gets a $200 fine so she goes to Small Claims Court they get tried in bulk the judge says does anyone here plead guilty please stand up so my sister stands up. Looks around and see's no one else. They the judge says you are free to go. Everyone else $200 fine!
wow pretty interesting. They couldn't even defend themselves?
Was it small claims or Magistrates court? Usually it is the same physical court, but essentially wearing different hats.
Contesting a fine (or not in her case) would usually be Magistrates i believe. Also why did she contest it only to then plead guilty??
God I love judges like that.
Ok have now read your other thread. Assuming you are fairly confident he has sufficient assets to cover the debt if you get judgement, then just follow the procedures and go from there. Not from WA, but it is likely a fairly drawn out process if it is like everywhere else.
Make sure you set out your version of events clearly and truthfully. Obviously the key issue is where you claim the contract/deposit was subject to suitable checks, while he will likely claim you just paid a deposit to keep it off the market or whatever, and then changed your mind.
If you are still having trouble with the registered post letter, you can usually do personal service (given you know where he lives) or even engage a process server. I took a neighbour to a tribunal and just hand-delivered the letter to her mailbox and had my wife film me while doing it. Might also have had to do a stat dec stating as much.
I know the horse has bolted, but for future reference (and for anyone else), if you are going to pay someone money and/or come up with an agreement, put it in writing, have both parties sign it, and keep a copy.
Thanks for that, never thought of the filming delivering the letter. Will try that tomorrow. How did your case go?
Won the battle, lost the war. Success at tribunal, but neighbour disappeared. Also doesn't appear to have much in the way of assets, and we would not be first in line to attack them…
Situation was quite different to yours and also in a different state, so not sure how you will go.
Casting a pretty wide net….