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No Written Contract

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flshbng1

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Missouri

If was wondering if I won a judgement on the first case and the defendant appealed with an attorney how likely is it that I will win the appeal without an attorney. I put down a 600.00 deposit on a Trophy deer hunt here in Missouri and I did not recieve any written contract regarding a refund policy, nor was told about the website until after I put my deposit down. I cancelled this hunt 155 days in advance, but was told they would move my hunt. In November of this year I just asked for my money back, which the owner would not give me until he found out I filed the small claims suit. He agreed in email to pay me $300.00, but filed the appeal before the 10 days was up. Now he wants me to dimiss the judgement without predjudice before he will agree to pay me because it affects his credit rating. I told him he has to pay me $325.00 before I will dismiss it or I will go ahead with the full $625.00 I was originally rewarded. Here is what I found later on his website regarding his policy:

Hunt Deposits: A non-refundable deposit of $500 will be collected on each hunt that is booked. The balance of your hunt is due upon arrival. The deposit may only be considered for refund in the event of a medical or family emergency with documentation from a medical practitioner. If a hunter needs to cancel a booked hunt, IMB will honor the deposit for 2 years.

Cancellation Policy: A hunt must be cancelled 45 days prior to its start. Failure to announce a cancellation as aforementioned will result in the loss of deposit or monies surrendered. Exceptions include medical emergencies verified in writing by a physician, death in the immediate family, or natural disaster deemed pardonable by IMB Outfitters.


How can you have a 500 non-refundable deposit but the next paragraph state you will lose your deposit or monies surrendered if you don't cancel 45 days in advance? and then have an exception that you deem pardonable. I never received any written policy or contract stating his refund policy and did not have access to a computer at the time.
 


Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
What is the name of your state? Missouri

If was wondering if I won a judgement on the first case and the defendant appealed with an attorney how likely is it that I will win the appeal without an attorney. I put down a 600.00 deposit on a Trophy deer hunt here in Missouri and I did not recieve any written contract regarding a refund policy, nor was told about the website until after I put my deposit down. I cancelled this hunt 155 days in advance, but was told they would move my hunt. In November of this year I just asked for my money back, which the owner would not give me until he found out I filed the small claims suit. He agreed in email to pay me $300.00, but filed the appeal before the 10 days was up. Now he wants me to dimiss the judgement without predjudice before he will agree to pay me because it affects his credit rating. I told him he has to pay me $325.00 before I will dismiss it or I will go ahead with the full $625.00 I was originally rewarded. Here is what I found later on his website regarding his policy:

Hunt Deposits: A non-refundable deposit of $500 will be collected on each hunt that is booked. The balance of your hunt is due upon arrival. The deposit may only be considered for refund in the event of a medical or family emergency with documentation from a medical practitioner. If a hunter needs to cancel a booked hunt, IMB will honor the deposit for 2 years.

Cancellation Policy: A hunt must be cancelled 45 days prior to its start. Failure to announce a cancellation as aforementioned will result in the loss of deposit or monies surrendered. Exceptions include medical emergencies verified in writing by a physician, death in the immediate family, or natural disaster deemed pardonable by IMB Outfitters.


How can you have a 500 non-refundable deposit but the next paragraph state you will lose your deposit or monies surrendered if you don't cancel 45 days in advance? and then have an exception that you deem pardonable. I never received any written policy or contract stating his refund policy and did not have access to a computer at the time.
So, you are holding things up over $25? :rolleyes:
 

dcatz

Senior Member
I agree with Zigner. What's the question?

Can you agree to vacate the judgment in return for an agreed payment? Yes. (You would vacate and then dismiss with prejudice, because it has already gone to judgment and that judgment has yet to be reversed in what will be a new trial in the appeal), or
can you prevail on appeal?

Your query is not clear. It implies, but doesn't say, that this went to judgment in your favor once (there would be no issue of appeal, if that were not the case). If it went to judgment, did it go by default or did you prevail on the merits? That should tell you something about your chances of doing it again.
 

flshbng1

Junior Member
No written contract

I should have clarified it a little better. I still pled my case to the judge, but the other party did not show up. I was awarded $625, but agreed to take $325 after the judgement. Now , he won't pay me the money unless I file the motion to vacate. I told him no, he has to pay me first and he stated he will see me in circuit court on the appeal.. I just don't want to go in front of a new judge if he brings an attorneyand I don't want to bother my friends who are attorney's for $625.
 

dcatz

Senior Member
No offense, but the clarification isn’t a great improvement, because it at least leaves me wondering whether the appeal or the money is the more significant concern.

So the first judgment was by default and there hasn’t been a hearing on the merits. You’re starting from square one, and you’re both rolling the dice. It’s not the best written cancellation/refund policy I’ve seen, but my personal opinion is that it’s also not as ambiguous or internally inconsistent as you find it. On the other hand, if you could learn about and subscribe to the hunt through other media and without seeing his site, I think any such policy should be incorporated in all such media. A court could call it either way.

Payment to vacate and dismiss should not pose a comparable problem. You memorialize an agreement that, upon his payment of $X, you shall dismiss with prejudice within Y days. You put it in a Stipulation that you both sign and that includes the agreement to vacate. He pays you and has proof of payment. You don’t dismiss, he shows the court and the court dismisses and possibly sanctions you. You’re both covered.
 

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