Being sued in small claims - can I counter for lost wages?

[dilliyo]

State - VA

I have recently been notified that I am being sued over a disputed debt of $150 between myself and a national landscaping company. I attempted to cancel service with said company via email as well as via roughly five to ten voice mail messages none of which were responded to. I also sent the cancellation request via certified mail and the letter was refused by the owner. The national HQ of this company twice attempted to contact the franchise owner on my behalf and did not receive any response. When collections notices started arriving I contacted the Better Business Bureau (the business is not a member) who opened a case and eventually closed the case due to lack of response from the business owner. Disputing the charges with the collections agency in writing stopped the collections proceedings, but I have now been served with papers to appear in small claims court over this $150 fee.

Can I counter sue for the time spent defending myself as well as to recoup the wages I will lose by missing work to appear in court? The suit is for $150 but if I counter sue my costs will total at least $700.

 

[Gail in Georgia]

$700?? Just how long do you think a hearing in small claims will take? Days???

No, you can't sue for assumed lost wages because you have to show up for court. In fact, if you claim you've lost $700 showing up for a couple of hours in court the judge is likely to question why you just didn't pay the $150 and be done with it.

Gail

 

[dilliyo]

The assigned court time is in the middle of the day and I work 70 miles from the courthouse which means I will have to miss one day of work @ $700/day.

I realize that I don't have to appear in court but failing to do so would result in the inability to defend myself against what I consider fraudulent charges. I don't see how my salary has any bearing on whether it is an accepted practice to levy bogus fees on a customer simply because that customer has the means to pay them. This is more of a principle issue than the ability/inability to pay.

In my opinion, if the business owner wants to take this to court and the judge finds that the fees are in breach of the business agreement why should I be financially impacted for defending myself? Logically, forcing the plaintiff to cover incurred defendant costs would surely reduce the amount of frivolous lawsuits brought to court.

 

[Mass_Shyster]

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In my opinion, if the business owner wants to take this to court and the judge finds that the fees are in breach of the business agreement why should I be financially impacted for defending myself?

Because that's the way the system works.

Logically, forcing the plaintiff to cover incurred defendant costs would surely reduce the amount of frivolous lawsuits brought to court.

Many people have proposed a 'loser pays' system. The reason this has not been done is that it would pretty much eliminate the possibility of an individual prevailing against a big company.

What if you signed a contract that did not specifically have a clause allowing you to cancel. The guy goes out and spends a bunch of money buying equipment and supplies to fill all of his contracts, and everyone cancels because someone else comes along willing to do the same thing for less. He's been damaged due to your breach of contract, so he sues everyone who breached the contract. He loses all of these suits on a technicality, and he now has to pay all of these people whatever they claimed they would have earned.

 

[George1776]

State - VA

I have recently been notified that I am being sued over a disputed debt of $150 between myself and a national landscaping company. I attempted to cancel service with said company via email as well as via roughly five to ten voice mail messages none of which were responded to. I also sent the cancellation request via certified mail and the letter was refused by the owner. The national HQ of this company twice attempted to contact the franchise owner on my behalf and did not receive any response. When collections notices started arriving I contacted the Better Business Bureau (the business is not a member) who opened a case and eventually closed the case due to lack of response from the business owner. Disputing the charges with the collections agency in writing stopped the collections proceedings, but I have now been served with papers to appear in small claims court over this $150 fee.

Can I counter sue for the time spent defending myself as well as to recoup the wages I will lose by missing work to appear in court? The suit is for $150 but if I counter sue my costs will total at least $700.

I would be more concerned about you defending your case. How does the contract state to terminate service? Did you send them a notice via regular mail too.

 

[Hot Topic]

The Better Business Bureau is not legally empowered to get a company (or an individual) to do anything they don't want to do. They can offer mediation services only.