Longer story... please bear in mind I am cutting out some details and writing this from the top of my head for now. If you want a more detailed account, I can pull up my records and letters, as everything is clearly documented.
The oil company was delivering oil to me at a fixed higher price through a group-deal (group of over 80 people) that was setup by a friend of mine, as I didn't want to screw them if I had a contract or something. I called them to see if we could work something out to reduce my price. They offered to cancel my old contract for a termination fee of $599.
I was surprised about this, since I had never been told about any ETF. They claim they told me, and that it was in my signed contract. I told them I didn't remember any signed contract, yet they insisted they had one "in front of them" at the time of the call with my signature on it.
They then forced me to make a decision quickly, as I had a delivery coming soon at the higher rate. Since I couldn't believe that I had signed something without remembering it, I asked them to immediately send me a copy via email or fax. I didn't take the offer because I had to check my records and "do some math" to make sure that paying $599 wasn't going to cost me more than in the longer run.
That night, I check my records, and I had no record of it. The next day I called them again for a copy. I asked them to send it to me again, the apologized for not sending it, but that they had it in hand.
My math told me to take the deal and so I called and paid the $599 to get out of the higher priced contract, as I had to believe them, since they repeatedly insisted they had it. For the next 3 months, I kept asking for their copy, and they never sent it to me and stopped returning any of my calls. I finally stopped paying my oil delivery bill so that the total would be less than the $599, since that was the amount under dispute. The finally started to return my calls, and when I finally got a copy of the contract, it had a "smiley face" on it asking me to sign it, but it wasn't signed - they lied to me the entire time.
Throughout the next many months, they refused to refund any portion of that $599, claiming that they had a recorded call with me agreeing to it, and they claim to record ALL calls for this reason. I told them I would be happy to drop the matter if they can prove this ETF or contract. Again, they lied and could not produce any recorded call. So I took them to court to get my money back under consumer protection laws, since they lied to me repeatedly.
On the first court visit, they didn't show up at all, so I won by default. On the second court visit (payment hearing) they started to go into the case, and the magistrate said that the defense was over - they lost and this was only a payment hearing. Apparently he had a death in his family, so he couldn't show up. Eventually, the magistrate accepted it (even though the magistrate even implied that they had no intention of showing up, as they could have sent someone else in his place, or rescheduled). The magistrate said he would reopen the case, if they were willing to pay my day's lost wages as a fee. They reluctantly agreed, and I had to present my case at that moment (good thing I came prepared).
During this defense, in front of the magistrate, they lied again, stating that I agreed to the $599 termination fee. They brought a cassette tape of the call during the second contract, but weren't allowed to bring in the tape-player through security. So, they insisted that this call was on there (I got a copy of that tape later in the mail). The magistrate never listen to it. I also insisted that they repeatedly said they lied about having a signed contract and they never provided me with a copy.
Judgement came in the mail, and the magistrate awarded me $200 of the $599 (no idea where they got that number from) plus the days-wages-fee.
The oil company appealed, and we went to judge. During that case, I presented again that there was no enforceable contract - no recording, no paper copy, nothing... and that they lied to me about it all. Only until later did I find they had neither and lied to me about it. The defense then said that I had not paid for the oil deliveries recently, and made that the "case" in the judges eyes. I said that it was the only way they would talk to me about anything on the matter of the contract. The judge even asked me why I paid the ETF, implying that I shouldn't have, and I told him I had to do so in order to prevent further higher-priced oil deliveries (that they wouldn't put on hold), and that I paid it "on good faith" because they insisted they had a signed copy (and then later, a recorded call). The judge then actually said, and I quote, "I'm more concerned about not who lied, I'm more concerned about who paid what and who owed what." (Yes, I have the recorded court proceedings). Amazing.
At the end of it all, the mailed judgment denied all my claims, created a countersuit for the defense forcing me to pay the unpaid oil bill, and deleted the days-lost-wages due to me - all without any mention of this from the defense in court, nor any paperwork filed.
As this was the appeal, I cannot re-appeal it (I don't think?). So, I believe my only listed option is vacating the ruling... whatever that means. Bottom line, I don't know what my options are, which is why I am asking here. I'd ask a lawyer, but...
As a note, before the hearing with the judge, I had tried to contact a lawyer to represent me, as I was already disgusted by the magistrate-result. Maybe I suck at presenting the case, but as an engineer I deal with facts, and I figured they would stand on their own. Yet, no lawyer (I called like 4 or 5 in my area) would take my case, as they said it wasn't worth their time or my money... I had only one lawyer who at least returned my call, and answered a few questions for free, but he wouldn't take the case.