I live in California and am being sued in Hawaii.

[cloken]

I am being sued in a small claims court in Hawaii and I live in California. I am going to speak with a Lawyer this week, but I thought I would look for some advice here. I sold a laptop screen on eBay. About a month after the buyer received the sceen he told me that he just had it installed and it had a defect with some of the pixels. Although I had tested the screen before it was sent and it was in perfect condition I was willing to work with the customer (eBay is really just a hobby). I know things can get damaged in shipping or during installation. I told him he could send it back to me and I would refund his money in full or I would give him half his money back if he wanted to keep the screen (although it had a defect he said it was usable). After going back and forth he finally decided that he would rather have a full refund. I told him "no problem, just send back the screen and I will refund your money plus shipping." This is where it went all down hill. The buyer told me that I was responsible for the cost of installing the screen and the removal of the screen. As I know the screen had no defects when I sent it I told him I couldn't be held responsible for costs related to the screen. He also told me I had to refund his money before he would return the screen (or evedince as he reffered to it as). From there he started making legal threats, claiming mail fraud and other things. But throughout I still offered him a full refund.

Now I am sitting here with a Statement of Claim to appear in Hawaii small claims. Plus he is asking for over five times the price of the screen due to down time and loss of business. Although I know I would win in a small claims court, the cost of flying to Hawaii is almost as much as the sum he is asking for.

I have been told I can write a letter of writ, but I can't find any information on that. I was hoping to maybe find some suggestions here.

Also, on the Statement of Claim it says "Defendent resides and/or does/do business at XXX(my address, clearly in California) in the State of Hawai'i."

Does this mean it is not valid.

Anyway, thanks for any help.

Cory

 

[JenniferH]

My non legal opinion:

Usually a plaintiff may file a small claims case in the state/county/area in which he was "damaged", which means that since he purchased/lives in Hawaii, he may sue in that state.

I agree with you that you should contact an attorney in your area to get some legal advice, he/she should be able to tell you your options and how to go about "writing" in your response within the alloted time legally allowed by law. I would state in your reply to the court your circumstances for not being able to attend court proceeding in person due to you residing in California.

Good Luck,