Just call me Legal Eagle
My list of new experiences that I have had because I am a business owner was augmented today: I filed a suit in small claims court. Let me hasten to note that I decry our litigious society as much as the next person, and I'm not planning on making this a habit, but I am unapologetically glad to be suing Old Dominion Freight Lines, even if I lose. The reason I'm suing them is because they dropped my big industrial mixer during transport, and now the bowl-lift mechanism is messed up and the mixer will only run on medium speed. Want to see what happens when you try to mix flour into muffin batter on medium speed?
Because of this, I can't use the big mixer, which means I have to make our pastries in a million small batches on the little mixers, which is getting old. When I first set up the mixer and realized it had concealed damage, I called the freight company to report the damage, and they sent me a claim form to complete, which required getting an estimate for the repairs. Things were a little busy for me around then, but I found a repair guy (of course I didn't already have a repair guy, so this took some work) and got him out there, and his assessment was even worse than I thought: he took it apart and said that the internal damage was extensive, and the repairs would be $1300. I duly noted this and sent the claim form back to the freight company. They responded that they would only consider claims made within 15 days of delivery (which would have been in November, when we didn't even have lights in the building, much less the 220-volt outlet for the mixer), so too bad. I wrote them some letters, asked to speak with supervisors, etc., but they kept saying no. They said that everyone knows about the 15 day rule, which I certainly did not know about, and couldn't have done anything about even if I had known it, because I didn't have a way to test the mixer at that point. What bothers me about this is that they aren't even arguing that they didn't cause the damage, and there is no doubt in my mind that they did. They are hoping that I am dissuaded by technicalities, which, for the record, I am not.
In my last letter to them, I threatened to "contact my lawyer", which I did--that would be my dad. The crack legal team of Brinig and Brinig determined that I could file in small claims court, so I filled out the notice of claim and summons to trial forms, and today I went down to the courthouse before my aerobics class. It took me a really long time to find parking, so I didn't have much time, but I figured it couldn't take that long to drop off my papers. I went through the metal detector, at which two security guards were debating whether the shotgun one of them owned was single- or double-action (I feel like if you own one of them, you should know), and got in line behind three other people. There were three clerks helping people, which seemed promising, but as it turned out, turnover was not quick. I waited it out for twenty minutes, and got to be first in line, but then it was one minute before my aerobics class was supposed to start, so I had to bail.
After my class, I came back (the security guards were debating whether there was fruit in a Manhattan) and made it all the way to the clerk. She looked at my forms and said she wasn't sure if I should file them because it wasn't clear whether the shipping company actually "conducts business" in Denver, which is a requirement for filing in small claims court. She said I should go down the hall to a free legal class that was just ending, and ask the instructor what he thought. The instructor was about 22 years old, although he looked comfortable in a suit, which I can't say about any of my friends or former colleagues (an interesting reflection on the types of jobs I've had). He said I was "probably" in the right court, and the only way to find out was the file the suit and go to my court date, at which the judge would throw the suit out if I had filed it incorrectly. This does not seem like an efficient system.
Anyway, I filed the suit. I asked how to get the sheriff to serve it to the company's agent, and the clerk told me I had to go to the sheriff's office, which is in the Webb Building. My eyes lit up, which he misinterpreted as enthusiasm for going to the Webb Building, but it was actually because I know where that is (a major step when have no sense of direction). The Webb Building, a.k.a. the What Is the City But the People Building, is where you go to get building permits! I've spent a big chunk of my life there.
So I paid off the sheriff, and my suit is on its way. I felt really pleased, imagining the "customer service" person I communicated with at ODFL finding out about this. It's just not fair that they treat small fish so poorly, and I hope I make things difficult enough for them that they'll be nicer next time. Even if we lose the suit, I feel like I've taken a stand, and that's important to do when you can. Remember the Alamo and all that.
Because of this, I can't use the big mixer, which means I have to make our pastries in a million small batches on the little mixers, which is getting old. When I first set up the mixer and realized it had concealed damage, I called the freight company to report the damage, and they sent me a claim form to complete, which required getting an estimate for the repairs. Things were a little busy for me around then, but I found a repair guy (of course I didn't already have a repair guy, so this took some work) and got him out there, and his assessment was even worse than I thought: he took it apart and said that the internal damage was extensive, and the repairs would be $1300. I duly noted this and sent the claim form back to the freight company. They responded that they would only consider claims made within 15 days of delivery (which would have been in November, when we didn't even have lights in the building, much less the 220-volt outlet for the mixer), so too bad. I wrote them some letters, asked to speak with supervisors, etc., but they kept saying no. They said that everyone knows about the 15 day rule, which I certainly did not know about, and couldn't have done anything about even if I had known it, because I didn't have a way to test the mixer at that point. What bothers me about this is that they aren't even arguing that they didn't cause the damage, and there is no doubt in my mind that they did. They are hoping that I am dissuaded by technicalities, which, for the record, I am not.
In my last letter to them, I threatened to "contact my lawyer", which I did--that would be my dad. The crack legal team of Brinig and Brinig determined that I could file in small claims court, so I filled out the notice of claim and summons to trial forms, and today I went down to the courthouse before my aerobics class. It took me a really long time to find parking, so I didn't have much time, but I figured it couldn't take that long to drop off my papers. I went through the metal detector, at which two security guards were debating whether the shotgun one of them owned was single- or double-action (I feel like if you own one of them, you should know), and got in line behind three other people. There were three clerks helping people, which seemed promising, but as it turned out, turnover was not quick. I waited it out for twenty minutes, and got to be first in line, but then it was one minute before my aerobics class was supposed to start, so I had to bail.
After my class, I came back (the security guards were debating whether there was fruit in a Manhattan) and made it all the way to the clerk. She looked at my forms and said she wasn't sure if I should file them because it wasn't clear whether the shipping company actually "conducts business" in Denver, which is a requirement for filing in small claims court. She said I should go down the hall to a free legal class that was just ending, and ask the instructor what he thought. The instructor was about 22 years old, although he looked comfortable in a suit, which I can't say about any of my friends or former colleagues (an interesting reflection on the types of jobs I've had). He said I was "probably" in the right court, and the only way to find out was the file the suit and go to my court date, at which the judge would throw the suit out if I had filed it incorrectly. This does not seem like an efficient system.
Anyway, I filed the suit. I asked how to get the sheriff to serve it to the company's agent, and the clerk told me I had to go to the sheriff's office, which is in the Webb Building. My eyes lit up, which he misinterpreted as enthusiasm for going to the Webb Building, but it was actually because I know where that is (a major step when have no sense of direction). The Webb Building, a.k.a. the What Is the City But the People Building, is where you go to get building permits! I've spent a big chunk of my life there.
So I paid off the sheriff, and my suit is on its way. I felt really pleased, imagining the "customer service" person I communicated with at ODFL finding out about this. It's just not fair that they treat small fish so poorly, and I hope I make things difficult enough for them that they'll be nicer next time. Even if we lose the suit, I feel like I've taken a stand, and that's important to do when you can. Remember the Alamo and all that.
posted by The Cooking Doctor at
2:51 AM
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