Why I Was in Small Claims Court
In a long ago past life, I was a service manager for a company that serviced heating and air conditioning systems for homeowners. We were very customer friendly, and had a stated policy on our invoices that clearly set out that any dissatisfaction or follow-up problem would result in a free service call, and free correction of the problem if we were at fault or didn't do a complete repair on the first visit.
I was called to a North Carolina court by an unhappy customer, a younger single female, who stated that we repaired her thermostat, causing the compressor to go out, with a $500+ subsequent repair.
What Happened?
The small claims court judge was a "lay judge," important to the story. She heard her complaint, then I was allowed to START telling my story. I showed the invoice with the statement of warranty, and stated that we were never called with a complaint. Before I could finish, the judge cut me off asking if I had any defense. I stated again, probably a bit more offensively, that the defense was clear: we had no chance to address what may or may not have been an error. The judge merely said something like "I'm on her side, so don't make it worse." She awarded money for the other company's follow-up repair.
My boss had me appeal, which I didn't want to do. But, in the appeal you get a real judge. He read the invoice, heard our statements, and asked one question of the plaintiff: "Did you at any time call the defendant's company to see if they could take care of your problem under the warranty?" She stated that she didn't trust us, and he asked her the same question again. She replied that she had not. He found for the defense.
Lessons Learned
- If you don't like the result, and it's an option, appeal.
