Taking factory direct to small claims court

[masuk]

Bought a Remington Shaver for $39.99+tax about 11 months ago from Kitchener FD with 1 year extended warranty for $3.99 extra.

Since last month, the trimmer spring pops-up while using the shaver. It scared the hell out of me and I got minor bruise.........long story short

I took the shaver to FD kitchener yesterday, where they told me to send back to main warehouse for fixing........today a lady CSR called and told they can't take it back due to health related concern. All they can do is giving back $3.99.

Now when I purchased, I specifically asked if they are sure of giving 1 year warranty on shaver which the cashier confirmed. The attitude of the manager pis..... me off. I am thinking of taking the matter to "small claims court".

What do you think ?

[untaka]

Do you have proof?

[Frankie3s]

Probably not worth the time for the money but maybe for the principle of it. Personally, I would ask for a total refund again or for a store credit, then use it and lastly, never ever shop there again.

[masuk]

Do you have proof?

Yup, I got the receipt that shows the warranty

Some lame excuses they gave me:
The current manager admitted it was their mistake but she won't take the resposibility as she was not manager 11 months ago and she couldn't find who was the cashier sold the shaver.

[asmielia]

Is $40 worth the time and effort of going to court? I'd say no way in hell. I agree with the others here, first try and get what you can out of head office. Taking someone to court should be the last resort for anything.

[cwb27]

Ever hear the phrase "cut your losses and move on"?

You're doing all this for less than 45 bucks? Are you getting paid time off work? If you answer no, don't waste your time...

[mathewvc]

Ever hear the phrase "cut your losses and move on"?

You're doing all this for less than 45 bucks? Are you getting paid time off work? If you answer no, don't waste your time...

i agree with this, however you also got to see the big picture. yes it is only 40 bucks but it's the principle. if they are allowed to fk over people consistently like this, then it gives them too much power. small claims court is unnecessary, but speak to someone higher up.

[cwb27]

i agree with this, however you also got to see the big picture. yes it is only 40 bucks but it's the principle. if they are allowed to fk over people consistently like this, then it gives them too much power. small claims court is unnecessary, but speak to someone higher up.

Oh definitely, don't get me wrong... It's like I've said before, on a scale of reaction, the OP is going from 1 to 10 but skipping steps 2 thru 9... There are other (better) ways to deal with this than wasting your time in small claims.

[nounou23]

Ever hear the phrase "cut your losses and move on"?

You're doing all this for less than 45 bucks? Are you getting paid time off work? If you answer no, don't waste your time...

"cut your losses and move on".... I see that phrase so often but if everyone would do it it means that the stores will always win.

I would definitely fight for it...

[Wasgo]

"cut your losses and move on".... I see that phrase so often but if everyone would do it it means that the stores will always win.

Even if it's taken to court, the worst case scenario for the store is that the have to pay the $40. That's not going to teach them anything.

[burnt_toast]

follow this woman's example regrading her Oranges bought from No Frills... and her purchase was a lot cheaper than yours...

http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=570606&highlight=no+frills+orange

at least you would set a precedent and other consumers might/would follow and maybe teach TD some lesson...

take them to the full extent of your rights... she did...

[evilbunny]

Even if it's taken to court, the worst case scenario for the store is that the have to pay the $40. That's not going to teach them anything.

You can sue for more than that. You can claim for court costs (I believe it is $50 to file in small claims court) and legal fees (if you consulted a lawyer) as a minimum. You could even try for punitive damages or breach of contract. As long as you are reasonable in your claim and don't ask for too much, maybe $400 - 500 total, then the judge may grant it.

Why not ask a lawyer? Keep the bill and claim for it.

[help_questions]

i say do it. teach them a lesson. getting your money back is not enough in this case.

[Cheap Cat]

How about contacting the media? Do you have a consumer affairs reporter in Kitchener? There is always Ellen Roseman from the Toronto Star. http://www.ellenroseman.com/

You should first try to pursue it through Head Office of Factory Direct but I doubt you would get anywhere with that. You shouldn't let this go. I once took a landlord to court for $28. I did it through Provencial Offenses so the Crown actually laid the charges so it didn't cost anything that way but I was going to lose half a day's pay which was more than $28 (fortunately, my boss agreed to pay me for the day).

[Nikita]

You can sue for more than that. You can claim for court costs (I believe it is $50 to file in small claims court) and legal fees (if you consulted a lawyer) as a minimum. You could even try for punitive damages or breach of contract. As long as you are reasonable in your claim and don't ask for too much, maybe $400 - 500 total, then the judge may grant it.

Why not ask a lawyer? Keep the bill and claim for it.

Just to clarify, you can't ask/sue for anything more than your actual damages, in this case being $39.99 + your shipping costs or any other actual out of pocket costs. Sure you'll get your costs of filing if you win, but then you paid that so you're not really getting anything, except for what you're already out of pocket. You can only get a maximum of $300 for lawyer's fees, and that's only if a lawyer actually represents you in court and if they do, they'll be charging you a whole lot more than that amount. I will say with a measure of certainty you won't get punitive damages in a contracts case. And when you say 'you could try for ...breach of contract', well that's your cause of action, that doesn't get you anymore money than the $39.99 (+actual out of pocket costs) in damages that you suffered as a result of a breach of contract.

In other words, the best you can hope for in court is to be made whole. You will not end up with anything for your time or aggravation or lost wages to attend court etc etc etc .

You just might want to consider that before you embark on a PITA process for $39.99.


How about contacting the media? Do you have a consumer affairs reporter in Kitchener? There is always Ellen Roseman from the Toronto Star. http://www.ellenroseman.com/



Ellen Roseman rocks! I just posted a link to her column yesterday in Off Topic regarding energy sellers. You might consider writing your story on her site called "How can they treat customers that way?" It's an excellent way to get the company's name and rep in print. Ellen is a whole lot more than just a consumer columnist, she's one hell of a consumer advocate. Anyway, here's the link to that particular site which is for just these kinds of complaints, you might want to check it out:

http://www.ellenroseman.com/?p=103#comments

[CalgaryRunner]

Even if you went to the trouble of taking them to court and won, that doesn't mean you will ever collect. I don't know specifically about Ontario but if the company doesn't voluntarily pay up on a small claims judgment, you typically have to go back to court to press your claim. Generally it's a huge pain-in-the-you-know-what if the company chooses not to cooperate. My advice would be to write a letter of complaint to their head office first.

[esq05]

Even if you went to the trouble of taking them to court and won, that doesn't mean you will ever collect. I don't know specifically about Ontario but if the company doesn't voluntarily pay up on a small claims judgment, you typically have to go back to court to press your claim. Generally it's a huge pain-in-the-you-know-what if the company chooses not to cooperate. My advice would be to write a letter of complaint to their head office first.

Thats true. Its really hard to claim. This was a few years back, probably 8-10 years ago, but we had bought a laptop from "Factory Direct", I don't know if it was the same one as today, but it used to be there on Kennedy Road as well. Well, its funny, but we had been going back to them every week because we had bought a computer from them and it just didn't work (properly...I dont know)... well, the tech guy (as I remember, the guy behind the big desk) actually assaulted my dad and so we went to small claims court.

We ended up winning, but have no idea what happened after that, don't recall getting anything.

[TCWeasel]

I think you'd be wasting your time. Even if you win, I doubt they'd pay with any expediency.

Head Office probably won't do a thing, outside of telling you to get stuffed.

The moral of the story here is, never buy anything from them, regardless of what it is. I won't step foot in the store anymore. They just don't deserve my business.

Good prices on some things yes, but they just don't do anything to really earn your business.

Whatever it is, you'll be much happier having bought whatever item it is somewhere else.

[HowEver]

Have you actually talked to the manager/owner of the store where you purchased the shaver??

btw threatening to go to small claims court will NOT be a useful part of your conversation.



Bought a Remington Shaver for $39.99+tax about 11 months ago from Kitchener FD with 1 year extended warranty for $3.99 extra.

Since last month, the trimmer spring pops-up while using the shaver. It scared the hell out of me and I got minor bruise.........long story short

I took the shaver to FD kitchener yesterday, where they told me to send back to main warehouse for fixing........today a lady CSR called and told they can't take it back due to health related concern. All they can do is giving back $3.99.

Now when I purchased, I specifically asked if they are sure of giving 1 year warranty on shaver which the cashier confirmed. The attitude of the manager pis..... me off. I am thinking of taking the matter to "small claims court".

What do you think ?

[babydru]

Wow you're seriously going to go through all this effort over a $45 shaver? That seems pretty petty; I know there is the 'principal' issue but really it's not worth it. You're going to waste everybody's time (including the court's time and your own) over a measly $45? I think you have to pick and choose your battles in life; you can't choose the extreme options (i.e. Small Claims court) over every little thing that goes wrong.

Unless you literally do not have a job, nor go to school, etc. and you have all the free time in the world, then sure go for it. Otherwise I say just move on, it's not worth losing sleep over.

[masuk]

Have you actually talked to the manager/owner of the store where you purchased the shaver??

btw threatening to go to small claims court will NOT be a useful part of your conversation.

Yes, I talked to the manager 4 times already in last 2 days..........and I mentioned to her about small court claims during our last conversation. Interesting enough, she have not contacted head office until today. The first 3 times, she was just trying to give me back $4 only for 1 year warranty

Well the last thing I want to use is go to court........and until I metioned abt small claims court, the store manager was not even calling the head office.

I am still hoping to end this amicably as I have quite a few of there stuffs with warranties.

Thanks all for your time and advice.

[babydru]

Yes, I talked to the manager 4 times already in last 2 days..........and I mentioned to her about small court claims during our last conversation. Interesting enough, she have not contacted head office until today. The first 3 times, she was just trying to give me back $4 only for 1 year warranty

Well the last thing I want to use is go to court........and until I metioned abt small claims court, the store manager was not even calling the head office.

I am still hoping to end this amicably as I have quite a few of there stuffs with warranties.

Thanks all for your time and advice.

Good job; glad to see you are trying to end this amicably :)

[alexkidd]

Dont get mad get even.

Go steal something worth $40 haha.

[Hunter316]

Dont get mad get even.

Go steal something worth $40 haha.

This is in the same catagory as going in there and threatening to beat them up if they don't do what you want. I know from reading some other posts that this is in some peoples mind a good way to handle things but we live in this wonderful thing called civilization and we have these things called "laws" that frown on ideas like this. I am glad to see that the OP is handling things like a mature adult.

[TCWeasel]

This is in the same catagory as going in there and threatening to beat them up if they don't do what you want. I know from reading some other posts that this is in some peoples mind a good way to handle things but we live in this wonderful thing called civilization and we have these things called "laws" that frown on ideas like this. I am glad to see that the OP is handling things like a mature adult.

Relax. Did you not see the "haha" part of the post? It indicates that the poster was kidding.

[TotallyKiller]

It's $40. For all of you who say 'teach them a lesson' - don't. They won't learn a thing and it will cost you more than you'll get.

[drunkgoat]

It's $40. For all of you who say 'teach them a lesson' - don't. They won't learn a thing and it will cost you more than you'll get.

Sadly, it's this type of attitude that let companies get away with this sort of thing. We need more people to stand up and take one for the team (all consumers), so people shouldn't be discouraging the OP from taking them to court.

[sprung]

Instead of going to court, you may wish to get back at them by filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau (which is free)

I actually did this for a KFC issue. I got a $25 gift card as a present but was unable to use it at the store . The irony being that it had been purchased for me at the same location and activated, etc.

anyways, i came back numerous times (usually on Tuesday) and it never worked. the staff was pretty useless so i filed a complaint with the BBB. anyways, a few days later i get a call from the KFC franchise manager. he is very accommodating and friendly. i go to the store where my card now finally starts working and they have a coupon for a free 10-piece meal for me too.

the mgr at the store shows me the letter from BBB and asks me if we're cool now. that was such a nice outcome especially since I had zero faith in the BBB doing anything for me.