QUOTE (folsom2008 @ Dec 22 2009, 02:19 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Hi fthomas,
I am starting preparations for small court claim against Becks,
can you pelase share with us any information about your case or maybe same decision and case number?
It will help us to in our claim ?
Thanks in advance!
I am starting preparations for small court claim against Becks,
can you pelase share with us any information about your case or maybe same decision and case number?
It will help us to in our claim ?
Thanks in advance!
I'm not sure the case number would be of any use to you since judgments issued in small claims court don't set precedence. Also the laws and costs of filing are different in each state. I filed in Marion County in Indianapolis against Bassett Furniture. We had received the original $500 free gas certificate in August 2008 and it was to be fulfilled by FreeBeeGas (Tidewater Marketing). After they were forced to close in February we received the replacement voucher from BBZ. The day in July that I read about BBZ filing for bankruptcy is the day I filed my claim. The premise of my argument was that we had a written agreement with them to provide us with $500 in free gas in 20 months and that we also had an oral agreement from the salesman for the same. I argued that over a year later we had not received any compensation and from what I'd read about the new company it was unlikely we ever would. Even the representative from Bassett agreed in court that the odds of collecting the total $500 from MyFreeTravel was unlikely.
I had a very good judge who listened closely and then asked some very good questions of both myself and the woman from Bassett. Without actually using the words promissory estoppel that's pretty much what I argued. There was no way Bassett could fulfill their original promise to us ... to give us $500 in free gas in 20 months. Her rebuttal was to say this had been advertised as a rebate program and the judge looked at the original certificate and disagreed. It says nowhere on the gas certificate anything about rebates.
There is no written statement of how or why I got judgment. In court when we were finished presenting our case the judge said he would need some time to consider the matter and the ruling would be mailed. When I got it in the mail it only says that judgment is rendered in favor of the Plaintiff. So at least as far as Indiana law goes I must have had enough evidence to show Bassett owed us the money ... and not the $500 in-store credit that they wanted us to take. The judge responded to that offer by saying $500 worth of furniture was not the same as $500 in free gas ... especially in these times.
My advice ... go after the companies like Beck's that gave out these vouchers. Be well prepared, have copies of all correspondece and receipts, dates of phone calls and emails, and be prepared to present your case to a judge and answer questions. It was well worth the effort and time I spent gathering information. I quoted articles that I had read at different websites too and had copies of those articles to include with the copies I gave to the court.
If you need more specific details about how to proceed with the small claims case just let me know and good luck!
