small claims court

[Z! Reinhardt]

Well, let's look at what may be "backstage" here ....

1]  How much of a pest have you been to this client who owes you the money?
Have you been sending monthly statements?  Charging interest?  Phoning up in
hopes of convincing the client that money is owed?

2]  Is there an issue with the work you performed?

3]  Do you have documentation of all dealings with this client to date?

4]  What do you know so far about this client?  How readily can they afford
your service?  Are they the kind of people who assume that you (or anyone
else) will not bother making a court issue over "a mere $200" so they feel
entitled to not paying it?

As for yourself ....

1]  How much will it cost you to file a case?  This is in addition to the
hours spent and the wear/tear on your car getting to/from the courthouse.

2]  Even if your filing the case ends up costing you more than the money
owed to you, do you feel that the resulting  "legal sting" experienced by
this client will be worth your efforts?

----- Original Message -----
From: <JIMRPT@AOL.COM>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Friday, July 19, 2002 8:28 AM
Subject: Re: small claims court

>>Is it worth the effort to go to small

claims court when the court is located some 75 miles away? >>

No John it isn't...chalk it up to business losses on your taxes and let it
go.
My opinion.
Jim Bryant (FL)

Are you sure the client isn't counting on this attitude to get out of
paying?

For what it's worth ...
Z! Reinhardt  RPT
Ann Arbor  MI
diskladame@provide.net