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Whats the point of the Small Claims Court?

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  • 17-04-2020 2:57pm
    #1
    Dkhuts
    Registered Users Posts: 100 ✭✭


    So what is the exact point of the small claims court? By the looks of it, its just useless as it does not protect confumers at all. I have won my small claims court, I have a letter from the courts stating that the company owe me money, I even paid the Small Claims sheriff to contact the company and get the money. However, nothings been done... The sheriff is useless and says theres nothing he can do, I asked a solicitor and she say the exact same thing. So after being scammed out of my hard earned cash, spending time and money on dealing with this case the only thing ive ended up with is a broken product and a letter saying that a company owes me money. Am I missing something here or is the small courts system completely useless since the losing side of the case can just straight up refuse to pay you and there is nobody to enforce it


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    #2
    colm_mcm
    Registered Users Posts: 73,438 ✭✭✭✭colm_mcm


    Hire a top legal team and take them to big boy court.


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    #3
    jrmb
    Registered Users Posts: 697 ✭✭✭jrmb


    By handling relatively minor cases, it frees up precious time for the conventional courts.
    Dkhuts wrote: »
    Am I missing something here or is the small courts system completely useless since the losing side of the case can just straight up refuse to pay you and there is nobody to enforce it
    You run similar risks in civil court.


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    #4
    Dkhuts
    Registered Users Posts: 100 ✭✭Dkhuts


    colm_mcm wrote: »
    Hire a top legal team and take them to big boy court.

    Not worth it considering the legal fees and headache for a small return


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    #5
    Rows Grower
    Registered Users Posts: 7,941 ✭✭✭Rows Grower


    Dkhuts wrote: »
    So what is the exact point of the small claims court? By the looks of it, its just useless as it does not protect confumers at all. I have won my small claims court, I have a letter from the courts stating that the company owe me money, I even paid the Small Claims sheriff to contact the company and get the money. However, nothings been done... The sheriff is useless and says theres nothing he can do, I asked a solicitor and she say the exact same thing. So after being scammed out of my hard earned cash, spending time and money on dealing with this case the only thing ive ended up with is a broken product and a letter saying that a company owes me money. Am I missing something here or is the small courts system completely useless since the losing side of the case can just straight up refuse to pay you and there is nobody to enforce it

    You shouldn't have had to pay the Sheriff to do his job.

    "Very soon we are going to Mars. You wouldn't have been going to Mars if my opponent won, that I can tell you. You wouldn't even be thinking about it."

    Donald Trump, March 13th 2018.



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    #6
    con___manx1
    Registered Users Posts: 1,480 ✭✭✭con___manx1


    hire a debt collector to call around. there are some fairly scary ones that you can hire. even if you don't get your money you will scare the crap out of your old boss. its perfectly legal to hire a debt collector.


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    #7
    Rows Grower
    Registered Users Posts: 7,941 ✭✭✭Rows Grower


    con___manx1 wrote: »
    hire a debt collector to call around. there are some fairly scary ones that you can hire. even if you don't get your money you will scare the crap out of your old boss. its perfectly legal to hire a debt collector.

    Jesus Christ, Con.

    "Very soon we are going to Mars. You wouldn't have been going to Mars if my opponent won, that I can tell you. You wouldn't even be thinking about it."

    Donald Trump, March 13th 2018.



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    #8
    Dkhuts
    Registered Users Posts: 100 ✭✭Dkhuts


    Rows Grower wrote: »
    You shouldn't have had to pay the Sheriff to do his job.

    There is a sheriffs fee that you have to pay. Its not much but the sheriff is hopeless he literally goes down to the premises, says that they owe me money and they just tell him to leave


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    #9
    Dkhuts
    Registered Users Posts: 100 ✭✭Dkhuts


    con___manx1 wrote: »
    hire a debt collector to call around. there are some fairly scary ones that you can hire. even if you don't get your money you will scare the crap out of your old boss. its perfectly legal to hire a debt collector.
    Seems like the only way to be honest


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    #10
    lawrencesummers
    Registered Users Posts: 8,540 ✭✭✭lawrencesummers


    How is it that the sheriff not being able to do his job is the small claims courts issue?

    Surely your problem is with the sheriff?????


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    #11
    Claw Hammer
    Registered Users Posts: 6,205 ✭✭✭Claw Hammer


    You need to have the judgement registered in the Court Office and published in Stubbs gazette to have any chance of getting paid.
    You should also consider a garnishee order.


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    #12
    undertaker fan 88
    Registered Users Posts: 435 ✭✭undertaker fan 88


    I had a claim that took over a year to be sorted there through the small claims court but once I sent the letter to the business who up until now had ignored me repeatedly I had the cheque in the post within a few days. This was for a faulty 3 piece suite we paid 1800 for ( recliners keep failing ) . Got the full amount back and they didnt even want the couches back. They could have saved themselves a fortune as when we kept contacting them before the claim it was to repair the couches


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    #13
    Samuel T. Cogley
    Registered Users Posts: 10,684 ✭✭✭✭Samuel T. Cogley


    I was on the receiving end of a very effective Sheriff in Dublin some years ago. Basically started to take an inventory of the stuff he was going to seize out of the shop and got paid very quickly (by head office) indeed.


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    #14
    Rows Grower
    Registered Users Posts: 7,941 ✭✭✭Rows Grower


    Dkhuts wrote: »
    There is a sheriffs fee that you have to pay. Its not much but the sheriff is hopeless he literally goes down to the premises, says that they owe me money and they just tell him to leave

    Well if that is the case, which I doubt it is, the sheriff is not doing his job or does not know what his job is.

    "Very soon we are going to Mars. You wouldn't have been going to Mars if my opponent won, that I can tell you. You wouldn't even be thinking about it."

    Donald Trump, March 13th 2018.



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    #15
    Dkhuts
    Registered Users Posts: 100 ✭✭Dkhuts


    undertaker fan 88 wrote: »
    I had a claim that took over a year to be sorted there through the small claims court but once I sent the letter to the business who up until now had ignored me repeatedly I had the cheque in the post within a few days. This was for a faulty 3 piece suite we paid 1800 for ( recliners keep failing ) . Got the full amount back and they didnt even want the couches back. They could have saved themselves a fortune as when we kept contacting them before the claim it was to repair the couches
    So you just sent s copy of the letter that the small claims court issued you saying they owe you money and thei paid up?


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    #16
    Dkhuts
    Registered Users Posts: 100 ✭✭Dkhuts


    Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »
    I was on the receiving end of a very effective Sheriff in Dublin some years ago. Basically started to take an inventory of the stuff he was going to seize out of the shop and got paid very quickly (by head office) indeed.

    Now that sounds like a sheriff that does his job. The sheriff dealing with my case has told me that he keep going down and asking for the money and thats it... could be that he doesnt even go down to them atall

    Mod
    Careful. May be defamatory


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    #17
    con___manx1
    Registered Users Posts: 1,480 ✭✭✭con___manx1


    Dkhuts wrote: »
    Seems like the only way to be honest

    I know a guy who was involved in the building trade that owed money. he wasnt long about paying after they paid him a visit.


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    #18
    Discodog
    Registered Users Posts: 15,868 ✭✭✭✭Discodog


    con___manx1 wrote: »
    I know a guy who was involved in the building trade that owed money. he wasnt long about paying after they paid him a visit.

    Anyone in the building trade will tell you about the dreaded €5000 underpayment. Pay the bill, less €5000, & tell them you are dissatisfied with the work. Not worth trying to claim it back. A lot of builders allowed for it by inflating the quotes.

    The UK is much better. Get it transferred from the County Court to the High Court & call in private bailiffs.


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    #19
    Claw Hammer
    Registered Users Posts: 6,205 ✭✭✭Claw Hammer


    Discodog wrote: »

    The UK is much better. Get it transferred from the County Court to the High Court & call in private bailiffs.

    In the UK failure to pay an invoice without just cause is a Theft Act offence. people in the UK pay their bills or it is the magistrates curt and a probable jail sentence.


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