This is the fourth installment of my ongoing Small Claims Court Experience...
The need for going to small claims court has ended since, as of yesterday, I received payment in full from the company. While it would have been educational to have my “day in court,” I still learned a lot about the process of filing a claim, serving a defendant, and all the other fun stuff that is required when moving to small claims court. So I guess I got the best of both worlds - a bit of education and payment in full!
Hopefully the company has learned its lesson - don't keep those you owe money to in the dark. About one week after I filed the paperwork for small claims court I heard from the company for the first time since Feb./March of this year (other than me barging into their offices back in June). They called and said, essentially, “Partial payment has been sent, should be in the mail today, we'll send more later this week.” Sure enough, payment was in the mailbox that afternoon and another check later in the week. There were another two partial payments, with the last one arriving yesterday.
The whole reason there was frustration - frustration that boiled over into action - was because this company was giving me the runaround by not returning phone calls or answering emails. All it would have taken was a polite and apologetic explanation. I also had a chance to talk to other instructors who have also reported receiving partial payment (haven't followed up to check if they've been repaid in full). So things righted themselves in the end, fortunately.
Thanks for the interest/suggestions/comments from those reading my assorted blog entries on this topic, as well as a thanks to Carl Starett, a local San Diegan blogging lawyer who exchanged a few emails with me, answering assorted newbie questions.
A complete list of blog entries related to this topic can be found at My Small Claims Court Experience and through Going Independent category. Your feedback is most welcome - please leave a comment or drop me a line.