I don’t know rosered55 - we took a landlord to small claims court - she claimed we damaged the carpet in her house and withheld our security deposit. She had pictures and everything. What she didn’t realize was that the day we moved out, we had about a half dozen friends helping us move; they saw the carpet when the place was empty and said no way was that there the day we moved out; they were witnesses for us in court. Funny thing was, the house was on a lake, and she’d let her college and adult kids use the house for the summer if they didn’t have renters during those months. So we moved out in May, and the kids were there for the summer - we had the next door neighbors as our witnesses that wild parties went on that summer, but there was no proof that the kids caused the damage. We won our case. My husband represented us, and they had a lawyer, but we won.
I say if you’ve got the time, go for it. I think as long as you swear under oath that the iPad was there when they arrived, and gone when they left, and no one else had been in the house, you have a good case, especially when you add in the part about the charger.
Collecting a small claims judgment can be a hassle, but it’s a much bigger hassle for the other party. If you get a judgment I think they’ll pay. I just don’t see much chance of prevailing in small claims court, which is a civil, as opposed to criminal, court. This isn’t a contractual dispute; you’re accusing them of theft, and you have no proof.
Yes, it is a civil court. The defendant here should be the cleaning company. The cause of action? As rosesred said, breach of duty. The company owed the OP a duty to clean her house without causing damages. The co breached this duty, and the breach resulted in the loss of OP’s iPad. Obviously, there are damages.
BTW, theft does not mean a prosecutor has to be involved; there is a tort called “conversion” - it is just a fancy way of saying “theft.” So there is a civil cause of action against thieves. But in a civil court, plaintiffs usually go after the deeper pockets… The co is vicariously liable for the actions of its employees, the co should be on the hook here.
Disclaimer - I am not a lawyer, I just happen to hang out with lawyers. The above stated opinions are purely mine and should not be construed as legal advice.
BTW, I am very mad about what happened to the OP! Eons ago, someone swiped an iPod from Mr.'s car.:. Mr. was counting his lucky stars that he forgot to lock the car that day. Other cars that were targeted by thieves had damage to them - broken glass littered the parking lot. I feel your pain, fireandrain.
The cost to file in small claims in my state is $75. According to state statute, “Notice shall be valid although refused by the defendant, and therefore not delivered.” I’ll double check this, but that suggests to me that I won’t have to pay for process servers, etc.
I also did a search and discovered that on the day of this incident (I’m sure coincidental) the company incorporated in my state with a different name. The owner’s name is the same, but the address is now different than the website. So now I have to figure out which address to use.
I understand that this case is not cut and dry, that an objective observer (like a judge) doesn’t know me and could determine that I’m lying.
I also know that I as much as I’d like to announce to the world that this company employs thieves, I have to be more circumspect. But I think if I give the facts of the situation as I’ve described here, people can draw their own conclusions. I sure wouldn’t hire this company after hearing about my story.
The total cost comes to just under $1000 – because I’m including the cost to have a locksmith rekey my locks.
Call the company again and leave a message. Tell them you want the ipad and charger back . No questions asked.
If you get it back in its original condition within the next ten days you will not move forward with a lawsuit.
Who knows? It’s worth a try and doesn’t cost you a dime.
I do wonder what else is missing that you have not noticed. X(
@sax – I wondered that, too. There is one other thing that is missing, a small purse that had a few extra batteries for my camera. I assume I misplaced it. If they took that, joke’s on them, there’s nothing of value in there. There was a very expensive camera sitting right out in the open, but that wasn’t taken (and that cost more than the iPad, and can’t be locked down and traced if stolen). I checked all my jewelry, nothing gone (although I don’t own any expensive jewelry, nothing worth more than $75).
A few years back, I filed in small claims account against a woman who had plowed into me while skiing. I was the downhill skier and she was clearly in the wrong. She apologized and gave me her phone number. I tore my MCL badly. I didn’t need surgery, but I had a lot of physical therapy. My costs came to about $1,200. I sent her a letter with all the documentation, and she refused to pay me! Her husband called mine, ha, and said, “Your wife isn’t a very good skier, and my wife didn’t see her.” ?!? I was skiing on the bunny hill, and wearing a bright turquoise ski suit. My 7-year-old daughter, skiing next to me, was wearing a white ski outfit - it was just luck she wasn’t hit.
At that point I filed the claim. Two days before the court date, her homeowners’ insurance company called. “It’s kind of a gray area…” the guy started out, and I informed him that, no, it was actually quite black and white, and I had a photo of the sign showing the area being marked as “SLOW SKIING ZONE.” So he said they would pay me if I canceled the court date. I said I would after receiving a check by overnight delivery. They sent the check and I was done with it.
It was worth the hassle, but I hope I never have to repeat it. It was emotionally exhausting.
I would terminate the relationship with the cleaning company and move on. How do you prove that their people stole your iPad? In the absence of that proof why should they be obligated to pay? Other than good will for a long time customer, which in itself should be sufficient motivation, unless there are mitigating factors.
How can a small claims court decision go your way if you cannot substantiate that the cleaning company’s employee’s stole your property?
Unfortunately the truth only matters if you can substantiate it. You also need to be very careful about negative reviews based on things that you cannot substantiate, you may find yourself on the wrong end of a defamation suit.
Unfortunately I would also not make an insurance claim. Other posters were correct, you do not want to make small claims. If the deductible on you Homeowners policy is less than $1000 increase it to that or more immediately, take the premium savings and create the circumstances that reduce the likelihood of the desire to file a small claim in the future.
GreatKid, I can write a negative review by just stating the facts and people can draw their own conclusions. I have plenty of other negative things I can say about the company, too.
As I’ve said, it’s definitely not a slam-dunk win in Small Claims. I think there is enough circumstantial evidence, though. Remember, my husband was in the house the entire time. No one else entered the house. And the device is gone. I reported it immediately. People have been convicted on a lot less.
When we renovated I had some jewelry, video games etc stolen. The contractor got back 2 gold bracelets, but I still lost my class ring…irreplaceable. The rest we just gave up on. About $2k of stuff:(. Also the first nice piece my exH ever bought me-saph and dia bracelet…gone!
I am much more cautious as it relates to things like this in regard to the potential for countersuits.
Are you aware MomofWildChild what the parameters are for public declarations of things of this nature? What are we allowed to say about business’s or individuals without having them have recourse?
Also, what is the burden of proof in small claims court? Or is your thinking that just the pursuit of the small claims court procedure will be sufficient motivation to have the cleaning business owner pay?
This would not be a slander or libel situation. The OP has a strong story to tell. Yes, she would have the burden of proof. GreatKid- you are totally over-thinking this. Small claims court is just that! It’s an avenue for fairly small grievances to be adjudicated. Sometimes it is worthwhile and sometimes it turns out to be a waste of time. You miss all the shots you don’t try, though. My company got sued by a plaintiff who didn’t put gas in his piece of farm equipment and burned it up. There were large labels on it directing to put gas in it before use. We offered him a new one (good customer service) even before he sued. He wanted TWO units as a replacement. Um, no. He died before we got to court. We are giving his estate one replacement unit. I realize the OP’s cleaning company obviously isn’t into customer relations, but there is really nothing to be lost by filing the suit.
Moreover, in small claims court, you just tell your story. The defendant tells his/her/its story. You don’t have to use words like conversion, or breach of duty, or breach of contract. You just say what happened. You really don’t have to know what legal “cause of action” you have/don’t have.
I would try to find out whether there have been other claims against this company. Google and ask at the courthouse if there’s a way to find out. The fact that there’s a name change suggests that there may be other complaints out there. You may be able to get a small claims adjudicator to take them into account.
@fireandrain Also, having just googled some related terms, I have an idea that hadn’t crossed my mind before. Notify local pawn shops of the theft. It seems at least one thief in your area PAWNED the ipads he stole and two others PAWNED stolen jewelry. All 3 were cleaners.
No- he really did die. He was an elderly lawyer with cancer and very eccentric. It was a small town in Alabama. He had been a very prominent person in the town. The whole thing was bizarre. I got my facts confused, though. I just settled it (last week) by sending a refund check to the estate and not another unit. We had offered the original plaintiff the new unit. The estate is giving us back the old unit. Maybe we can fix it.
