Wherein I'm Threatened With a Lawsuit

[Dave1982]

Ugh....I wanted to tell this guy to go shit in his hat....(not that he had one....nevermind)

It's a tax holiday in Massachusetts this weekend, and as a result we did triple our usual sales volume today. That meant I had no time to argue with an SC, so naturally one had to argue with me.

Guy and his wife were looking at chair mats. The guy was ranting and raving about how we didn't have the 3' x 4' one he wanted, and that the one he got before had cracked.

First, i tell him we DO have it, and point it out to him. He insisted it wasn't, and that it was a different mat, and that he got it in THIS store "a few months ago." (a pet peeve of mine)

Then I try to explain to him the common causes of chairmat failure (usually because people cheap out and get a mat that's way too thin for their carpet depth, but no one ever listens). He goes off even more about how no one ever told him that and that the documentation with the chair didn't say anything about it either (WHAT documentation? It comes with assembly instructions and the warranty info. That's it. Besides, that's for the CHAIR, not the MAT)

He repeats that he wants the same one he just purchased and it upset that I don't have it. This despite the fact that we are standing right next to it and I've pointed it out to him. OUr charmat lineup hasn't changed in YEARS, since around the time I started with the company. ANd also despite the fact that this mat he wants already failed him once.

Concluding that I had nothing more to offer him, I asked him if there was anything else I could help him with today.

SC: No, there isn't, so I guess I have no other option but to sue your company!!!!

Finally, mercifully, his wife took him by the arm and dragged him out of the store.

I wish him luck, especially considering that it probably would cost more just to file the suit than to buy a new chairmat.

[Mytical]

Everybody is sue happy, they want to try to win that 'lottery' with a lawsuit. It is sad.

[Fufu487]

Lol you can TRY and sue but.....i wouldn't suggest it

[Peppergirl]

Sue.

Over chair mats.

That were right there.


OMG - I am DYING...seriously.

[Kristev]

Lawsuits have a dirty little secret. They are expensive to file and quite hard to win.

[Mytical]

Lawsuits have a dirty little secret. They are expensive to file and quite hard to win.

And the Lawyer gets a huge chunk even if you win..but trying to explain logic to some SC's and EW's is not exactly easy.

[Bandit]

And the Lawyer gets a huge chunk even if you win

The only winners in every lawsuit are the lawyers.


B

[tropicsgoddess]

Lawsuits have a dirty little secret. They are expensive to file and quite hard to win.

Yep..

And the Lawyer gets a huge chunk even if you win..but trying to explain logic to some SC's and EW's is not exactly easy.

Doing that would make my head explode from hearing all the ass-backwards and half-baked logic that SC's and EW's have.

The only winners in every lawsuit are the lawyers.


B

So true....

[emax4]

Why do people insist on using the "sue" card? I can understand people being impulsive and just wanting the feeling of being right, but they must be so thick-headed to realize that even though they may sue, there's always a chance that they will not win.

[TonyDonuts]

Finally, mercifully, his wife took him by the arm and dragged him out of the store.

How many times do you supposed Long Suffering Spouse (tm) has heard some variant of this conversation?

And how many times do you suppose she's dragged Dumbass Spouse out of some public space so she could spend some quality time asking some variant of the question, "Do you think that someday we could go somewhere, ANYWHERE without you being a world-class ASS and embarrassing me? Someday? Anywhere? Hmmm?" Followed by the Wife Look that tells him that not only will there be no rumblytumbly fun time today, there will also be an extended discussion of the "Why in the hell did I ever marry you, anyway? My mom/dad/Miss Cleo was right about you" question.

Because some guys really seem to enjoy that. They must, right?

[MysticWench]

How many times do you supposed Long Suffering Spouse (tm) has heard some variant of this conversation?

And how many times do you suppose she's dragged Dumbass Spouse out of some public space so she could spend some quality time asking some variant of the question, "Do you think that someday we could go somewhere, ANYWHERE without you being a world-class ASS and embarrassing me? Someday? Anywhere? Hmmm?" Followed by the Wife Look that tells him that not only will there be no rumblytumbly fun time today, there will also be an extended discussion of the "Why in the hell did I ever marry you, anyway? My mom/dad/Miss Cleo was right about you" question.

Because some guys really seem to enjoy that. They must, right?

The man had to save face in front of his wife after realizing that he was wrong and attack the one who made him lose face. He wouldn't make it past the paralegal in most law offices (who would hang up the phone and tell everyone about the loser who just called - not that I've ever done that )

Of course a lawsuit is the new lottery. After all, didn't some lady get tons of money for spilling coffee in her lap? Nevermind that no one ever reads the FACTS of these cases, they just see $$ for every alleged wrong against them that didn't let them have their way.

[Boozy]

We've got a few posts here that are getting political.

Could we please focus on Dave's sucky customer? I don't want to see this thread get closed because people can't be bothered to read the rules.

Discussions of societal woes go to Fratching, please.

[Auto]

And the Lawyer gets a huge chunk even if you win..but trying to explain logic to some SC's and EW's is not exactly easy.

The lawyer only gets a huge chunk if the suit is on contingency. (Contingency means the lawyer fronts the money to pay expenses.) If you've got the money to pay the lawyer's hourly rate and the other expenses, you get to keep whatever the court awards you in damages.

Not only will lawyers not front the money for a SC's contingency suit, but 99.9% of all SCs don't even have what is called standing so that their whiny little matter merits being heard in a court of law.

What SCs don't realize is that being pissed off that the store is out of stock or the manager won't issue a refund doesn't mean they have standing to sue. So they're pissed off -- so what?

Even if we pretend they have standing to sue because a store was out of stock, the court will not be awarding them 6-figure damages. What they'll receive is a court order directing the store to have the item available the next time they to come in to buy. in other words, they spent $50,000 on legal fees (if not more) for a court order that is no different from driving to another store that has the them in stock.

Having someone threaten to sue because you didn't do as they demand is proof you're dealing with a dumbass.

All empty threats.

[Kristev]

Most of these matters would end up going to small claims, at best, anyway. The limit in small claims is usually, depending on your area, 3,000 or 5,000 dollars. Lawsuits are seldom the big cash bonanza people have been led to believe they are. The purpose of court is to make a wrong right, not to make yourself a millionaire.

As for your customer. Attempting to sue over chair mats? How absurd. The only way there'd be any real claim for that is if there were fraud in the inducement (lying about them to make a sale) or if she were injured with one. That one is store negligence, and a serious problem we always have to worry about at my job. Of course, at my job, our dumbbunny consumers are actually trying to slip and fall to get money out of it.

[Whiskey]

And the Lawyer gets a huge chunk even if you win..but trying to explain logic to some SC's and EW's is not exactly easy.

All SC's are lawyers.

edit: lawyers that write the law because everything a SC wants is the law.