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How To Take a Big Vendor To Small Claims and Win

Posted by kdawson on from the microsoft-tax-refund dept.

snydeq writes "Gripe Line's Christina Tynan-Wood offers good news for those harboring grievances about faulty software or unfair licensing practices: it is in fact possible to take a big vendor to small claims court and win. But, as one woman's fight against Adobe demonstrates, detailed evidence and a deep understanding of the laws in question are essential to obtaining justice against big vendor lawyers. 'Evidence is the key factor,' explains one legal expert. 'Often the evidence people present does not show what they think it does. And they fail to make themselves aware of the rules of evidence so they can introduce any evidence they do have in court. These companies will have attorneys and those attorneys will use the rules of civil procedure to take advantage of your lack of knowledge.' Moreover, they will spare little expense no matter the magnitude of claims brought against them. 'The lawyer for Adobe tried an "end-user is stupid" argument,' explains the woman who took on Adobe over a software license she never had the privilege of agreeing to. 'But he gave that up when he learned I wasn't a lame-brain home computer user. I have a software engineering background and worked for Sun Microsystems and Fidelity Investments tech group.'"

2 of 171 comments (clear)

  1. Having been in a similar situation before... by CaptainNerdCave · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It is in your best interest to have all/most of the evidence of your victimization in your control. Think of it as the company pleading the fifth amendment regarding the correspondence that proves their fault.

    Just like it's usually a waste of money to pay UPS or USPS to insure your package against their negligence.

    1. Re:Having been in a similar situation before... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      No, they do not have to explain why they are taking the fifth. As you say, that would defeat the purpose.

      (unfortunately speaking from experience)

      There have even been instances of people taking the fifth even though they *didn't* commit a criminal offense -- the point is that refusal to testify can't be used against you because they have no proof you did anything wrong. Personally, I now always refuse to talk to police, and take the fifth unless there's an extremely good reason. Another issue is that if you testify that you didn't do the thing in question, they might be able to use that as an admission of guilt of a totally unrelated charge. I don't know all the laws, how the heck am I supposed to know whether or not I'm admitting to some bullshit law from the 1840s that some DA wants to get me on because they're pissed that I didn't actually do anything wrong.