My Experience with Small Claims Court

Much More than the Money, It's the Principle

Photo by Nathan Lemon on Unsplash

I have never been in a court of law — as either a plaintiff or a defendant (I have served on a jury). My first and, I must admit, natural inclination to being wronged in a relatively minor way is to just shrug it off — complain a little about it, maybe, but then gradually forget about it and “let it go,” shelving it as a “lesson learned.”

An example of that “whateverness” I sometimes incline toward occurred approximately 20 years ago when we took a ride on an amphibious vehicle (land/water) somewhat like a large jeep and a smallish passenger boat. This was in the Wisconsin Dells; the vehicles are called “Wisconsin Ducks.” In the middle of the forest (between the parking lot and the river), the driver stopped the vehicle. We were “trapped” in the sense that if we rebelled and got out, not only would we miss out on our anticipated ride down the Wisconsin River, but we’d also have to hike back to the embarkation point. 

The driver whined to us that he was a poor college student, and this part-time job he had driving Ducks wasn’t cutting it for him, finances-wise, and passed around a collection plate (actually a bag). Nobody uttered a protest, but some if not most made a donation. This was basically highway robbery, or at best a form of extortion. 

What did I do? I don’t recall exactly, but I think I dropped in a buck or two. What should I have done? Called him out, or made a show of asking my wife if she had a dime on her — and then contacted the company to let them know how we had been treated. 

I think part of the passive submission on the part of the crowd was due to the fact that our lives were basically in this guy’s hands (he could deliberately sink the vessel if he chose), and he obviously had no shame, so … who knows what might have happened? 

Enough times of being played for the fool, and you get where you don’t want to take it any more.

Not this time, though. It’s not really about the money. After all, it’s only $150, and I will probably have to pay a fair percentage of that just to get the case heard (not counting the time it will cost me to prepare my case and be there in court [time is money, after all], nor the expenditure in travel expenses, and so forth).

As it is a small amount being wrangled over, it will be heard in “Small Claims Court,” and thus I will represent myself.

I do realize that, even if I win the case, I may never get the money. That’s what happened to my father: Although a policeman (a decorated CHP officer, in fact), he sometimes tends to be (in my opinion) overly trustful of people. I want to trust people, and it is my first inclination to do so, but I’m a little more skeptical or cynical about people than my father tends to be (surprising, perhaps, considering his experiences as a policeman, where people lie to you as if they were born to it).

On the occasion under discussion, my father sold a vehicle to someone who said he couldn’t afford to pay him all the money right then, but would pay the balance over time, and my dad signed over the pink slip to him (yes, big mistake). To make a long story short, the new owner of the vehicle never paid the balance owed. My dad took him to Small Claims Court and won the case, but never got another cent from the parasite.

Therefore, I’m not going into this thing overly confident that I will ultimately get paid the money owed me, but I will get compensated in a different way: I’ll expose the deadbeats, have my say, and know that I did my part to be a good citizen.

“How is taking someone to court being a good citizen?” you may wonder. Sticking up for your rights and not allowing them to be trampled on is the point behind one of my favorite Mark Twain stories, Traveling with a Reformer. Part 1 of that story is here; part 2 is here. I was definitely influenced by that tale, and its moral, to pursue justice in this small way. If you let people get away with taking advantage of you, they will keep doing it — doing you wrong, if you let them, and certainly taking advantage of others, too.

Okay, so what, exactly, is this about? The following:

On June 6th, 2023, I gave my Mark Twain performance at Merrill Gardens, an assisted living community in Monterey, California. I wrote about it here (combined with my report of two similar performances at affiliated locations in both Monterey and Salinas). The agreed-upon fee for the performance was $150. It has been almost three months (today is August 26th, 2023), and I have not been paid my performance fee.

Here is a recap of what happened, in chronological order, which will serve as my “exhibits” in court (or my talking points, as I explain the situation):

I arranged with Merrill Gardens for the performance by contacting them in May, offering to do my show there, telling them that I had done the performance at their “sister location,” Park Lane, and that it was well received there. They agreed on my doing a show at Merrill Gardens, too, and we agreed on June 13th. Later, they reached out to me with the request to change the date from June 13th to June 6th. I responded:

Yes, the 6th actually works better for me than the 13th, so the 6th at Merrill Gardens at 3:30 it is!

I even offered to cancel the show if that was better for them. They declined.

So I then gave the performance on June 6th, as agreed upon. Following the show, I left without having someone on hand or at the reception desk pay me, as had happened on the two previous occasions; I (perhaps naively) reasoned that they were going to send me a check post haste. I wasn’t really worried about it.

After a week or two, I sent them a reminder email, and then another one after a couple of more weeks. After receiving no reply, I sent an old-fashioned (“snail mail”) invoice. They responded to that and claimed that the W-9 that I had sent earlier was not signed. I don’t believe that was really the case (stalling tactic?), but I went ahead and sent them another W-9.

Then I waited; then waited some more. I emailed yet again; still no response. So finally, on July 23rd, I sent them a message via their website. I got this as a verification that they had received my message:

Below is a summary of your submission:

First Name:

Clay

Last Name:

Shannon

Email:

[elided]

Phone:

[elided]

Message (500 character limit):

Hello. I sent the following email two weeks ago (Monday, July 10th) to the Activities Director (at [elided]@merrillgardens.com) with whom I corresponded previously to set up my performance, but haven't heard back. ========== Hello, [elided]. I performed my Mark Twain show at Merrill Gardens last month (June 6th to be precise), but have not yet received the $150 payment for it. I believe I sent you the necessary paperwork (invoice and tax form). Is there anything else you need from me?

It was July 31st, 2023, that I sent them the invoice along with this cover letter (contact info and names elided):

RE: Mark Twain Performance June 6, 2023

To whom it may concern,

Enclosed is an invoice for my Mark Twain performance on June 6, 2023. I was told I would be sent a check within three weeks, and it has been almost two months. I emailed the Activities Director several weeks ago ([name] at [email]@merrillgardens.com) with no response, and a week or so ago also sent a message via your web site about this matter.

As mentioned in that email and my message via your website, I had already provided the tax form and the invoice previously.

Please pay this agreed-upon amount by check to Clay Shannon at my address above.

Finally, I gave them one more chance to make it right and sent them this a few days ago (on August 24, 2023):

Hello, As it has been months and I have still not been paid for my June 6th Mark Twain performance (without even a response to my last two emails), I have decided to take the matter to small claims court. I or the court will inform you when the hearing will be held.  

Their response was almost funny:

Good afternoon Clay,

Thank you for your interest in Merrill Gardens at Monterey. I received your request for more information about our community. Per your request, I am attaching some information to highlight just a few of the features of our community.

We are a new (6 years old), vibrant Independent and Assisted Living community, right in the heart of beautiful city of Monterey. Our community offers All-day Dining, a comprehensive active living program, and is within close distance to restaurants, beaches, shopping, and much more.   We have studios, one bedroom and two bedroom apartments to choose from. The apartments begin at $4,195. per month and include 3 meals a day, weekly housekeeping, laundering of linens, scheduled transportation and utilities. 

As you are searching for senior living options, I recommend visiting in person, so you can ask detailed questions and get a feel for the community.  You can see different apartment types, learn more about pricing, and see how the residents and team members engage in the community. I do have appointments available this week, – so please reach out and we can schedule your tour.

In the meantime, please do not hesitate to let me know how I can be of assistance. I am happy to be a resource for you. You may also visit our website at www.merrillgardens.com click on the Monterey community to view pictures of our beautiful  community.

Warmest Regards,

[ Name and contact info elided ]

I responded this way, and have not received a response:

Thank you for the information, but that’s not what my message was about. Please read it more carefully: I am planning on taking Merrill Gardens to small claims court.

It’s also somewhat humorous that since I have contacted them via their website, they continue to send me advertisements and “informercial” emails about their place. They ignore paying me, but they sure want me to pay them!

I will update this article as things transpire. My next step is to contact the court, and see what paperwork they require, pay the fee, etc. I will keep y’all updated on what happens from here on out.

It should prove interesting.

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UPDATE 8/27/2023

As a final attempt to avoid going to court, if possible, I sent this email just now (Sunday morning, August 27th, 2023):

Hello,

This is to let you know (again) that I am going to get into contact with the Small Claims Court this week (Monday 8/28 or Tuesday 8/29) regarding my unpaid fee ($150) for the Mark Twain performance I gave there on June 6th, 2023.

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UPDATE 8/28/2023

I (finally!) received a check from them today. I had earlier in the day called the local Small Claims Court people to set up an appointment to talk to them, and left a message. Then, after I received the check in the mail, the court called back. So they served their purpose as a threat, apparently.

The moral of the story: Sometimes you have to shake a shark (warn people that you are going to “lawyer up”) to get their attention.

All’s well that ends well, I guess. It’s interesting (to me; YMMV) that Mark Twain’s reformer example helped me get paid for portraying him.

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