Just one more observation on the strategy of Small Claims court. If you do not receive the coin that was pictured online and litigation is necessary be sure and sue the dealer for the value of the coin or up to the limit of the small claims (in Missouri it is $5000.00). Chances are that the dealer will not even show up if it is out of their state. This means a default judgement. If they do show, it will be a no brainer to prove the switched coin with the photos printed out on quality photo papers.
Also, convince your coin dealer or other experts (coin club members / officials) to come with you to court. Pay them a fee to make it worth while for them to take a few hours off work and use them as expert witnesses (say 10 - 15% of your settlement). Most people who love coin collecting will agree to do this just for the sheer joy of hammering a dishonest dealer.
Usually none of this is necessary as either the DD (Dishonest Dealer) will be a no show or will call you and settle out of court. If they want to settle, always insist on getting the coin pictured! Nothing less!And keep all of this correspondence in writing (send RRR via post). When the DD refuses it will make it easier to prove you case in the courts. The real strategy is to get them into court or a default judement, not just take a settlement. If you get a default judgement then you can go after their assets.
If enough people do this and receive favorable judgements against them we can pursue getting them restrained or shut down from
ebay (or other online vendors) by providing court documents to the online auction. If the online vendor refuses to do so they can also be held liable for providing a forum for the DD's to continue hurting consumers.
I for one am angry at the likes of SGS and other meaningless slabbers and will do everything in my power to get them stopped. With this strategy it will be possible to take a DD's dishonesty and turn it against them.
I have been to court several times and have yet to lose a case. The court costs are are minimal to get things started and the satisfaction is priceless!
Posted 10/21/2006 10:04 am
