ok I have an update.court process was today,and I honestly felt like I was being railroaded by the judge.basically he said that my expenses were unreasonable(I have 3 kids,and he seemed to think that it was reasonable for me to leave my wife and kids home alone with no phone etc.and my argument that hang on if one of the kids was hurt etc. and she couldn't do shit was perfectly ok.)anyway the upshot of all of that was that he didn't seem to think that a 11 hour drive to the courtroom should be punctuated by a nights layover,and the fact ive driven fuck knows how many kilometers is irrelevant.
when I figured that the judge had set aside the default order in the previous hearing(and unknown to myself also makes that judgement invalid,not just set aside to give ct a chance to reply),then I got the distinct impression that things were about to turn even nastier than they were already.
even cts lawyer dropped their previous offer from $5k to $2k based im assuming on what the judge was saying.
hell he even said that he could FINE me if I had no intention of settling at that point.wasnt nice.
so at the end of the day I ended up offering to settle at $5k. the ct lawyer agreed and I now have to release them from my claim.leaves a bit of a nasty taste in my mouth,but hell at the end of it all I managed to eke out $5k for a $350 generator because they refused to exchange/refund me.maybe I could have done things a little differently,but I seriously got the feeling that all was not right there.as it stands,i have not officially released ct from the claim so im under no obligation whatsoever to censor what I really think,and I believe that ive said that here.
anyway lesson learned.NEVER BUY SOMETHING FROM CANADIAN TIRE THAT CARRIES A REPAIR ONLY WARRANTY.
obviously once ive signed the release I will no longer be able to legally comment on the matter,but believe me I will be voicing my opinion on any matter that does not directly concern this!!
Hi, 1wildhorse:
Congratulations on the successful outcome of your lawsuit!
You bought a crappy $350 generator, that was misrepresented as being functional, and you were able to file a lawsuit and get $5,000 in compensation. That's terrific!
(I, too, am disappointed that the judge didn't want to award you the full cost of your family to travel, etc. I suppose the onus is on the plaintiff to 'mitigate the damages' by not incurring extra costs that could have been avoided. I see your point about your family, but it might be a bad precedent to allow too much cost in that way? I.e., it wasn't the defendant's fault your family had to travel with you? Just an idea).
I think this a good example of why we don't hear more about lawsuits such as yours, when Crappy Tire ignores Consumer Protection laws, and leaves their customers stuck with the defective products.
Our legal system tries to get people to settle 'out of court', so the guilty party can make an offer, and as long as the judge thinks it's reasonable, the judge can pressure the customer to take the offer.
So, as long as Crappy Tire is willing to open their wallet for each case, they can avoid having their dirty laundry exposed in open court, and end up on CanLii. This works well for each individual consumer, and of course it allows Crappy Tire to keep telling consumers "sorry, no refund".
But in the bigger view, the system isn't working, because CT is being allowed to just refuse to give the next customer the required refund for the next defective generator, etc.
Regarding the 'fraud', I think I posted about that. Civil court is really not set up to address a criminal matter. You might consider going to the police with your judgment (can your agreement prevent you from reporting a crime? I think they can't do that!) And if the police won't listen, you can try a Justice of the Peace, who could start an action if there is evidence of a crime.
Oh: one last thing - were there any details or statements from the judge that back up the "illegal" aspect of CT's actions? For instance, did the judge quote any specific sections of the CPA or SOGA? That might help others with their cases!
You've already heard from highborn. And I, too, am very proud and thankful that you invested your time, effort and money, with the noble goal of righting an obvious injustice, for the benefit of all Canadians. Your story has also informative and educational.
(I see that the only people who will be happy that it didn't go to court, is The Moaner - no surprise there - what's bad for their victims is good for The Moaner!)
Well, thank you very much, 1wildhorse, for all your efforts, on behalf of your fellow Canadian consumers! Your posts and insights will be very valuable to those who fall victim to this Crappy rip-off!
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