- Jurisdiction
- New Hampshire
Background:
I ordered two bikes from the retailor W three weeks ago for store pick-up. When I went to pick them up, I asked if they were assembled. They said no. I asked them to have the bikes assembled. They took my phone number and told me that I would get a call when they were ready. They also mentioned that the assembler was on vacation so there may be a delay. In the subsequent three weeks, I called the store a handful of times to inquire the status of the bikes. The reps always told me that they'd check and call me back, but they never did. I finally had enough today and asked to speak with a supervisor to call me back. The supervisor finally called back after a six-hour wait, and told me that she couldn't find my bikes in the store. She believed what happened was that when the assembler was on vacation, they hired external help to assemble the bikes. The external help put the assembled bikes on the sales floor and were subsequently purchased by others. The supervisor processed a refund for the original order.
After I hung up with the supervisor, I thought about it more and now believe I deserve compensation because
1. Those bikes were my property as I had already paid for them (and in their record shown as 'picked up'); they sold them without my consent.
2. Bikes are extremely difficult to locate for a reasonable price right now. The bikes I ordered were already out of stock, and the supervisor said that there's no visibility when they'd be re-stocked, if ever. In order to get a similar bike, I will have to pay 2x - 3x the price at other outlets.
3. The emotional stress in the past three weeks and into the future, until I get the replacement bikes, as my kids had been on my tail for their new bikes for months, and they are utterly disappointed by W's snafu.
Questions
1. Does this sound like a winning case (i.e the chance of a decision for me is greater than 50%) if I brought it to my local small claims court?
2. Should I sue the W headquarter or W the local store?
3. Is it reasonable to include compensation for emotional stress in the claim?
I think I will call the store again tomorrow to ask to speak with the store manager and see if s/he can make it right. Just trying to plan the next steps if the store manager refuses to compensate me.
Thanks in advance!
I ordered two bikes from the retailor W three weeks ago for store pick-up. When I went to pick them up, I asked if they were assembled. They said no. I asked them to have the bikes assembled. They took my phone number and told me that I would get a call when they were ready. They also mentioned that the assembler was on vacation so there may be a delay. In the subsequent three weeks, I called the store a handful of times to inquire the status of the bikes. The reps always told me that they'd check and call me back, but they never did. I finally had enough today and asked to speak with a supervisor to call me back. The supervisor finally called back after a six-hour wait, and told me that she couldn't find my bikes in the store. She believed what happened was that when the assembler was on vacation, they hired external help to assemble the bikes. The external help put the assembled bikes on the sales floor and were subsequently purchased by others. The supervisor processed a refund for the original order.
After I hung up with the supervisor, I thought about it more and now believe I deserve compensation because
1. Those bikes were my property as I had already paid for them (and in their record shown as 'picked up'); they sold them without my consent.
2. Bikes are extremely difficult to locate for a reasonable price right now. The bikes I ordered were already out of stock, and the supervisor said that there's no visibility when they'd be re-stocked, if ever. In order to get a similar bike, I will have to pay 2x - 3x the price at other outlets.
3. The emotional stress in the past three weeks and into the future, until I get the replacement bikes, as my kids had been on my tail for their new bikes for months, and they are utterly disappointed by W's snafu.
Questions
1. Does this sound like a winning case (i.e the chance of a decision for me is greater than 50%) if I brought it to my local small claims court?
2. Should I sue the W headquarter or W the local store?
3. Is it reasonable to include compensation for emotional stress in the claim?
I think I will call the store again tomorrow to ask to speak with the store manager and see if s/he can make it right. Just trying to plan the next steps if the store manager refuses to compensate me.
Thanks in advance!