Getting Sued

When things go wrong in business, one of the sentences you can expect from a customer is “im going to sue you”. I have personally been threatened once before in the past which you can read about in one of our previous articles titled making business mistakes. It is generally what a customer says when they have run out of other options and most of the time they are just blowing off steam. However, some do follow through and actually do sue you.

Although I have never personally been sued so my advice is second hand, what I can tell you is to keep great documentation. It costs hundreds of dollars at a lawyer so you will also want to keep your visits there to a minimum. Documentation can consist of receipts, written agreements, quotes, invoices, phone records and any other notes you may have made.

If there is a chance to settle your differences out of court you should probably take it. Going to court is not just about losing your money which only goes to the lawyers anyway, its about losing your time that you could be back in the shop earning money and the stress associated with the whole process. If the issues between you and your customer are emotionally charged and you cant deal with it like civilized adults then there is always the option of arbitration where someone will be the middleman/messenger for you for a fee.

If you do decide to take it to court its still highly possible to win but still lose. The only winners will be the lawyers.

“So you win, you were right all along and the client has to pay you $2000 for the laptop you sold them. Good for you. Unfortunately the lawyers bill is $10,000.”

If the “I’m going to sue you” situation arises for you I recommend you remain calm (although its hard sometimes), try to put yourself in their shoes and hear them out. I am not recommending that you bend over backwards for them, but you need to work out whether holding your ground is worth it for you. If you did screw up, tell them that you are very sorry for the inconvenience and you would like to offer them a free wireless optical mouse. A $30 mouse is a lot cheaper for you than a $10,000 lawsuit. Even if you didnt screw up, $30 to make them go away is a cheap price to pay.

If push does come to shove and they insist on suing you. Cut all contact with them and tell them that you will wait to hear from their solicitor. In my own experience when I said this to my client, the solicitors letter never came.