My day in court

[Heisthebride]

I have written before about my almost wedding that I had to cancel because the dress designer took my deposit spent months working on the dress and then disappeared two weeks before it was supposed to be done. I finally got my day in court and true to her disappearing ways, she didn't show up. Which means, I win. I received a summary default judgement.

I thought I would have to speak out about my wedding dress debacle in front of about ten strangers in the court, which I was prepared to do but the judge was very subtle, he read my complaint, asked for a receipt and never made comment about my dress or complaint to the general public.

Now I still have to try to collect but thats the fun part as far as I'm concerned. Step one, her credit rating.

A good rule of thumb, never mess with a bride to be.

[lalajulep]

That's an amazing story...mainly because of the moral.

Glad to hear the judge was sympathetic. I would hope MOST judges would be.

[Toni Citara]

Congrats and best wishes getting your money back!!

[sterling12]

Over The Years, I've heard a lot of stories about "rip-offs" against transgendered people. SOME merchants think that we will avoid confrontation because we want our anonymity. They figure we won't complain, and thus we are "fair game" for bad service, bad merchandise, and outright fraud.

Glad to see that you fought back. By all means, effect her credit rating, get a court order to garnish her bank accounts, make her aware that she can't get away with it. You all had a contract. Any merchant or individual should understand that a contract is binding! There just aren't many reasons that someone can default. I know I raise Hell on Ebay when occasionally somebody does something deliberate. I've gone through The Arbitration Process, and have not been ashamed to get fair treatment.

When it's justified, sure hope your story inspires others within our community to do the same.

Peace and Love, Joanie

[giuseppina]

Congrats on the summary judgment.

There are lots of questions you can ask of this woman. These comments apply to Canadian law, which may or may not apply in your case. This comes from a problem with one of my father's customers he took to court over an unpaid bill, a case he won in similar circumstances to yours. As usual, this DOES NOT constitute legal advice. Only a lawyer can provide same.

You can ask that she be summoned to appear to answer to answer to the judgment. If the judge signs a commital order, she gets thrown in jail for contempt of court if she doesn't appear. If you didn't, you could have claimed pre-judgment interest on your money out of pocket.

You can ask about any saleable chattels she may have, including but not limited to cars, boats, motorcycles, sewing machines (rather vindictive, but if that's all she has, so be it), or anything else that is of value. If she doesn't have the money to pay the judgment, you can ask the court to order her to sell the chattels within a specified time period. These may be business or personal assets; the judge likely won't care. If she doesn't get what she thinks is fair market value or sells her assets for pennies on the dollar, it is not your problem or the courts. If she complains to the court about this, I suspect the judge will take a dim view. After all, she did this to herself.

If she doesn't appear a second time, I suspect the judge would be amenable to tacking on your costs including taking time off work to present your case.

I'm not sure I would accept a dress from her as reimbursement at this point, but that is up to you.

It may be worth consulting a lawyer for advice on what your rights are now that you have obtained a judgment against her.

If she tries to appeal the judgment, she may be causing more trouble for herself.

This will likely come across as cold and harsh, but she has to accept the consequences of her actions or lack thereof. I'm afraid I don't have much sympathy for those who think they can break contracts without compensation to the other party.

The rule of law must be upheld. Good luck in enforcing your judgment.