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Tuesday, May 10, 2011

In College Kid v. Big Companies, Small Claims Court Key To Big Satisfaction

Christopher Akinyemi hates feeling like a company has taken advantage of him. Like the rest of us, he gets angry at what seems like a constant stream of broken products, ignored warranties, screwed up reservations, endless phone calls and unwanted email.  But unlike most of us, the 22-year-old college student in Indiana puts his anger to good use.

He takes the culprits to small claims court.

He's filed a dozen cases in the past few years, and wins nearly all the time.  In 10 of the 12 cases, he said, companies have settled and sent cold, hard cash rather than a team of lawyers to fight him in court.

"I've stood up for the average Joe since I was 18. I put my foot down," said Akinyemi. "I have a heart for justice in business. ... I'm on a mission to show you don't have to pay a lawyer $225 an hour to get your voice heard."

For a trivial court fee -- usually $76 in Indiana -- Akinyemi often gets himself settlement checks of $500 or more. He also gets something most of us rarely taste: satisfaction.

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

How do you file a small claims court action in Salisbury? There are plenty of businesses here that are good at screwing over the customer.