Taking a foreign company to a small claims court

Hermione_Granger

lincroft1710 wrote: »

If they don't reply it costs £25 to use MoneyClaimOnline. Yes you can claim this back, but even if judgement is in your favour, how on earth are you going to enforce payment???

There are plenty of debt collection companies in the USA and I'm sure there will be a bidding war to see which one gets the right to go after the outstanding £1.52

Sarah1987

bazzyb wrote: »

You mentioned that in your first post, hence why I suggested some other options for you...

Thanks! Sorry I didn't notice the quoted part. I wasn't aware of that dispute service so will give that a try first

stuartJo1989

lincroft1710 wrote: »

Do you honestly believe a USA company would bother responding to a court hearing for £1.52??? You first have to send a Letter Before Action, and that'll cost you an absolute minimum of £1.47, which you can't reclaim.

If they don't reply it costs £25 to use MoneyClaimOnline. Yes you can claim this back, but even if judgement is in your favour, how on earth are you going to enforce payment???

I think that a company like Steam would pay if a CCJ was issued against them to be honest! But can the UK small claims court issue a CCJ against an American company?

The OP does have to compete with the Ts and Cs of the steam marketplace too:

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=6088-UDXM-7214#refund

Steam wrote:

How can I reverse or cancel a completed Community Market transaction and/or get a refund?
All purchases are final – you will not have any right to a refund or a reversal of any Community Market transaction once it is completed.

So yea, the OP would need evidence of there being a system issue at the time of purchasing. Screenshot would probably suffice (which they probably don't have).

OP, you are out of your mind here I will tell you why; you have to pick your battles in life! If you want to pick a fight with them, you'll immediately be out of pocket and will have no certainty over winning. Whilst I *get* that the company (or the marketplace - maybe someone like you got the money?) shouldn't be charging you double, the amount is insignificant. You may, upon taking this to court, find that suddenly your Steam account has a black mark against it and you can no longer play your favourite games All for £1.52.... That's a very real possibility, even if you instead decide to take the chargeback route.

I've seen this sort of double charging issue happen for items worth £10s or £100s and those are the ones you fight. Not the £1.52 ones.

Good luck if you decide to go to court (ring CAB for advice) but really don't be surprised if a ban on steam follows...

societys_child

Would have thought any court action would need to be brought against the company, in the USA?

LilElvis

Why not do the really obvious and contact your card provider before going OTT.

steampowered

In legal terms, you are able to serve UK court documents on a USA address. This is known as service outside of the jurisdiction. There is an additional form you would need to file to confirm that service has been made. It also affects the timescales.

Also read Steam's T&Cs:

For EU Customers:

In the event of a dispute relating to the interpretation, the performance or the validity of the Subscriber Agreement, an amicable solution will be sought before any legal action. You can file your complaint at http://help.steampowered.com. In case of failure, you may, within one year of the failed request, file an online complaint on the European Commission’s Online Dispute Resolution website: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/odr/main/index.cfm?event=main.home.chooseLanguage, or on the European Consumer Center’s website: http://www.europe-consommateurs.eu/index.php?id=2514.

In the event that out-of-court dispute resolutions fail, the dispute may be brought before the competent courts.

Really though, it isn't worth doing this over £1.52. Especially as it may result in steam closing your account.

It sounds like you bought an item on steam's marketplace twice. If that is the case, can't you simply sell the second item? And get your £1.52 back minus the tiny listing fee?

Sarah1987

LilElvis wrote: »

Why not do the really obvious and contact your card provider before going OTT.

Well if I do a chargeback then my account would be locked. I just checked a website that tells you the value of your steam account and the current value of all the games/software I own on steam is £2,921. I cant however imagine them locking my account if a court ruled in my favour though.

Fosterdog

You can't take a US based company to a small claims court in the U.K. You need to find out what the consumer laws are for the particular state the company is governed by. That is the law that will determine whether or not you even have a case. If you do then have a case it will be the US equivalent of small claims court that you would use to sue them and if it gets as far as a hearing you will have to go there to appear in front of a judge. Certainly over here you wouldn't be able to claim your costs back for things like tear like and hotels to another country I have no idea whether it's something you could add on to a claim over there.

This is a UK based forum so nobody will have much knowledge of US court system or consumer laws especially when different states have different legislation, a US based forum might get you more help with that

steampowered

LilElvis wrote: »

Why not do the really obvious and contact your card provider before going OTT.

Just FYI for the Op, this would result in steam restricting his account, meaning he may lose access to the £1000 of games he has bought.

Sarah1987

Fosterdog wrote: »

You can't take a US based company to a small claims court in the U.K. You need to find out what the consumer laws are for the particular state the company is governed by. That is the law that will determine whether or not you even have a case. If you do then have a case it will be the US equivalent of small claims court that you would use to sue them and if it gets as far as a hearing you will have to go there to appear in front of a judge. Certainly over here you wouldn't be able to claim your costs back for things like tear like and hotels to another country I have no idea whether it's something you could add on to a claim over there.

This is a UK based forum so nobody will have much knowledge of US court system or consumer laws especially when different states have different legislation, a US based forum might get you more help with that

Surely if they're trading in the UK then they have to follow our consumer laws and there must be some recourse here in the UK other than filing a lawsuit in another country?